Buying an Off Road Enduro Bike

Often people ask us which bike to buy to experience the world of Wanduro riding.

First of all the disclaimer: every bike is different and every rider is different and you will get a bike that is hopefully right for you based upon your budget (or credit line 😉 and personal preferences.

However, there are some choices to make which are pretty straight forward and which will make you happier in the long run.

Here’s are some things to consider:

First, The Rider

Riding gear

As you may have noticed on this website, tumbles and falls happen quite regularly and thus we cannot emphasize enough the need for proper protective gear. Sure, to be legal you only need a helmet, but you really want to get some proper protection. Things we advise you to have (and an indication for the cost) are:

• Helmet. Any full face/motocross/adventure helmet will do. As the speeds are low, there is not really a need for a very expensive helmet. Count on $130-170. Don’t go for some bean bag, as your front teeth are expensive to replace. Many find that a flip-up helmet is nice so that when you’re wrestling your bike out of a mud hole on a hot summer day, you can flip up the front and breathe a little easier.
• Sunglasses. Nice for the sun, but also to keep dirt and rocks out of your eyes when your riding buddy opens the throttle in front of you. Usually you will ride with your visor up to avoid the heat build-up and inevitable visor fog at low speeds. Trent uses cheap yellow safety glasses that you can get for $2-$3 and then throws them out when they get scratched. Otherwise, $5 – $20 should get you something usable.
• Gloves. Get some proper leather gloves, approximately $10-60. Many actually swear by soft deer hide work gloves. Either way, make sure they’re comfortable and don’t have lumps in the palm that will give you blisters.
• Body Protector. Besides the fact that this makes you look like a superhero, it also protects your arms and spine. Count on $150-180.
• Riding Jersey. A big shirt to cover your body protector. Can be anything. $15-60
• Riding pants. A must, as it will protect your legs in a tumble. Count on $80-100
• Knee/Shin protectors, since the pads (if they’re even present) in riding pants move around too much. $40-70
• Riding boots. An absolute must in case your leg gets caught underneath the bike or your toes smash into a rock or stump. Count on $150-300
• Backpack with a water bladder to keep you hydrated. As this is a sport, you’ll sweat a lot and you’ll need some water to keep yourself sharp and safe. Some snowboard/ski day packs are really nice because they’re designed to stay put and not affect your balance.  $50-200

All in all, reserve around approx.. $550 to $900 for gear to keep you safe! This will last you a few years if you don’t crash. And if you have to throw some away after a serious fall, you won’t regret that either.

Driver’s license

If you’re riding off road only, you may not need a driver’s license in your jurisdiction.  Check locally though!

Mechanical skills + garage & tools

Okay, we’ll be honest. You will tumble, and you will damage your bike.

Handlebars will bend, protectors will break off, plastics get scratched up and you’ll have flat tires. If this scares you, consider another hobby.

The good news is, that mostly this stuff has the complexity of LEGO and it’s easy to learn. Anyone can learn how to patch a tube and fix up a busted handlebar.

You really don’t want to go to the dealer to have every little thing fixed as you’ll have to talk to your local credit representative. Often.

Plus, by doing it yourself you also become very handy with fixing up your bike so you know what to do when something breaks on the trails. Another option is to team up with or befriend someone handy.

For tools, just buy a basic tool kit and you can do most tasks on your bike. They are cheap and very handy to have.

Unlike modern cars, dirt/enduro bikes are made to work on yourself. With a fancy new performance bike, you even get a manual on how to rebuild the engine! 

Your body

You will need to adjust the bike to your body and needs. Dirt bikes are tall, some of them very tall, which is an issue for shorter people. This is why a lot of people ride 250’s instead of 450’s, because it is simply easier to reach the ground and as the bikes are also a bit lighter, they are easier to pick up. For a lot of bikes you can buy a lowering link which you bolt into the rear suspension ($50-100). If you are tall, a set of handle bar risers will be a stellar investment setting you back $30-$80. Just be careful, that if you are 5’2” you don’t fall in love with a KTM 450 as your first bike.

Now, the bike!

2-stroke vs. 4-stroke

Good luck finding a modern street-legal 2-stroke. That should be enough to put them out of contention as a Wanduro bike. Since they are almost all performance-oriented, they need a wicked amount of maintenance and the associated expense that goes with that. Because of the aggressive power band, two strokes are not really good beginners’ bikes. They are “twitchy” and can get you into trouble real fast.

If you do need to do an engine rebuild though, it is a lot easier and cheaper than on a 4-stroke bike.

Tip: go 4-stroke, as it is easier to ride and more forgiving, and mostly more maintenance friendly. You will also be happy with the low fuel consumption compared to a two stroke.

4 Stroke ‘durable’ vs. 4 Stroke ‘performance’.

Performance is nice, but comes at a price. Our Wanduro bikes (based on a Honda CRF450X and KTM 530EXC) are hyper quick and very nimble in the trails, but every few thousand km’s you have to open the engine and swap pistons and such. Great fun, but costly. They also require more oil changes and 91 octane fuel.

‘Durable’ is what most road legal dual sport and enduro bikes are. Like the Suzuki DRZ400S. Less power, and they run on 87 fuel instead of 91 and are easy going. You can do 50.000+ km’s on an engine without ever having to open it up.

Tip: stay away from performance, until you have tools, workshop, and skills to maintain the engine. Plus, as a beginner, you don’t really need the performance these bikes offer anyway.

4 stroke engine capacity.

Mostly, it is in the 250 range or 450-ish range, as those are the racing classes in motocross. The road legal versions are based on that engine concept, and thus this is mostly the choice, with some exceptions.

Again, there is ‘durable’ and ‘performance’.

250cc-range bikes are lower in power. 20-25HP for durable versions. Up to 35HP for the performance/higher maintenance bikes.

450cc-range bikes are decent in power .35-45HP for durable versions. Up to 50HP for the performance/higher maintenance bikes. The performance bikes in this range will require somewhat less maintenance than the 250cc performance bikes because you won’t be maxing out the power as much

Tip: unless you’re pretty tall, go for a lighter bike. This will probably put you into the 250cc range of bikes, as they are lighter, lower, etc. Being tall is a huge advantage on dirt bikes as they are super tall, with big wheels, and long travel on the suspension.

Don’t be fooled into something big, powerful and tall as a starter bike. Almost all top enduro riders have honed their skills on a trials bike, which weigh 70-80kg’s and have the horsepower of a tuned model train. It is better to have fun and gain skills the first year on something playful and then upgrade, rather than struggle the first year and feel like you’re fighting with your bike more than actually flying on it.

Spend an evening on Youtube searching for riders like Johnny Walker, Graham Jarvis, Marc Coma, Cyril Depres, Ludivine Puy, Laia Sainz to find out what’s possible on a performance dirt bike – if you have learned to ride on a smaller bike first!

Road legal vs. OHV.  (Off Highway Vehicle)

Road legal has a road legal plate and lights/indicators and such. This can be from factory or converted later on. This is different per province/state/country, check the local regulations at your bike shop or ask other riders.

Problem with converted bikes: insurance may struggle to accept your bike as road legal even though it has a road legal registration. This limits the choice a lot for performance bikes, as there are not a lot of performance built factory-road-legal bikes on the market.

For riding offroad in the mountains and such you do not really need a road legal bike, but it sure is handy if you want to ride into town for fuel or go on a multiple day trip and need to spend money in liquor stores every once in a while. For the best Wanduro riding, we highly recommend a bike that is street legal.

If you also plan to get your license for motorcycling, you’ll need a road legal bike to practice on (paved roads) and do your test.

Tip: If you just want to ride off road or try it out for a year, go for non-road legal as there is more choice. If you’re in for the long run and consider a licence, get a plated bike. Be aware, you’ll need a way to transport your bike to the trails if it is not road legal. Consider a hitch-carrier on your car ($200-$250) and a simple trailer ($500-$1000), or team up with someone nice with a trailer

Old vs. newer bikes

There is an issue with second hand dirt bikes. People trash them and don’t take care of them. It is easy to make them new-looking, with a set of shiny plastics costing you less than a hundred bucks. But what’s underneath is what can cost you a fortune and/or a lot of garage time.

So, a well-maintained second-hander that is 20 years old is cool, but a trashed 1 year old bike is horrible. Difficult, isn’t it?

Over the years, the engine technology hasn’t developed all that much besides the amount of gears (6 speed now, vs. former 5 speeds) and fuel injection vs carburetors (fuel injection is really nice, I have to admit, as it reduces fuel consumption a LOT and thus gives you good range on a small tank)

An important component to consider is the suspension. Forks/dampers/suspension of 15 years ago are not comparable to recent stuff. That will be the biggest difference between old and new bikes.

Tip: go for something new, as it is easier to judge, less risk, and better suspension. Don’t worry about carb/injection all too much, as the advantages are limited if you don’t ride a lot.

Kickstart / electric start / both

For two stroke bikes, a kick start is the norm, and they are very easy to start; a high performance KTM300 two-stroke can easily be started while wearing flip-flops. Some now have e-start which is a nice luxury. Tip: for 2-strokes, don’t worry about it, kick start is fine.

There’s a reason they call the electric start button the “magic button”. It makes your riding MUCH easier. For four strokes, kick-start-only is horrible, run away from it. A kick starter works awesome in the back lane on a sunny day, but if your front tire is completely buried in a swamp with your rear wheel high up on a log, it is almost impossible to start it. Ask anyone who defends this how many kicks it takes to start with a flooded carb. 😀
Bikes that have both are great, but rare. Electric start is a must, so get something with electric start and if it has a kick starter as a backup, even better.

Bike brands

Chinese brands like GIO and such (various brands). Very inexpensive, but these are hit-and-miss. Some people have had great luck with them, others find them unreliable. Trent spent 2 months riding around Colombia 2-up on a 200cc Chinese bike and had no problems. He still keeps it there for whenever he travels to Colombia and it is still running strong. All things considered, however, you’re probably better off with a good used major-brand bike than a new Chinese bike.

Husqvarna, Husaberg, Aprilia, Gasgas, Beta etc, the exotic bikes. You look great on them as they are fantastic bikes and look different, but parts are more expensive, not in stock in at your local dealer and no aftermarket gadgets available at all, or very expensive. Example, that big tank for a KTM that sets you back $250 costs $800 all of a sudden for your beautiful Husaberg.

KTM. Undeniably the world leader in road-legal high-performance enduro bikes. They put a lot of effort into the offroad race circuit and tend to win Red Bull events and the Dakar Rally fairly consistently. Proven technology and great bikes. However, this comes at a price, so stay away from KTM unless you don’t worry about credit card debt. Top bikes for top money, consider that the next level ;-).

Japanese, like Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Honda give your great ‘bang for your buck’ and reliability. There’s a good selection of durable street-legal off-road bikes such as the Honda CRF250L, Kawasaki KLX250 and Yamaha WR250R. In fact, the WR250R reaches into the performance range with amazing reliability stats.

In the performance range, you’re looking at the Honda CRF450X, Yamaha WR450R and similar bikes. Similar in performance to the KTM bikes. (The CRF450X consistently wins the Baja races.) The big downside is that they don’t come street legal from the dealer.

Some Bike Recommendations for Getting into Wanduro Riding

Suzuki DRZ400S (Kawasaki KLX400 is the same bike). Awesome machine, but heavy and carries its weight high. Cheap aftermarket parts, bullet-proof bike really. Carb, 5 speed. factory road legal

Suzuki DRZ400E: same bike, but a bit lighter and performance built. Still very good, but ‘pretty hot’. Not road legal. Mostly trashed by previous owners, hard to find a decent one.

Yamaha xt225: Nice bike, but they are worth a lot so you pay a lot of money for an old bike. Stone age technology, but as far as we know this is one of the easiest beginners bikes and they are very low.

Kawasaki Sherpa 250: Basically the same attributes as the Yamaha XT225. Low, mild and and awesome beginner bike.

Honda CRF250L: factory road legal, decent suspension, new (2013 onwards), easy to lower, 6 speed, injection, tons of cheap aftermarket stuff.

Kawasaki KLX250S: as above, but older, carb, bit cheaper but also not quite as good I think.

KTM 350 EXC – hot as hell, but 8000 dollars at least. 😉

Yamaha WR250R, factory road legal and a very nice package, a bit lonely between the rest of the Japanese bikes and KTM in price and performance. Very reliable but a bit more expensive than a CRF of KLX.

So, how much will it all cost?

Difficult question, but it gets asked all the time.
If you want this for the long run, chip in some cash. It is worth it for sure in the long run.

$550-$900 for riding gear.

Add between $130 and $500 a year for insurance depending on coverage and your history, and some dollars a year for registration.

The cost of whatever bike you choose.

Maintenance should be pretty cheap if you do it yourself. This depends a lot on usage and throttle position, but a chain/sprocket kit and a set of tires are the most expensive things you’ll regularly wear out and will last two seasons if you are gentle. For the engine maintenance, $100 in oils/sprays/oil filter will last quite a while if you are not riding every weekend.

Good luck! Spend time reading reviews, advertisements and start keeping an eye on the asking prices for some models of bikes you consider so you get a feel for what a good deal may look like! 

Once you’ve bought the bike…

First, make some nice pictures of it now that it is not scratched up yet.

After that, start ordering in parts to protect it as soon as possible for important components. Don’t wait too long, as a busted radiator is more expensive to fix than the actual radiator guards.

Then, call some riding buddies and get out there and enjoy!