My first time in the trails my front tire slid on a muddy rut and down I went. Cracked my handguard. Was going to replace it but figured I would wait in case I fell again. Well....today was the first time my bike stayed upright through out the day. I ride through some pretty rough trails and if I didn't wipe out, I've dropped it trying to get it out of a spot I couldn't go any further. I never did replace the hanguard and since then,the other one had taken a hit.[&o]Didn't crack but now has stress lines in it from bending. All in good fun, it's what the bike is made for.

 

Well I've been told that if you haven't wrecked yet you aren't ridding hard enough. I disagree. 8000 miles on streets, gravel, trails and the only time I dropped the bike was when I was going 3 miles an hour and it was ice.

 

Well you are wrong deej.....shoot if I just drove on gravel roads and trails.....sure the bike would never take a nap.....some of us push our lil bikes and wipeouts are just part of the game.

 

Sounds like you need something like a KLR. Or a DR.

 

my bike doesnt even have graphics anymore never mind scratched turn signals... i take meticulous care of my machine mechanically but cosmetics are for when your planning on selling it.. its a dirt bike man! albeit one with a plate and turn signals .

 

+1
But mine is getting so beat up, I doubt it will worth a dollar when I go to sell it.
Not that I'm planning to.

 

Man if i go home after a ride and not have dumped it a couple times im doing good..... i guess some just ride harder and faster.... When im riding down the trails im right on the " if i go any faster im gonna completely crash and get fudged up bad...... and i think i can push it just a little bit more" line.....

 

LOL ... On my KTM I've gone through a set of shroud plastics as well as two sets of pretzeled handguards, side graphics peeled off from low siding, and two clutch levers. Good times.

 

I think the KLX looks and feels better this way!

 

I'm not ashamed to say that, with the seven guys and one or two gals that we routinely ride the trails and desert washes/tracks with.... if one of us isn't on the ground taking a "soil sample" we don't figure that we have gathered enough laughs to make it a great day. We all have good gear and all know that the machine is made for our fun. Never try to save the bike, they are almost indestructable anyway in the dirt environment that we ride in. We all ride dirt bikes, KLX250s (2), Yamaha XT 225 (3), Yamaha 400 (1),KTM 250 (1), KTM 650 (1), Honda 650 (1).

We all came back off of the Goldwater Range near Ajo, AZ recently through about 3/4 mile of some bowling ball size rocks, (gotta ride those puppies with some gusto or you're gonna take a "soil sample" at the worst time of your ride)! Tried to negotiate a path over two and around another that was the size of a Mississippi watermelon. OOOPS! I leaped off of that green baby with all my strength, since I didn't want it to sandwich me 'tween the green machine and those harder rocks out there in that desolate area. My buds came up on me, negotiating the same bowling ***** with "gusto". Once out of the rocks they came back on foot to see how I was. We straightened out things and remounted. Harder than you can imagine getting started in the midst of hundreds of ***** everywhere.

The KLX plastics gets it's regular polishing with my vibrator sander. Plastics are cheap! Riding and having fun with your buds? Priceless!! For the record, I'm 72 years young. This is my 5th bike and I'm still having a ball with it, the dirt,and my riding buddies.

What I'm saying, essentially, is don't try to protect that bike, have fun with it and respect it for what it is, but remember those stays in the hospital cost a lot and hurt also. Stay safe. Learn how to get off and away, safely,when you have yournext accident.