First of all, I wouldn't really recomend a 2 stroke motocross for a beginner. We will get into that later though.

<b> Background </b>

First off, I am a 21 year old university student. I have owned bikes for the better part of my life and after selling my last one, I have picked up another one. I have been riding for years and do most of my own maintence and repairs myself.

<b> Intro </b>

Generally, most 2 stroke dirt bikes in the same class are pretty much all the same. There are minor differences but you can't really say one is better then the other signifactly. If you find a nice running bike that was well looked after, buy it regardless. For me that happened to be a kx125. The bike seemed lower then the other 125's I went to look at (Honda, Ktm) and ran very strong.

One thing that you need to look out for is when the last rebuild has been done. Generally they say that you can get around 50 hours on average before a need of a top end rebuild (piston, rings, cyl) but it can vary on useage, maintance and all of that other stuff. I have had bikes last much much longer and a few that have gone on me earlier then expected.

People say that 2 stroke dirtbikes "blow up" often or need constant rebuilds. Not really. I have rode 2 strokes most of my life and have never had any problems. Mind you, they will be much higher maintence then a ttr230 or a trail bike, you are also getting a lot more power and higher performance out of them.

Basically, my advice is to find what bike you like the most, one that suits you and after proper mechanical investigation buy that. Generally the people who provide negative reviews on a high performance machine like this are people who have purchased something that was poorly maintaned or someone who the bike doesn't really suit. If you accept that you will have to do maintence and accept that failure is possible, these are great, fun bikes.

I have done the maintance on mine and I am entereing my 50th hour soon on my 144 big bore with zero problems. I've changed my oil in the bottom end every 5-6 hours of ride time and mixed 32:1. If you know how to ride 2 stroke and find a good quality bike, you will have luck with it. '

Sorry about the rant but kx's are great bikes and with proper maintence, you can have a long life out of one and have a lot of fun. They are pretty quick and handle great, if your a trail rider coming off a 4 stroke i'd recomend a 8oz flywheel weight to make it smoother if thats your preference. That is all, thanks.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 2500
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2002