Green Laning !😜

[Couchy]

Honda CRF250L or rally like I have. 2017 on, gets abs which you can turn off on rear wheel. Add proper tyres and HD tubes, also heated grips. Waterproof boots and gear a must. Plan routes on view ranger checking legality of lanes. Export as gpx file and I upload to a garmin edge, I then mount this on dash and click follow route.
Proper enduro bikes like KTM EXC etc are overkill, they don’t have the tank range or comfort for all the tarmac work in between lanes and they are capable of proper speed down the green lanes which these days isn’t in anyone’s interest. A trail bike is more than enough and has sensible service intervals and is very forgiving to ride, £3k ish will buy one.

[crust]

It should have:

1. Electric start - a must.
2. You should be able to pick it up.
3. Should be able to sustain being dropped on its side in rocks without costly damage.

Don't get drawn into the bigger is better, a 450 will tire you out in a short time. I've got a KTM 350 (my personal recommendation) and have ridden it 40 miles on roads to meet up with mates loads of times. My mate with a CRF250X rides it on roads to get to lanes all the time.

Join the TRF, your local branch will organise rides and know the legal status of lanes in your area.

[Dodgy69]

Cheers gents,
yep, been looking at crf250L and rally, either will fit my needs. Heated grips a must and bark buster's seem a popular mod. With the 300 out, maybe deals to be had. Weekend's in the Welsh mountains/hills/bumps is where it will be happening, maybe with night stop overs.

Two things to look forward to.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

A CRF will be superb, it will be massively better than the 1987 XR I had, which never had a problem with any UK lanes

[Dave@ERT]

Yep, I’d echo most of that ! Small, light and manageable is best, and power really isn’t important off road. There’s lots of good trails in Shropshire, starting from Church Stretton or Craven Arms, which can take you right over into mid Wales, or from Oswestry there’s a load of fabulous trails right out to the coast. I’m out regularly on my old TTR250 and you’re very welcome to come along if you want to learn some routes ?

[Dodgy69]

Cheers Dave will do, once I've got my kit together. Sooner the better.

[Dave@ERT]

Feel free to email/ring me, my contact details are on my website I’m only down the road in Bridgnorth, but from Shrewsbury you’re in one of the best places in the country for green laning Just a thought, but if you want to ‘dip your toe in the water’ before purchasing anything I’ve got a spare ‘loaner’ TTR that mates borrow....you’re welcome to a day out...if it ever dries up a bit !!??

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

TTRs are good, I hired one in Crete 20 years ago, I thought it was better than the XR I had at the time.

[Dave@ERT]

Yes, you could do a lot worse than a TTR !? If you look at the post 2k bikes they’re kick and electric start and are air cooled and carburettored....really handy if you ‘drown’ them in any deep water crossings ! They’re really easy and cheap to maintain and repair, all the parts are readily available and they’re a hugely capable dual sport bike. You should get a really good one for around £2k ?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I've ridden both types, the early ones with metal tanks and the later blue ones with plastic tanks, the later ones are an improvement over the early ones, they feel a little lighter and handle a little better off road, Yamaha also did a "Raid" version with a huge tank.

[Dodgy69]

Feel free to email/ring me, my contact details are on my website I’m only down the road in Bridgnorth, but from Shrewsbury you’re in one of the best places in the country for green laning Just a thought, but if you want to ‘dip your toe in the water’ before purchasing anything I’ve got a spare ‘loaner’ TTR that mates borrow....you’re welcome to a day out...if it ever dries up a bit !!??

Thanks Dave, I might take you up on that. Xmas holidays.

[Dodgy69]

Would you by a new or used bike . ???

[weeksy]

Would you by a new or used bike . ???

I'd wait for Couch to buy one and ring him 4 days later

[Dodgy69]

Sooner the better.

[Dodgy69]

Lid and boots sorted...

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Would you by a new or used bike . ???

Depends on budget and how bothered you are about taking a brand new bike and grinding mid into every moving part, or buying one where someone has already ground mud into every moving part

[Dodgy69]

Any good. ???

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154099234767

[Tricky]

Yep, I’d echo most of that ! Small, light and manageable is best, and power really isn’t important off road. There’s lots of good trails in Shropshire, starting from Church Stretton or Craven Arms, which can take you right over into mid Wales, or from Oswestry there’s a load of fabulous trails right out to the coast. I’m out regularly on my old TTR250 and you’re very welcome to come along if you want to learn some routes ?

I'll second that- i'm not exactly local to mid-Wales but have had many brilliant weekends on the trails out there over the last 10 years or so ( we usually stayed in either Machynlleth or Rhyader and rode out from there) , my couple of mates that i used to ride with up there don't anymore, and much as i love the trails down where I am, I'm always up for morevariety and I'd be up for tagging along with you and Dodgy too sometime

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Any good. ???

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154099234767

My personal opinion is no,

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Yamaha-ttr-2 ... ect=mobile

Is more useful, you want as light as you can get away with, you'll be picking it up a lot to start with.

[weeksy]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2020-20-HOND ... SwsPxfhTui

At that budget here's an almost brand new one like Couchies.