Cheap Fuel Injected Dirtbike

I live at elevation, nearly 7000'. One complaint I've heard from guys who live up here is that if you travel to lower elevations regularly, having to re-jet and constantly fiddling with carburetor settings will drive you nuts.

Now, having owned and restored several 70's-Era motorcycles, I'm familiar with tuning carburetors...and I don't want that anymore.

I want a cheap, reliable, trail bike. Doesn't need to be powerful or new, just something to explore the several thousand acres of national forest surrounding my home, and the occasional work commute (which can be all offroad).

So far here's what I've got:

• 2008 Suzuki RMZ450
• 2010 Suzuki RMZ250
• 2011 Kawasaki KX250F
• 2014 Yamaha YZ250F
• 2013 Yamaha XT250
• 2010 Honda CRF250R
• Honda Grom (Not sure when these went FI or if they'd be suitable to ride offroad)
• 2015+ CRF250? (Not sure when these fixed the cam tensioner issue)

Is there anything out there from cheap chinese manufacturers? 

Aren’t those all motocross bikes? Not a good choice for trail riding - too high strung and too high maintenance. 

You want an enduro with fuel injection. The KTM EXC’s are awesome and can be street legal.

This is relevant to my interests.

I love my KX250F, and all i ride is woods. Mine is older (2007) and carb'ed, be ware of the early EFI ones, they had harness issues.  Its light (204lbs IIRC) lots of power, totally flcik around fun bike. Be warned that the KXF's cannot run lights off their stator (the carb ones anyway.... Not up to speed on the EFI) so adding that may be a challenge. The KLX's should be fine as they have Estat and batteries, but added weight.

smokindav said:

Aren’t those all motocross bikes? Not a good choice for trail riding - too high strung and too high maintenance. 

You want an enduro with fuel injection. The KTM EXC’s are awesome and can be street legal.

In my experience (which is limited) aren't they all pretty much the same these days?  Tires, dampers, and sometimes gear ratios are a bit different but I never had any trouble with my Yamaha WR250 on trail, desert, woods, enduro, sand, gravel, mud....   Heck, I used to ride it almost like a trials bike with just a change to the air in the forks and a sprocket swap.

To me, it seems like back in the day there were bigger differences - kinda like marine engines versus street, but now they are pretty much interchangeable.

Man,  an all off-road commute would be a blast.

The only thing on that list I would touch is the YZ250F. Yamaha builds the most reliable 4 stroke powered motocross bikes, and it would be a fine trail bike. They also have a WR250 street legal dualsport and it's a good bike but heavy and expensive. Kawasaki has the KLX250s and it's FI now. Honda also has the street legal CRF250f, but it's a it of a turd.

GPX moto (pitster pro) is coming out with a 250 FI bike but it's not out yet. Ossa makes a 2 stroke FI trail bike but it's probably too tame for what you're looking to do.

People who use the Smart carb and Lectron carbs claim to be immune to fueling inconsistencies due to elevation (FYI).

smokindav said:

Aren’t those all motocross bikes? Not a good choice for trail riding - too high strung and too high maintenance. 

You want an enduro with fuel injection. The KTM EXC’s are awesome and can be street legal.

I'm looking for cheaper, more mass produced bikes that don't carry a premium. KTM's aren't that. 

Hoping to find a 250cc FI bike that maybe some dude thought was a good idea but realized he wanted more power. Underpowered would actually be ok in this case.

Suprf1y said:

The only thing on that list I would touch is the YZ250F. Yamaha builds the most reliable 4 stroke powered motocross bikes, and it would be a fine trail bike. They also have a WR250 street legal dualsport and it's a good bike but heavy and expensive. Kawasaki has the KLX250s and it's FI now. Honda also has the street legal CRF250f, but it's a it of a turd.

GPX moto (pitster pro) is coming out with a 250 FI bike but it's not out yet. Ossa makes a 2 stroke FI trail bike but it's probably too tame for what you're looking to do.

People who use the Smart carb and Lectron carbs claim to be immune to fueling inconsistencies due to elevation (FYI).

Nice rundown. 

Smart Carbs and Lectron's are exactly common, and more than likely someone who spent money on a conversion will be asking premium prices.

Although looking at the prices for Lectron kits it may be worthwhile to get a cheaper older bike and slap one of those one, vs getting a newer EFI bike.

Next question: what makes a good tight'n'twisty Enduro bike? Not wanting to do jumps and stuff, more chunky technical rock gardens and tight singletrack.

pheller said:

 

Although looking at the prices for Lectron kits it may be worthwhile to get a cheaper older bike and slap one of those one, vs getting a newer EFI bike.

 

Next question: what makes a good tight'n'twisty Enduro bike? Not wanting to do jumps and stuff, more chunky technical rock gardens and tight singletrack.

That's what I was thinking. A slightly older 2 stroke with a Lectron (I'm not 100% sold on these carbs but they're supposed to work) would be a good budget option.

What works?  No surprise, small and light. It's really hard to beat a YZ125  for a budget  woods bike. Shorter wheelbase, good low end power and they've been the same for a dozen years. I'm not a fan of Yamaha - I'd have to hold my nose to buy one, but they do a few things fairly well. YZ250 is a good  bike too, but too much power for me, I'm a small bore guy.

If you decide to spend some money, a Beta X trainer is the ticket for a not so serious offroad/woods bike (though you can race and win on one). Two stroke, light. electric start and street legal.

I still think any of the "race" version (paired down weight and alu frames)  make for great woods bikes in the 250 range. Still light, lots of power, but not easily street legal....

In reply to java230 :

My issue with these is the 300 to 500 mile services

That's why you buy a 2 stroke or Yamaha

In reply to singleslammer :

Agreed, but as a Woods bike that does take awhile to wrack up.