Looking for a bike that can ride dunes and dirt

[Durkocet]

I have been getting into riding lately and currently ride a CRF230. The closest SVRA to me is prairie city which is just dirt and rocks but I am about 5ish hours away from oceano and really want to go riding there. I have ridden a quad at oceano before but never taken a bike. I just saved up about 3000 dollars and want to get a new bike that can handle the dunes but will also be good on dirt. I am a relatively new rider and am worried that any bike that would be able to handle the dunes will be way too much for me to ride. I was thinking maybe a quad would be better for the dunes but I’m not sure. Any advice would be helpful, thanks 

[Durkocet]

Also I am 6’3” 180 pounds and mostly ride trails but am trying to get into track. I am very inexperienced on the dunes and would likely only be able to go once or twice a year. I don’t even know if a bike exists that would be a good fit for my sitchuation but I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask 

[MountainMX]

17 hours ago, Durkocet said:

Also I am 6’3” 180 pounds and mostly ride trails but am trying to get into track. I am very inexperienced on the dunes and would likely only be able to go once or twice a year. I don’t even know if a bike exists that would be a good fit for my sitchuation but I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask 

Ideally for sand dunes a 450 with a paddle tire would be nice. For $3000 you're not going to get anything all that great. If you sold your crf230 and added that on top you'd at least have $5000 which would get a nice bike. At 6'3 180 you'll fit a 350/450 fine. Take it slow at first and you'll be fine. I'd look for the newest KTM 350/450 XC-F you could. 

[S.O.A.N.Z]

250 2 stroke will do it

[TheLetterJ]

I've lived ~15 minutes from Pismo my entire life, so to say I've ridden there a lot would be an understatement.

If you just want to ride in the dunes, your 230 will do it, so long as you keep your momentum up. Hell, I'm taller and heavier than you and have gone all around Pismo on an xr100, and even a (ridiculously built up) xr50 after it rains, neither had paddles. That said of all my bikes over the years, my crf450r was by far my favorite in the dunes as you could climb anything from a dead stop at the base, with zero run up, and it revved much higher than my 2 strokes so I could hold a gear longer. My CR250 was a close second because it was more "flickable" and didn't struggle anywhere, but in the sand horsepower is king so the 450 still had the edge. I took my GasGas300 out there twice and it was just meh. All the things that make it good on tight trails hurt it in the sand: the suspension was too soft, the steering was too quick, and the power signed off too early. The better the bike worked in the sand, the worse it worked on the trail, a 250 2 stroke really seems like the best middle ground for both scenarios and will hang on an mx track like it was built for it (because it was!) A 450mx bike can be quite the handful on trails and you may find that you're slower on a track on a 450 than you would be on a 250, at least until you learn to manage the power.

I also agree with MountainMX that if you can sell your 230 and add that to your budget, you'll have no problem finding a nice bike. I've never been a Yamaha guy, but a YZ250/YZ250X certainly sounds like it would tick all your boxes. 

[nots0much]

Don't get a kickstart bike for the dunes lol

[TheLetterJ]

Why do you say that?

[Durkocet]

On 10/6/2024 at 1:38 PM, TheLetterJ said:

I've lived ~15 minutes from Pismo my entire life, so to say I've ridden there a lot would be an understatement.

If you just want to ride in the dunes, your 230 will do it, so long as you keep your momentum up. Hell, I'm taller and heavier than you and have gone all around Pismo on an xr100, and even a (ridiculously built up) xr50 after it rains, neither had paddles. That said of all my bikes over the years, my crf450r was by far my favorite in the dunes as you could climb anything from a dead stop at the base, with zero run up, and it revved much higher than my 2 strokes so I could hold a gear longer. My CR250 was a close second because it was more "flickable" and didn't struggle anywhere, but in the sand horsepower is king so the 450 still had the edge. I took my GasGas300 out there twice and it was just meh. All the things that make it good on tight trails hurt it in the sand: the suspension was too soft, the steering was too quick, and the power signed off too early. The better the bike worked in the sand, the worse it worked on the trail, a 250 2 stroke really seems like the best middle ground for both scenarios and will hang on an mx track like it was built for it (because it was!) A 450mx bike can be quite the handful on trails and you may find that you're slower on a track on a 450 than you would be on a 250, at least until you learn to manage the power.

I also agree with MountainMX that if you can sell your 230 and add that to your budget, you'll have no problem finding a nice bike. I've never been a Yamaha guy, but a YZ250/YZ250X certainly sounds like it would tick all your boxes. 

Thank you so much for your help. I’ve been thinking of selling the 230 anyway and I’ve gotten comfortable enough on it that I think it’s time to upgrade. Imma look into those yz250’s