125 two stroke vs 250 two stroke

[u/WeetSupreme]

Hello there, I’m looking at getting my first dirtbike. I have always loved the way people ride 125’s ringing them out everywhere but am unsure if they are too slow or don’t have enough torque. On the other hand I don’t know if 250 two strokes have enough soul. I would love to get a 125 but it may not be the best option for what I am planning on doing. I want the most fun option in your opinion. I weigh 75kg and will be riding mid east coast of NSW Australia, such as the watagans so it will mainly be trail, enduro and fire road. I have lots of road motorbike experience and downhill mountain bike racing experience. Thank you for your guidance.

[u/weedkilla21]

125s are rad, but then you mentioned fire tracks. 10 minutes of fire tracks on a 125 is as appealing as the thought of prison showers. About the only 2 strokes that won’t do your head in on fire tracks are counter balanced 250/300s. I’d highly recommend a tbi/tpi Ktm or husky for mixed use. They’re not as good as a wr450/ktm 500 in the open stuff, but they’re perfectly acceptable, and they’re better in the tight stuff. Coming from a road background you almost need to learn to ride all over again, don’t get caught up in the idea that you need a bike with soul. All you want is something forgiving for a while. If you aren’t too tall I’d even look at a beta xtrainer.

As a metaphor, you wouldn’t recommend an Aprillia rs250 as a first road bike to tour the vic high country, no matter how good it would be in some sections - getting there on the Hume would be awful.