Ah I wise move Luke and one on you may or may not live to regret

Personally I'd def go for electric start. Kick start is ok if you are shit hot and never stall or are a hard northerner like Sabre. I'm neither so it was top of the list of things required.

I'd stay away from strokers as the power is in a nutty place and its torque you need to get yourself out of the shit. Plus the lack of engine braking is a problem on descents. Oh and they fooking stink

Kit wise you'll need some good boots. Alpinestars are about £150 and are great. Sidi Crossfires are really nice but at £240-ish are a lot of dosh. You will need body armour. Best is to get the stuff built into a vest. Knox do some nice stuff (£100). Needs to cover elbows, shoulders, back and chest. Maybe shorts with hips protection as well and def half decent knee armour is a must (£50). This sounds like a lot of protection but trust me you will be crashing. Helmets are not badly priced compared to road ones. I bought a No Fear on offer for £50 down from a one'r. Does the job nicely. Then all you need is clothing and there is a wide range of that. Guess you are looking at about £150-200 for trousers, top and jacket. Lastly you will need a bag on the bike for spare inner tubes, tyre irons and tool kit.

Bike wise the 400exc is a good first time bike I've been led to believe. Has plenty of power but delivers it in a linear way unlike the 450 which can be brutal and want to rip your arms from their sockets given the opportunity From 2008 KTM bought out a 250 exc-f 4 stroke, not sure what that is like. If you have say £3,5-4k to spend you can find yourself a really nice bike. No point in a dealer purchase as the basically isn't a warranty on dirt bikes anyway. Just make sure it has had the oil dropped regularly I'd be tempted to check the magnetic sump bolt before handing any money over. I can't comment on any other makes. Sabre sear by the XR 400 but its kick start.

Can't think of anything else. Look forward to seeing you at Enduroland for some crash action

I would be intrigued to find out how ronin knows what a sucking syphilitic donkey is like

Had a great day. Here I am flying. I could have been a contender if I had started when I was 8 and fearless instead of 44 and gormless.

I was the fastest one there in the morning, no big deal as there were only 14 of us and two hadnt ridden bikes before Too good to last though and just before lunch some northern monkey with enduro experience showed up.

Loved it though, but I stayed on the 250 all day except for a couple of laps on the motorcrosser which was a bit fierce for my limited ability. Maybe I will buy a 250 EXCF if I cant get a 400?

Here are some more;







I bet Josh Brookes and Johnny Rae are shitting themselves.

Looking stylish Luke

That track looks awesome

Glad you enjoyed. It's hard not to really. It's like bmx with nutty engines Falling off tends not to hurt as much... most of the time. And nothing is sweeter than seeing your m8 bin it at the corner as you get past and give him a face full of dirt to add to his woes. Love it!

Edit: Yeah that track does look awesome! Is it just for this schools use Luke?

Trying to melt the credit card tonight. Got armour, Sidi Crossfires, Goggles and tearoffs.

Still need helmet, pants, shirt, jacket and gloves.

Pretty sure I am on the right track for a bike, so watch this space.

WTF else do I need and where is cheap to get it?

An odd bunch of Northerner's enjoying the winter,fashion should be the least of your worrie's Luke if you come off in a puddle you'll look/feel a cnut no matter what you're wearing