what is the best dirt bike in history?

Question

yamaha, honda, kawasakie,susuki

Answer 1

Now that's a hard one to answer! We can throw away race wins as a qualifier as the rider has more to do with that than the bikes make in most cases. We should also discount popularity as that's always influenced by advertising and who won the race last weekend. Nope, the true judge can only be influence or to be precise which bike had the greatest impact on the sport across the board and the hands down winner can only be...The Yamaha YZ race bikes of 1974 and the subsequent '75 consumer models!

The reasoning behind this is as simple as the word Mono shock, the suspension system which revolutionized an entire industry not only in the dirt but on the road as well. This single in ovation paved the way for true long travel suspension which in turn allowed for bigger jumps, faster speed and more action, all of which leads to more fans. Supercross? Not without such a system. Freestyle and the like? Impossible!

And let's not forget the sport bike revolution while we're at it. Without the single shock and the resulting lowered weight and suspension response we'd still be racing in the dark ages. Once again homage must be paid to Yamaha and it's Mono shock design.

Cruisers? The Harley Davidson Softtail pulled that company from the pits of despair and made it the #1 brand in the world. Thanks to the 'Hard tail' look achieved via a rethinking of shock architecture they found success even though their particular system is obviously flawed, still the idea that such COULD be done is in large part due to Yamaha paving the way.

So there you have it, the reason we have to pick the YZ as the all time great. Sure, there are others who are right up there including the likes of Triumph of all brands but none had the far ranging impact of the YZ and so I rest my case.

Answer 2

Easily the 1981 Maico mega 1 490. i watched one win an open expert race in 1990! Though one could put the same comparision to tge lat develpoed 250 two strokes (2004) against a 93 CR250 with equal riders and be competitive.

Today, the tracks are geared toward the four stroke mx bikes, and have heard of a rider and seen winning against modern bikes, I think this is an exceptional rider.

1. 1981 Maico 490
2.93-94 CR 250
3. 77 Maico AW440 (my racer-the cr rates above only due to more off throttle response-reed valved and powervalved)
4. 92-93 KX 250-they were long, turned slow-and the 92 was down on power not to mention every weld broke at least once. But the suspension in stock form was awesome- you could overjump, hammer the whoops-dive into tight turns a gear high-and it went straight.

Answer 3

Best dirt bike for what? If it is for general off-road putting around through all kinds of country, the current Suzuki DRZ 400 is hard to beat. All four manufacturers that you mentioned make very good dirt bikes today.

Answer 4

I guess you could say Honda dirt bikes, as they have won the Baja 1000 race for 10 straight years. That race is based on reliability more than speed.

Answer 5

Without a doubt the '81 490 Maico.

Answer 6

I always liked the Yamaha YZ

Answer 7

Here are the 10 worst LOL
Harley Davidson made the list
http://dirtbike.off-road.com/dirtbike/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=265930
Fun reading, guaranteed to bring a laugh.

Answer 8

Harley Davidson still owns the oval dirt.

Answer 9

I HAVE A CAN-AM 350 QUALIFIER THAT STILL ROCKS ITS A 1981 AND WILL LEAVE BRAND NEW BIKES IN THE DUST SO I SAY CAN -AM BUT THATS ME

Answer 10

BMW.also the Scorpa 4 tricks in the small engine category.