Playbikes, something is missing.

Suzuki would make a killing if they brought back some older 2 stroke engines in a new chassis.

 My backyard play bike.

What is it?

I have went through all the options and researched a ton of stuff for my wife on this subject. 

She is currently on a CRF 230F we bought used that has pretty much everything done to it, reworked stock forks, aftermarket rear shock, piston, cam, valves and springs and jetted accordingly. It really is a sweet bike and is still super reliable and low maintenance. The engine is awesome but the suspension is certainly its weakness at least when I hop on it and ride but you can easily ride down to its level once you get use to it, main thing I notice is the pencil small forks feels like the steering is on a bit of a delay.  

She will probably do one more season on this bike and then will want something full size. 

Beta X-trainer is best option but too much $$ for what we want to spend

GPX are a neat idea especially the air cooled 250e but Chinese with little resale value

AJP are better but have also heard questionable quality and hard to find used 

We are pretty much settled on an older KTM 200, 150 or possibly a YZ125. She will be giving up electric start but will be losing a ton of weight and getting a little bet less awkward geometry, the 230s have a bit odd geometry with the short wheel base and handlebar to pegs length is sort of short. 

That being said with me having a sort of maintenance heavy FX350 its kind of nice that all I have to do on her bike is air filter every few rides and oil every maybe like 15 hours or more which even that is too soon. 

What we need is a new version of the old Honda XR200.  A fuel injected, air cooled 200-300cc four stroke engine in a modern 250f chassis.  A bike that you could trail ride, ride off road or take to the MX track for a practice day.  Or even race MX or Off Road in the beginner class.

Those bikes are a blast.

I had a stranger let me ride his at a desert track and picked up quite a bit of time compared to my 250 mainly due to the fact of not worrying about shifting and you can pick up speed so quick with the turn of the throttle.

Weird feeling though of getting used to just hearing the suspension work and hit whoops.

The 1st thing I thought of was a KDX 220 would fit what you are looking for

The CRF250x is close.  Carbureted and water cooled, but has electric start.  Can do all the things mentioned.

Expensive, isn't it?

It's kinda crazy honda doesn't offer a big wheel crf150r with a cheaper air-cooled engine.

The kdx200 used to fit into this space ,  

I’m with you on the KDX. Very popular in its day. 

Yes, new it isn't cheap.  I got one with 20 hours on it for $4000.  

What about these Kayo bikes? The WV dealership I got my CRF from was packed with them. Sales guy I was working with said they were selling a lot of them, surprisingly.

https://www.ridekayo.com/copy-of-k4-250 

(Link says K4 250, but it pulls up the K2 230.)

$2,400 for a brand new 230 that weighs 231lbs... Can’t say I would trust one to go full-moto with, but as a playbike, that seems like a decent price for what you get.

Sweet!

I can't speak to the Kayo but myself and others have had good luck with she SSR bikes and you can buy any spare parts for them from a dealer.

I dare say they are as good of or better build quality as the Honda CRF line that I've been around recently.

Waaaay back in the day Yamaha had both MX and YZ models and Suzuki had both the TM and RM. The MX and TM bikes were less potent but really fun to ride.

Several of the large mainstream Honda, KTM, Yamaha etc dealers in the Houston area are selling Kayo.  Pretty sure they sell quite a few pit bike models.  

That’s pretty much what I’m thinking. something like a CRF230 with a little more motor (250-300cc), bigger conventional forks and a bigger, but simple shock. About 11 inches of travel. Add a rear disc brake. Good ergos and geometry don’t cost a penny more than bad ergos and bad geometry. I’d like to see a low/high seat option. Keep things simple and basic, let the aftermarket come up with the upgrades. 
 

A current CRF250f is $4899, I’d like to think an extra $1000 at retail would be enough to make the upgrades.

I bought it for $1300 as a real barn find. It had its original-but-rotten tires, and original but cracked seat cover!

After getting new tires, a new FMF silencer, a new seat cover, a KX125 aluminum kickstarter, a Honda CR front brake reservoir, new Boysen reeds, new grips, new rings, new Fredette chain guard, and a TUSK lighting/horn kit to make it street legal (Yup, it has a license plate), I was into it for about $2400 and a lot of my tinkering time getting it cleaned up, touching up the paint, and installing the new bits and pieces. 

Air-cooled, easy, and fun to ride and work on. Yeah. I done good.

At the risk of sounding like an old man, they had it right in the 80s, The KDX 200, IT 200 and the entire Honda XR lineup come to mind. Forget about pit bikes and people dumping 10K into them for a moment, think of recreational riders on a bit of lower tech air cooled bikes that are capable, affordable lightweight and most importantly DESIRABLE.  In its day a KDX or IT or some of the XRs were just awesome. 

BBR springs front and rear, a cradle, some wider foot pegs and taller bars transformed this into a fun and capable back yard ripper. Brakes suck but that classic xr100 engine is a real jewel.

In my eyes, a good play bike is a vintage 2-stroke.

Something is missing for sure. I have a ktm 350xcfw for 2-track, single track and dual sport rides. Also have a klx140rl with tb parts 170 kit, cam, carb, intake and it is a riot to ride. I have went to the track with both bikes and left the ktm on the truck, meanwhile I am out hammering that litle 170 smiling the whole way, not missing the ktm one bit. 

I dont much care for efi bikes, the ktm is a bit jerky even with a tuner, tps adjust, blah blah blah, just give me a dam aircooled 250cc in a modern chassis that doesnt weigh 290lbs and has a carb. 

I tried the crf250f, hated that the idle is not adjustable (uses a IAC), so no engine braking adjust

ttr230 is a no go with the drum brake, as well as crf230f

klx230r looks promising but no hagon or tuscany shock available as of now (EFI also uses IAC but aftermarket idle adjuster available)

gpx bikes bikes are "ok" I had the fse300r, efi was terrible and buggy, also had fse250e felt like it weighed 300lbs+

I had issues with both gpx bikes having mushy brakes, out of round rotors, airbox rubber not sealing etc, I wouldnt buy another

I cant find a clean crf250x or wr250f around me, not only that those bikes stators,wiring and cdi boxes are going on 15yrs old

KLX300r is 282lbs

2 strokes are a no go for me, I need to ride road sections in between trails

Having said all that the klx140 with a big bore kit, cam, carb, pipe etc is the closest thing I have ridden that checks all the boxes for a lightweight bike with correct power to weight ratio, air cooled, carb, disc brake, piggy back shock that can be re-valved, kx100 fork and triples bolt right on, kx100 shock can be used. The klx140g or klx140rf runs 21"/18" wheels, but can be fitted with 16"/19" wheels

If the klx230r was carb I would buy one today. There is a 269cc and 300cc kit available for them, but havent been out long enough to know how long they will last

 Someone say play bikes?