Do we need new bikes every year?

Yes we do, I need that placebo effect new body work does to me. Otherwise I just don't feel like I'm getting any faster. 

78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.

You know why trucks and bike cost as much as they do? Because people buy stuff they can't afford, if people weren't buying 60-80k trucks Ford, Chevy, and Toyota wouldn't price  that high. Profits on vehicles has to be up fairly big since 2019-2020.

I bought both of my boys lightly used PW 50's. Not exactly sure what I am buying next, but probably lightly used E-5's. My bike is a unicorn, a 2019 RMZ 250 that runs great. I would like a YZ 250F and I have the cash to buy 2 of them, but I don't need one.

no,  

but new bikes are cool, 

It's not so much about having the latest and greatest for me as much as it is moving on before its time for a serious overhaul.  I keep up my machines but for the time and cost especially on the 4 strokes to put in higher hour maintenance its better for me to sell and put the money towards a newer machine.  I know i lose money this way but I figure im going to lose it anyways.  

Its the wear & tear and the cost to fix it that becomes a factor. The price for parts and labor has gone up significantly.  Something I hear from customers all the time is that they didnt realize that a used bike would cost as much or more then a new bike when you factor in maintenance.  So do you need a new bike every year?  Depends how much you ride it, but eventually its going to hit that point where you are working on it more then you are riding it.

I’ve had my fair share of new bikes but when possible I try to buy used with under 15 hours on them. None of them have made me faster but I do feel more at home on some

As a midpack 60+ int, a new bike is a disadvantage. It takes me a while to get used to a new bike and get it dialed in for my glacial speed. New bikes are very cool, I love them, but I don’t buy them very often.

You follow the Ramsey principles don’t you. Good on you dude, you’re winning. If only everyone had our mindset 

I have a 2017.5 KTM factory edition. I haven’t ridden a 450 I’ve liked better. It’s mellow and easy to ride and handles great. The air forks (the suspension is from a 2021) could be a bit plusher but it’s nothing I can’t deal with. The guy who had it before me was a vet rider who rode it gently and looked after it meticulously. I do the same. Why would I “upgrade” when I like what I’ve got?

 It’s not like I’ll wear out the engine any time soon. A gently ridden, well maintained 450 should last a long time before it needs a anything. My buddy opened his 2015 KTM 450 engine at 240 hours and put a piston in since it was apart but everything was in spec and looked pristine. If you’re riding a 250 on the rev limiter then that’s a completely different story. But a vet novice getting a new 450 every year is vanity (or you just want one and have the cash - nothing wrong with that) more than necessity. 

I buy, therefore I am.  

I typically have bought a new bike every year, 200-250hrs isn’t that hard to achieve if you’re not in a City…

In the 80s bike evolution was so fast.  Who wanted to stay on last years bike?

Yeah it’s fun to get a new bike.  As much as I like new bikes I’m kinda in the I may hang with what I got for a while camp.  It can be work to get the handle right on a new ride.  Bikes are not changing that fast as years past best I can tell.  I’m happy with what I got for now.  

I go to the track, but getting older and don’t put in the laps.  My bikes don’t rack the hours up all that fast now days.

With all that said…….be cool to have an electric start RMZ if it ever happens lol.  Or maybe a 250 Desmoto!!!

I think a big factor is how much you ride. I'm a very casual weekend warrior, and riding ebbs and flows for me as life is also happening. I'm running a yz 250 that I've had since 2014. Keep up on maintenance, replace shit when it breaks. A new bike isn't giving me an $8000 better experience. 

I almost bought a new bike last year, but I bought some wheels and touch point parts to make it feel more fresh instead. The chassis has character, it isn't tired (I tell myself). I ride for fun, and it's still a super fun bike to ride. Still beat a lot of my buddies that ride way more often, and get new bikes every year. There is some satisfaction in that alone almost haha.

Well if you own a Suzuki, you don't wonder if you would be any faster on new year's model. 

Very true back then 86 cr,s rear drum , 87 rear disk.  I hear industry people that been around for a long time say . Bikes haven’t changed much in the last 20 yrs .  I think the last few yrs the bikes went backwards.  Durability of new bikes is terrible on some 250f,s .  People get all excited when they see my 04 cr125 . I say Thx it’s my practice bike .  How durable thses bikes are is ridiculous. 

I would be more excited to race someone’s 250 2-st mod bike . Any model prefer a 90 to 07 cr .  Being on the 125 it would a quick learn. I had  a 91 cr250 I,d burn 2-3 tanks ice riding what a great bike & perfectly balanced.  But I like RM 250,s a lot too.  But a 95-97 cr125 mod bike would make more sense to impress who arranges the riders .  If my body holds up & I keep getting better . And I can finish good .  A ride at Foxhills vet race on a 89 cr125 or 95 works bike or any bike . A 96 husky 125 was a rocket there, i,d ride it too. I don’t think there’s too many 50+ riders just riding 125,. I could hop on & go I rode all the 90,s 125,s  not many kx125 tho.  

That a cleaver statement.

Ride vintage.

You'll buy a new bike, every year - piece by piece, moto by moto.

‘Need’ is very different to ‘want’. 

We deal with enough mundane things in our lives, going through the daily motion with no excitement, so when it comes to our hobbies, I think yeah we should have the new bike if it excites us. 

Nothing to do with ‘need’ or whether our old bike was perfectly good or not. 

Let’s face it, none of us ‘need’ to ride dirt bikes at all… it’s one huge needless expense… but we ‘want’ to… 

The sport is accepting of the common man. Don’t get caught up in trying to keep up with the Joneses. 

- René DeShoppingCartes

No….but at around 120-150hrs I like to get a new bike so I don’t have to replace bottom ends, cranks, transmission gears. If you add up parts & labor, assuming you pay someone to rebuild your bikes, it’s close to the difference of selling & buying a new bike, and yiu end up with a new bike, not a 2 year old bike…..with that said, you generally will not be any faster on new bike….I have 2 modern bikes I rotate, one for practice and woods/ gncc riding and one for Mx….once one of them hits the 100+ hr mark, I”m looking to replace it with new…strange fact: I totally enjoy rebuilding my old 2 strokes that I ride….I want nothing to do with rebuilding my modern 4 stroke…

As a man who clearly has a problem buying new bikes, I can tell you that we definitely do not need new bikes every year. However, I do happen to need a new bike every year because, as stated previously, I've developed a problem, and I'm not a quitter. Here is my current garage situation 🤣

This is a dream in one sense and a logistic nightmare to someone like me who can’t keep track of maintenance unless I take notes haha

Yes and no. 

I was sort of doing the baby steps without knowing about them. I had a bunch of student debt so I focused on that first because I was taught to pay down debt quickly. Then I got married and my wife is a saver so we started saving. Somewhere after that I found out about Dave, but it was interesting how we kind of stumbled into a large part of what he teaches. The biggest thing I think is being content with what you have and enjoy when you do get new things and not worry about rushing to upgrade right away.

One thing I don't agree with Dave on is not doing an employer match right away. I wanted to pay down my student loans without investing (something he encourages, even though I didn't know bout Dave at that point), but my employor REQUIRED that I contribute 5% into retirement from day 1 and they basically double my contribution (state job). The growth on my retirement over the past 13 years has been unbelievable. I really lucked into this, because I wanted to take that 5% and put it towards my student loans instead of investing. I agree you should pay down debt quickly, especially high interest debt, but investing will get you further ahead in the long run.

This is where I’m at. I need 10 hours or so before it feels like my bike.

LOL - I often tell people it's not all it's cracked up to be! I spend a lot of time maintaining bikes, but thankfully, I enjoy working on them as well. I have detailed notes on every one of them since I can't remember what I did 3 hours ago, lol. One thing about owning so many bikes is they don't build up hours as quickly, the time gets distributed amongst all the bikes.

I bet many of us have bought the latest and greatest at the time and went backwards in terms of speed. Nothing worse than being faster on the bike you sold! I remember I had a 92 CR250 and bought a 93 YZ250. I struggled with that bike a couple of years and couldn't tell you anything was wrong with it. I was ready for a new one and sold it, but during the meantime I borrowed my 92 CR back from my friend that I sold it to and immediately  picked up speed and positions. Two years wasted on a bike that just wasn't for me.

Yup, I have a set of habits that take a while to adjust to any changes. Especially the front/rear balance, I’ll swap gearing, springs, tires and fork height every 3-4 rides until it’s natural feeling. The dumb part is I can jump on someone else’s bike and ride basically as fast as I do on my bike, but with mine it’s almost as obsessive thing to get it right. Since I only ride 1-2 times a month on average, it’s a year or more to get a bike right. My riding buddies seem to like my bikes a lot once I’m done with them, so I think I’m getting a good setup, it just takes me forever to get there.