So, I Have A Dirt Bike Now

Photo: Elizabeth Blackstock

The best part about having a house on two acres of land is the fact that my younger brother has decided this is the place to store all of his automotive goodies. So, I have a dirt bike now.

My brother had been storing his bike out at our mom’s cabin property, but now that she’s clearing out the junk to sell the land, he needed somewhere else to store it. He hasn’t given or sold it to me, but he has said that if my husband and I fix it up, we can use it as much as we want. Somehow I thought this was a good deal and accepted the offer.

I know nothing about dirt bikes. It is a Yamaha. It is blue. It says 225 on the side. I have not yet gone in search of a serial number to find out more, though I’m not even sure I’ll find one, since this is my brother’s story about how he bought it:

Got it a few years ago from a rural teen for like 800 bucks, probably have the lined notebook somewhere but there was no paperwork besides that

Neat!

The thing has been sitting since my brother bought it, largely because he and I are on opposite spectrums of the whole height thing: He was too tall to comfortable ride it, and I am low-key concerned that I will be too short. I have no idea yet, though, because the thing was left in a covered but open-sided shed for years and I dare not touch it until I’ve launched a high-powered jet stream at it to clear out the spider nests and mold. This thing has its own ecosystem now.

We have a handful of tasks to get the thing up and running once it’s cleaned off. Most of the fluids have sludged up, and the fuel line may have rotted, though my brother said the whole fuel system sucked, anyway. There’s also a massive amount of play in the front suspension, and I am unclear if there’s a problem with the front fork.

So, I’m here to bring you along on this two-wheeled journey with me as I learn to wrench on a relatively inoffensive piece of equipment that is not designed to be my daily driver. In the process, I’m planning on familiarizing myself with all things bikes, since I have never once even sat on a motorcycle or dirt bike. In fact, I only vaguely know how to ride a pedal bike. What could go wrong?

In the meantime, we’ll be giving the Yamaha a good scrub while I search for my first dirtbike girlfriend.