The MXR simply checked all my boxes for what I was looking for in a bike. No traditional maintenance, no carbs to mess with, no oil to change (well, just a little bit), no filters to clean, no fussing with jetting at altitude, no gelled gasoline after sitting in storage, no stalling. No f*¢%ing kickstarting! (Hallelujah!) No waiting for the thing to warm up, or wondering if it will start at all, or if it will keep running if I tip it over. Turn the key and go. Instant power. Silent power.
Excellent suspension right out of the box. No shifting or clutch, so I can concentrate on body position, good technique, and bike placement. I can easily say my riding has improved instantly at least 50% simply because I can concentrate on riding instead of keeping the damn thing running. This bike takes a fraction of the time to prep for riding compared to my old bike, so I can just ride. Fuel switch: nope. Choke: nope. Starter: nope. Kickstarter: Hell Nope! Just get on and ride.
I'm relatively new to dirt, but this bike makes it so easy it probably shouldn't be legal. It has literally put the fun back into riding for me, and that is priceless in my book. I'm enjoying riding again, and I get to share that with my kids, who are growing up way too fast. I'm on the back side of 50 now, and life is too short to worry about whether I should spend the money or not. Life is about creating memories, and this thing is making good ones. It gets me outside and riding, which is a good thing.
Plus my wife will let me park it in the garage because it doesn't smell like gas! That's worth its weight in gold right there.
I knew I was taking a chance when I bought this bike a month ago. I probably overpaid, I admit, but I wanted it and didn't want the opportunity to slip away. I knew the company was belly up, and spare parts would be harder to find than unicorn testicles. But I also saw the benefits of the bike, and nothing else is really even close to this level of quality and capability in the dirt bike world yet. Plus this community is super helpful and crazy resourceful. I'm taking every precaution I can to find and stockpile some of the scarcer parts and learn as much as I can about the unobtanium ones (like the battery) so I can keep this thing running. If we can really keep these things running for 1000 hours, like the company was touting, it will pay for itself several times over in lack of oil changes, top end jobs, clutch rebuilds, pistons, mufflers, blown Knudsen valves, and untold gallons of gasoline. I know it could let me down tomorrow. But for today, it was a super fun kick in the ass to ride and I had a huge grin on my face all day. And I didn't have to change the damned oil when I got home.
So far, an unexpected added bonus is the notoriety. I have yet to take the bike anywhere (whether it is riding at the local off-road park, loading it in my truck, or just washing it in my own freakin' driveway) without someone coming up and asking questions. "Is that what I think it is? I've never seen one in the wild before! Those are soooo cooool!" And this is in a neighborhood that has more Teslas per capita than pretty much anywhere in the world (literally 20 miles from the Tesla factory). I might as well have a new nuclear-powered space Lamborghini. When I brought it home a month ago, I stopped in 3 places to pick up some parts or food, etc. At each stop, people literally gathered around the truck to take a look. That certainly never happened with my old dirt bike.
Risky, yes. Worth it, yes. Would I buy another one? As soon as I get some more money.
I’m looking for a MXR 2018/19
