Help me choose my next "mini bike."

I used to enjoy riding around on my wife's TTR125. My kids getting to that age to ride a dirtbike. I cant wait what other little toys I may be getting in the future.

The mini (17/14 wheels) and super mini (19/16 wheels) have got to be my favorite bikes. Even at 6'5" I still enjoy riding them on all day trail rides. I find that I never take the ride too seriously and am smiling nearly the entire time, when on the big bikes I am concentrating much harder and sometimes forget that I am riding for pleasure as I can get way too serious (or ride way faster than I probably should.)

I have a drz125 little wheel with rm85 forks and rear shock that is a blast and has been through everything I could throw at it without it complaining. If it had just a few more ponies (like 10hp total) and big wheels (19/16) it would be the perfect tight trail bike. A 150 or 190 big bore would easily get what I'm after (and make it faster than my wife's mini!)

My wife had an xr100 and xr200 which we sold after a few years when she was pregnant with our first son and we always regretted selling the 100. With that in mind I bought a "Dave Miller Concepts" xr100 conversion which has the same engine that she knows and loves (with a 120cc big bore/ big cam/ big carb/ pipe) fit inside a cr85 chassis so it has top notch suspension, brakes, and handling while having a fun and useable powerband (unlike the cr85 engine that is all or nothing.) You can buy a DIY kit from xr's only:http://www.socalxrs.com/dmc.htm , send them a chassis and they will do the work, or even buy a "turn key" bike that has the same concept from Service Honda: http://servicehonda.com/2010-models48/honda34/junior-100-y25 Those are all pretty spendy options, I'm glad a got a deal on mine because there is little chance that I'd cough up full price for one.

I think the crf150f would be pretty sweet with just a cr85 fork and a better rear shock. It fits me better and has a much stronger frame (full cradle.)Depending on year, you could go the 225 (?)cc's pretty easily if you really wanted. It is a bit heavier than the other mini's, but it has noticeably better ergonomics for an adult vs other similar sized bikes and is still much lighter than most fullsize mx bikes. If I were starting from scratch again, I'd likely start with an early (kickstart) 150f.

Your ttr has lots of potential as well. BBR frame cradle/ skid will stiffen up the chassis enough to take adult abuse. YZ85 forks bolt on. 150 kits are cheap. I would say just keep/ build it and buy another mini!

It's more fun when your whole riding group is on similar equipment and no one has a total advantage, that is why I have 2 built up mini's, nothing brings out a smile like 2 grown adults bangin' bars on a couple little trail bikes. It is more fun to ride a slow bike fast, than a fast bike slow!

DMC built cr/xr120:



DRZ125 with RM85 suspension:



CRF150F e-start that my wife tried out for a bit and thought it felt too heavy compared to our other bikes:



CRF150F kickstart that I tried to buy but my friend could never come up with paperwork so we passed:

You all gave me some great ideas and listed some bikes that I didn't even know existed. Special thanks to The Letter J's post as this is exactly where I'm coming from.
I think I'm leaning toward one of the older little Hondas but will check out some Yamahas too as I've been very pleased with the TTR 125.
Again, thanks for the great suggestions, I'm doing some shopping and will add another "mini" bike to the stable hopefully in the next couple of weeks and will let you know how it flushes out.
Cheers.

ColdC....definetly go over to the TW200forum.com and check out the TW200....you will be surprised. Happy hunting.