Yamaha hasn't changed this ttr230 since 2005 so what makes it still a good bike today or is it a good bike in this video I'm going to break down all the major areas of this bike what I like what I don't like why you should get this or why you shouldn't get this bike the ttr230 is yamaha's entry level or starter trail bike for adults because it's got the full size wheels but it has a lower seat height than like a Motocross or andural race bike such as like the YZ 250 or 450 it has a 230c fourstroke air cool dual overhead cam engine but what does that mean well since it's air cooled there's no radiators to worry about it's lower performance but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad thing you can run on pump gas not worry about overheating and the power is very smooth very controllable so when you're just learning how to ride learning how to use the clutch and throttle and first gear it's going to be very smooth when you're trying to let out the clutch and get going and when you're riding at speeds 5 10 15 M hour because it's not Snappy or Jerky like a race bike so it's as opposed to wow wow which can be very scary and intimidating when you're just learning how to ride or if you're riding in the tight woods and you haven't mastered the basic techniques is really low so that you don't have to use much throttle you don't have to go very fast to get going you only have to go like 3 or 4 miles an hour before you can let out the clutch and you can start going with your feet on the pegs whereas a race bike you got to be going six seven 8 miles an hour use a little more throttle be a little more precise with the clutch to get going unless you gear it down and the stock exhaust is really nice and quiet if you leave the baffle in which means you're not going to annoy neighbors as you would with a race bike and you'll be less likely to get areas shut down due to noise complaints it has about 20 Peak horsepower which may not seem like a lot especially compared to like the 250f race bike that has about 40 horsepower but that's not what makes this engine so great you got to look at the power under that curve that Peak horsepower is only when you're at one certain RPM and in this it's about 8,000 RPM and how often are you going to be riding there well if you're just casually trail riding not very often you're probably going to be in the 2 to 6 or 7,000 RPM range and that is where this bike shines because it has very good low-end torque that's very smooth it's very linear it's not a huge ramp up it's very smooth so that you can be in too high of a gear and lug it down low and you still don't have to use a whole lot of clutch to prevent it from stalling or flaming out the suspension very basic there's really no adjustability with the forks uh externally with the shock either besides the preload which you should adjust to get your sag right the SAG is adjusting the ride height because if the rear is too low or too high it's going to affect the handling and you're not going to have as much traction and control no adjustability means there's less to go wrong so there's less maintenance but if you're an experienced rider that's kind of a a setback if you're starting to ride at faster speeds now it is very plush compared to a race bike but that's a good thing if you're just starting out because if you're only going 5 10 15 miles an hour you're hitting rocks and roots and bumps on the trail you're not going to get bucked around and feel every little bump in your hands and in your feet because the soft suspension is going to absorb it a lot better than a race bike at that speed it's set up for like 15 to 180 lb Rider but if you're a little bit heavier you can still deal with a stock suspension uh if you're just starting out but once you start riding a little faster a little more aggressive you're going to want some stiffer Springs in this and when you do start riding faster and you're trying to race or just push your pace the stock suspension will show its disadvantages when you start bottoming out getting bucked around with good technique you can make up for the lack of uh Performance Suspension but eventually you'll want to put in stiffer Springs or send it out to get it revalved or if you're an expert level racer you might eventually just want to upgrade to a race bike but you would be surprised at how fast you can go in the woods or single track Trails on a low performance trail bike like this even though it has soft suspension and only 20 horsepower as far as the weight goes it's about 250 lb fully loaded with all the fluids and gas and for its physical size it's a little bit heavy especially if you're coming up from like a 125 trail bike like the TTR 125 it's going to feel a lot bigger and heavier but compared to like the Enduro bike like the 250 FX or the X it's going to feel easier to handle because the low seat height it's about 34 a little over 34 in so the lower of Center gravity makes it feel lighter when you're riding it it's easier to handle it's easier to put your foot down especially if you're under 6 feet tall I only have like a 27 in seam so it's really nice to be able to put a foot down when you come to a stop or when you get to a really technical set ction and have to dab your foot on the ground now being a little bit shorter it doesn't have as much suspension as a race bike which means that less potential for performance because when you have less suspension it's not going to absorb as much especially those smaller bumps but if you're not using the whole suspension travel anyway it's not going to make a difference and the wheelbase is going to be a little bit shorter than the fulls size race spikes which means that it's easier to turn uh on tight Corners tight areas this can be easier to handle you'll be able to turn it and corner it with less effort because it's like driving a twodo car versus a big crew cab longbox truck it's kind of an exaggeration but that's how it feels now moving on to the two minor things that I don't really like about this especially compared to the Honda crf250f is the first one very minor is just the kickstand stop so if you when you put the kickstand down to park the bike you don't want to have the bike angling down because the kickstand is almost straight as opposed to like an angle so if it's angled down the bike is just going to roll forward and fall on the ground so you just got to make sure you find a spot that's flat or even angle it up a little bit again minor complaint you could grind that stop down a little bit if you want and two is the carburetor there's two things that I don't like about the carb one is I don't like dealing with jets and stuff even though I can and it's not that big of a deal if you're using it regularly because carbs they have problems when you let them sit for more than a month especially using pump gas with ethanol in it which is why I prefer fuel injection because they can go longer and have less problems and just always start right up but aside from that the bike still runs great as long as you get the jutting dialed and that's the other thing is that the fuel screw which is very important for getting uh the pilot jet circuit dialed for easy starting no bogging good throttle response uh it won't die easily it'll uh warm up quicker and stay cool the fuel screw on this carburetor it has a plug so you're not supposed to access it I'm guessing it's due to some emissions regulated nonsense so if you want to be able to adjust that because this bike does not start very well when it's [Music] cold you got to kind of use the throttle to keep it running or leave the choke running and it takes like 15 minutes to fully warm up and even then there's a little bit of a bog right off of the idle it backfires a little bit so it's just not perfect carburation at least in this climate and I like to have a perfectly jetted carb so that's nice and crisp crisp smooth throttle response it's reliable and starts easy so you got to take the carb off you got to drill out the plug and then you can adjust it doesn't seem like a lot but it's just kind of a pain that you have to do that just to get a really well- running bike right away so aside from those two minor complaints this is an excellent starter bike or casual trail bike if you're over 5ot six tall and you're looking for a full-size bike that's easy to ride has electric start is reliable doesn't require much maintenance very smooth power no radiators this is an excellent bike and as far as the Kickstart I always get someone commenting saying I'm not going to buy it cuz it doesn't have a backup Kickstarter what if the battery goes dead well that's true but do you still have a backup crank start for your car because it's only electric start as the battery is properly charged you're not going to have a problem and even then you can still bump start it and most batteries it's pretty easy to tell when they're about to die they'll start to crank the engine over slower so anytime you feel uh that the battery is starting to die out replace it now if you want uh fuel injected bike or if you need a a backup Kickstarter or or if you're looking for a race bike that has a lot of power or really good suspension this bike probably isn't for you but if you're just starting out or if you're still nervous when riding single track Trails you don't need to get more power or suspension than a bike like this why am I so adamant about it because I see too many people starting out on Enduro or race bikes with too much power that they can't handle especially when riding in the woods they end up getting hurt or just crashing hard and getting scared and it slows down their uh Improvement when it comes to confidence or speed and skills so that's why I'm a huge advocate for riding a slow bike fast rather than riding a fast bike slow and if you do want to learn how to access that fuel screw on the carb and adjust it you should check out this video here or if you want to compare this to the Honda trail bike you should check out this video here I'm Kelly figer from Motocross Hideout and I want you to ride safe so that you can have fun with your friends and family for many years to come