1997 Honda Dirt Bike reviews

Awesome motorcycle! Steering handles very well. Very responsive. Tires 40/40 psi Avon Vipers. Getting 38 mpg. Great for such a beast! Lots of power. Throttle is immediately responsive. All of this chrome really turns heads. Love this bike! Show less

Bought with 12K, now have 20K. My 12th motorcycle and 3rd Blackbird. Should have never sold the other 2...first one I got with too little riding experience though :) Probably the best bike of all time. Smooth as glass...ooozes quality everywhere from the insane power to incredible brakes, shifter, chassis. Totally reliable. A shame can no longer buy them new. Had a Hayabusa...felt like cheap vibrator compared to the Blackbird. Show less

I have a 95 XR 200. It's a wicked bike! I can take that bike up hills too steep to walk up. Literally! It's got great power and is impossible to wreck. It's an older bike but runs like it's brand new. I'd recommend this bike to anyone out there. Show less

Of the 5 bikes I have the XX sees the road more often than all the rest put together, and it doesn't look like a carnival coming into town like most teen machines today, smooth, fast, reliable, the only parts replaced in 61k miles was 2 batteries and a chain tensioner at 35k, part was 29.00 and 15 minutes to replace, still doesn't burn a drop of oil, you can go through some tires if your hard on the throttle. VFR handle bars make it more comfortable for the long hauls. Show less

AFTER OWNING AN '84 V65 MAGNA A FEW YEARS BACK, THIS BIKE PUT A BIG SMILE BACK ON MY FACE. AFTER A FEW WEEKS OF GETTING USED TO THIS STYLE OF BIKE, I STILL HAD THE BIG GRIN ON MY FACE EVRYTIME I RIDE THIS BABY! IN MY OPINION, HONDA DID THIS BIKE RIGHT. HOPEFULLY HONDA WILL DO IT'S NAME JUSTICE WITH THE ALL-NEW 2004 CBR1000RR. Show less

I OWN A 1998 HONDA XXBLACKBIRD IT IS THE BEST REFINED BIKE I HAVE EVER OWNED I HAVE TOURED UP TO 1700 MILES ON IT AND LOVED IT ALL THE WAY. AND THE ABSOLUTE SMOOTHEST 4 CYLINDER BUILT! Show less

Bought it w/6k miles from the original owner before it was a year old, now 5 years later, it only has 9k miles. No problems, pure enjoyment, only complaint is the numbness in my hands that sometimes occurs pretty readily. Thinking of Heli Bars? Show less

Heli Bars, Tall Zero Speed screen (blk), FactoryPro jetting and 2 degree ignition advance make this Honda a Holiday! Comfortable, long-legged and scary-reliable (16,500 miles as original owner so far)with all the above mods make the desire to own new bike just a fleeting afterthought. Tank bags, tailbag, and saddle bags (all by Tour Pro) complete the Sport Touring package and hold more than the Givi hard bags at a fraction of the cost. The bike is dead-stable up to an indicated 155 with luggage (actual speed per GPS was about 140) until I ran out of road... I routinely experience the edge of adhesion and find that I touch down the fairing and exhaust (in short order) before anything else. Although the bike is now entering its 5th or 6th year, it looks great and has held value well for a product of this type. A comment about the jetting... as with any jetting project, this was undertaken to cure a factory lean condition that manifested itself during warm-up, and an obnoxious dip in torque around 5500-6500 rpm. The jetting solved both problems admirably and enhanced the ridability of the bike to such a degree that even the occasional rider-friend noted the difference! Mileage on my 2000 trip averaged 41-43 MPG, as low as 31 and as high as 48, depending on the type of riding. That was over 2500 miles in 7 days. Altitude was about 800 - 1200 feet; pretty normal. Will I sell the bike? My wife will when I am dead and gone, this is also my 4th bike in 7 years. Used ones? look at the chain, sprockets, can tell alot on how much of that torque has been used to abuse the bike. I would never sell one to a kid. Bought mine new in '98 as a '97 model. Show less

After years of wanting a Valkyrie, I finally bought a used one with 10,000 miles on it. So far it has been an excellent bike, plenty of power and comfort. Although a little heavy, it handles like a dream. Gets plenty of stares too. I think I'll keep this one for a long time. Show less

Right off I've got over 30 yrs riding and I've owned 3 Harleys, 1 BSA, 2 Hondas and believe it or not 1 BMW. So I somewhat know what I'm talking about. The Valk has great power, nice and smooth. that's because it spends most of the time riding on a trailer back to some dealer to get repaired. Before it had 30 miles on it, it had been at the dealer getting fixed twice. It's now 2001 and I've only got 17,682 miles on it and I normally ride about 20 to 30,000 miles a year on the other bikes I've had. And Oh! By the way I'm here typing this because yes it's in the shop again. This time because it only seems to want to run on 5 spark plugs and smells of raw gas all the time, bad enough to make your eyes burn going down the road. None of the dealers I've been to are very helpful either. It wouldn't start after I rode it home from the dealer the day I got it. So! 30 mins after I got it, It was on it's way back to get repaired. All in all Honda has replaced 2 Carbs at 3000 miles, 1 starter at 3500 miles, 5th gear at 5100 miles and 1 complete wiring harness at 12003 miles. Countless nickel and dime problems too. It gets serviced by a dealer everytime it's due. This repair I've been told, no matter what it is, is on me. This will be my last Honda. Not because of the Valkyrie junk that it is, but because of the Crappy dealers I've had to deal with. One in Mi refused to work on it at all because it had a history of problems. WOW! A dealer that doesn't want to repair a bike. Show less