YZ-250. You'd want something else for a work bike, but you said you wanted the top end. A Yamaha TW200 is the perfect work bike and it will do trails like you would not believe. That plus it is also street legal. If you want something with more power, you can get a Honda XR 350 or 400. They make them up to 650, but that is kind of overkill. You could handle it, though.

You'll get it. My cousin is shorter but about the same weight, and he rides a Suzuki 750. That's a sweet vintage ride, you're getting, btw. I've got a 1985 Honda Magna that I just adore. Maintain it properly and that bike will run forever, guaranteed.

When turning you judge how fast you want to go through the turn and brake before you turn, because while you're leaned over in the turn you don't have as much traction and strong braking can make you go down. However, you can 'trail' some back brake through a turn, just use it gently. You can keep the throttle constant or let it off altogether. You speed up as you exit the turn, as you straighten back up.

Yes, if you need to stop quickly you just squeeze both handles--clutch and brake. You can shift down to neutral or first while you're doing this, or you can shift down once you stop, in order to get back going again in 1st. If it's a panic stop, that's an emergency, so just BRAKE and think about shifting once you're out of danger. (Some bikes don't shift very easily when standing still, so it's good to shift down while you are coming to a stop, while you have the clutch in.)

To downshift you pull in the clutch and press down on the shifter. You the let the clutch back out, adding a little throttle if necessary (because the engine is going to be going faster at a lower gear). If you downshift too much, 'engine braking' can make you lose traction, so let the clutch out easy and feel how it's going.

You use the back and front brake together. The back brake is useful for when you are in doubt about your traction. For instance, if you're riding at a good speed over a road and suddenly there's a lot of gravel or dead leaves on the road, or even if it's just wet. You'd want to put on a little rear brake to steady the bike before applying the front brake. Also, as I mentioned, you can use a little back brake as a 'drag brake' around a corner.

street legal dirtbike?

I live in the state of NC. I have a 50cc dirt bike. It goes just around 35 at its fastest. Can I ride this on the roads? Or does it need to have lights and all of that put on it? Please tell me what I need to do to make it street legal if it needs it.