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I'm pretty sure a few people here have mentioned bikes at some point. Mainly you americans with your vast amounts of countryside. I'm thinking about picking up a new toy for trail biking around the local countryside and also motocross (we have two motocross circuits near us). I've never owned a bike before, but ridden them a couple of times.

Can someone suggest a few makes and models to check out? Preferably not brand new bikes, as I intend to buy second hand. I'm also likely to ride this on the road occasionally, so it's gotta be a road legal version and be capable of at least 60mph. Also a fairly popular model would good, so it's easy to get spares (as I intend to work on this myself). Needs to be able to take a motocross style beasting, and nut just a few puddles.

I'm a rookie to bikes, so trying to get info from as many peeps as I can so I know a few makes and models and have a few ideas before I go hunting.

Well the first thing to note is that motocross bikes aren't supposed to be ridden on the road. I'm not sure about the legality of it, but it's bad for the tyres.

That's about all I know.

You should get a biker mate to help you choose one, take him with you when you go to see any bike. The thing with buying them, is that they can seem really cheap, but could be very costly, so having someone who knows what to look out for is vital. The price of extras needs to be considered too, because if your gonna spend £500 on extras, then buying a bike that comes with these extras could save you a fortune. For a good bike with lot's of add-ons available and source-able parts, well the Yamaha YZ125 or YZ250 is a good start, very accessible bikes, the sort of thing you could maintain yourself without too many worries.