The TRF site was not really useful and seemed to want to charge for membership in exchange for further info, but that info is available elsewhere. IIRC they use the money raised to fight closures and whatnot so you are supporting the cause I guess.
This site did seem useful
http://www.glass-uk.org/In particular the TrailWise site it links to. That does seem a bit daan saaf orientated though and I ended up scouring forums for info on tracks around Preston/North West. ITs map feature is good if not a little clunky.
You can go places "ilegally" and not get bothered but anywhere where theres a rambler results in shaken heads and at least one busy body amongst the group reaching for the phone to call the police. Know your rights! You get that on lanes you are entitled to be on and no amount of telling them its a green lane will change their minds. Best just to carry on really otherwise you waste half an hour discussing it and waiting for cops to arrive and tell them its legal to be on a bike here...
There are a couple of classifications as well, its not as simple as "this is a green lane so were alright jack". Some are fine for bikes but not quads or cars etc, some are fine for things other than 4x4 and whatnot. The lowest denominator is the motorcycle though so if it allows vehicles then bikes should be ok. I think the TRF have a 25mph voluntary speed limit which you may think is ample but I was getting up to 60mph off road... Take care when people are about obviously, if you are seen with massive roost coming off the back tire its heavily frowned upon and you might end up explaining to a copper what you were doing. Your also running the risk of colliding with someone.
I will say that the more full on bikes like I had (crf450x) and others like it (KTM's, Yamaha YZF450W etc) are not very suitable for road use in trail trim. The tires are actually really good fun on tarmac, slide nice and give suprising grip but you will get about 10 hours or so out of a rear if you do any hooning around on the street
. You can worry superbike riders if the roads are twisty enough (Trough of Bowland is ace, you can even get some airtime).
They are also geared for offroad (well duh) and going anything over 60mph is tedious as the engine is revving hard. You can gear them up easilly, I got higher gearing but never fitted it, but then it isn't as good offroad... Loud? Mine had a "quiet" Pro Circuit pipe on it and although I never got pulled for it riding out of the town man it was loud (sounded awesome though).
Funny enough my dad got a Yamaha Serow 225 trail bike and on the street its top end was about the same and it was nicer to ride. Off road was a different story but its a big compromise so depends if you intend to ride to green lanes or take it in a van. The serow can go anywhere offroad the CRF could but not as quick. If your not too fussed about going Dave Thorpe on the mud its ace and its much better on the street. I would imagine the larger engined or more modern trail bikes would be better.
I would suggest that you be as honest as poss to yourself regarding the type of riding you will be doing when choosing a bike. On mine anything over 30 miles was annoying, the 60mph sympathy limit was...limiting.. I couldnt use it to go to work (30 miles up the M6), they have no ignition key or steering lock etc I did, however, love it offroad (I used to race motox) so I forgave its other weaknesses. In truth though I would probably have got more use from something with a more road slant like a XT 600 or whatever.
The ultimate would be taking it to greenlane rich places in a van with mates for a day or two (ie wales) staying over and really getting into it. I have a young'un though so working all week then coming home and buggering off for a weekend isn't really on the cards. You could probably get away with that a few times a year but is it worth a depreciating bike in the garage with tax/insurance etc In the end I couldn't justify it as I had my Fireblade as well so flogged it.
