stupid question

[636]

since i sold my 636,i going to get a street legal on/offroad.....heres the question

what would you chose and why.....and the pro's and cons of each....these will be new purchase....
they will be for tooling around northeast vermont,maybe the occasional 250 mile trip...no trackdays or any of that....before anyone says either bike has no speed,im all done with the rockets and not interested in speed anymore.... if it does 90 max ill be happy.....these are the two im looking at.....only ones im lookin at also

KLR 650

DRZ 400 SM

[Puppet]

KLR

Will be more comfortable for the distance and still easy enough to ride around town

[ChikkenNoodul]

The SM is really street only (And unpaved roads you'd take a streetbike down) unless you pick up a second set of wheels for good DS tires, from what I hear anyway.

[636]

well thats a good point but wont be doing woods,thanks for making me remember something i should have put in the original post....

[schleppy]

For curvy vermont roads I'd take the SM no question (based on everything I've heard about both bikes). If you put a better padded seat on there, and maybe some hand guards/heated grips I'd imagine it wouldn't be the worst long-haul bike in the world.

The KLR doesn't seem like it would stir the soul at all...

[jmh992003]

how about one of thos Aprilla supermoto bikes, those are sick looking and you wont find too many around

[636]

For curvy vermont roads I'd take the SM no question (based on everything I've heard about both bikes). If you put a better padded seat on there, and maybe some hand guards/heated grips I'd imagine it wouldn't be the worst long-haul bike in the world.

The KLR doesn't seem like it would stir the soul at all...

sat on the KLR and its totally dead to me.....also sat on a z1000,not bad liked it alot,but dont want to spend that much.....

[636]

how about one of thos Aprilla supermoto bikes, those are sick looking and you wont find too many around

moneys a little hard to come by in my area

[highsider]

Get the KLR. Trust me, I own your other option.

If you'd like, you're welcome to take my DRZ for a spin just to see if you like it.

[636]

Get the KLR. Trust me, I own your other option.

If you'd like, you're welcome to take my DRZ for a spin just to see if you like it.

tell me the con's highsider.....no flame intended.....

klr just didnt feel right for me sitting on it...i dont like that feeling,but did sit on the klx250s and loved the feel of it,about the same size of the DRZ

[highsider]

tell me the con's highsider.....no flame intended.....

klr just didnt feel right for me sitting on it...i dont like that feeling,but did sit on the klx250s and loved the feel of it,about the same size of the DRZ

Well, like I said, come and ride mine and see what you think.

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Jack of all Trades, master of none"? That's the DRZSM. It will do everything, but will not do anything particularly well. It doesn't have enough balls to be an acceptable motard. (Manny, shut up, you haven't yet ridden an acceptable motard. Write back after riding a KTM. ) Its too heavy to be an acceptable dirt bike. Its an easy swap to make it a dual sport, but its expensive, and you end up with an heavy dirt bike. You can do some trail riding with the motard wheels (just ask newbob ), but its a little scary.

Also, for whatever its worth, I've not had a lot of luck with reliability. They aren't known for being an unreliable bike, but for whatever reason, mine has given me a number of headaches via faulty ignition bits, poor factory wiring, and a dead battery when the bike was 6 months old (the battery really wasn't the bike's fault).

As far as comfort, there is no comparison - the DRZ is unrideable after a couple of hours, the KLR is known for being fine for extended rides.

[Kurlon]

Just saw an 07 KLR in the flesh for the first time today. It REALLY wants to be a BMW 650. Looks like it'd be better for distance than the DRZ, I'd wager the DRZ can handle anything other than clean pavement better, and the DRZ will be a more 'exciting' ride between the two.

It really didn't do anything to get my attention though.

Some alternates to consider that may be more fun to do your trips on:
Ducati Multistrada 620
Ducati Monster 695
Suzuki SV650
Suzuki GS500
Suzuki VStrom 650

[Manny]

hope on thumpertalk.com in the drz400 section and spend an hour looking through it. Lots of guys show up with the same exact 2 bikes in mind.

Me and highsider don't agree on this, but his bike is set up like SHIT and mine is set up real real goood......real real real goooood. The drz has tons of available power, but because of epa regulations it needs a bit of uncorckjing to really wake up.

I was also looking at the KLR and knew the second I sat on it that it was not for me. It just felt too big and bulky. The KLR will be better for longer days for sure, no argument there, but I love the SM.

[highsider]

hope on thumpertalk.com in the drz400 section and spend an hour looking through it. Lots of guys show up with the same exact 2 bikes in mind.

Me and highsider don't agree on this, but his bike is set up like SHIT and mine is set up real real goood......real real real goooood. The drz has tons of available power, but because of epa regulations it needs a bit of uncorckjing to really wake up.

Our bikes are set up almost identically; we both have a jet kit and a Yosh exhaust, yours is the titanium system and mine is the stainless. Other than that, the only difference is that you spent 50% of the bike's value on a set of trick wheels, and I have beaten mine like a red-headed step child.

As I said, you really need to try out a real motard. I think you will be very surprised.

[636]

Also, for whatever its worth, I've not had a lot of luck with reliability. They aren't known for being an unreliable bike, but for whatever reason, mine has given me a number of headaches via faulty ignition bits, poor factory wiring, and a dead battery when the bike was 6 months old (the battery really wasn't the bike's fault).
.

really?
i had the fourwheeler version of this motor and it has now around 5000 hours on it,has been totally THRASHED.....but still refuses to quit....thats why im leaning towards this

thanks guys,i guess i have all winter to change my mind a thousand times

[Manny]

Our bikes are set up almost identically; we both have a jet kit and a Yosh exhaust, yours is the titanium system and mine is the stainless. Other than that, the only difference is that you spent 50% of the bike's value on a set of trick wheels, and I have beaten mine like a red-headed step child.

As I said, you really need to try out a real motard. I think you will be very surprised.

The wheels add like 10 hp bitch plus, I sold my stockers to some dumb ass like you trying to turn one into a dirt bike for 1100 bucks.

BTW, Im swaping the carb to an fcr mx 39 from TT in the next week or two. Ill let you know how it is.

The bottom line is highsider is right, kinda. Its not as fast as a crf or ktm, but, they run forever with very little easy maint and they have great potential for increasing the power, and they almost never blow up. Oh, yea, they are cheap too and the aftermarket market is huge and cheap too.

[highsider]

The wheels add like 10 hp bitch plus, I sold my stockers to some dumb ass like you trying to turn one into a dirt bike for 1100 bucks.

BTW, Im swaping the carb to an fcr mx 39 from TT in the next week or two. Ill let you know how it is.

Do you know what jets you have in it now?

Someone bought the 17's for the dirt? They're not going to like the results.

Let me know how the carb works out. I'm about 90% sure I'm getting rid of my DRZ.

[Manny]

Someone bought the 17's for the dirt? They're not going to like the results.

Let me know how the carb works out. I'm about 90% sure I'm getting rid of my DRZ.

My bad, sorry. They bought em for an s going the other way.

Get rid of it. We won't miss you......much