Opinions and Advice on a bike

[capt1014]

Ok so the wife and I decided that after buying the house we're going to need a truck. Bonus!!!!!

So instead of spending another 2500 to 3k on a street bike I thought I'd find a good dual purpose bike.

Something that is streetable (title and stuff) and that would handle most of the trails I have around my house. I figure I'll be looking at something no bigger than a 450cc range. I'm not a big guy so I don't want to be pushing alot of weight around the trails. (6'3 185# oh ya and turning 40 next month)

Of course people here have opinions (bike specific please) so please let me hear them and as far as advice goes, other than gear, what things should I be looking for in that type of bike?

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Hear many goo things about KLR. You would need the 650 I guess. Of course, the ultimate is the Beemer GS.

[capt1014]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Hear many goo things about KLR. You would need the 650 I guess. Of course, the ultimate is the Beemer GS.

Why would I "need" a 650?

[Degsy]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Sorry, misread. Thought you said "bigger than a 450"

In that case, DRZ400 is probably perfect.

[union]

What kind of trails? If its anything but nice open trails youre going to be sad with a dual purpose bike. I realize they have dual purpose in the name but they arent really made for trail riding. Ive seen it happen. They are too heavy with too little power.

[TheIglu]

Most trails in your area are logging roads and old railroad beds. DRZ would be ideal.

[markbvt]

Depends on how you want to use it. If mostly trail riding, Yamaha WR250R. If you'll be doing some trails, lots of dirt/logging roads, etc, then a DR-Z400 would be a good choice too.

But if you're planning to do a fair amount of street riding in addition to the dirt, and not much single-track, you might actually want to consider one of the 650s, the DR650 and XR650L in particular (not the KLR, too much of a pig). Or if you can find a good one in your price range, a Husky TE610.

The reason I say this is that the bigger bikes will be a lot more pleasant to ride for longer distances on pavement (I'm assuming it'll be your only bike?). And as long as you get it set up decently, they don't really give up a whole lot off pavement unless you're going to be getting into really technical single-track.

--mark

[9secondsflat]

best bang for the buck....honda xr650l....you can find them for $1500-$2500 with very low miles...

[SVRACER01]

are you a new rider? if so then you HAVE to get a ninja 250...no exceptions.

[JohnnyV]

are you a new rider? if so then you HAVE to get a ninja 250...no exceptions.

But don't worry Kirk.... in 15 years or so you should be experienced enough to upgrade to a Monster 620. Then perhaps after 100k miles or so of riding you MAY be able to handle a SS 600.

[capt1014]

are you a new rider? if so then you HAVE to get a ninja 250...no exceptions.

No, I'm not a new rider. Just really didn't want to handle the weight of a bigger bike on the trails.

I figure I'll probably end up doing more street riding with it more than trial riding.

[SVRACER01]

CRF50 then

[capt1014]

CRF50 then

Dam Oxx, I'd be eating my knees!

[SVRACER01]

ok ok ok....CRF150...but thats it!

[capt1014]

ok ok ok....CRF150...but thats it!

Thanks Dad!

[SVRACER01]

Wirelessly posted (HTC EVO "DROID" : Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.5; en-us; Sprint APA9292KT Build/GRJ90) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

No problem kiddo. Be careful and make sure you wear your helmet