Any dual-sport riders here?

U

Unclviny

Joined
Jul 31, 2009
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I am seriously considering selling my /5 BMW and buying a small dual-sport bike so I can get off the road and away from the idiot-drivers, I will keep the Commando and the old BMW but a modern dual-sport "appliance" is tempting me HARD!

Vince
 
Which bike are you looking at?

I have had Suzuki DRZ400 and a Suzuki DR200SE. Both were great bikes, but the 400 was better. I have also looked at the Kawasaki KLX250S.
 
The WR is also a great bike. It gets lots of good reviews. My feeling is that the WR is more off road oriented, where as the DRZ is more on road. Both, of course, make fine dual sports.
 
I looked at the WR250R, with a lowered seat and smaller front/larger rear sprocket I think it will do nicely.

Vince
 
This is my idea of a dual-sport bike. I had an XR600R Honda with a busted engine, and a spare FZ600 Yamaha engine, so I put them together. It's great fun to ride, and I only have about $500 investsed in it.

Any dual-sport riders here?


Ken
 
If you don't think your Commando is up for it then go for the road legal and hwy capable big single 650 endruo's as do everything pretty well. They don't pull like a Commando can but hardly have to strain like smaller cycles. Main thing is weight and tire type more than anything else unless doing stunts and MX racing leaps and spins. Clearance only matters in water crossings and real rough ground with objects scattered so creek bed fun should be kept in mind. Air pressure also rather important on rough texture so a pump to get back to hwy hardness is handy beside flat fixing. They frequent my areas and some are nicer to use than others but don't know which and may various with rider.

https://www.google.com/search?q=best+65 ... d=0CB0QsAQ
 
Unclviny said:
I looked at the WR250R, with a lowered seat and smaller front/larger rear sprocket I think it will do nicely.

Vince
Click to expand...
A mate has recently bought a WR250X and kept hassling me to try it. I just scoffed and thought there's no way you're ever going to get me on a piddling 250. I even took it for a run out on the highway where it confirmed my thinking by being barely able to overtake a school bus! I thought it needed to have around double the horsepower. He talked me into a fang across the local hills though, and although I was on my trick TRX850 and giving it a fair old punt he quickly left me for dead on the twisties. I had to try it again. Sure enough, I have never ridden anything that ate corners like this little bike did. You just don't use the brakes! It'll take any corner you throw at it, just crank it over some more and around you go. Makes you feel like a pro. And of course, it's really capable on the loose stuff. Magic little bike. Could still do with some more ccs though.
 
Unclviny said:
I am seriously considering selling my /5 BMW and buying a small dual-sport bike so I can get off the road and away from the idiot-drivers, I will keep the Commando and the old BMW but a modern dual-sport "appliance" is tempting me HARD!

Vince
Click to expand...

Vince - How much time are you thinking of spending off road and on road and what sort of trail riding? Genuine enduros like the Yam WR250 and WR450 and the Honda CRFs are not very comfortable over distances on tarmac, but they are the business once you are on the dirt and you get spoiled riding them because they are so superior to dual sport bikes off road, but not on tarmac. I had a chance to compare a WR450, an enduro-ized DR650 Suzuki and a Kawasaki KLR650 while on a trail riding trip to Yukon last year. The WR was head and shoulders above the competition off road - a real tool. The DR650 was quite old, geared down and stripped but still street legal and was a good compromise between road and dirt - and cheap.

Any dual-sport riders here?


If you are going to ride distances to the trails, then most of the the Honda dual purpose singles from the 1990s onwards are robust and reliable and you can get spares easily. The DRZ400 is a great little bike - not as sharp as the WRs and CRFs but will do quite serious trails. The KLR650 is much better on road than off. Serious trails, think light and manoeuvrable with good ground clearance and a tough sump guard. A lot of dual purpose bikes have wide engine side covers sticking out to catch rocks which will puncture them (ask me how I know). On enduros, everything is tucked in out of harm's way. Horses for courses, as they say.

Dave
 
I am not planning on much road-riding, the point of this is to get away from the distracted idiots on the roads and the "dual purpose appliance" will almost never be on the highway. That said I looked at a 2015 XT250 Yamaha and I like it better than the WR250R (lower, lighter, cheaper).

Vince
 
I love my CRF450X, its like having a V8 strapped to your legs, but I only ride it off road and having the full on off road tyres make it even better in the dirt and pulling 5th gear wheelies is so such good fun but I still shit myself when it does.

Ashley
 
Condor for the win! :D Very cool bikes, but scarcer than hen's teeth around here. I did see one right in my own neighborhood a couple of years ago. I was out for a walk and it went chugging by. I couldn't believe it. Haven't seen it since though.

Previously I had a KLR650 - way too big and heavy and clumsy - and a KLX250S - much lighter but a very underwhelming motor, to say the least.

Now I'm considering either a DR650 or a DR350. I think either one would be just about right.
 

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