BMW? Yamaha? Kawasaki? Suzuki?

[billy bee]

No, you assumed correctly. This is an expedition forum and later on I do plan on longer camping trips with a bike

also, to reply to another post. I found several KTM adventure's available and I really like them.

Ultimately I agree that anything within my range that I find the best deal on I'll be happy with.

The only thing that bugs me about the suzuki still is tank size, even the large version is only 19 litres, good for maybe 400 km's which isn't terribly far.

does anyone know how bit the tank on a KTM adventure 640 is? the new adventure 900 is a 19 litre as well. Perhaps my tank size expectations are a little unreasonable?

I would love to be able to go 800 km's on a tank, but I know that's a lot of fuel and would require a 30+ litre tank, creating a lot of weight and size

I think the KTM Adv tank is 28 litres. I had one but I forgot the capacity. I swear by my existing KTM. It's an '01 640E (enduro). I have it set up for motard and dirt wheels/tires. It is the best bike i have ever owned and find the maintenance an easy do-it-yourself operation. I find the 640 Adventure too heavy for my tastes. The riding dynamic is entirely different.

My 640E has a 4 gallon tank. I easily get 200 miles out of every tank. I could go much farther if I babied it...but I find it impossible to do that.

The bike is fast and reliable, has great suspension (which you won't get on a Kaw, Suz, or Honda), and handles well on- and off-road.

I had a TW, too. There is an aftermarket c/s sprocket that permits better highway speeds. It was a great around-town bike, but not very good for trails. I find my KTM much easier to handle in the dirt. The fat front tire is good on smooth dirt roads but it hard to steer through rocky trails and roads. And it is gutless. I weigh 200# and could barely climb some hills with the TW.

bb

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I have no problem recommending the BMW Dakar. Its a cut above the F650GS in terms of offroad capabilities, but still not a single track off roader. 200 miles range per tank and can run at 75+ all day long. You can twist through the corners on knobbies better then most with street tires. The only real complain I have is poor wind protection and runs a little tall in the saddle but height is not much of a problem for me at 6'1". Other then that the bike does everything very well and is a joy to ride.

 

[goodtimes]

TWs are quirky little bikes, people either love them or, uh, not. Kind of like the old VW bug.

IMO, they are too small, and I find them uncomfortable to ride. I bought one for my g/f to learn on, and after half a dozen day-trips, she felt the same, so we sold it. But some people love em . . . .ride one if you get a chance and see how you like it.

 

[Acorn]

I think the TW200 is an excellent idea, But like everyone's mentioned, 200cc I feel is a touch small for me. I have a 250cc quad but its a 2 stroke, so its got loads of power since its a 2wd, I can't expect much more from a TW I'd think.

I still really want to get a test drive, considering new TW's are super cheap compared to the bigger bikes I was looking at. I'm not sure how much highway riding I'll be doing right away, it all depends on what I find I like.

I would love an F650 dakar version, but they're a little harder to find than a normal F650. And like I said, I'm pretty far up north, to get something like that I'd have to go to Vancouver or Calgary which is a pretty far drive.

I took a peek at those safari tanks for the DR, 30 litre tank make me super happy, the $700 price tag didn't. Though is it in AUS$? if so it might be a little bit cheaper than I thought, but that still seems like a LOT for a little chunk of plastic.

I still like the idea of the DR for a starter bike, but I'm really liking the looks of the KTM, I hear a lot of good stuff about them but they're extremely uncommon up here.

One of the things I'd love to consider is load capacity for travelling. Looking at saddle bags, top bags, tank bags and bags mounted alongside the engine on the front as I've seen on some bikes. I know the KLR can do this, I'd guess most enduro's can as well, but at the moment its not much of a concern as I can pack most of my weekend camping gear in a pretty small space.

Thanks again for all the input, this is great!


Also, I should mention I'm about 100 kg's (Sorry, I'm Canadian, I think I'm about 220 lbs) and about 6 foot tall. This tells me that a TW would be a pretty teeny bike for me. Then again, my first bike I rode was a little Honda 80cc dirtbike, and while it never went fast, it did get for place to place.

 

[MarcFJ60]

To make it simple - all three (DR, KLR, F650) are fine bikes and will essentially do anything the others will do. The DR is lighter than the others but is still a big dual sport. Extra gas is easily and fairly cheaply accomplished. Do you really plan to travel somewhere where you won't see gas for 400 kms??

Is this your first bike? The reason I ask is that you may find after buying the first bike you realize your expectations were off and you really need bike X or bike Y. All three of those bikes haven't changed a lot in the past several years (KLR was revamped in 08). So buying used gets you the same bike for half the price. The exception may be the Kawasakis where, at least in the states, the KLR can currently be had new for $3999 and a Versys for $4999.

Since there really isn't a right or wrong answer with those bikes, get the one YOU like (or if you find a sweet deal and know you can resell it later). If you buy used and feel like switching bikes next year (or next month) you probably won't lose much money. And any money you lose will be well worth it as your second bike will probably be much closer to what you actually wanted (but didn't know).

If you want to muddy the waters more, you could also consider a DRZ400 (S or SM), a Yamaha WR250, a Kawi KLX250, or even a used XChallenge or Husky TE610. All of which would be even more dirt-worthy than even a DR. Personally, I like FI (as found in the F650, XChallenge, WR250, and TE610) but wouldn't hesitate to buy any of the bikes listed.

 

[RHINO]

if you like the DR650 go for it, nothing wrong with that bike at all. you dont have to spend the $$ on the safari tank with IMS acerbis clark and a couple others on the market. these are great bikes for the money, lots and lots of aftermarket support.

http://www.justgastanks.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_69_172

 

[Acorn]

I agree, I found a KLR in town for $3750 its an 03 with 30k km's on it, good looking bike, apparently theres a whine in the front suspension, tells me the seals aren't in perfect shape or maybe its scratched inside and needs new forks.

It will be my first bike, I'm prepared to try it out and see if its right for me, I may or may not keep it long term.

At the moment, my car (which just rolled past 600000 km's!) has a completely shot power steering rack, so after I replace that its getting sold. I'm kinda tired of working on it constantly, but considering its age, and what its been through its doing amazingly well.

Does anyone know anything about a bike company called Saga? I found an '08 saga enduro 250 (small, good for a temp bike, bombing around town and bush) for $1 grand, this seems a little low for a 2008 with 3k km's on it, thats practically brand new.

have a look at the ad if anyone wants to: http://princegeorge.kijiji.ca/c-car...-2008-SAGA-250-Dual-Sport-W0QQAdIdZ214754738#

edit: Upon some quick investigation I found the Saga bikes to be having electrical issues just 20 ot 60 km's into the odometer, leaking gast tanks, blown relays, all kinda of crap going wrong. I don't think this kind of bike would help me, just give me more problems...

 

[R_Lefebvre]

If you like a DR, and the fuel tank is the only hold-back, it's easy enough to fit a larger tank.

You should also have a look at the Yamaha WR250R. It is THE best compromise on-off road bike I have found to date. I use mine to drive to work on the roads daily, and have taken it on a 400km day trip. Yet it's also very capable of single-track trails. And I don't mean capable in the same was as you can plonk a KLR through single track, I mean you can actually ride it at speed with both feet on the pegs. And unlike the KTM dual sports, my oil change interval is 5000km, and valve check at 36,000.

 

[UK4X4]

CRF450 and add lights..?

Get the CRF450X and have lights included !

everyone arround here rides them- mainly through the better support network

I have a 14ltr tank and can do about 150km between tanks,but thats on sand
so maybe 200 on gravel.

Enduro in europe means all day off road pushing the limits of speed and endurance....hence the name

Any dual sport will die off within yards in real offroad and the suspension is not set up for offroad use.

If I was looking for a DD and a weekender , then yep a KLR-KTM-Funduro's etc would be the logical step up to 80-20 riding.

The CRF is light powerfull and well tuned in for what it was designed for....

road wise I guess you could supermotard it and add semi slicks for fun !

The big BMW's etc are setup for mile eating in a comfy way with some offroad capability to boot.

they are all compromises to what they were designed to accomplish.

Mines an enduro bike- it does not get polished and the plastics get scratched
the only addons were taller bars and mounts- gps mount - skid plate and larger tank.

no shineys- not titanium and no flash.

Big -red- thumping- offroad toy

 

[Acorn]

Well, I think each bike has its ups and downs, on an upside, I found a 2000 KLR 650 with 10000 miles (not km's its an american model) on it and the seller is only asking 1.5 grand for it, so I'm going to be taking a look there to see what happens.

I would love to get a bike in the next week or two, but I'd have to spend a lot less money, more like $1000 to $2000 or I could wait and spend more like $5000.

I just don't know how far my car will go yet

 

[HenryJ]

... I found a 2000 KLR 650 with 10000 miles (not km's its an american model) on it and the seller is only asking 1.5 grand for it...

That sounds like a very good deal. Use some of the savings to fix it up a little and the rest of the $5k can go to traveling!

2000 is a very good vintage.:victory:

 

[Acorn]

That sounds like a very good deal. Use some of the savings to fix it up a little and the rest of the $5k can go to traveling!

2000 is a very good vintage.:victory:

still no response from the seller, I have a distinct feeling its been sold...

however, theres another in town for $3700 its just slightly out of my immediate price range. Gotta wait a few weeks for that one sadly.

Tomorrow I go to the Honda dealer, I'm gonna check out this huff on the CR bikes. To me they look just like the Suzuki bikes, however I know Honda is renouned for their reliability. Our quad is a Honda Foreman, and its lumbered on through the harshest of mechanical issues (such as the pin holding the con-rod to the piston sliding out and severely gashing the sleeve in the cylinder, creating a nice channel for oil to simply flow through the system. It smoked something awful but actually kept running on next to no compression for several weeks until we rebuilt it. The original owner let his kid's take care of it, in 10 years it never got an oil change)

How about gear? I certainly need good gear protecting me. I can speculate what I'll be riding in and its basically most conditions, rain, summer heat (nothing like american summer heat mind you, the hottest we see is 30C in a summer, and maybe only a day or two of that heat) its generally pretty mild, I've used thick leather jackets and they work, sometimes they're too hot, other times they're perfect.

I also would really like something armored (shoulders, elbows, back, not necessarily motocross style armor)

and suggest brands or price ranges?

Interesting update: This BMW F650 just got dropped to $3200 I think for that price I might just go for it...

I know its already been talked about, and best I can see is this:
The F650 will do well on road, but its offroad manners will be lacking. I might be good for dirt roads and some worn in trails, but when it comes to muddy offroading I might be a little at a disadvantage. I can cope with those figures I think.

The KLR I was looking at is totally gone, so this is my next best bet, I think... But, like someone said, if I find it doesn't fit, and its a BMW bike, it should be fairly easy to sell without loosing too much money.

Plus, I probably should ride too much offroad to help keep the bike in working order longer... Perhaps the BMW would be a good trip bike too? thinking road trips

 

[CoastalDefender]

Def get decent gear. At a minimum get a riding jacket w/ elbow/shoulder armor and a pair of riding boots.

My jacket saved my elbow and shoulder and my boots kept me from breaking my ankle when I went down one cold morning. $150USD jacket and $100USD boots saved me from getting hurt and probably saved my job. :Wow1:

 

[goodtimes]

I know its already been talked about, and best I can see is this:
The F650 will do well on road, but its offroad manners will be lacking. I might be good for dirt roads and some worn in trails, but when it comes to muddy offroading I might be a little at a disadvantage. I can cope with those figures I think.

I rode my 650GS across the TAT -- they aren't *that* bad. :sombrero:

In sloppy mud, they kinda suck though - as does any other heavy bike.

As for gear, well, you can pay now (in $$$), or you can pay later (in pain, $$$ for your hospital stay, lost wages, . . . ). Care to guess which one is cheaper? :bike_rider:

Seriously -- buy gear that fits, and wear it. It does no good hanging in the closet. Remember, the gear isn't for the ride, it's for the crash. It doesn't do you any good if your not wearing it when you hit the pavement at 60mph . . .

 

[Acorn]

now (in $$$), or you can pay later (in pain, $$$ for your hospital stay, lost wages, . . . ). Care to guess which one is cheaper? :bike_rider:

well actually, I'm Canadian, so I have free health care :victory:

haha, sorry, but on a serious note, i bought myself a pair of gloves that I can use when riding my dad's bike, for the time being I'm using a heavy biking leather jacket.

Once the bike comes I want to get a proper jacket and helmet, I agree with wearing gear at all times.

how much difference do boots make when I'm wearing Solomon high top hiking boots? they're made of leather