In my opinion you are on the right track. If you plan to do much highway riding go with the Suzuki DR650, Kawasaki KLR650 OR HONDA XL 650. All are great fun and have enough power to ride with sportbikes and surprisingly good handling on tight curvy roads.
If you plan to ride dirt most of the time, the DR350 is a good used bike and the DRZ400 is also very good but costs as much as the DR650.

I put 24,000 fun, troublefree km's on my 97 DR650 before trading up to a V-strom

You are shopping at the best tine of year for deals; if you buy new, most mfrs have no pay plans - just MAKE SURE YOU ARE GETTING THE PLAN BACKED BY THE MANUFACTURER.

 

There are a few good/cheap ones in the buy and sell right now. Check it out:
www.buysell.com

90 SUZUKI DR350, dual sport, Pirelli tires, super trap, oversz gas tank, eng modified to 440, race carb, asking $2500 firm. Coquitlam

1996 YAMAHA XT350, 3000 kms. $2695. Chilliwack Honda. #2-44310 Yale Road West, Chilliwack, B.C. Toll Free - 1-877-620-0221 or Tel: 604-703-0221

1997 YAMAHA XT225, street & trail, 9300 kms. $2799. Burnaby Kawasaki Tel: 604-525-9393

1988 YAMAHA DT200, on road/off road, 13000 kms. $1999.99. CALL ROCKY MOUNTAIN MOTORSPORT Tel: 604-881-7833

93 YAMAHA XT350 Enduro, 30,000 kms, strong runner, nds indicator relay, all light work $3000 negot. sdcaruth@hotmail.com New Westminster Tel: 604-209-3917

77 YAMAHA XT500, Enduro, gd cond $1500. Surrey

I just happen to be looking for somthing in this area aswell, so I've been checking in on these ads lately.

 

If that 77 YAMAHA XT500, Enduro, is in real good cond . than they are a very cool old bike .

The DR350 is the best trail bike they ever made

untill the DRZ 400 but can be a bit tough to ride on the HWY for trips any longer than this one
V
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Roadwarrior
TT Bronze Member


Reged: 02/04/01
Posts: 107
Loc: Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
4800 km east coast ride on my DRZ!
09/06/02 08:43 AM Edit Reply



Well I'm Back. 4800 km in six days. Left my home north of Toronto Last Friday, and came home yesterday night. Toured a bit of New Brunswick, but mostly Cape Bretton Nova Scotia, and P.E.I. Cape Breton is truly breathtaking! Everyone needs to ride the Cabot trail at least once in their life. I ventured off the paved roads a bit, but didn’t get too carried away since my bike was heavily loaded, and I was riding alone. P.E.I.’s coastline was also beautiful, and the people of the Maritimes were friendly, and nice.

The bike, a 2001 DRZ400E with a modified rear sub frame, and rack did just fine, despite many people telling me I was crazy to go off on it. In fact I kept a pretty decent pace, and passed many Goldwin’s, and Harleys (Why is it that Harley riders only ride 90km/h ?). My only real complaint with the bike was the seat. GOD I HATE THAT FRIGGIN SEAT!!!!! Ok got that out of my system. Moving your weight around helps, and using the passenger pegs (Yes I added them to my “E”) also helps, but if Corbin doesn’t come up with something soon I’m going to make my own seat. I carried about 100lbs worth of stuff (As well as 230lbs of me) so I had the pre load cranked all the way. The bike ride great with all that weight soaking up the bumps, and on those twisty roads on the Cabot, I swear I scraped the saddle bags at least once, I was impressed.

All in all it was a great trip. I encourage anyone out there who is contemplating such a trip to go for it, your bike is more than capable.

Now he is using a pice of sheep skin and it works fine

The DR650 is a very good bike as well more HWY friendly and with a bit of work can look like this

If you are going to look at a bike PM me cause I know them well and I will go look at it with you.. :thumbup

 

Dual sport is a good way to start. I give big thumbs up to 96 and newer DR650's, yamaha XT350 is a very neat little bike too, but there isnt much if any aftermarket support for it.
KLR 650's are more common and usually cheaper than good DR650's, but in my opinion the DR is a way better bike all around, except the highway.
About that 96' XT350 for sale at Chilliwac Honda, the bike is a hunk of crap and its been beat to hell and then some. I looked at it and test rode it in october.......beat beat beat, leaked oil, one or both rims were bent, lots of road rash. You can find a MINT like new XT350 for about 3500$ keep in mind the bike didnt change much since introduction in 88', main difference between years is the color

 

Dual sport is a good way to start. I give big thumbs up to 96 and newer DR650's, but in my opinion the DR is a way better bike all around, except the highway.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6855
Stay away from the XT 350 .. IT'S A PILE OF CRAP!!!

 

How do you figure XT350 is crap? Yeah the Zukis may be better but i think i did my homework on the XT and i didnt find out about any major flaws.
I am still considering a DR650 for my next bike. Spotted a mint 01' model at Daytona...it's BLACK . loooks wicked and not at all blaaah like your typical white DR or XT
I dont think thumper motors are as long lasting as a 4 cyl would be though...maybe i am wrong

 

Greeneyes I am coming from a KLR and I have to tell you that you first of all will love the bike and there's alot more modifications and aftermarket equipment for the KLR over the dr 650. I have not personally ridden the dr so I can't make an informed oppinion of the bike but I do know that people do trips around the world and set new records all the time and they don't do it on the DR it's 90% of the time done on a done up KLR.

It all comes down to what you want to do with the bike I mean the KLR will go out and do some serious long distance trips and it's not surprisingly enough to see KLR with over 100,000 km's on them. You want to do more highway trips throw on a 16 tooth sprocket, want to go offroad and to the tight stuff then the gearing should go down to a 14 tooth. It's simple enough to change them and you can do it with ease.

I know now after not having my KLR for about 5 months I am going to own one again. I miss going down the twisty roads and seeing some side road and wondering where it goes and just burning up it next thing you find your in the middle of no where with absolutly no one around. Not to mention when you put some Pireli mt 21 (nobby tires) on it's quite funny how they corner. The front tire will last about 12,000km if your doing 50/50 street and dirt and the rear will last you about 6000km if you are doin 50/50 if you do more road use they will last u less but if your more offroad then they will last quite some time. Although they make only last 6k they only cost 100 bux to replace so what's great about them is how they heat up on the road I remember after doing some rides the tire would actually be sticky to touch.

Here's a nice pic of one of our trips me and my brother. with that much weight on the bike I could get my feet flat foot but on my brothers bike I could only get tip toes on both feet.(had to resize photo so it would fit into size limit)


That's me in the pic. I was loaded down the stuff for that trip. After getting used to carrying a huge pack and hiking long distances nothing beats throwing everything on your bike leaving at 10pm at night going into the unknown out in the middle of nowhere and pitching tent at 3 in the morning when you get tierd of riding. That's when you really want to know you have a dependible bike. As you can tell my tire needs some replacing (stock) I ran that tire down a long way. But I would recomend buying the KLR to anyone for a great and fun way to learn on.

One piece of advice when you are learning (offroad) if you see a trail that looks hard and you don't know if you have the skillz yet to make it, If you do decide to go for it don't go half and to see if you can make it GOOO all out and don't TRY DO IT.

 

The XT is just too weak for full time road use IMO

 

Yep you will outgrow the xt350 in a month or so of riding off road. If you read the review of the xt on www.motorcycle.com they tell u all about it. You will find yourself in 3rd gear by the time you reach the other side of the intersection HeH. And and serious offroad it bottoms out to easy. Trust me I know from experience.

 

Wildfx you really love those motor's
I was thinking about buying them but I just have trouble see'ing the cost factor involved. I mean I buy a bike like a zx12r or a hyabusa or a rc51 or zzr1200 or any other sportbike that is around 12,000-15,000 and I see what I pay for but when I see a ktm duke for 13,000 bux I just don't see it the same.

I mean even if I were to go out and make one from scratch and add up the costs it is cheaper but that depends on what you buy when upgrading. ie new xr650r loads of power cost $ around 7000 new then to buy the kit for it.

quote

The complete set up for your bike XR650R, Wheels gold talon hubs bulldog spokes and black Excel rims 3.50x17"front 4.25x17"rear just add tire's $1095.00. Brakes 320 mm 5 m thick full floating race rotor 4 piston caliper and pads $599.95.
If you order the wheels and brakes together the package price is $1549.99 plus shipping.

Paul Brent
Moto-master USA
No taxes at the moment.
so we have 7,000 + 1549.99 (us) (Can = 9480) that's stock forks which u can ride with but you are going to change your fork oil so you can have it a bit more stiff otherwise I know what an xr feels like under normall discs I would hate to see how it is with a 320mm rotor. so all in all about 10,000 bucks and I just don't see 10,000 dollars on a dirt bike convertion. I bet they are fun and everything but I think I will stick with a sport bike and then have a 2nd bike for offroad.

 

Don't know if you are interested at all.....but I maybe selling my VFR400 soon.....just pm me if you are interested.

 

My DRZ is up for sale $8500 :thumbup

 

How do you figure XT350 is crap? B]

I have a buddy that has an XT350. It works, but it's too short, woefully undersuspended, underpowered, at least compared to a DRZ. Oh, and I always point and laugh at my buddy while he's going kick kick kick kick kick kick kick while I thumb the button and I'm off.

 

I learned on a DR350...I liked it so much I still have it

In some ways its more fun to ride than the SV. Its a great learner bike, really light and easy to ride, yet still pretty quick. Its got a great motor; tonnes of torque down low (for a 350 anyways) and still a good top end. Handles well too; really great suspension.

I've ridden an XT350 as well before I bought my DR, and I would reccomend the XT, but not as much as I would the DR.

I would also reccomend the KLR; one of the best values of any new bike (if not THE best value).:thumbup

 

I have a Dr350 that i use as a dirt bike,Great bike,tough as nails.

 

I like the "kick kick kick" but i do agree that the XT350 is underpowered. it was fun to play with offroad, when i took the one from chilliwac honda for a test ride, there was a construction site nearby and i goofed around a bit with it. Of course i never been dirt riding before(mountaibiking doesnt count) so i thought its pretty neat, only problem was major front end dive both on and off road.
As for KLR vs DR650, yes i know its a notorious long haul adventure tourer with lots of stuff availible for it....i only rode one and wasnt impressed at all, compared to either the beat up 93' DR650 or a mind 97 DR650 i rode. The huge tank of the KLR is a big bonus on a long haul though.i find the size of the KLR very comfy for my height but otherwise....just not impressed with it, not that its a bad bike

 

The KLR has incredible aftermarket support and product availability. And good re-sale. Also known as the Jeep Wrangler of the off road crowd.

All the DR series are quite good in this regard as well, lots of 350's around as it's now a 400 if new....but the Yamaha's are not anywhere near as well supported. Just look at their existing new current crop of Yamaha dual sports...quite uninspiring.

Anything you get will be a compromise, as tire choices and weight are the 2 biggest drawbacks, for the off road part of "dual".

You will be impressed, however, with the road handling abilities, even with a fairly aggressive knobby tire. The wide handlebars will put new meaning into the phrase "countersteering".

You're going to slide it and dump it, so don't go too pretty until you learn how to ride off road, and particularly, how to stand up on the pegs and ride. Skid plate and hand protectors are a must.

Great choice of a bike type though...off road/dual sport/highway/byway.....too much fun, and who cares if it rains!

Why not go to www.advrider.com and look at their adventure bike section for some direction. Here's a snippet of a few short reviews...maybe not in your range, but you get the idea:


Kawasaki KLR650
Light, durable, immensely off-road capable, yet it can cruise all day at 75 mph in surprising comfort. The Jeep Wrangler of dual-sports, its fanatical users believe it's the best adventure tourer. Solid and reliable water-cooled engine.
Cons: We're not talkin' style here... But it's charming in a Hummer sort of way. Not much room for a passenger. Lame front brake (but there's a kit to improve it), alternator has just enough juice for heated grips and a vest--maybe--but nothing more. Everything vibrates off without Locktite.


BMW 650 Dakar
If you like BMWs but want something lighter and more off-road capable than the 1150GS-like urban assault vehicles, the Dakar can make it happen with good looks, good add-ons, and goodies like heated grips and ABS, with an alternator big enough to power electric clothing.
Cons: Not quite as off-road capable as the KTMs nor as light and inexpensive as the Kawasaki KLR or Suzuki DR. Some owners complain of lingering surging issues around 3500 RPM.


Suzuki DR650

The only air-cooled single on this list, making it the lightest, and simplest to maintain.
It's affordable, reliable, fun, and has enough aftermarket parts--including windscreens, center stands, larger gas tanks, and racks--to satisfy most people.
Cons: Neither a work of art nor a status symbol. The seat is not particularly comfortable and the standard tank is only 3.2 gallons


(if you're rich) KTM Adventure R

The bike for dirt lovers who are willing to trade off miles traveled in a day for the best off-road talents of any adventure tourer. It's light despite an impressive 7.4-gallon tank,has incredible suspension and brakes, and exotic good looks.
Cons: Cinder block of a seat, extraordinary height, dirt suspension and limited wind protection make most owners wish for more comfort on the freeway at 75 mph. Vibration drives some owners wild; others say no problem. Expensive maintenance and hard-to-find parts.

By the way,
I have the non Dakar version of the BMW, and with my trials background, and knowing how and when to weight and unweight the bike, I can take it to some pretty scary spots, but it's a pig to turn around in a tight spot, and heavy if I should ever dump it...haven't yet, at least not off road.. The extra weight is nice on pavement however....this thing handles the twisties like you would not believe.....a definite sport bike destroyer!!!

 

By the way,
I have the non Dakar version of the BMW, and with my trials background, ....this thing handles the twisties like you would not believe.....a definite sport bike destroyer!!!

not quite a vmax destroyer, but those ducati boys (boy?) definitely can't 'hang'

 

I used to have a KLR 650. Good on the highway and OK in the dirt. Decent wind protection,great range (400K). Not great but Ok in the dirt. Very good (smooth and consistent) power delivery. Good all around bike and a good commuter. Great to learn your basics on or ride around the world. All at half the price of a KTM!

I have an XR650R now. Sucks on the highway, great around town and awesome in the dirt. Huge amount of power can be too much on tight trails. Bags of torque off idle and it keeps pullig hard through to the top.

Balance off what you will use the bike for. Also get used to the thought of scratches on your machine. They look a lot better on a DP compared to a street bike but they are still scratches.

The bigger machines like these are better if you are going to be doing any amount of highway (fast) riding. If you plan on being in the city most of the time a 350 or smaller would be a little easier to man handle around crowded streets.

 

not quite a vmax destroyer, but those ducati boys (boy?) definitely can't 'hang'

:laughing :laughing :laughing
Thats nasty!
have you turned into a haggis walfler yet

 

Dear Lugie...eerrr, I mean Lugan:

1) Go eat your haggis omelette before it gets cold

2) Finish your homework

3) Do us Canadians proud and become a competent skirt chaser

4) Do the women over there not wear underwear under their kilts as well?


Obligatory topic post...dual sports are great, eh!