KLR650, XT600, DR650, F650 etc wellywood

[Bartman10]

Hi folks

Thinking of buying a big bore trailie for a bit of back road cruising. (Actually a lot of back road crusing, but more about that later) I want to chat to some owners and have a look at bikes, mods you've done, luggage systems, range, reliability etc...

There seems to be a shortage of demo bikes in wellywood at the mo. On the weekend I went to 5 bike shops with helmet and leathers in hand, but no one had anything for me to ride

There's a DR650SE in wellington motorcycles that I had a sit on and it felt OK. There's a F650GS in Sawyers that I've had a sit on too, but I'm a bit worried about its lack of off road capability. It's also nearly twice as expensive as the DR.

I can't find a XT600 or KLR650 in any shops. I'd like to have a sit on these bikes before I travel a million miles to test ride one in another town, so if you've got one in your garage I'd love to come around an have a look and a chat about its characteristics. Note: Don't worry I don't want to ride your pride and joy, just a sit and a look to see if its worth driving for miles to test ride one.

If you've got some other suggestions about big bore trailies let me know.

Cheers,

Bartman.

[far queue]

The sort of riding are you're thinking of doing will dictate what you need. What are you thinking of? The occassional shingle road, lots of shingle, 4wd tracks in good condition, 4wd tracks in shocking condition, river beds, bush bashing? And how do you want to ride them? Pick your way along carefully or charge through at a great rate? Short rides travelling light or long rides with camping gear? Lots of good bikes out there, so long as you pick the one that suits your needs.

In the meantime, have a read through this ... http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ad.php?t=28824

[merv]

Mrs merv has a 2004 DR650SE in the garage and it is fine. At 147kg dry I think it is the lightest of the bunch you have listed. Depends how tall you are too, as the DR has the easy adjust rear shock mount that allows the seat height to be lowered to a very comfortable 840mm, you just need to buy the shorter sidestand (or cut & weld the existing).

To me it has been a great back country road type of bike, and even on the seal we are running it with a 1 tooth smaller front sprocket - they are just way too over-geared stock. There's a thread somewhere where we talked about this.

Its light on gas. Only downers I would say is it is not the smoothest engine you'd imagine vibration wise and once I fitted an alloy bashplate reflecting all the engine noise it sounds like a bucket of bolts rattling (maybe all Suzukis are like that huh!).

So bashplate is on and the usual Ventura pack rack and a headlight guard.

As an old dirt biker from way back I wouldn't call it a true trail bike - too big and heavy for me for that, but then I'm a small fellah. I wouldn't buy any of the other bikes you listed because of their weight, but then it does depend on your size and the purpose you want to put it to.

[chris]

DR650, no question. Cheap to buy, cheap to run, cheap to maintain and heaps of ability.

[Devil]

What mileage and corresponding range do you get out of the DR650?
I'm considering moving to a DR or an XT660. More likely to head for the yamaha just for the extra on-road poke...But willing to consider the DR, being $3k cheaper.

[clint640]

Good comments above. There are no real dogs in the category, although there are some minor known problems with KLRs & pre '03 DRs that usually need fixing. DRs & XTs are good, KLRs & F650s are good if you want more range & highway comfort at the cost of a bit of weight. The KTM 640 is the powerhouse of the bunch & packs a bit more bling, but more $$ too & many don't like it's vibration.

Cheers
Clint

[clint640]

What mileage and corresponding range do you get out of the DR650?
I'm considering moving to a DR or an XT660. More likely to head for the yamaha just for the extra on-road poke...But willing to consider the DR, being $3k cheaper.

A DR650 is good for around 230km to empty, at ~5.2L/100km

Cheers
Clint

[chris]

If you would like a copy of the last long term report we did on 'our' DR650, e-mail me and I'll send it to you.

Chris

[Ruralman]

If you are doing gravel roads, and good tracks plus some highway use the 650 or the older 600 (depending on Budget) Transalp is also worth a look. I get 300km out of a tank without any trouble (18-21km/litre depending on driver mood) and it has really good weather protection on the highway as well as a very torquey smooth motor and very comfortable seat. You can pick up a good 650 for $8-9K
If you want to do trail riding then forget it - 191kg dry is just too heavy. It will handle rough tracks as long as there is reasonable grip but if there's great big holes etc I'd rather jump them on my KDX. For gravel roads tho the Transalp is great.
There's a huge number of luggage options for the Transalp - I have a big lockable topbox on mine and also the soft bags it came with which I would use on a trip that had more risk of me tipping up.
One other bike to consider if you're buying second hand would be the Yamaha TTR 600. Lighter and more trail friendly than the XT with better trail suspension.

[clint640]

The XR650L is another one to look out for, though they're not common. Good if you're a tall bugger as they have about the highest seat height in the class.

Cheers
Clint

[far queue]

What mileage and corresponding range do you get out of the DR650?

I get 16km/L = 160km to reserve and 208km in total from the 13L tank. 16km/L is very consistant, it doesn't seem to matter how I ride it, except for long periods of open road at over 120kph when it drops to 14km/L.

A DR650 is good for around 230km to empty, at ~5.2L/100km

I used to get around 17.5km/L when it was brand new which = 227.5 km per tank. But brand new they're set up too lean and was causing problems, once that was sorted the range dropped a bit. When I get around to fitting a bigger tank, I'll fit the dynojet kit and new airfilter, which will increase the fuel consumption some more, hence the bigger tank needed. But think of the power makes a big difference apparently.

[XP@]

Trade me search for 650 dual purpose bikes.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Cate...51=0&x=75&y=11
The search does miss a couple of bikes like F650's in the sports tourer class - doh.

Really it depends on what you want the bike for. Is it going to be your only bike?
Will you commute on it?
Take the girl friend camping / skiing?
Or will it be a second bike used for a day in the Akatawaras or Capital Coast adventures?

Really it depends on what you want from the bike as usual this is a personal decision.
Another bike to consider is the DL650 (weestrom) not very many have been coming up for sale. What ruled it out for me was 19' front wheel, fuel injection , no bash plate and the ergonomics just didn't fit me. I sat on the Transalp and it just fit.

[far queue]

I just dug all this stuff out of the archives that you may find usefull. It's research I did at the time I was looking for a new bike. Once I had decided on the DR650 I went overboard digging out everything I could on it looking for potential problems - it was all good. Some of it is repetitive and it's all 3.5 years old now, but still relevant.

I did similar, but not as much research on the XT600 at the time, but never kept that stuff, 'cos I didn't get one. The XT is a good bike too, but I just prefered the DR.

[Ixion]

I picked the XT600 for similar duty. Mainly sealed back roads, gravel roads, occasional forays off road, exploring, onto the beach etc. Didn't care about off road competativeness, and accepting that it is too big and heavy for serious off road work - but that was the tradeoff for a machine capable of covering long on road distances also. Mine was complicated a bit by the fact that it would also have to be my day to day commuter.

I wanted an air cooled engine, and something simple , where any breakdown could be fixed (enough to limp home anyway) by judicious application of boot and large rock. XT600s about as simple as they get nowdays.

I think it fits the bill quite well. Range is less than I'd like, but then, I'd like 1000km per tank (AND WHY NOT? I ask) . I'd have preferred a kickstart, just in case, but thems the breaks, it's a hard road finding the perfect bike, boy.

I'd have taken a DR650 happily enough, but the XT came along cheap , and a DR didn't.

It's too tall in the saddle for me of course, but then most bikes are. I just carry a little step ladder.

[Crisis management]

Thank you Bartman for this thread, I have the same quandry and am trying to decide which bike to get myself.
Looks like the DR then...... Anyone got a good one for sale in Auckland??