Advice from knowledgeable riders.

[junkmanjoe]

im looking to up grade my trusty old xr600r, to a new adventure bike. is for sale on here.
im a little unsure what is best bike for my dollar.
bike will be used daily for work, also our local weekend adventure rides, and our small group is doing a couple tours this year, one to top of north island and around south island, later on.
your guys and gals thoughts please.
im looking at 650cc bikes.

thanks for your time.
joe.

[NighthawkNZ]

im looking to up grade my trusty old xr600r, to a new adventure bike. is for sale on here.
im a little unsure what is best bike for my dollar.
bike will be used daily for work, also our local weekend adventure rides, and our small group is doing a couple tours this year, one to top of north island and around south island, later on.
your guys and gals thoughts please.
im looking at 650cc bikes.

thanks for your time.
joe.

VStrom 650 or the 1000 (apparently the 650 is more ecomnomical blah blah blah)

[cooneyr]

Could you provide a bit more info on the type of riding you do. 80% seal 20% gravel, 30% seal, 40% gravel, 30% off road tracks i.e. is is mainly seal with a bit of gravel or is it mainly gravel and off road with a bit of seal.

Cheers R

[Woodman]

im looking to up grade my trusty old xr600r, to a new adventure bike. is for sale on here.
im a little unsure what is best bike for my dollar.
bike will be used daily for work, also our local weekend adventure rides, and our small group is doing a couple tours this year, one to top of north island and around south island, later on.
your guys and gals thoughts please.
im looking at 650cc bikes.

thanks for your time.
joe.

KLR is my unbiased opinion. Ok on road ok off road ,good range and well featured with a carrier, rev counter, fairing etc and they are well priced too. definitely tick more boxes.

[pete376403]

KLR is my unbiased opinion. Ok on road ok off road ,good range and well featured with a carrier, rev counter, fairing etc and they are well priced too. definitely tick more boxes.

He's right, y'know.

[junkmanjoe]

was wondering about the 2007 klr, how do you guys find them, weight wise.

[Crisis management]

As R said, more info would help, however, if you're coming off an XR, you will have some idea of whether you need that type of "off-road" ability or a more comfortable / fat pig type bike that is more road worthy....

Give us a hint and we will bestow our knowledge cough, splutter on you....

[marks]

He's right, y'know.

yup

comfortable one up tourer
great on twisty roads
good on gravel
ok on 4wd tracks
tolerable (sort of) for light single track

its not particularly good at anything and its slow and heavy but its fun to ride in most situations

just about any bike can be made to do just about anything - its how much fun you have doing the riding that you prefer that counts

caveat - I'm not a knowledgeable rider - just someone who has fun on motorbikes

[CRM]

Everyone I've met who has sold their XR600 has regretted it. Nothing else is as versatile. So keep it and get a KLR or a VStrom for the big trips and the XR for hooning around:scooter:.

[clint640]

Everyone I've met who has sold their XR600 has regretted it. Nothing else is as versatile.

Yep, if you're basically after a new version of the same thing options are pretty limited, KLR, DR, XT are all a step down in terms of weight, suspension & power from a well set up XR600R. If you're after a bit more comfort & range that may not be a problem, if you want to retain the offroad ability however I'd be looking at a KTM 690 Enduro, they're $$$$$ though & would need some seat mods for touring.

I would say at the moment all dealers would be pretty keen to give ya the keys for a decent test ride if you're looking at new bikes so get out there & ride as many as you can & see what turns your crank.

Cheers
Clint

[dino3310]

Go the DR's.


or keep the XR for the comute and fun stuff and get a touring mule for the luggage hauling bigger tours.

i regreted selling my smaller bike when i got the 750, the smaller bike had more fun factor but to small for touring, it would have been good to have both in the shed.

[Bass]

Everyone I've met who has sold their XR600 has regretted it. Nothing else is as versatile. So keep it and get a KLR or a VStrom for the big trips and the XR for hooning around:scooter:.

Don't quote me but I am pretty sure that they are still selling XR's in Oz.
What I can say for sure is that when DJ and I were in Oz last year, the Honda shop in Cairns had an air-cooled range and I think they were XR's

[warewolf]

Probably the XR650L, which is a half-breed thing with bits of air-cooled electric-start NX650 Dominator and bits of XR-R. We got them here in NZ, too. The 2006 XR250L is listed on Honda's website (http://www.hondampe.com.au/repository/motorcycles/products/off-road/trail/xr250l/introduction.aspx), similar in concept & execution to the 650 (not listed).

[junkmanjoe]

thanks for all you advice, i mostly ride pavement during the week, and it be around 70% gravel/30 pavment on our rides at weekends,
we do get in some silly places sometimes where the xr has been a great power house, for a quick escape,
which 9 time out of ten, put me in a worst places than i started out in. but thats the adventure of it aye.
no dout ill miss the old girl, but its only thing i have to use to step up with.
our small group is made up with, ktm bmw dr and a couple older bike tag along on the shorter trips and my self xr at the moment.
i been looking at the klr 650, or maybe the dr650, i got a budget, and wifey mean and wont let me go over it.
ive a test ride on a klr next mon evening, we see how they feel.
thanks all and try keep upright.

[Padmei]

You won't go wrong with either a DR or KLR. I think the DR would be similar setup to your XR. I would steer that way if you like naked trail bikes. The KLRs are heavy but I found it really nice to cruise 120-30 thru the Sth Island & awesome on the DB1K.

The only thing I really dislike on my 08 Klr is the gearbox ratios. I find 1st a tad tall but a huge jump to 2nd so on a technical bit I'm either revving it or lugging it. I found a 14tooth front sprocket is better for offroad touring but not as nice on long open road trips.

Keep us posted (haha get it get it "posted" hehehehe Oh god I'm funny....)

[Woodman]

was wondering about the 2007 klr, how do you guys find them, weight wise.

I got an 05 which I think is the same. The only time I find it heavy is lifting it back up on a hill, flat is ok. Its funny reading padmei's comments about the gearing though as I find the ratios ok, although on twisty gravel either a higher first or a lower second would be good.
KLR's don't have a lot of grunt but they do have a nice power spread (if run on 91).
A lot of it depends on you and your ability, if you are a good rider you will ride through any foibles and to be honest when I first took mine on a decent ride I was dissapointed but it has really grown on me.
If you get one, set the rear up so it rebounds quite quick to take the front end wobble out at speed, get a decent bash plate and ride it in the upper rev range when on twisty gravel or seal, and it handles best with about 10 litres in the tank (with me riding).

[pete376403]

Agree with the above but - the '08s got revised suspension (along with a lot of other things) which seems to have taken care of the earlier models wimpy fork wobble. Mine handles well enough to scrape the pegs occasionally n the road.

A well ridden KLR will surprise riders of bigger, sportier bikes in the twisties.

I rode around the outside of a 1200 Bandit on a tight uphill corner. The fact that he absolutely hosed me on the next straight didn't stop me giggling for a while. :clap:

[junkmanjoe]

cheers im going to take a dr out in the morning for a blat.
i reaily not know what to get.mmmmm man ponders scratching his balls........................................
its hard erned money so must be spent well.

[junkmanjoe]

just an up date, have settled on a new 07 DR650
so it will possably throw me off, as a good pony should.
thanks all for time and advice.

[Paladin]

just an up date, have settled on a new 07 DR650
so it will possably throw me off, as a good pony should.
thanks all for time and advice.

Hope to see you out on it soon mate!

[Woodman]

just an up date, have settled on a new 07 DR650
so it will possably throw me off, as a good pony should.
thanks all for time and advice.

good choice

did you even ride a klr?

[junkmanjoe]

no sorry i didnt, suzuki have offered a good trade for the xr
a bit more than motorad in welly.

[Transalper]

Hope you have enough left over for bashplate, decent handguards, and IMS tank.
Also hope you enjoy the bike as much as we like ours.

[junkmanjoe]

hi will look in to the extras, pick up bike next sat
thanks.

[Tone165]

My vote is Vstrom.. bang for buck, you cant touch it!

but ride em all, there is no accounting for taste!

[Transalper]

From what I remember of friends who have had vstorms, they are much better on better roads but have a soft underbelly, small fagile wheels and scratch easily when they fall.
When I want to go 2-up again and ease up on the single track riding I will seriously look at one again myself.
Either a Vstorm for it's power or another Transalp because I still like them too.

[timg]

or another Transalp because I still like them too. A 'Transalpine Adventurer' has just gotta have a Transalp :rolleyes: How's the DR repairs comming along? Wot's the damage? Cheers.

[Transalper]

DAS reopens this week, I'll give em a call and decide wether I'm going to waste a few days getting my hands dirty fudging an engine removal myself or just hand the whole thing over as is for them to do the lot. Raising the money will be the thing that slows me down getting it back.

[NordieBoy]

Took us half an hour to pull the engine.

[Crisis management]

Took us half an hour to pull the engine.

Have you got a welder to put the frame back together?

If it's any help TA, I had a DR motor pulled down & rebuild to do a case repair a while ago and the bill was $550 for the dis-assembly & reassembly so you may find it isn't as bad as you think.

Nordies right, its an easy job getting the motor out / in but I'm sure it took me longer than half an hour.

[timg]

getting my hands dirty fudging an engine removal myself Give us a call if you want a hand one evening.

[NordieBoy]

Nordies right, its an easy job getting the motor out / in but I'm sure it took me longer than half an hour.

Having 2 people helps a lot (1 being a bike mech helps a lot) :D.
Take it out from the right hand side.
Remove the 10mm bolt right at the front/bottom(ish) of the engine - it just catches on the frame.

2 mins - Pull the seat/tank.
5 mins - Pull the carb.
5 mins - Disconnect the battery, wires, breathers.
2 mins - Right footpeg.

3:06pm finished dumping the oil.
<a target=_new href=http://www.photostorage.nelson.geek.nz/sports/motorsport/mybikes/DR650/20090107%20Pulling%20the%20engine/slides/20090107-150638-000022.jpg><img src=http://www.photostorage.nelson.geek.nz/sports/motorsport/mybikes/DR650/20090107%20Pulling%20the%20engine/thumbs/20090107-150638-000022.jpg></a>

3:11pm engine out.
<a target=_new href=http://www.photostorage.nelson.geek.nz/sports/motorsport/mybikes/DR650/20090107%20Pulling%20the%20engine/slides/20090107-151108-000026.jpg><img src=http://www.photostorage.nelson.geek.nz/sports/motorsport/mybikes/DR650/20090107%20Pulling%20the%20engine/thumbs/20090107-151108-000026.jpg></a>

[Transalper]

lol, maybe if I can get enough hands I can sit back and watch.
I really dislike working on that kind of thing but maybe it'll be good for experience.
I have crap tools though too.

[cooneyr]

lol, maybe if I can get enough hands I can sit back and watch.
I really dislike working on that kind of thing but maybe it'll be good for experience.
I have crap tools though too.

I shouldn't be offering but I'm happy to help as well. We could have it out in one evening no worries. I'll even bring some tools :D Maybe one evening later this week?

Cheers R

[PLUG]

I shouldn't be offering but I'm happy to help as well. We could have it out in one evening no worries. I'll even bring some tools :D Maybe one evening later this week?

Cheers R

me too ... txt me TA

[cooneyr]

me too ... txt me TA

LOL - Party at TA's :beer::woohoo:

Cheers R

[NordieBoy]

LOL - Party at TA's :beer::woohoo:

Bring your own hammer :D