Choosing my next bike

[Waihou Thumper]

Totally agree. But I would say that..

It does pay to ask a subjective, non bias group and from a cross section representative group from the motorcycling community....I mean to say look where we are all from.....Nelson, Wellington and Waikato....good survey result there....

[JATZ]

I rode a KTM once..........nice bike, did everything well........but not my cup of tea.
mind you I havn't had a go on an adventure or one of the bigger ones

[warewolf]

Ah well, once mine's back together we should go for a ride, eh?

[orangekiwi]

too many choices...
bmw 650gs, i am sure is more comfy on road ( which i would do for daily commute) and ok-ish on off road
ktm 640lc4 looks like it will do off road excellent, not too sure how comfy it is on daily commute?
sat on a yamaha xt660 today, hard seat...will have to organize a test ride.
that suzuki dr650 looks hardcore...!

[dino3310]

.
that suzuki dr650 looks hardcore...!

its as hard core as you want to make it or as gentle as you want to ride it

[junkmanjoe]

is that my bike you talking about....isnt priddy....

[dino3310]

is that my bike you talking about....isnt priddy....

awe mate suzi's real pritty specially with that big voluptuous tank

Orangekiwi your on the right track mate just test ride as much as you can and you'll find the one that fits you.

[Waihou Thumper]

ktm 640lc4 looks like it will do off road excellent, not too sure how comfy it is on daily commute?...!

I commute on my LC4640 daily, 53Km each way....
It is very good for long rides too....Stand on the pegs once in a while and stretch the legs ...No issues there...

[shards]

If you take an XT660 for a test ride (to see how hard the seat is?) make sure it's a LONG ride. I have regularly done 6-7 hour days and, even though it seems hard at the start, you will be grateful when it's "just right" at the end. Could even be called a "Goldilocks" seat!!

[Dakar]

so can one put a 21" wheel on a regular 650GS non dakar model?
there was a nice white dakar 2000 dakar model for sale and i missed out on that one. still a 2000 red gs model going for my budget.
on another note, what are the ktm 640 lc4 's like?

You can, but the cost, you might as well just get the Dakar.

[orangekiwi]

once our house is sold i will have the $ available to buy the bike. it will be a commute of about 40km one way, and hope to do more weekend trips away with the new bike. have noticed that the bmw gs and dakars available have dropped lately. i did notice that nzktm has his 640 adventure up for sale again...what happened before that ? a lot of yamaha xt660 out there, some with 21 front or the motard setup...so test rides it will be!