Best 250cc dual-purpose bike?

**tegeem** · 24th September 2010, 14:10

Hey.
Been riding for a long time on the road, mostly bigger bikes and currently own a 99 thunderbird. Ive been enjoying road touring for ages but Im looking to extend myself and get into a bit of off road exploring. I realize itll be a whole new skill set to learn and develop so im begining small and light and will kick off with daytripping and overnighters. No long distance touring at this stage until i feel my skillset is a little more complete.
To that end, Im looking at picking up a newish 250cc road legal dual sport bike. My question is which one? Im looking at the suzuki DR250, the kawasaki KLX250, and similar bikes by honda and yamaha. any suggestions? needs to be able to handle a 5'8 rider, 80kgs and gear for a weekend, have great economy and a bit of go. Cheers.

**R6_kid:Me** · 24th September 2010, 14:24

You'd want something quite stable and well planted. When you're dueling it's quite important that you are comfortable and able to have good control of your weapon as well as your stead to be sure that you emerge the victor.

**tegeem** · 24th September 2010, 14:42

no suprises there.

**bart** · 24th September 2010, 15:09

WR Yamaha would be my pick. They seem to effortlessly do the biz, and look horny too. See Rosie and Andy Mac (Cnut king).

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...sation-project

**tegeem** · 24th September 2010, 15:40

Thanks Bart. yep Ive been hearing some very good things about them. will be getting a spin on one in the next fortnight so will have a better idea then.

**Eddieb** · 24th September 2010, 15:42

Yep, Rosies bike is a serious piece of kit.

**ADVGD** · 24th September 2010, 16:28

Originally Posted by tegeem

Hey.
Im looking at picking up a newish 250cc road legal dual sport bike. My question is which one? Im looking at the suzuki DR250, the kawasaki KLX250, and similar bikes by honda and yamaha. any suggestions? needs to be able to handle a 5'8 rider, 80kgs and gear for a weekend, have great economy and a bit of go. Cheers.

If you are specifically after a 250 then the DRZ250 is certainly worth a look. Here is an article with some pros and cons of the bike plus some info on setting one up for adventure riding:

Setting up a DRZ250 for adventure riding

**zeRax** · 24th September 2010, 17:19

hands down the WR250R

ive had a few dual purpose bikes XR250L, KLX400R, KDX125, and just bought a WR250R to replace my DR650 + KDX200 combo

Very happy and impressed with it~ i was concerned about highway speeds in winds like how my xr250L was, but after buying one and riding it, it is a fucking magic lil thing on the road too !, just rode back from chch yesterday, windy and all good!

imo!

**tegeem** · 24th September 2010, 17:20

Just finished cheaking out Rosies WR project, Nice work. Its bloody good fun customizing anything to suit your own needs on the sly. theres a satisfaction ya get from tutu-ing round with your favorite toys to totally suit your personal needs that is pretty wicked. Rosie and Clint seem to be a good team & look to be having a sh!tload of fun in the process. good on em, cos other than doing the missions on the bike, thats kinda what its all about.
thanks Rosie and Clint for posting that lot.

**tegeem** · 24th September 2010, 17:31

Originally Posted by ADVGD

If you are specifically after a 250 then the DRZ250 is certainly worth a look. Here is an article with some pros and cons of the bike plus some info on setting one up for adventure riding:

Setting up a DRZ250 for adventure riding

Thats a great project! I have a rifle scabbard and rod holder on my list of wants so its good to see someone giving that idea a crack.

**ADVGD** · 24th September 2010, 18:35

Originally Posted by zeRax

hands down the WR250R

ive had a few dual purpose bikes XR250L, KLX400R, KDX125, and just bought a WR250R to replace my DR650 + KDX200 combo

Very happy and impressed with it~ i was concerned about highway speeds in winds like how my xr250L was, but after buying one and riding it, it is a fucking magic lil thing on the road too !, just rode back from chch yesterday, windy and all good!

imo!

+1 (maybe?)

I missed your first post comment "have great economy and a bit of go". If you want a little more go then the WR250R certainly has more oomph than the DRZ250. Talk to most WR250R owners and they'll rave about how good it is because it is a higher performing modern water cooled fuel injected bike with a lot more oomph, but that of course leads onto the can of worms topic of simple air cooled vs water cooled fuel injected technology that I dare not open

I chose the DRZ250 solely due to the super reliable air/oil cooled engine because I head into some remote places where reliability is paramount. It has been a great bike, I have had a truck load of fun on it and it has taken me all over the South Island completely trouble free since I brought it from new 2 years ago. It all depends on what you are looking for, what your requirements are and what your riding style is like, either way you'll be hard pushed to find the "perfect" answer to your question "Best 250cc dual purpose bike", or at least one that everyone agrees with...

**tegeem** · 24th September 2010, 19:15

Originally Posted by ADVGD

+1 (maybe?)

I missed your first post comment "have great economy and a bit of go". If you want a little more go then the WR250R certainly has more oomph than the DRZ250. Talk to most WR250R owners and they'll rave about how good it is because it is a higher performing modern water cooled fuel injected bike with a lot more oomph, but that of course leads onto the can of worms topic of simple air cooled vs water cooled fuel injected technology that I dare not open

I chose the DRZ250 solely due to the super reliable air/oil cooled engine because I head into some remote places where reliability is paramount. It has been a great bike, I have had a truck load of fun on it and it has taken me all over the South Island completely trouble free since I brought it from new 2 years ago. It all depends on what you are looking for, what your requirements are and what your riding style is like, either way you'll be hard pushed to find the "perfect" answer to your question "Best 250cc dual purpose bike", or at least one that everyone agrees with...

Cheers man. thats exactly why I asked.

Opinions from everyone who uses these different bikes counts for a lot and the opinions i agree wtih will point me in the right direction

What I do know, is there are a lot of places ive taken a 99 thunderbird that most tbird owners would shudder at. that big ol cow has taken me off road and into a heap of cool spots. and at $140 an in indicator, it teaches you not to drop the heavy b!tch too.

**clint640** · 27th September 2010, 07:39

Thanks! The WRR just did another 1000+ km weekend on the NBA with everything working well. Definitely try & get a ride on as many 250's as you can & see what you like. Even getting something basic & cheaper like a Sherpa or an XT250 may be a good idea to start on, the lower seat heights make learning in the dirt much easier, then upgrade to something with more grunt & suspension.
The WRR appealed to us as we were basically looking for something that offered a good suspension & power upgrade over the Sherpa but with no more weight.

Cheers
Clint

Originally Posted by tegeem

Just finished cheaking out Rosies WR project, Nice work. Its bloody good fun customizing anything to suit your own needs on the sly. theres a satisfaction ya get from tutu-ing round with your favorite toys to totally suit your personal needs that is pretty wicked. Rosie and Clint seem to be a good team & look to be having a sh!tload of fun in the process. good on em, cos other than doing the missions on the bike, thats kinda what its all about.
thanks Rosie and Clint for posting that lot.

**NordieBoy** · 27th September 2010, 07:52

Originally Posted by clint640

The WRR appealed to us as we were basically looking for something that offered a good suspension & power upgrade over the Sherpa but with no more weight.

And so Rosie doesn't have to do a Rollie Free when she wants to overtake at 100kph.