Let's hear from you dualers... better than a sports?

[bart]

Oh, and to answer your question, I used to have hell of a lot of fun on a ZXR750, and almost as much fun on a ZX9R, but they were really shit off road (or on gravel). You see a lot more scenery and get in a lot less trouble on a dual purpose or motard. 10 years ago I would have preferred the road bike. Now that I've almost growen up, and can't afford too many speeding tickets, my tastes have changed.

For interests sake, I had a drag against my mate on his DR650. He beat me, just. We swapped bikes, and he beat me, just. We put it down to the fact that I weigh about 15kg more than him. The bikes are about even, but the DR650 is much more comfy on road, and the DRZ400 is more capable off road.

[NordieBoy]

5 speed box, and only a small band of power through each gear limits things a bit.

5 speed box and a huge band of power still limits things a bit.
A 6 speed DR650 would rule.

[Garry.W]

[QUOTE=Macstar;1210572]Hey people

I was absolutely blown away when I went to the Battle of the Streets in Paeroa this year and saw the mad bastards on Motards ripping around the track beating 600cc sport bikes. Obviously those riders had some wicked skills (hanging it out on corners).

Anyway, I've got my tourer (Suzuki RF 900) and I want a second bike sub $8000 to have some on-road fun on. The motards look like a lot of fun through the twisties... and maybe for pulling a few wheelies etc.

*Is riding one of these bikes (KTM 660, XT660 etc) on-road way different to a sports bike i.e. require a fair amount of re-education?

No, unless you're planning on a move to gravel

*Would you guys agree that they're more fun through the corners than a sports bike?

Yep

*What kind of top end speeds are we talking?

Plenty

*Do the engines need more attention than your typical 600 sports bike?

Less I reckon

Cheers fellas, sorry for all the Q's!

No worries, join us when you're ready

[oldrider]

Horses for courses, you can ride any bike almost anywhere but they build bikes that are appropriate for use and they are freely available these days, so choose one that is fit for purpose.

I ride a venture style bike because it is capable of doing "most" things, rather well and should be able to do it time after time.

There are times when I would dearly love to have a sports bike or a cruiser or a trail bike etc but I just can't afford to own them all so I compromise with a venture bike.

Venture bikes are kind of Jack of all trades, master of none type bikes but boy do I like them.

Especially happy with mine, it's a bit bigger than I need sometimes but I like the power out on the road, loaded and two up! Cheers John.