Interested in dual-purpose bikes

[kave]

At the moment I have a Suzuki SG350 and some 250cc bikes. I feel that ideally I would like a larger bike for weekends and something fun and manouverable for commuting. What would something like a Yamaha TDR250 be like as a commuter? upsides I can see are 50hp, 137kg dry weight and an upright riding position, and it looks like it would be heaps of fun. Downsides are, it'll take me a while to get used to the seat height (especially as I'm rather short), its a 2-stroke (is this going to be a problem for commuting?) and I'm wary of buying a 2-smoker 250 before the learner laws change and dramatically devalue the bike.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-144308125.htm
http://www.tdr250.co.uk/history2.html

Would I be better off getting a 4-stroke 400cc thumper for getting to work? I'm not keen on getting anything less powerful than my Goose, as ideally I would also want to be able to use the bike as a spare for the missus to ride on Day-trips, or for me to go out and thrash on gravel roads

Note: My commute is into Auckland CBD, takes about 15-20 mins, and consists mainly of windey roads, and its all done in 50kph zones

[kevfromcoro]

youre onto it.....dual purpose bikes are exc.. in traffic...sort of steer them a bit.dont have to worry about damaging fairings..jump the odd curb.
the power off a 400 will be a bit different to what you are used to..but still a good buzz....rack on the back... mayebe the missus too...... opatunaties are all there.....

[cave weta]

What would something like a Yamaha TDR250 be like as a commuter? upsides I can see are 50hp, 137kg dry weight

50 HP!!! shit where do I sign? sounds awesome from a single cyl 250 commuter! Im off to follow your link and have a good read!

[cave weta]

Well- had me a look- cool looking bike for commuting ! I would enjoy that so much that I think I would move further away from work, just I could spend more time on it- he he! A TZR trailie. So cool but a bit pricy for its age me thinks!

[NordieBoy]

youre onto it.....dual purpose bikes are exc.. in traffic...sort of steer them a bit.dont have to worry about damaging fairings..jump the odd curb.
the power off a 400 will be a bit different to what you are used to..but still a good buzz....rack on the back... mayebe the missus too...... opatunaties are all there.....

The goose has no fairings and about the same power as a DP 400.

Any 350-400 would do the business though.
I'd look at a dr350 - small enough for the missus to ride and the same engine as the goose.

Having less hp than the goose isn't much of an issue as it'll be putting that power down through skinnier knobbie-ish tyres and on gravel as well

[Padmei]

A nice looking bike. A bit old but not may k's. I just wonder what the parts situatuion would be like. For a few more grand you could buy a brand new dr...

go look at some shops...

[Oscar]

Warning - A TDR250 is NOT a dual purpose bike, it is a mutant throwback.
It will do gravel, but I think you'd be a helluva lot better off on a single cylinder four stroke.

[clint640]

I had a TDR250, it was a very cool bike in a lot of ways, but more of a motard than a dual purpose machine really. It was great fun on a sealed twisty road or on the track & had good brakes & handling & plenty of power.

I never really liked it on gravel though, it felt top heavy (137kgs dry sounds like bollocks to me) It was pretty thirsty for a 250 & only had about 140 km range. The seat was not that great for distance either. The major drawback is the fact that the TZR motor, even the slightly detuned version in the TDR, has all the structural integrity of a pinless handgrenade. I actually had a good run out of mine while I had it but it blew up 2 weeks after I sold it.

$5.5K for that one is a bit nuts I reckon, it does have low k's but is far from a minter with one of the pipe guards missing. I've seen others around the $2.5-3.5K mark a few times.

For around $5K you could get a good used DR650 that would be a much better & more reliable all-rounder than the TDR. DR350's are good if you like the Goose motor but are a bit taller than the easily lowerable DR650 & the road legal electric start ones are quite hard to find.

Cheers
Clint

[Crisis management]

Oscar & Clint are quite correct here, that is not a dual purpose bike.

If you want to try out a DR650, send me a PM and you are welcome to try out mine.....

Iain

[inlinefour]

At the moment I have a Suzuki SG350 and some 250cc bikes. I feel that ideally I would like a larger bike for weekends and something fun and manouverable for commuting. What would something like a Yamaha TDR250 be like as a commuter? upsides I can see are 50hp, 137kg dry weight and an upright riding position, and it looks like it would be heaps of fun. Downsides are, it'll take me a while to get used to the seat height (especially as I'm rather short), its a 2-stroke (is this going to be a problem for commuting?) and I'm wary of buying a 2-smoker 250 before the learner laws change and dramatically devalue the bike.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-144308125.htm
http://www.tdr250.co.uk/history2.html

Would I be better off getting a 4-stroke 400cc thumper for getting to work? I'm not keen on getting anything less powerful than my Goose, as ideally I would also want to be able to use the bike as a spare for the missus to ride on Day-trips, or for me to go out and thrash on gravel roads

Note: My commute is into Auckland CBD, takes about 15-20 mins, and consists mainly of windey roads, and its all done in 50kph zones

I've owned plenty of 2 smokers, commuting is sweet just give them a good blast every so often. Had a 04 DRZ400e which was water cooled and by far the best enduro I've ever owned, even being a custard soozooki. Done shitloads of km on it, all thrashing the shit out of it and its been awesome. The motard version is fairly lame if you dont want the power, plus mine was tweaked to go faster.

[muzzle]

The motard version is fairly lame if you dont want the power, plus mine was tweaked to go faster.

Don't you mean Tame or did you mean to say Lame. You can buy a DRZ400 super motard new at the moment for $7995.00. If you got some trail bike rims to fit you could have the best of both worlds. Motard rims for the road and trail bike rims for the trails. That way you can go for a bit more off road type tyre on the trail rims without the hassle of running them day to day on the road. Running a bigger front wheel will make your speedo read a bit slow but once you know how far out it is you would be fine.

[inlinefour]

Don't you mean Tame or did you mean to say Lame. You can buy a DRZ400 super motard new at the moment for $7995.00. If you got some trail bike rims to fit you could have the best of both worlds. Motard rims for the road and trail bike rims for the trails. That way you can go for a bit more off road type tyre on the trail rims without the hassle of running them day to day on the road. Running a bigger front wheel will make your speedo read a bit slow but once you know how far out it is you would be fine.

No I definitely mean LAME as in slow as fuck, pathetic when compared to what mine ran like. Was looking at getting a set of rims for mine for motarding and as far as the speedo, only ever worried about that thing if the fuzz or a camera was about, my speedo would run faster, the opposite of what your saying. I'm sure the tard could be hotted up with the work, but considering suckzaki have turned it into a super retard I could not see the point. My next bike once we could afford it was going to be the Aprillia V-twin tard, a real one.

[tri boy]

Hi kave,
If general riding, commuting, adv riding with a bit of single track exploring is what you are considering, then almost any of the 400-650 dualies will fit the bill IMHO.
DR's XT's, KLX's XR/XRL's, they will all give it a good go.
Just look for a well maitained and presented beast that you will be able to sell later.
Theres no "top dog" or absolute shitter in the adv world.
Tyres, fuel range, and good riding gear are probably more important than the make n model.
My two cents.