Which bike? DRZ400-KLX400-WR450

[426crasher]

I run a WR426 which is road legal and i do adventure ride it. It's been rock solid for reliability and it's now past the 10000km mark. Having said that i would steer you towards the DRz400 because i think it would be the best bike for you at the present. As you are newish to the off road world the WR and KTM enduro bikes could well be a bit of a handfull which could easily take the gloss of your riding experiences. The oil change intervals are more regular and you do need to keep a check on things more frequently too. Without sounding too biased i think the WR range to be the most reliable of the pukka enduro bikes but the less highly strung DRz motor will handle your road riding better. Another bonus with the DRz is that you should be able to pick up a newer and less travelled one for your dollars than the enduro range. Test ride as many as you can first to compare but i recon you will end up yellow.
Cheers Tony.

[Tony W]

Yes totally agree - They say XR's are old technology but you can't go past them for rideability and reliability - only issue is kick start. (the only XR400 I've seen with E Start is a motard import at our local Honda dealer - they want about $9k for it but it's a cool bike).

I had a DRZ and have ridden an XR400 and was keen on that until an XR600 came up. Just find an XR400, 600 or 650 and have a go - masses of parts available and easy to work on plus more comfortable than DRZ.

Kick, kick, kick, kick......it's 2008...

[Ruralman]

Kick, kick, kick, kick......it's 2008...

Learn to do it right and it aint a problem

Further to that weight issue I raised - I remember now that the DRZ feels top heavy but not as much because of the radiator but because the motor sits very upright compared to the XR400 which is angled forward and helps lower the C of G (and it does make a big difference)

[Tony W]

[QUOTE=Ruralman;1773069]Learn to do it right and it aint a problem

...I like to do it right . . . . . . . with my thumb !

...I'm over 50 and not " masokickstic " . .

It's a shame Honda doesn't have ES on a lot of its trail bikes.
Does anyone know why ?

[Tony W]

[QUOTE=Mystic13;1767905]I'm looking to upgrade the 250, wwell actually sell it and buy either a

Suzuki DRZ400E (2003-2006)
Yamaha WR450 (same vintage)
Kawasaki KLX 400 (same vintage) and apparently this is a DRZ400E...

.

I see there is a KLX400R on Trade me. 2003, 4700km, $3500 - $4000.
Sounds like a bargain.

[warewolf]

It's a shame Honda doesn't have ES on a lot of its trail bikes.
Does anyone know why ?

Yes, and no.

I thought it particularly unusual of Honda, given it has road variants of the same engines carrying e-starts. eg my first bike was a 1986 Honda CBX250 which was an e-start XR250 engine in a road chassis. So it's not like they'd have to develop new cases & starter ancillaries to make it happen. Plus there are the XR250-derivative JDM adventure bikes badged as "Baja" which are also e-start. Ditto XR400 variants.

Obviously the marketing goobs reckon there's no money in it. The NX650 Dominator is e-start (it's a very similar style of bike to the Bajas) but the XR600 never was, and the new-generation XR650R isn't - no parallels there, the XR650L is more like the Domi than the R.

As Ruralman says, kick-start isn't a problem if you bother to learn how, although it is unfashionable. The button is often faster (surprisingly not for dead-engine cross-country starts, where you can prime the bike beforehand) and its sustained cranking can be useful when starting is marginal such as when the bike is sick, either permanently or because you just fell off and flooded it.

[cynna]

whats the equivilant of an xr650 or tt600 these days?

[CRM]

Kick, kick, kick, kick......it's 2008...

The first time out in the dirt on my DRZ the fuse blew so it was push, push, push the rest of the day - wished I had an old fashioned kick starter.

[CRM]

whats the equivilant of an xr650 or tt600 these days?

The design philosophy has changed and bikes are way more specialised, plus maybe the emissions rules mean that modern bikes need to be more complex. So you either get a couple of bikes or find an XR or TT and bling it up. I couldn't find any modern equivalent that was reliable/durable/decent on the road/ fun in the dirt except maybe the new WR250 super trail but they are costly and they are only a 250. Hopefully there'll be more of this type of bike coming out. The DRZ400 I guess is the only bike for the masses at present...

[NordieBoy]

whats the equivilant of an xr650 or tt600 these days?

Let me guess that it's an XR650R or TTR600.

[bart]

E-start has saved my ass many times. Wouldn't even consider going back to a kick start...............

absolutly nothing to do with the fact I can't touch the ground.

[buggsubique]

I wouldn't mind a kicker as well as the button. Been very lucky a couple of times with the battery dying on me, or a wet carb. In fact I usually carry a bike sized set of jumpers if I'm going way out back.

One guy drowned his bike and sucked the water right through the carb before he knew what he'd done. He ran the battery flat so we swapped mine into his bike while my bike idled and put a bit of charge into his... f*cken ordeal, but it saved him walking 20 k's.

[marks]

I wouldn't mind a kicker as well as the button.

every now and then the wr doesn't want to fire with the button - a good boot is all it normally needs - don't ask me why. would most probably grind the battery to nothing and be stuck without the kick starter. wish the klr had one as it has the odd hissy fit as well -cant bump start either as they are auto clutches.

[NordieBoy]

cant bump start either as they are auto clutches.

The things you put up with eh?

[Ruralman]

Take a look at this one

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-182998292.htm

Theres also a KLX650 on there at the moment which would be a pretty good dirt capable machine as well as holding its own on the road