Which bike? Beginner off-road, experienced on-road. BMW X Challenge vs Honda CRF250L

[Zapf]

Which bike would you choose?

1.) I am a beginner off road
2.) I am very experienced on road

I would like to use this bike to learn the skills and acquire the skills to off road riding, and also go on weekend / multi day trips.

The budget allows for either a
2007 BMW X Challenge with 11'000km's that is fitted out with good suspension and kit.

or

2014 Honda CRF250L with no kit and 7'000km.

Honda is around 2'000 dollars cheaper than the BMW.

I am at a lost if I should get the BMW 650 that is better equipped but older, or a Honda 250 that we know will run well but I will grow out of it quickly...

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Box'a'bits]

A Yamaha WR250R will sit between the two & has a better suspension package than the CRF . Lighter is better, but the two smaller bikes will be less comfortable on road (seat).

[Padmei]

Dr or KLR650
cheaper & better

[Box'a'bits]

Dr or KLR650
cheaper

Fixt. You gets what you pay for.

[clint640]

How tall are you? The X-Challenge has a really high seat which is not going to be fun for an offroad n00b unless you are 6'4"+ It does win points for being one of the lighter 650 class machines though.

A Yamaha WR250R will sit between the two & has a better suspension package than the CRF . Lighter is better, but the two smaller bikes will be less comfortable on road (seat).

Good advice above While the WR-R is listed with a fairly high seat it can be lowered really easily. There's a virtually new 2012 on tardme for $7500 at present. Re seats, remember that you can probably upgrade the seat on most dirtbikes for less than the cost of a set of tyres.

Another thing to watch is fuel range. Once you start heading out for a bit of backroad touring this can be an issue on many smaller bikes so checking out the price/availability of bigger gas tanks often needs to be part of the purchase equation.

Cheers
Clint

[oneblackflag]

WR250r... No bias...

Biger 11lt fuel tank ~$250 + shipping. Seat.. I make do with stock but I believe around same price as tank.

Quite a step up from the Honda me thinks and no sexuality brought into question ('cept its a 250).

Will make 28 Hp with usual mods.

Probably get an 08 for 5.5-6k

[Zapf]

How tall are you? The X-Challenge has a really high seat which is not going to be fun for an offroad n00b unless you are 6'4"+ It does win points for being one of the lighter 650 class machines though.

Good advice above While the WR-R is listed with a fairly high seat it can be lowered really easily. There's a virtually new 2012 on tardme for $7500 at present. Re seats, remember that you can probably upgrade the seat on most dirtbikes for less than the cost of a set of tyres.

Another thing to watch is fuel range. Once you start heading out for a bit of backroad touring this can be an issue on many smaller bikes so checking out the price/availability of bigger gas tanks often needs to be part of the purchase equation.

Cheers
Clint

THANKS,
I am 5"10. For the G650 Xchallange with the Ohlins it will be lowered a bit. By how much I am not sure.

Yes I see the WR250R on tardme. I can't find one in Auckland to sit on, let alone test ride. Anyone know of any around AK?

The WR250 only has 7.6L I see http://www.nomadtanks.com/ has a 4.0L tank for the WR250R. That is still only 11L. How far will that get me? 270km?

Ta
Zapf

[oneblackflag]

The WR250 only has 7.6L I see http://www.nomadtanks.com/ has a 4.0L tank for the WR250R. That is still only 11L. How far will that get me? 270km?

Ta

Zapf

Yes bout 270km for 11lts mind you mines remapped with full exhaust and open airbox.

[Night Falcon]

Good advice above While the WR-R is listed with a fairly high seat it can be lowered really easily. There's a virtually new 2012 on tardme for $7500 at present.

Cheers
Clint

The reserve on that one was $9K when it didn't sell a couple of weeks ago. There is an 08 there as well with a 290kit and lots of extras including a 14l tank which looks interesting.

[RMOTO]

THANKS,
The WR250 only has 7.6L I see http://www.nomadtanks.com/ has a 4.0L tank for the WR250R. That is still only 11L. How far will that get me? 270km?

Most small/mid sized bikes have small fuel tank capacity from factory and upgrading tanks for adventure riding is commonplace. Upgrading to a larger tank is often easier than adding auxiliary tanks as they may interfere with luggage options.

This article has been recently updated which has some helpful info on bike selection:
http://www.remotemoto.com/articles/c...dventure-bike/

Cheers

Josh

[CRM]

I would go for a smaller bike for learning off-road. I've had a bunch of trail-style bike and honestly the most fun has been on the smaller ones. It takes a very experienced rider to enjoy a taller/heavier/larger bike off-road. I've ridden a WR250 and had a DRZ400 and XR600 and they are great in the more open areas but for cow-trail type stuff, mud, creeks and all that good stuff if you aren't too tall (I'm 5'9") a shorter bike like a CRF250L is definitely easier to work with.

[Devil]

How far off road are you thinking of heading, Felix? Just don't listen to that Alan guy. Heh. You can try my KTM 690 if you like but it can be a bit of a handful for a noob. If you want to try the real easy end of things we've just acquired an XT250/

PS: Would like to talk to you about Europe travelling...

[Scubbo]

yes, i'd recommend an XT250 they're great, were some new ones in tauranga gonig for cheap a few months ago -- yam NZ seems to gouge like crazy but they were ~ 5K new? and the new EFI year IIRC

[thepom]

Ktm 690 ideal
..just turn the ignition mapping switch to beginners mode and when your skill level gets better switch it to mwdium or crazy !

[Gremlin]

How far off road are you thinking of heading, Felix? Just don't listen to that Alan guy. Heh. You can try my KTM 690 if you like but it can be a bit of a handful for a noob. If you want to try the real easy end of things we've just acquired an XT250/

PS: Would like to talk to you about Europe travelling...

Yeah, when Zapf thinks off road, it's actually still a road. First up will be getting him happy on gravel roads, then progressing through to adventure roads, rivers, Motu etc. He can confirm, but I don't envisage he'll be looking for too much more adventure than the likes of Nevis/Rainbow etc. So it's technically speaking still roads.

He's already had plenty of my advice. No, due to size, he can't get a GSA That said (and it's not for everyone) I did learn adv riding on my 1200GSA. It was OK for me, but then it's still mostly "roads". Show the bike some sand and it usually gets tired (well, that's my excuse)

Contact him re Europe, he's happy to advise and actually really suggests you talk to him first.

edit: He was considering more dual purpose, DR/KLR but seems to have swung back to street legal dirt bike kinda stuff. My advice now is freaken buy something and start falling off. Best way to learn