Buying a dual-purpose!

[pampa]

That looks even older than the first second hand KLX was made ...

Pampa

you might get a DT230 for 3-4k

happy at 100km/hr - can do 300-500km days
as quick to 100k as DR's/KLR's
capable on just about any surface
reliable
light(ish)

you can end up feeling a bit like the motorcycle rider in Gumball Rally (if you are old enough to know what I'm waffling about) but you cant have it all

[marks]

That looks even older than the first second hand KLX was made ...

Pampa

I saw that movie when it was first released - 1976
I thought it was awesome

[Padmei]

I remember when it used to play at the Academy theatre in Auckland every Sunday avo. It went on for about 3 years I think. Gotta get it out again & relive those cray 12 yr old days

[pete376403]

Getting a bit off topic now but IIRC the stunt rider was Yvon DuHamel, kawasaki factory rider of H1Rs and H2Rs

[Waihou Thumper]

I remember when it used to play at the Academy theatre in Auckland every Sunday avo. It went on for about 3 years I think. Gotta get it out again & relive those cray 12 yr old days

You are as old as me....
I went to the theatre in my PJ's for the Rocky Horror in Avondale, midnight showing...
It was a regular dress up...
I went about three times as it was a regular institution to do after the dinner and coffee.....

[NordieBoy]

I think you gotta spend $5000 to make it a good ADV bike

That's a 2nd hand DR650 with $1000 left over for beer/trips/farkling.

[Padmei]

You are as old as me....
I went to the theatre in my PJ's for the Rocky Horror in Avondale, midnight showing...
It was a regular dress up...
I went about three times as it was a regular institution to do after the dinner and coffee.....

never wore pjs but went there a few times - I nearly always fell asleep tho...

[HungusMaximist]

Fanks for all your replies folks.

I am pretty clueless on dual-purpose bikes and from my limited knowledge, DRZ engines are more motard styles right? Prompting for more service intervals?

Any big differences between the DRZ250 and the 400s?

Saw this DF200 on Trademe. Looked mean. No idea about the bike though.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-205944233.htm

Rang up a dew dealerships and they kept going on about how the DR650 is the perfect commuter.

[HungusMaximist]

depends what sort of adv riding you're gonna swing towards mate. I ride a DR-Z 400 and did 1000km on it in one day in Jan. I put up with it on the road cos I love making a prick of myself offroad and the 400 lets me be a right obnoxious prick. If you want to travel in comfort or want to carry loads then look bigger, if you want to go off rd heaps look at the DR / XR option, otherwise look at something with a bit of fairing and bigger tank to do the road hauls on.

It will mainly be for commuting through the streets of Aucks as I am trying to save cash this year and plus being 6 foot 1, the taller size of the bike is gonna really help my back. Also gonna look forward to riding through flooded roads where my sportsbike could've never done.

Though still have the ability to hit up the sand and gravel. Not keen on a hardcore dirt focused bike.

[Crisis management]

Look just buy a DR650 then you get to go adventure riding and can spend endless hours on here denigrating KLRs...what more can you want?


Seriously tho, it may be benificial to meet up and talk over the bike choices you have rather than trying to make sense of the interweeb Q & A system, if you're interested send me a PM.

Iain

[warewolf]

I am pretty clueless on dual-purpose bikes and from my limited knowledge, DRZ engines are more motard styles right? Prompting for more service intervals?

There's no such thing as a motard-style engine, per se - at least not in that context, and certainly not in the same sentence as DR-Z . Motards are simply streeted enduro bikes, so the service intervals and performance levels can vary enormously per the base or donor dirt bike. To that end, DR-Zs are low-spec rugged trail bikes rather than highly-strung race bikes.

Any big differences between the DRZ250 and the 400s?

Heaps. The 250 is air & oil cooled, essentially unchanged since at least 1995 maybe earlier, with a long history before that. The 400 is an all-new watercooled bike debuting late 1990s. The nearly 2x cubes makes the 400 much gruntier, you have to wring the neck of the 250 in comparison. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as it can be more fun to ride a slow bike fast than a fast bike slow. The 400 is taller and heavier, too.

Saw this DF200 on Trademe. Looked mean. No idea about the bike though.

The DF is the ag version of the DR200. A different family of bike again to the 250 & 400. It's been around a looooooong time. I had a 2001 for a while before the 250. Same weight as the 250, 50% less power & suspension. Worked well as an adventure bike for short lightly loaded trips, but struggled in the forest on enduro single-track. Not a trail bike, really, that next step streetified than the DR-Zs. But the comments about wringing its neck apply double. Underpowered on the highway but tolerable for what it was, and muchos fun to ride because you couldn't afford to back off the throttle - holding corner speed was the name of the game. Apparently they respond well to basic performance mods (airbox, exhaust, jetting) and there's lots of info on the web about it.

[HungusMaximist]

Bro, appreciate that explaination, if you ever around or live Aucks we should have a chat aye. Online forums can be a bit hard sometimes like Crisis Management mentioned above.

For me my 929 is way too much power for the sort of riding I am doing at the moment. Ride to uni, work, motorway and occasional open road ride.

Preferably with a rear rack so I can carry shit and quite a few of the DR650 come with these. Originally thought about getting a 125 cc scooter but then realised it's pretty limiting in the things I can do.

From all the bikes I've seen DR-Z tend to be on the more expensive side. The honda XR 650 looked like a good bet also, tad on the expensive side. No idea about the KLR series. So far, the DR series looks like the best value.

[clint640]

From all the bikes I've seen DR-Z tend to be on the more expensive side. The honda XR 650 looked like a good bet also, tad on the expensive side. No idea about the KLR series. So far, the DR series looks like the best value.

Yep, it is hard to go past a DR650 for value. When looking at XR650s be aware they come in 2 flavours: the XR650R which is alloy framed & liquid cooled & a real mans go fast trail / light adv bike & the XR650L which is not that common in NZ but is similar in spec to a DR650, but taller, so worth a look if you spot one for sale.

Cheers
Clint

[warewolf]

the XR650R which is alloy framed & liquid cooled & a real mans go fast trail / light adv bike

ie Kick-start only The -L has an electric leg.

[junkmanjoe]

my old xr600r man i spent nearly 20min one morn kicking the shit out of it, it did start and i was late for work,