Looking for Ideas

Looking for any thoughts. Need help making up my mind I guess. I got rid of the XR650L last year and bought a CRF450X in place of it. Kept it for about 5 months before dumping it. I have been on the fence about another Dual Sport. Love the KTM 530 except for the whole 10 grand part, the KLR is not really my cup either, I'm to big of a guy for a 400 or less, so I am thinking of another 650L or the suzuki DR 650s. The good of the last 2 is they are very affordable, the down side is your basicaly buying a 25 year old bike with new paint. Any options I'm forgetting or is that about it? I don't mind the though of another BRP but just fishing for ideas. Thanks everyone.

Don't forget a plated XR650R. They are an awesome bike and a 100% improvement over the L in all respects (IMO). They are stone reliable, light, super easy to start and can be picked up already accessorized anywhere between $2500-$4000. Just make sure it's already plated in another state first, they you're good to go in WA. They come up quite often for sale and some real bargains can be had on them.

The XRR does everything really well, from single track to long distance rides. A couple years ago I was in Yellowstone riding a R1150GS and met a guy riding a XRR, he was from CA and had been on the road for 5000 miles already. He said the bike hadn't had any issues on the trip. He rode it from CA, through Alaska, down through Canada and was working his way back to CA again. Very versatile.

I had a XRR before I went to the KTM, they are both great machines!

Here's a pic of my previous XRR




Hodakaguy

Remember that old technology is usually proven technology. I own a 09' dr 650, did some mods, the bike is a beast. I do also like the XR650L or the XR 650R. The saying "there is no replacement for displacement" is very true.

Have you considered the Husky TE610?

I like the Husky, but probly going to just head the same direction I went before and go with another BRP.

XCR500Rider wrote:

I like the Husky, but probly going to just head the same direction I went before and go with another BRP.

I seem to remember you writing about how much work you were putting into your L but still not getting the appropriate thrill factor.

You might consider riding someone's uncorked and properly set up R before getting another L.

Nothing wrong with the L, a fine ride and the magic E-button. But if you still don't mind kicking your CR500's, then the R is a piece of cake. Kicking over the XRR (the original BRP - Big Red Pig, he he) is child's play. It's all in the sequence. Mine will start at full choke and 40 degrees temperature in two kicks. When its warm, one easy kick, every time. Put it to sleep on the trail, pick it up right away and do the WFO and ride away. I just try to avoid stalls on steep side slopes, etc.

Like others have said, the market is flooded with fully farkled bikes at cut rate prices. If you know how to stay away from abused bikes and have the patience to wait for a super clean specimen, you're golden...

You would still get to make the tear it down, build it up relationship. Fair warning though, making it "yours" will cost some $$$. There are lists of maintenance tips that need to be done (I won't waste your time with a list but if you want to hear it I can start another thread and share the info I've collected for ten years). Maintenance, uncork, suspension, ride...

I had the bug when the bike first came out, but had to wait until 2006 to get my '01. I remember test riding XR600's and the XR650L ten years ago, the difference is night and day.
I rode a buddies CR500 when I used to come home on leave from the Navy, if it's hooked up it'll pull like a 600HP diesel truck and not back off until you're going way too fast and realize you got there way too quick!

If I recall, you enjoy the 50HP rush of a CR and don't mind a little extra bulk of a L, the R might do you right until you want to fork out the dough for something like the new Aprilias or a Husky. This past ten years has been amazing to watch. I should've bought the '99 Husky TE610 when it was dualsport of the year, but whoa! Look at the 2000 KTM adventure, drewl. Oh, wait a minute... What's this XR650R, drewl again. Test ride the XR650L in 2002, that button is pretty nice. Hey look at those cheap KTM's from Canada with street stuff already on them. EXC of every flavor, etc. the exotics, etc. It will go on and on and on....

I'll be test riding a DR650 this year because I had so much fun last summer taking my motorcycle safety class on a DR200 (picture 6'1" 245lbs - had a blast).

I'd like to save my XRR for my son's teenage years, but he'll probably be riding some silent Zero machine... I'll have to burn fuel to pick his ass up out in the boonies and tow the dead battery bike home.

You know what I mean?

Anyway, enough ranting from me. If I were closer I'd stop by and let you ride it If you want the "list" of essentials, send me a PM or you can get to know the bike that much better by digging all the stuff up on your own like I did (I miss the first two years of Yahoo Groups XR650R)

My bike's name is "The Mistress" because I love the thing so much!

You said it first.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover." ~Mark Twain

Thats very true Griz. My biggest problem is I'm not as young as my mind thinks I am, and when I get on the CR's or the more "sporty" stuff, I find my self doing fairly stupid things that I used to be able to do when I was 18! LOL. I don't feel I gave the XRL a fair chance because I was using it more for what it is not meant for, like extended road riding, then getting pissed cause it would only go like 85 or 90 down a dirt road. Now I stop and realize, for a "trail" bike it would've worked fine, but not for a desert racer or MX bike, or an over the road cruiser. If I would have ridden it like a dual sport, I think I would have appriciated more. I think I'm going through that mid life thing when I'm not as young as I feel or used to be, but am having a hard time accepting it! LOL. I'm going to go check out the DR650 here this week. I've always had friends have great luck with the DR's. Plus price wise, you can't beat it, so we'll see. Thanks man.

XCR500Rider wrote:

I find my self doing fairly stupid things that I used to be able to do when I was 18! LOL. I think I'm going through that mid life thing when I'm not as young as I feel or used to be, but am having a hard time accepting it! LOL. I'm going to go check out the DR650 here this week. I've always had friends have great luck with the DR's. Plus price wise, you can't beat it, so we'll see. Thanks man.

I hear ya!
My doctor says I have 60yr old bones in a 45yr old body. I was snow sledding last week and had to bail before launching into a street. My feet buried into a snow bank and the rest of my 245 lbs followed. I thought it was really wierd that my torso/lower back/etc. felt like a dried up piece of leather. I was just plain stiff and man did I feel it the next day!

I've learned to "operate" within a safe zone or modify how I do things in order to not hurt myself. I've been lucky on the bike because I like to push it to my limits for the shits and grins. It's part of the experience, right? Last fall I just had to get out of the house so I headed out on my favorite "decompression" loop near my house. Had a good hour of decompression riding (I know, don't ride pissed etc.) Including a great fire road straight-away with several nicely done whoops. It's a wide open kind of section.

Made the mistake of showing my wife the GPS track log. Try explaining to a wife that 87 MPH is ok on a straight dirt road... Needless to say, with no insurance this year my man card got revoked for a while. It's a trade off now. I take it easy and still enjoy but I get to come home to mama and the kids and I don't have extended recovery periods after my normal trail follies.

I would have fun riding a 80cc put put around the yard as long as I got to ride.. If I didn't nickel and dime my XRR build, I probably would have seriously looked at a DR earlier this year.

Have a good one! By the way, did that red head get any bigger? LOL Mine is going up a shoe size every 8 weeks! New jeans with labels from last fall just got donated for bigger ones. Might have to sell the bike for food! (hope not)

Bill

You sound alot like me! My wife freaks when I tell her how fast I go. We have an incredibly large open field in front of our house and I took the 450X out and went wide open throttle across it, probly 80 or so miles per hour and she just shook her head and told me to get a life insurance policy! My guy is now 60 pounds and I think 3.5 feet or taller. He's about twice the size of an average 4 year old.

So how is the bike shopping working out for you?

Later,

griz

Still mulling over all the options. One day leaning toward KTM, then Honda the next. I'm gonna slow down and make sure I make the right choice.

I saw this today and immediately thought about your need for speed, How about a 78HP 700cc two-stroke dual sport?

http://www.atkusa.com/atk/%28S%28fsuf5w45teakqi55imol2255%29%29/Products.aspx

Click on the "Intimidator"

(sorry, couldn't resist)

griz901 wrote:

I saw this today and immediately thought about your need for speed, How about a 78HP 700cc two-stroke dual sport?

http://www.atkusa.com/atk/%28S%28fsuf5w45teakqi55imol2255%29%29/Products.aspx

Click on the "Intimidator"

(sorry, couldn't resist)

Holy sheet ! could you even hold on !

Those things are ridiculous . With slight mods you can get that and more from a cr500 and it don't cost 12k. ATK has struggled since 86. Ol' Horst Leitner had a great idea of mounting the rear disc brake on the counter shaft! Worked real good until you actually had to use it to stop. Back then though they were using the ultra reliable although already 20 years outdated Rotax engines. Im not sure who is making them now, but try buying parts for those bikes in about 2 years or so. Still funny to look at though.

XCR500Rider wrote:

Back then though they were using the ultra reliable although already 20 years outdated Rotax engines. Im not sure who is making them now, but try buying parts for those bikes in about 2 years or so. Still funny to look at though.

Oh, I guess it was around 2001 or something I was debating about which bike to get. For almost a year I thought I was going to get a Cannondale FI enduro. When they went belly up from developing a new mill, I think ATK bought them out. I wonder if the four stroke motors are the Cannondale FI motors?

When I narrowed things down to "used" = "cheap" I was split between a XR600R and the ATK Rotax bikes. Then the '99 Husky dual sport took dual sport of the year and totally screwed up my logic But that's when I committed to the 650R.

Ain't motorsickles fun!

later,

griz

Oh, I guess it was around 2001 or something I was debating about which bike to get. For almost a year I thought I was going to get a Cannondale FI enduro. When they went belly up from developing a new mill, I think ATK bought them out. I wonder if the four stroke motors are the Cannondale FI motors?

When I narrowed things down to "used" = "cheap" I was split between a XR600R and the ATK Rotax bikes. Then the '99 Husky dual sport took dual sport of the year and totally screwed up my logic But that's when I committed to the 650R.

Ain't motorsickles fun!

later,

griz[/quote]




Thats very true. I think thats why I'm back and forth on this, hell who knows maybe a midlife crisis! About time for one of them I guess LOL. I was at Yamaha today looking at the YZ450's. Found a nice CRF450X in Idaho that said it was street legal. The only street legal about it was the Baja Designs kit. No plate or anything else. Strictly dirt is alot easier choice than dual sports I know that!

If you have time to work on your bike between rides the KTM's are excellent bikes. I loved my 400 EXC but the 15 hour service and valve adjustment intervals was a bit much for me... I keep my bike at my weekend place and want to ride on the weekends not do a service.