Anyone advise on motorbike choice ?

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Anyone advise on motorbike choice ?

Mark

1547 posts

Uber Geek

#89950 12-Sep-2011 15:20

Hi there,

I'm looking at buying a motorbike again, but this time looking at a different class to what I've ridden in the past .. always had sports bikes where the choice is easy, find a bike you think is pretty, jump on and ride fast :-)

I'm looking at getting a dirt bike that I can use for the work commute and also use for a bit of offroad fun, except I've never bin on an offroad bike before or really looked at which ones are better, hence why I'm asking.

Big difference I see is the "hour meter" ... do off roaders really have such short service intervals ? :-(

Anyone have some good pointers and recommendations on makes/models to look at ?

Thanks

Mark

garvani

1874 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#520025 12-Sep-2011 15:28

The highly tuned motox bikes come with hour meters, your not going to find one on a dual sport bike like your looking at..
A friend had a Honda NXR at highschool that seemed to go pretty good on and offroad.. Also had another friend with a Kawasaki KLX that he used to ride on the road legally but also used to dabble in off road.
The thing is with these bikes they dont tend to do either road or off road particularly well, as the suspension etc has to be set at a level thats going to allow off road but also be useful on road. In my opinion it would be better if you got a decent roadbike and a cheapy off roader.
Also heres the trademe category

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek

#520028 12-Sep-2011 15:35

Define what you mean by 'offroad'.
If you mean gravel roads and forest roads, thats quite different from forest tracks and trails.

How much time do you think you'll spend 'offroad' and how much on-road?
Then theres the money question....

Some folk may be happy with a KLR-650, others with an XT-660 or similar. These are both offroad bikes that are registered for road work and may suit. But they're not highly tuned uber light things with hour meters, short component cycles and un-registered.

A bit more info from your end may help.

Mark

1547 posts

Uber Geek

#520033 12-Sep-2011 15:47

Something to hack about on Muriwai beach or Woodhill forest and that if I fall off is going to survive and be light enough for me to pick up again.

A 650cc+ bike might be a tad heavy to pick up .. I came off my GSXR600 and then made of the mistake of just picking it up under the influence of adrenaline (next day woke up to pulled muscles!) I'm thinking more 250cc maybe max of 450cc (though that might also be weighty)

For Auckland I'm after something that can manoeuvre through traffic ... which is where I think an offroad style will work better than sports, plus if I get angry I have the option of going over people ;-)

Reminds me .. I once watched a girlie on a Silverwing stop at a junction and then just fall over sideways, took me and 2 other guys to get the stupid thing back on it's wheels!

blakamin

4431 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#520039 12-Sep-2011 15:56

Basically anything with an hour meter would be an unregisterable 2-stroke wouldn't it?
Just your total motorcross bike that needs new rings and pistons every 50hrs!

You'd be looking at an "Adventure Bike".

Full licence obviously?

oxnsox

1923 posts

Uber Geek

#520042 12-Sep-2011 15:57

DRZ-400 is a pretty versatile machine for tarmac and trail. A 250 would be lighter though... depends on your tarmac commute

blakamin

4431 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#520043 12-Sep-2011 15:58

http://www.yamaha-motor.co.nz/products/motorcycle/offroad/adventure/11-clone-of-wr250r

Or the XT or TT 250s

Mark

1547 posts

Uber Geek

#520230 12-Sep-2011 22:36

The WR250R is nice ... bit of a premium though, will have to checkout Trademe for them. Thanks!

gzt

11541 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#520237 12-Sep-2011 22:55

Mark: The WR250R is nice ... bit of a premium though, will have to checkout Trademe for them. Thanks!

Yeah the reviews just rave about it. For the price they should though. Are there any other [edit: single cylinder] bikes this size with fuel injection?

amford

92 posts

Master Geek

#520333 13-Sep-2011 10:02

It is not only 2 strokes these days which have the hour meters and the ridiculous upkeep. Most modern 4 strokes i.e. your CRF's, YZF's, KXF's, RMZ's will need regular maintenance and have hour meters.

The new 4 strokes coming out are fuel injected but i would say they would be the bikes mentioned above.

For your requirements if it is road legal and has mirrors and a odo rather than a hour meter you should be fine. It would still be fun for going for a ride in the weekend on a dirt track somewhere.