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Forum: General Talk
03-01-2019, 08:26 AM
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What you want really depends on if you need to have a motorcycle for off road use or you want it to have a license plate so you can ride gravel roads and regular roadways. I need a bike that has a plate because the area I ride it in (land between the lakes in western KY and in TN) has a bunch of paved and unpaved roadways and those require licensing. So, I'm looking at dual sports instead of off road bikes and I don't even pretend to look at two strokes (prefer 4 strokes and fuel injection).
You can get a brand new XT250 for 5 grand without haggling...I got mine with 2000 miles for 2500 bucks. While it is a bit underpowered compared to actual dirt bikes, and it has a low seat height, and not the best suspension, it's a really fun, durable air-cooled bike that is easy to ride and low maintenance. Other bikes in the dual sport line are the Yamaha WR250R which has more power, better suspension, higher seat height, water cooled, and just a better more modern bike than the XT but more expensive at about 6500 bucks. Still is low maintenance though. The Suzuki drz is carbureted, has a bigger motor, water cooled, basically built like a tank and can be had used for less than three grand. It's been around forever, so used prices vary greatly. Honda has a few dual sports and just came out with a new 400cc model that is like ten grand. More like a dirt bike, with a maintenance schedule to match. KTM and Husqvarna have street legal dirt bikes that ride great off road, but they are pricey too. The new Honda is trying to compete with them.
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Forum: General Talk
02-28-2019, 09:47 AM
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I used to ride street bikes and have owned cruisers and sport bikes in the past, I still have a Suzuki Bandit in the garage that does not run. I don't really like to ride on the road all that much anymore.
Now I have a '15 Yamaha XT250 that I ride all over the woods, and we have hundreds of miles of gravel roads, jeep trails, and single track to have fun on too. My bike is the blue one in the picture. I generally take one camera and one lens, which is usually a film camera (Pentax MX or K2) and a 50mm f1.4 to document the rides. I don't want to strap a tripod and bunch of gear to the bike because I've been known to fall over on it while going through muddy ruts and stuff, but the minimal gear has worked well. This shot is from my iPhone though. The other bike is my friend's Suzuki DRZ 400.
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