off and on road thumper...

[richie]

I am hoping to finally get back on a moto this year. Up till now I have been exclusivly thinking about XR400 and DR400. As two reliable bikes.

However after seeing the KTM520 sold here last week for 1200£ I am thinking wow thats a lot of bike for the money.

BUT, I don't want to spend time and or money fixing a bike once I have one.

So what type of bikes should I be looking for....

XR and DR both OK, what else???

The KTM by example does it need an oil change after every ride...

 

[Flipfly]

IMHO I would go for the Jap stuff. The KTM will need more maintainence and whilst much quicker and better off road, they are a bit too much for green laning. I regularly see guys out on them when greenlaning and think what a waste of a great competition bike.

Bit like a 999s thet gets ridden all day long at 40mph....................what's the point???

I prefer a challenge so take my 650 dakar.

Buy the KTM to do hare n hounds events though

 

[Phil Clarke]

Lots of spares on e blag for the DRZ and XR's. Agree with above tho' katies are for enduros and certified nutters - too much maintenance for me and cheap ones may well be about to throw a rod....

I couldn't come up with much else for the price of a good drz unless you want to go for a 250 (TTR etc) - better off road but less fun on??

 

[richie]

Lots of spares on e blag for the DRZ and XR's. Agree with above tho' katies are for enduros and certified nutters - too much maintenance for me and cheap ones may well be about to throw a rod....

I couldn't come up with much else for the price of a good drz unless you want to go for a 250 (TTR etc) - better off road but less fun on??

Yes TTR nice bike but seems to go for much the same money as a DR even though its five to eight years older.... I don't understand that.

There was also a nice DR350 on here a week or two ago...

 

[forry]

I am hoping to finally get back on a moto this year. Up till now I have been exclusivly thinking about XR400 and DR400. As two reliable bikes.

However after seeing the KTM520 sold here last week for 1200£ I am thinking wow thats a lot of bike for the money.

BUT, I don't want to spend time and or money fixing a bike once I have one.

So what type of bikes should I be looking for....

XR and DR both OK, what else???

The KTM by example does it need an oil change after every ride...

I went through the same thing bought a 2000 KTM520 in the end change the oil every 20hrs.The thing is mental scares the shit out of me
The RH cam shaft bearing collapsed the other week good news is it hasn't done any damage to the rest of the motor and the bill will be under £200

i'd buy the KTM every time so much more of a bike
But you do need to tinker with them but they're easy to work on

 

[Losttheplot]

So what type of bikes should I be looking for....

XR and DR both OK, what else???

tried the XChallenge yet?

Decent service intervals, handle pretty well, and very good on tarmac! the lights are excellent to....

Also consider a yamaha WR450?

 

[richie]

tried the XChallenge yet?

Decent service intervals, handle pretty well, and very good on tarmac! the lights are excellent to....

Also consider a yamaha WR450?

It'll be 1500 Max...

 

[Deadskin]

It'll be 1500 Max...

Nice try Nathan

I had a XR400 once horrible on the road and lack of magic button
made starting a pain especially when hot

 

[AxeGrinder]

There was also a nice DR350 on here a week or two ago...

there may only be a 50cc difference, but the 350 is way underpowered in comparison to a 400...

I love my XR, great bike, parts everywhere, loads of performance stuff available, but lack of elec start can be tiresome, although I never have any trouble hot starting (only time I have starting trouble is after it's been on it's side falling off the the sand burm at Vauxhalls that I could fly round on my old KX)...there is the £1000 bolt on starter option!

 

[Flipfly]

Which ever way you go there will be a compramise.

DR250/350 are a much esier bike to handle than the XR but they are softer and slow on road (will pootle about at 50-60 but not much quicker).

An XR400 would be quicker but a bit more suited to a bit of experience. You can get into more trouble and can effectively end up slower than you would be on a less powerful bike.

The Dakar is a better all rounder and if ya've got the balls they can be very useful off road.

XT600/XT660 is a better off road tool than the Dak, not quite as good on road but has a load of grunt for off road (again probably your enemy if you aren't experienced).

KTMs and Bergs are best for racing, temperamental and highly strung. You really don't want that amout of power unless you know how to use it.

Just sold a DR250 for £400 ish, great little bike for naff all money.

This is all bollox though when you consider people have travelled around the world on honda C90's

Also, experience has taught me that it's less about the bike and more about the rider. Couldn't keep up with this guy on a Transalp 650.................but then, I wasn't the only one

Buy cheap and thrash and trash it, plenty of good cheap bikes that will do what you want

 

[Terry NW]

I went through the same thing bought a 2000 KTM520 in the end change the oil every 20hrs.The thing is mental scares the shit out of me
The RH cam shaft bearing collapsed the other week good news is it hasn't done any damage to the rest of the motor and the bill will be under £200

i'd buy the KTM every time so much more of a bike
But you do need to tinker with them but they're easy to work on

total agree with the above, but mind gets new oil every 15 hours...
you only realy need to change the oil each outing if your racing the poor bugger
plus one thing worth a mention, some fat buggers like myself need to work hard on the lane to losse weight and get a bigger bike, like a Dakar...
but thats not what i got...i got some nice and light and realy easy to work on with cheap parts