Xcountry competent offroader ?

wrinkleyowlie · Aug 24, 2009

After only my 2nd off road experience yesterday,I know this is something i would like to do much more of in the future.
So my mind turns to which will be the best bike for me.
The bike i have used is a 94 650 funduro fitted with metzeler road tyres,which makes even wet grass interesting,but it is a tough little bike.
I need a bike which i can use both on and off road and one which will deliver a reasonable degree of competence on both,i won't be going in for any enduro competitions and neither will i be doing any road racing.
So after a little research i am telling myself that the 650xcountry looks like it could make me the perfect bike.
I read reviews and the threads and posts on here,but many of them say great little road bike but would never make an off roader which sort of deflates my enthusiasm a little.
Then after some more research i discover that the engine and frame are identical in both the xcountry and the xchallenge,they are both roughly the same weight and that some people have even fitted the rear suspension of the xcountry to their xchallange.
So at the moment my thinking is purchase a 650 x country,do something with the front mudguard to make it more off road capable,fit an alloy engine bash plate,hand guards and possibly a 21" front wheel, fit a set of tourances and maybe just maybe there lies a very good on road off road machine.
Time will tell and i will keep you posted,in the meantime all advice and opinions are welcome whether you agree or not,as long as it's possitive.

Steve

JohnnyBoxer · Aug 24, 2009

The XCountry is for you, Steve

Look at this thread all about the XCountry

Everything you will ever need to know about them

It's long

...................1850 posts on the bike

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290240

They're good on the road and off it

Rode the XChallenge up the A1 this morning for a straight blast of 45 miles, it sits fine at 80-85mph...............no vibes or buzziness

wrinkleyowlie · Aug 24, 2009

Thanks for the link Johnny,have put it into my favourates,it will give me plenty to go at during my recovery period.
Hopefully the next time i come out it could be on a mildly modified xcountry.

Steve

Ringmaster999 · Aug 24, 2009

Steve after doing what you have mentioned to the xcountry why not just buy the xchallenge

They are very good at both on road and off road work. Yesterday I travelled from Cardiff down to a Devon TRF event at Haccadown woods some 125 miles from my house. Travelled down M4, M5 and then A30 to the event. Sat at 75 - 80mph all the way no problems and then coutless laps of a route through the woodland and even a bit of a MX track. Great fun and on my return a total of 280 miles round trip

But no problems at all for a very capable bike. Just my thoughts :rob

wrinkleyowlie · Aug 24, 2009

Ringmaster999 said:
Steve after doing what you have mentioned to the xcountry why not just buy the xchallenge

I really like the xchallenge,but i tried to sit on Johnny b's (his bike that is)and even when the suspension settled neither of my feet were anywhere near the ground,nice bike though.

Steve

JohnnyBoxer · Aug 24, 2009

Ringmaster999 said:
Steve after doing what you have mentioned to the xcountry why not just buy the xchallenge
They are very good at both on road and off road work. Yesterday I travelled from Cardiff down to a Devon TRF event at Haccadown woods some 125 miles from my house. Travelled down M4, M5 and then A30 to the event. Sat at 75 - 80mph all the way no problems and then coutless laps of a route through the woodland and even a bit of a MX track. Great fun and on my return a total of 280 miles round trip But no problems at all for a very capable bike. Just my thoughts

I can concur with that wholeheartedly

JohnnyBoxer · Aug 24, 2009

wrinkleyowlie said:
Ringmaster999 said:

Steve after doing what you have mentioned to the xcountry why not just buy the xchallenge

I really like the xchallenge,but i tried to sit on Johnny B's (his bike that is)and even when the suspension settled neither of my feet were anywhere near the ground,nice bike though.

Steve

Click to expand...

Pity about your reduced inside leg ..................otherwise the XChallenge would be perfect Steve

Fanum · Aug 24, 2009

Not deliberately chucking a spanner in the works, but I'd bet your Funduro could be turned into a more than capable off-roader for less than the cost of buying another bike.......
Rotax engined, so pretty bulletproof to start of with.....It'd need progressive springs in the front at the very least, possibly (cheap to get from a bike being broken ) decent front end from a sensible donor bike, some decent bashplate protection and the rear shock sorting and maybe a bit of height and travel adding.

There are plenty of MX stylee cowlings /light units that are road legal that you could play with, and a decent set of renthals or similar (if not already included in the breaker for the forks ) would round it off nicely.

I have an idea that it's been done already, either here or over on Advrider.......IIWY, I'd spend an hour searching both and having a read. :thumb2

KMD · Aug 25, 2009

Fanum may have a point there. A guy I used to work with 'Dakarred' a Funduro, don't know exactly what he did, put longer swing arm on, altered suspension and proper dual purpose tyres etc. I remember seeing it and thinking it looked a proper tool. Think he did Morocco on it. may be worth thinking about.

You're gonna have some time at our expense mate, (

) give it a coat of lookin' at :thumb2

kiwiAdventure · Aug 25, 2009

wrinkleyowlie said:
Ringmaster999 said:

Steve after doing what you have mentioned to the xcountry why not just buy the xchallenge

I really like the xchallenge,but i tried to sit on Johnny b's (his bike that is)and even when the suspension settled neither of my feet were anywhere near the ground,nice bike though.

Steve

Click to expand...

The reason for the Xc being high is it has better ground clearance when riding off road. You should only need one foot on the ground not both.
As you improve your riding skills the Xc will become a better bike than the country. The country has limitations and you will want to ride harder trails as you become more skilled.

The Xc you tried must have been set up high. You can lower the bike down at the front forks as well fit the lower seat.

Test ride the country and the challenge just make sure the dealer sets the challenge up for your riding requirements.

wrinkleyowlie · Aug 25, 2009

Fanum said:
Not deliberately chucking a spanner in the works, but I'd bet your Funduro could be turned into a more than capable off-roader for less than the cost of buying another bike.......

That option has not really crossed my mind but it is certainly food for thought.
My funduro although 15yrs old has only 16000mls and is generally in good nic,it appears to be a tough little bike and runs as sweet as a nut.
I am sure it could be made into a good little offroader,my big problem would be that i am not very technically minded,but i am a good student and would love to have a go,it could even make a fairly interesting thread.
Any links,tips,general advice or whatever always welcome.
I am going to have some enforced downtime from the beggining of september,
(recovering from surgery)so it will be a good research oppertunity.

Fanum · Aug 25, 2009

wrinkleyowlie said:
Fanum said:

Not deliberately chucking a spanner in the works, but I'd bet your Funduro could be turned into a more than capable off-roader for less than the cost of buying another bike.......

That option has not really crossed my mind but it is certainly food for thought.
My funduro although 15yrs old has only 16000mls and is generally in good nic,it appears to be a tough little bike and runs as sweet as a nut.
I am sure it could be made into a good little offroader,my big problem would be that i am not very technically minded,but i am a good student and would love to have a go,it could even make a fairly interesting thread.
Any links,tips,general advice or whatever always welcome.
I am going to have some enforced downtime from the beggining of september,
(recovering from surgery)so it will be a good research oppertunity.

Click to expand...

Here ya go then , just to get your juices up........

Built from a funduro as a base;

Those are all from HERE and were ridden by some gentlemen who most people will have heard of in some rather big races that even more will have heard of

Fanum · Aug 25, 2009

this is somewhat closer to your original bike......

I'm closing in on the gold.......

Dansin · Aug 25, 2009

wrinkleyowlie said:
So at the moment my thinking is purchase a 650 x country,do something with the front mudguard to make it more off road capable,fit an alloy engine bash plate,hand guards and possibly a 21" front wheel, fit a set of tourances and maybe just maybe there lies a very good on road off road machine.

Sounds like a F650GS Dakar to me. :nenau

JohnnyBoxer · Aug 25, 2009

The XChallenge is a far better bike than the Dakar will ever be (I've had 2 Dakars)

I've had XR's/DR(Z)'s/KTM's/Super tricked Airhead GS's...........but the XChallenge is the best dirt bike that I have ever ridden

Funnily enough I was flicking through an old copy of Bike this morning (whilst waiting for a new rear tyre to be fitted), which had a review by Dan Walsh on the HP2E and XChallenge and he rated the XChallenge as one of the best dirt bikes he has ever ridden too

The G650 Series are very different to the earlier Funduro's and 650GS's, not only in terms of chassis, but the engine is in a different state of tune, with more torque and more HP.
The engine is also 7 kg's lighter than a 650GS engine, due to lots of magnesium/titanium used in the engine components

kiwiAdventure · Aug 25, 2009

JohnnyBoxer said:
The XChallenge is a far better bike than the Dakar will ever be (I've had 2 Dakars)

I've had XR's/DR(Z)'s/KTM's/Super tricked Airhead GS's...........but the XChallenge is the best dirt bike that I have ever ridden

Funnily enough I was flicking through an old copy of Bike this morning (whilst waiting for a new rear tyre to be fitted), which had a review by Dan Walsh on the HP2E and XChallenge and he rated the XChallenge as one of the best dirt bikes he has ever ridden too

The G650 Series are very different to the earlier Funduro's and 650GS's, not only in terms of chassis, but the engine is in a different state of tune, with more torque and more HP.
The engine is also 7 kg's lighter than a 650GS engine, due to lots of magnesium/titanium used in the engine components

Agree

After owning many bikes including an HP2 the Challenge is a good bike. The HP2 while great on the trails and the road was just too heavy for where I can now take the Challenge.

Xcountry competent offroader ?

wrinkleyowlie

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JohnnyBoxer

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wrinkleyowlie

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Ringmaster999

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wrinkleyowlie

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JohnnyBoxer

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JohnnyBoxer

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Fanum

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KMD

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kiwiAdventure

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wrinkleyowlie

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Toubab

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Dansin

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JohnnyBoxer

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