Good all round trail bike - suggestions please

[FlyBri]

Am buying a trail bike and need something which is a bit of a laugh off and on road but relatively hassle free.

As many folk do, I like the exotica of the KTM and the Husky, CCM etc, but don't know how they fair in terms of reliability and servicing intervals against the big boys.

So, if I'm relativley inexperienced on off roading (have a 350XT at the mo which I use each weekend in sand and deep mud), then what would you recommend?

Looking at maybe up to 2 years old max, low miles and service intervals which don't get smaller than 12 months if used for 1-2 hours each weekend. No racing tho - just green laning etc.

Needs to be road legal...
Oh, while I remember - is there a BMW worth a look for this remit or are they way to heavy?

Cheers

Bri

[stinkwheel]

I'm no trailie expert but a DR350 always struck me as a worthy machine.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[G]

First off, why set your limit at two years old max? Seems rather a weird and arbitrary limit; usually a 'car' thing.

Do you want ok performance on the road? In the end, if you've got half decent trail tyres on, performance on the road is always going to be limited.

The latest CCMs use Suzuki engines, so will be as reliable as the DR series that they share with.

I'm liking my CCM 404e so far, though a broken leg means it's been road only at the moment. Being designed for supermoto and trail use means easy wheels changes, however.

The KTMs and Huskys tend to be a bit heavier for their long-service interval bikes. However, I'd be interested to see how /real/ weights compare some time.

Bikes like the CCM404/DR400, XR400, XR250 and similar are all worth a look with a good balance between performance and reliability.

Given the choice, I'd go for a enduro 2 stroke. Yes, these are higher maintenance, but no where near a similar performance 4 stroke. They also weigh a lot less and tend to have better suspension than the 'trail' bikes.

To my mind BMWs are too heavy and road orientated.

[mooky]

[Kiss_My_Rs]

If its just for trails/Greenlaining,

Probly the ccm404/drz400e if you can get one if not then drz400s.

Also KLX600/650 is also worth looking at.
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[FlyBri]