offroad bikes on road

[yankeedoodle]

well this summers weather doesnt look to promising does it? I'm starting to wonder if its worth getting a half decent bike yet with all this rain etc. So I've started looking at road legal trail/enduro bikes which would b ideal as my mate has some land which is great for offroading. I don't wanna spend alot of money so I'm looking at the DR350s and the older XR250s. I will be restricted to 33bhp whatever bike I get. I know these bikes can be nippy etc, but can you still get a good top speed out of em? 60? 70? Thanks for all info

[LeeWat]

I used to have an old (K reg) Kwak KLR250, at a push it would do about 80 but that was properly wringing its neck, saying that a mate of mine had a Honda XR650R and that topped out at 100 so the bigger ones arn't much faster just much more powerfull.

If you buy one that has been used for green laning check the wheel, swingarm and headstock bearings are ok and that the forks look ok as they would have had a lot of bashing about. I wouldnt worry too much about scratches and dents though.

Oh.. and invest in a big lock and chain and possibly an attack dog as scallies like to nick em.

Hope this helps a bit.

Lee.
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Simson S51 Enduro, Kawasaki AR80, Yamaha RD125LC, Yamaha XV535, Yamaha XJ600N, Suzuki GS1100G, Kawasaki KLR250, Yamaha BT1100 Bulldog (4/4/08 Deceased). Suzuki XF650 Breakwind.

[Jack_Cheese]

don;t be fooled by engine size. Honda's FMX650 is under-powered cack, and the yammy xt660 (newer models) are poorly designed and underpowered.

The suzuki DRZ400sm comes in at 33bhp i think, and they can be had quite cheaply on the used market
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www.bikepics.com/members/jackcheese <--- NOW FOR SALE! 51 Plate Cagiva Planet 125
Quacker_boy: "Jack, you really are a dick!"

[yankeedoodle]

I suppose I may as well add this into the same post.

my criteria :
needed for both on and offroad use.
4 stroke
I would like to be able to get 70/80mph out of it
needs to be reliable for winter use/commuting
enough of a back seat for a pillion (footpegs as well)
33bhp preferable although restrictions a possiblity
cost me less than a grand prerferably. I could spend more, but I dont mind something with a few scratches and scrapes as I'd be using it offroad. So far I've looked at the drz400, dr350, kmx 250 and xr 250. Any views on this bike or suggestions of others that fit my criteria?

[Jull]

The XR 250 isn't that much faster than the XR 125 top end, think I got mid 60's from my 125 but it didn't feel stable at all.

[Valver]

I don't know much about the bikes in question but I have owned various 2stroke 125s. I had a DT125 on the road which did 80 flat out but wouldn't cruise well at that speed. The bigger offroad style bikes i've had on the road (XR400 and Husky 570cc) were both massively down geared for accelaration so with a bit of sprocket changing I got a lot more top end speed out of them. I would imagine the bikes your thinking off would push 80 with the right gearing.

[dudeskin]

yh, u wona cum to the dark,rat side of the bike world, thn u cn cum offroadin wiv me agen. on ur own bike so u cn do anyfin u wnt.lol.
my Xl use to av a bigger front sproc so tht made it fast.
sept obviously the acceleration came down abit. if ur takin lex on the back, 60 wud b well enuf, specialy on an offroad bike, ud b bobin around like a...erm....apple

dudeskin
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live hard, die young, leave a damn good looking corpse.

[69.9mph]

[Finglonga]

Have IQ's dropped suddenly? Or is it me?
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Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[Stalk]

Can somebody please invent a twat filter

[lilredmachine]

Anyway...

My DR 350 manages 80-85 quite happily, and will cruise at 70. The DRZ-400 (including the Sm) is over 33hp from the factory, but barely so you might get away without restricting it.

I've ridden a recent XT660 and wouldn't really describe it as underpowered. The motor's in soft tune admittedley, but a few mods such as exhaust, intake, cams, higher comp. pistons you will be looking at 55 rwhp, which is a lot when the bike is geared to top out at 95-100mph.

Of course it's all fairly academic if you are restricting it to 33hp

Actually, my next bike will probably be one of these:

https://img526.imageshack.us/img526/8018/mz05wi0.jpg

An MZ Baghira Streetmoto, uses the Yammy 660 motor. Bit of an aquired taste, but it's German so will last forever and is the bigger version of my 125, so has nostalgic value hehe. They do a trailie as well.
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Bikes: too many, too much for one man to maintain anyway.

[yankeedoodle]

iv done some insurance quotes and the dr 350 is alot more to insure than similar 250ccs. I'm looking at the xr, klx, klr and ttr 250. any views on these?

[cagiva gezzer]

[Finglonga]

[yankeedoodle]

the more i look, the more i like the supermotos. only got about £1k - 1200 budget. anything in that price range? CCMs and DRZs all seem a bit too expensive for me

[lilredmachine]