TTR250 vs DR350

[konrad565]

First of all I would like to apologise if you feel this topic has been covered before! I have seen good things about both of these so could do with them being 'compared' by people with first hand experience.

I have got my test on the 17th March. I am 20 till december so will be restricted to 33BHP and dont really feel like restricting a bigger bike.

I will hopefully be doing quite a lot of green laning/simple off roading and the roads it will go on will be mainly country lanes, so it does need to be road legal. I have heard the DR350 is a bit on the heavy side? Will this really affect novice green laning (and gentle off roading)? If I went for the TTR250 would I be bored out of my mind on the roads? (Will it hit 60?)
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Haven't got a bike yet, but in the process of rectifying this terrible bikeless situation.

[JBurrows88]

First of all... try get the Elec-start model!
A late DR350, can get well past 60 (350cc and 30bhp(ish))
A TTR250 will make 60, but would struggle to get much more out of it. (you could mod it, but could just be a waste of money)!

If you travel on the roads quite often and (some of them) reasonably fast roads often - dual-carriage ways, etc you would want to avoid a 250. They are a little to slow and have a short tank range!

I've had a ride on a TTR250 round a car park and they have loads of low down power and would be quite fun off-road. BUT over any distance it would be useless!

If you have a larger budget and don't mind a little bit more insurance, you could go for a DRZ400, XR400 or CCM404 restricted!
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Dave
XJR400 Kenney Roberts Paint Job

[konrad565]

[G]

Most of the bikes in this sort of area should be fine restricted - as they usually only make a little more power than the limit and if you lose a little bit of the top end it's no big loss really.

As I mentioned in another thread, it shouldn't be a big problem to bodge a restriction on a lot of them - ie slightly reducing the throttle travel might be all that's needed.

[konrad565]

oh ok, thanks a lot for the advice. I'll have a look..

Any bikes you reccomend? I do want to do a fair bit of 'green laning' so it cant be too heavy etc
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Haven't got a bike yet, but in the process of rectifying this terrible bikeless situation.

[G]

I've done green laning fine on a DR600 (listed something around 135kg), but would prefer something a bit lighter - say below 125kg listed.

If you're just starting out, or a bit smaller in stature, then going a bit below that again is probably worth it. I've been handling my CCM404e (Listed at 119kg) fine, despite my broken leg still not being properly fixed.

The 400s listed are a good start - I'd go for the DR-E model rather than the S. The XR may even come in under 33hp and is known as a good all-round and reliable trail bike, though not quite the performance of some others.

What else will you be using the bike for and what sort of budget have you got?

[konrad565]

Budget.... around 1500 would be tops under that would obviously be best.

I would be using it mainly for green laning at weekends but it would be good if it was rideable on the road for about half an hour max as I am unfortunately a city slicker at the moment so need to get to the wonderful countryside.
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Haven't got a bike yet, but in the process of rectifying this terrible bikeless situation.

[G]

I would also consider a slightly more tuned enduro bike - you could probably get something like a KTM 200 EXC for that sort of money.
They are supposed to make an ideal bike for the begginer or more experienced rider. Pretty light weight - listed at a realalistic 100kg or so, with plenty enough power (200cc 2 stroke, so bit more than a 250cc 4 stroke), but low enough that you can make full use of it rather than being afraid of it.

Yes, they are a comeptition enduro bike, but maitenance isn't too bad for trail use and for me it'd be worth it.

If the road stuff you're doing is going to be generally just getting to dirt, then that opens up the possibilities a lot more than a bike that you're using to get to work etc.
Pretty much any dirt-style model from the KTM mentioned above to something like a DR600 should do you fine.

While it's nice to have something light, yuou can still have plenty of fun on pretty much any bike .

[konrad565]

I work about 160miles away from home so for now the car is the only way to get to work. So the bike is going to be a weekend past time and as I will be confined to a smaller engined bike I want to do some ''off-roading'' till my restricted time is over.

Does the KTM have lights etc in case I end up staying out till its dark. The only KTMs I've seen haven't got any lights, indicators etc.
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Haven't got a bike yet, but in the process of rectifying this terrible bikeless situation.

[G]

Yea, the KTM enduro bikes generally come with lights (as opposed to motocross bikes).

If you've got the car, a tow bar and small trailer is definitely worth considering so you can easily get further afield.

[konrad565]

Not a bad idea at all! Sorry to be a moron but what do you need to make a bike road legal?
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Haven't got a bike yet, but in the process of rectifying this terrible bikeless situation.

[Kiss_My_Rs]

Constant sounding horn and numberplate for day time use.

The above and front and rear lights for night time use. No indicators required.
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[konrad565]

OK this is getting silly I keep changing my mind about what bike to get!! Does anyone know the (comfortable) top speed of the KTM 200 exc?? (if that makes sense)
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Haven't got a bike yet, but in the process of rectifying this terrible bikeless situation.

[konrad565]

Sorry to ask so many questions but do you know where I could get power output information for the KTM range because they don't publish it on their site
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Haven't got a bike yet, but in the process of rectifying this terrible bikeless situation.

[G]

Stuff like the KTM EXC range generally comes in a road legal state, or one you can easily make road legal anyway.

It depends the gearing you have for top speed. Go up to the 250 or 300 and with the right gearing they will easily get over 100mph, though I wouldn't want to on knobbly tyres really.
The 200 should still hit 80-90 with the right gearing, so cruising at 70 shouldn't be a big problem.

As an idea a quick search on ebay came up with this - think that's in a fairly standard state and as you can see it has number plate and lights.
There's even an 'egs' model (autolube) on there at the mo.

While I'm suggesting the 200 and lots of people warn off the bigger capacity ones, which have a reputation for being a bit insane... even the 350cc 87 model KTM 2 stroke I had (which had a pretty intense power band) could still be ridden gently, it's just you had to be a fair bit more skilled to make full use of it.

KTM perhaps wisely don't publish power output because in reality it doesn't mean much. If you're worried, get whatever bike to a dyno place and say "I want more power" .

[Kiss_My_Rs]

KTM125 EXC

You will be shocked at one of them i can tell thee
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[konrad565]

[G]

Oops, sorry, I didn't meant to say "more power", my bad, I was /thinking/ "I want 33hp or less" - I'm sure most places would be able to sort out something to lose a couple of hp easily enough.

[konrad565]

aah right ok thanks
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Haven't got a bike yet, but in the process of rectifying this terrible bikeless situation.

[colin1]

a lot depends on how much you will be riding offroad, and how much on road, and what sort of roads

i have a ttr250 and it is great offroad, and fine on roads in town

on national speed limit roads, its not ideal and i wouldnt really trust it at speed

so if you are going to be spending a lot of time on national speed limit roads, dont get the ttr250, but otherwise, get it

having something agile and lightweight really is a good idea in my opinion
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[G]

The KTMs we were discussing are a fair bit more agile/lightweight compared to the TTR .

[konrad565]

Yeah, sorry forgot to add to this thread.

I do think I'm going to go for a KTM... So thanks for the advice it was really helpful but its seems I have a larger budget than previously thought so I'm going orange....

Thanks again for all the info.
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Haven't got a bike yet, but in the process of rectifying this terrible bikeless situation.