Trail, Trials or supermoto?

[HoggyF]

Heres a question for all you knowledgable lot

Bit of a dilema what to do bike wise, I've got an old xt350 that I rebuilt and enjoy trail riding, when I can, but none of my mates have got trail bikes.
When I'm out riding I prefer the more technical stuff like getting up steep twisty hills, though streams etc to just flat- oot over ground but also when I've only got half an hour i can nip down town on it or round the local back roads, but when you get up to around 60, yer flat out so can get a bit boring, also 60 plus on knobblies is "interesting".

A couple of mates have trials bikes and I've always fancied a go but you've really got to trailer them to some where with permission to ride or a trial and no on road stuff so can't just nip out.

Can't afford two bikes so wondered if something like a DR650 would cover lots of bases i.e can trail ride on it with knobblies and lower gearing on, can ride on the road with a set of 17" rims and taller gearing or buy a trials bike and put up with no road riding but get into the trials comps.

What say you all? would a DR650 be too heavy for puttering along and a bit of technical stuff? Oh and don't suggest anything over £1k, i'm skint.

[MaybeGuy]

i've got a KTM 400 that does about 75mph and is a bit of an all rounder. its light, full WP suspension, USD forks etc.

its great offroad, but as with any bike like that, you feel it at speed.
i suppose if you dont speed its fine, because 60 it will sit at all day. i rode it from bristol to plymouth at that sort of speed and it was fine apart from i was pissing out of my arse for a few days afterwards.

i might be willing to sell mine though as my R6 is almost finished. i want about £900 for it. its a 1995 EGS
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[HoggyF]

If i thought I could manage from Cumbria to Plymouth I might be interested but its a bit far, I'd be pissing out my arse for months ever mind days.

Whats the servicing intervals on them like? I always thougth the KTM's were very highly strung, I don't fancy a rebuild every 3 months or so.

Cheers any way though

[G]

I'd look at a DR600, which is a decent chunk lighter than the 650.
I've had a couple of them and they make decent trail bikes. Top out a little over 90, ducked down. Definitely slower speed wise than my KLR was, but off-road the light weight makes more sense.
Mine handled (small, as it was me riding) jumps on a farm motocross track ok too.
Spare set of wheels could be had if you kept an eye out, then swap over from road tyres to knobblies. With road tyres on trail wheels I could still get my knee down! Would look at improving front brake for road use.
KLR600 (not 650 again) is supposed to be similar.

Can just about get a DRZ400 for that kind of money these days. Go for the E model if you can.

For trials, you can get seat/tank units for some trials bikes, allowing you to more easily trail ride and ride to the trails. Won't be much fun on back roads and you'd want to take a big chain to town with you.

[MaybeGuy]

[HoggyF]

Never said in my orig post but i've been using a VFR750 lately as well and found that I don't really like sports type bikes now (despite wanting one for the last 10yrs of bikelessness) but would really like something like a TDM850 and an XR250 trailbike and a trials bike, oh and a towbar and trailer for the car - but that isn't likely moneywise or more to the point wifey wise.

Why is the DR600 so much lighter than the 650? also I don't think they did a leccy start on the 600 (or am i wrong?) which was why I thougt of the 650

[G]

They didn't do electric start on the DR600, which is one of the reasons it's lighter. They are an 'old school' design of the basics needed (well, it has twin exhaust headers, but apart from that pretty simple), while the DR650, as with most a little more modern vehicles added weight along with the luxuries.

Oh and I think you'll find the VFR is a tourer not a sports bike .

An older TE610 you might just find in your budget.

I've got a KTM690 enduro which would probably be a good fit for you apart from the price - it's claimed at 61hp (14 down from a TDM) and weighs a 'real' 138kg no-fuel (18kg up from an XR250).
Has got me across Europe than been great fun on the trails when I got there. The latest TE610s aren't too far off this powerwise and have more sensible gearboxes.
Older ones lose a bit, but not sure how much.

Matt's KTM, being the LC4 rather than the EXC has more sensible service intervals (probably 1000 to 1500 miles at a guess), but being a 95, reliability may be a bit more questionable than the latest models. I presume you realise matt doesn't know what he's talking about when he suggests it's trials based (well, he means trail) and the EXC is the enduro bike not the EGS of course.
It'd be best to do some research yourself if you were interested - that model may be very reliable, being the 400 which probably has the same bottom end of the bigger bikes, or may not. KTM talk forum has a lot of good info, though remember it will often be biased with orange tinted specs.

Another bike worth considering is a 300cc 2 stroke. While these are 'proper' enduro bikes, the 2 strokes need less servicing. You'll get a bike that can do some really technical stuff and attack back lanes especially if you gear it up a bit. Not a bike for pootling or doing distance on, however.

An older TE610 is probably the closest you'll get. The LC4 KTMs prior to the 690 are known to be a bit vibey, 400s less so but you loose power of course. The older KTMs had harsher servicing requirements than latest and more questionable quality, probably similar for the Husky too. Shouldn't be too bad though.

[MaybeGuy]

trials trails.
tomato tomato.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[garyd]

Or you could just buy the crf230 fill it an ride it which reminds me i havent put any fuel in since last December oh and the offers is worldly open to all you trail sports to get ya sorry arses along and let me show you a days trail riding,roll up lets be avin ya
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CRF230 all you need

[garyd]

Or you could just buy the crf230 fill it an ride it which reminds me i havent put any fuel in since last December oh and the offers is worldly open to all you trail sports to get ya sorry arses along and let me show you a days trail riding,roll up lets be avin ya
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CRF230 all you need

[G]

[HoggyF]

Yer right I could just fill up and go but I don't think there's that many people trail riding up here (too manyof the bloody bobble hat and cagoule brigade about) and the Xt's just not really right for anything other than the back roads so trying to cover many bases at once - or buy a trials bike
anybody got one and whats there opinion

[Imonster]

[garyd]

Hoggy IF you are riding LEGAL lanes and you are LEGAL then fuck the bobble hats etc this is exactly what they want .....to intimidate you to stop riding ,i ride everywhere im ok to do so,if any one wants clarification as to how/why im there ill stop an tell em,obviously this only works IF all is LEGAL ,if not...... .then feck off the lanes as your spoiling it for us
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CRF230 all you need

[G]

[garyd]

Eh? youve lost me G if anyone is illegal they shoudnt be on there ,if as you say people have a concept of motorbike = noise/hoodlums/churned up BYWAY then fuck em that is my RIGHT to ride ,its why its called a BYWAY and not somewhere i cant and dont ride ......thats therefore called a FOOTPATH .The more people dont exercise their right to ride the few legal lanes we have the more the others want to take.Hey ,if someone chooses over all the footpaths/bridleways to walk where i ride ,thats their choice but dont stare at me like i shouldnt be there or we could end up back in the footy days of the 70s which i thought id left behind till some tosser miles from anywhere tries to give it large to a group/rider out enjoying a trail ride you wouldnt go in a pub with some of the front they come on with ,carry on riding while you can ,and we dont get this behaviour in my "manor"....... come lets give you a ride out
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CRF230 all you need

[Imonster]

[garyd]

Good point and a big reason i wear an open face helmet,i aint looking for trouble but i wont avoid a route just to appear as we dont ride there anymore,i personally have no issues my way,but can you for one minute see ramblers saying that "they have every right to be there as we do"?we use our routes every w/end ,we are tolerated with a smile/nod ,likewise we slow/stop ,just ride and enjoy
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CRF230 all you need

[HoggyF]

I do ride legal lanes and try to stay legal as much as at all possible, but it can be quite difficult as every time i look i find something that contradicts what i previously thought about legal lanes, the local gov marked maps only show a couple of lanes yet the OS maps show a lot more.

Anyway, the argument about legality etc wasn't what I was asking about, but is an interesting aside, it was whether or not to buy a bigger traily that I could supermoto for road riding as well and knobblies for trails or sod it all and but a trials bike.

[garyd]

Hoggy i appreciate that you werent asking about legality of lanes etc but it will always swing to this as some of us are passionate about keeping what we now ride ,so anyone coming on asking anything may inevitably be asked if they ride legally or not ,not that we could do much about it if you werent,other than tut a bit and point a finger they whole ball game will go tits up soon and everyone will once again be riding illegally cause ALL the lanes will be illegal ,me included, but until that time ill try and stay within the law.Id say just buy a purpose built bike for laning,and keep ya big banger for whatever else
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CRF230 all you need