A Revelation?

[craigs23]

My winter hack, on loan from a couple of friends has opened my eyes to the advantages and joys of using an off roader for comuting on. There's no definate date when the bike needs to be returned, but I am warming to the idea of buying a similar bike for all-round use, mostly for comuting, but with the odd pleasure ride mixed in when I don't fancy riding my Blade.

So, as I'm completely new to such bikes, I need a little advice/suggestions on what might fit the bill. The KL I've got atm is a 250 and cruises quite happily at 60mph, but I wouldn't mind a bit more omph. 2 strokes are out of the question as I'm not interested in the hassles they have over running a 4 stroke thumper every day. I wouldn't mind something with a top end of 90-100, I'm not buying one for speed, but it has to be cheap to run, to work on, take all weathers well and can sit happily at 70mph (don't mind the vibes as the trip to work is only half an hour) but with a little more in reserve should the need arise. I'll also be needing something which isn't too tall - I'm on my toes on the KL and it's not the tallest of trailies - though it is nice and lightweight; the height also offering substantial visability over previously ridden bikes.

So what's that leave me with - I guess I'd be wanting to pay around £750 tops, don't mind old '80s/90s bikes (the KL is 1972 and still going well).

Thanks for reading.

[G]

Suspsect the KL may actually be shorter than many.

If you're looking for road only, KLR650 make a good choice, heavier than others but faster, more economical and 'lectric boot.

If you want to try getting your bike muddy (think of all that time cleaning after!), a dr600 or similar should be good. How are you with kickstarts?

For out of town road use I would definitely go for a 600, that way you can have the power without being too highly tuned.

If you get some decent road biased trail bike tyres they can be very sticky - enough for knee down and more on my DR.

Most trail bikes can be lowered to some degree.

How tall are you and how much do you weigh? I've had a few short arses riding my DRs when I had them.

[craigs23]

Cheers G

For the first time in about 4 years, I'm not worried about a bike that gets dirty - a spotless 'crosser wouldn't look right. At the moment, I'll stick to road riding, but I've got a few mates who race motorcross - maybe they could lend a few tips and get me offroading?

I can mange the kickstart on the KL okay; but have used a stand-off, hold the bike upright method as I haven't got the height to give it a good kick when on the saddle. I'll have to practice the proper method of standing/jumping down onto the kickstart, but for the meantime, a bike with both kick/leccy start might be better.

[KLR600]

My KLR600 will cruise happily at 70mph (tops out at 80 because of the 33bhp restrictors) and isn't too tall. It has a kickstart and an electric start but I usually just kick it over because it's easy enough to do anyway.

I havn't done any serious off roading on it but what I have done (fields and fireroads etc) it's been great fun and has been very manouverable with only the road biased semi's holding it back.

I'd reccomend anything over 400cc as it'll have plenty of low down power for overtaking and whatnot and it'll cruise all day at 70mph. Check ebay regularly as there is always some cheap trailies on there.
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[craigs23]

Thanks KLR - it'll be a couple of months before I'm ready to try/by but I'll keep an eye on Ebay to see what's going/how much for. The KLR sounds ideal really - did you pay much for yours? What's it like to work on/price to run/mpg/etc (sorry, boring basics).

Once I've finished the first stage of my Blade 'restoration', I think I'll start looking properly - just wondering what's worth looking at for my use

[KLR600]

I got mine for £800, it's a 1989 model and had 25k on it when I got it. My dad is friends with the guy who sold it to us so he got him to knock £200 off it for "mates rates" though .

Seeing as it's my first big bike I'm using it as a "learn how to fix stuff" kind of deal aswell and so far I've found it easy enough to work on with basic mechanical knowledge. So far the most mechanical thing I've done is replace the top end gaskets (albeit with a lot of help from my dad ) and I/we didn't find it too difficult at all. Parts and spares are readily available from https://www.cradleykawasaki.co.uk and they've had everything in stock that I've needed so far, they have taken no longer than 3 days to get stuff to me, they have great customer service and good prices.

I can get around 9 litres in my tank (from empty) and if I ride conservatively I can get just about 95/100 miles to a tank so that's around the 40/42mpg mark. I don't know if the 33bhp restrictors will have any effect on this though and If I cane it everywhere this drops to about 34/36mpg.

The longest ride I've done on it so far is 80 miles to Aberystwyth which is A/B roads all the way. I found it to be comfortable the whole way although my bum was getting a bit sore towards the end of the trek.

Height wise, I'm 6ft tall and I can touch the floor with both feet flat footed with my legs bent so it's not that tall at all really.

HTH

EDIT: Forgot the pic:

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/serenaur/bike0012.jpg
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Now: '00 Kawasaki ZRX1100R - Past: '84 Yamaha DT125, '89 Kawasaki KLR600, '97 Yamaha XJ600N
<My Bikepics Page> <My Yootoobes> <My Websites> <My Photos>
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[G]

Just a note: The KLR600 is more like the dr600 I mentioned, kickstart, lighter weight and more off road orientated, while the klr650 is heavier, leccy start and more road orientated.

My dr600 actually weighed less than my rs250 - handled pretty quickly with trail wheels, damn quickly with supermoto wheels.

[craigs23]

That's very helpful, thanks alot . Surprised with the fuel economy though - I'm getting 45mpg out of the Blade atm (did 170 miles last time I filled up and took 17 litres) - I guess its legs aren't being stretched this time of year though (and i ride it like a granny in winter).

[G]

My 650 would do more than that, you tend to be at higher revs on a lower geared bike.
It does depend on your right hand a lot as well, these days I don't seem to get anywhere near the mpg I should, unless doing motorway journeys in the car.

[Korn]

I've been commuting to work in Central London on my old-school XR250 for nearly a year now, it's definitely hands down the best town + traffic bike I've ever owned.

Recently stuck some Bridgestone road/trail tyres on it, as the full-on knobblies were getting rather scary with the winter weather, and it's now perfect even in the tipping rain. Gets around/through/over anything the cagers can throw at it and costs pennies in fuel.

You wouldn't think a kickstart-only enduro with no ignition, no keys, no mirrors, no indicators or any other such rubbish could be a good town bike, but there you go
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