Vague ramblings of an off road noob.

[Pie-Roe]

Hi there

I've realised I've actually become bored of riding sports orientated bikes. I really really enjoy riding supermoto, but I feel that for my next bike I want to get something less highly strung (unless I get fascinated with something shiny) , with on and off road wheels. I want to try a bit of gentle greenlaning, and maybe some jumps ( a friend has a lot of land and has made jumps for a quad)

I already have plenty of knowledge about most of the bikes would normally be suggested for road use. Being that I've never been off roading I don't know if anything I'd be happy with the performance on road will be suitable.

My budget is around 1200 if I buy now, and will go up to 2400 by may. (note this is for a bike in the first place, I'm not fussed about waiting a couple of months to pick up off or on road wheels depending) Also, one of my friends wants to do almost exactly the same thing. I have no access to a van.

My initial thoughts are

DRZ-400E - Underpowered and overheavy, but reliable from my experience.

Yzf 400 - never ridden one, but my flatmate assures me it is the yamaha to have off road.

Crf450 - ridden one on road, amazingly good fun, but quite expensive still, not sure if the money spent is justified for new to off roading

Crm250 - I hear they are rated pretty good, but the only experience of 2 strokes I have is an etz250, so I don't know.

I know someone will suggest an XR600, but I have a hatred of them. I'm not sure why.

Anyone got any thoughts?

Pyro

EDIT
I also would love to try making an SV motard, if I could pick one up cheap enough, my flatmate is a competant mechanic at one of the best rated yam places in the country, does anyone have any idea of performance off road of these, apart from being heavy?
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Previous: GSF600, FZR600 x2, ZXR750, XT600 Tenere, CB125, CZ125, ETZ 250, ER5, CCM R30, DRZ400, RF600x4, RF900x2, GS500, VTR1000F, 640 SMC, CB250 NIGHTHAWK, GT550x3, GPX750 TE610, CB500, X11x2, SV650, ZING 125, TL1000R,CB250 Superdream, CBR1100XX

[silky666]

[G]

Less highly strung that a 640SMC? Not that up on that specific model, but the LC4s generally aren't too bad servicing wise. - I know of the 625 and 660.

The YZF400 and CRF450 will both be significantly higher maintenance as they are motocross bikes.
The DRZ may be a bit lighter than your current bike, but probably not by much as the SMC tends to be fairly light.

Something like an XR600 will do jumps - I was ok on my DR600, but a lighter bike is going to be better.

As ever, I would go for a 250-300cc 2 stroke enduro. These have a good range of power, are very light weight (similar to the motocross bikes) and have decent service intervals (better than the motocross bikes.) There are loads of SM wheels available for the KTM EXC range and they slot straight in.

A SV650 based bike would be slower generally - it'll take a while before your using a decent amount of power off-road. On road, you might as well just ride an SV with wide bars .
Only time the big power is useful tends to be fast sand stuff, as the sand really soaks up the power.

[Pie-Roe]

I have no bike at the moment, apart from a gs500 with a burnt out clutch, crash damage and a clingfilm headlight lense.

I didn't like the feel of my ktm lc4, and the electrics died shortly after I bought it.

Some sort of road legal ktm 200-300exc you say? I never considered these.

I'm aware of the maintenance needed on the CRF and YZF, but they are sexy pieces of kit. I never remember my DRZ as being heavy, but I did have it alongside an RF900, so I'm presuming if I rode it back to back compared to a 610 or as you say a exc I'd notice the difference a lot?

Hmm. I feel I might have to go to Laguna and try and blag some test rides on their bikes.

Pyro
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Previous: GSF600, FZR600 x2, ZXR750, XT600 Tenere, CB125, CZ125, ETZ 250, ER5, CCM R30, DRZ400, RF600x4, RF900x2, GS500, VTR1000F, 640 SMC, CB250 NIGHTHAWK, GT550x3, GPX750 TE610, CB500, X11x2, SV650, ZING 125, TL1000R,CB250 Superdream, CBR1100XX

[G]

The DRZ-S should weigh similar to a TE610, the E maybe a little less, but the TE should generally be better for dirt riding, so would choose one of them over a DR definitely.

I've got the 200 EXC and the engine character is quite different to the bigger bikes. It's got a much revvier engine with a decent hit when you hit the powerband; want to get mine road registered some time and have SM wheels to slot in.
The 250 and 300 have a much broader and easier to use range of power, with a little more on top and a little more weight.

[boundy]

I've just picked up a 54 plate gasgas 300ec for £1430, I had a CRM250 before it and they are a world apart. Road bike with off road capabilities Vs barley road legal enduro.


Take G's advice, 300cc 2strokes are the way forward