Cheap New Dual Sports - Which One Would You Buy?

Iceman said:
Wow! Try to keep up. He was saying the wr250x (sumo) doesn't look like it's available in Canada. The wr250f you linked to is not road legal. Only the wr250r and x is road legal.

Sent from my Le Pan TC802A using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Thanks sweetheart. If you bothered to read the thread, you'd know that the wr250x was only mentioned because of a typo. I was comparing the wr250r and wr250f. Regardless of their street legality. We were debating whether these bikes were based on the YZF platform or not. There was a typo in there as well, which caused some confusion. I know it's confusing, but try to keep up!:D
 
48Connor said:
Another interesting argument. I do plan on the occasional trip into town, so being able to do 80+ would be nice.

Hows the reliability of a bike with a big bore kit in it?
Click to expand...

I haven't heard anything failing on the Bill Blue big bore (http://bandbcyclerestoration.com).

Are you talking 80mph or 80km/h? Lol. With stock everything, I've topped my 07 KLX at 110 on the road. And it will go as fast as you want off road. I don't know how "gnarly" these atv trails are that your talking about, but I've taken my bike through some nasty **** at speed and it hasn't let me down. If I have time I'll try to throw up a video from the Roaming Rally that I did last month.
 
The last 20 posts are a good indication that Yamaha should have named the street legal models anything but "WR".

Now, does anyone want to decipher the KTM exc/xc/xcw names, or explain why the BMW F650GS, F700GS, and F800GS all use basically the same 800cc parallel twin engine (especially since the F650GS started life as a 650 single?)
 
Robp said:
I haven't heard anything failing on the Bill Blue big bore (http://bandbcyclerestoration.com).

Are you talking 80mph or 80km/h? Lol. With stock everything, I've topped my 07 KLX at 110 on the road. And it will go as fast as you want off road. I don't know how "gnarly" these atv trails are that your talking about, but I've taken my bike through some nasty **** at speed and it hasn't let me down. If I have time I'll try to throw up a video from the Roaming Rally that I did last month.
Click to expand...

80kph, is the speed limit. I'd like to do 110ish, but its not a requirement.

Trails aren't that crazy. Little bit of water through a river, a fair bit of mud, and a lot of diving around trees/rocks/stumps. Tight stuff with a lot of hills. I have no doubt you could ride a bike on them, you just wouldn't get going fast.

Vid sounds cool. Looking forward to it
 
Go big or go home. Or at least don't go boring (WR, DRZ, KLX). This is where Husqrvana TE's come in. Built by BMW (the 2013's), you can see that BMW finessed the look.

https://youtu.be/bDUj0hGC130

The new ones (FE's) are in the hands of KTM. Not sure if that's a good thing.
 
Last edited:
MLadin said:
Go big or go home. Or at least don't go boring (WR, DRZ, KLX). This is where Husqrvana TE's come in. Built by BMW (the 2013's), you can see that BMW finessed the look.

https://youtu.be/bDUj0hGC130

The new ones (FE's) are in the hands of KTM. Not sure if that's a good thing.
Click to expand...

As stated earlier, Huskies are a little north of the OP'S budget....
 
MNSTR said:
As stated earlier, Huskies are a little north of the OP'S budget....
Click to expand...

Yeah, a fair bit over. If I was going to spend $10k on a (new) dirt bike, I'd spend a couple more dollars and buy a 690/701 supermoto and convert my SM back to an S.



That being said, I've been leaning towards a TW200 as of now.

Here's some of my thoughts from this thread and after the entire weekend researching because I couldn't go to the cottage:

  • As much as I would like a Grom/ZPro with some better tires, I don't think either would have the guts to get up some steeper hills. Plus they seem a lot more fun when you ride with others who have also have either bike, and I don't have any friends who'd drop $4k on a toy.
  • XT250 just seems like a slightly weaker CRF250L, so thats out.
  • CRF is definitely the best bike of them all, as agreed here. Might be a little too heavy and tall for what I'm looking for.
  • DR200 on any given day can be picked up for $1000 less than the Honda, which is a plus. Though its probably worth it to spend it. Nice and light for what it is.

And finally, my dad said if I bought a TW200 (his favourite of the bikes listed) and let him ride it, he'd pay for half. Can't argue with that.
 
Last edited:
Problem solving at it's best!
Let us know how you like the bike as you get some seat time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Former TW owner and fan here.

Great bullet proof machine that is very forgivable and easy to ride.

No problems with dirt, sand, mud and water. Easy to maintain.

It was a billy goat on mountain trails.

Only draw back was crossing deeper streams, the rear tire would float. So you had to sit down to keep traction.

Had it for two years.

Not fun on the highway. Might do 80 km/h.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
nakkers said:
Former TW owner and fan here.

Great bullet proof machine that is very forgivable and easy to ride.

No problems with dirt, sand, mud and water. Easy to maintain.

It was a billy goat on mountain trails.

Only draw back was crossing deeper streams, the rear tire would float. So you had to sit down to keep traction.

Had it for two years.

Not fun on the highway. Might do 80 km/h.
Click to expand...

Sounds like just what I'm going for! The river I always go through gets about 10-12" deep, with a pretty rocky bottom, so that might be an issue, but I'll cross that road when I get to it.

What year did you have that it'd only do 80? I've seen a handful of YouTube videos of stock brand new TW's doing easily 100 and just grasping 115. Not that I'd ever take it on a road over 80, but it would be nice to cruise at 95-100 if I had to ride into town.
 
48Connor said:
Sounds like just what I'm going for! The river I always go through gets about 10-12" deep, with a pretty rocky bottom, so that might be an issue, but I'll cross that road when I get to it.

What year did you have that it'd only do 80? I've seen a handful of YouTube videos of stock brand new TW's doing easily 100 and just grasping 115. Not that I'd ever take it on a road over 80, but it would be nice to cruise at 95-100 if I had to ride into town.
Click to expand...

It was a 1990 model. I'm sure it could do 100km/h or so but, you need patience to get there.

At least from what I can remember.


Edit regarding river crossing. As long as you don't get water in the carb, you should be fine. I crossed some heavy rock bottom streams/rivers. It was an adventure. Compared to a DT200, with narrow tires, I preferred the TW. It was a tank.

Beach and sand and mud was its proper element though. And mountain trails where 1st and 2 gear, fairly technical paths were my fav. Need to scan some of the old photos. Still in a box from years ago.

And great range too.

Rarely rode on tar top. Just to get to the next trail really.

It was essentially a two wheel quad. But narrow and agile.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
I had a '05 tw200. I put a smaller sprocket on the back (only a couple teeth down), and it would do 115k on the 401, screaming like it was going to explode. Never did though. Bulletproof little bike.
90mpg, dead simple to fix, cheap to insure.

Was a great little around town bike.
 
matt365 said:
I had a '05 tw200. I put a smaller sprocket on the back (only a couple teeth down), and it would do 115k on the 401, screaming like it was going to explode. Never did though. Bulletproof little bike.
90mpg, dead simple to fix, cheap to insure.

Was a great little around town bike.
Click to expand...

Glad to hear! That's just what I'm looking for.

Hoping the insurance won't be too bad for me. The DRZ is only $2k, so I figure $1200ish for basic coverage sounds about right.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom