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Hello, new here

By chuck1,
in California

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chuck1

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Hello to everyone. New to this site. I heard about it on another fourm.

I have been riding for about 25 years and used to do a lot of dirt riding until I tore my knee up about 12 years ago. After I recovered from that I did some light dirt riding until about 6 years ago when I decided to sell my tired XR. Since then I have stuck to street bikes but have the urge to get back into some light tail riding/exploring. I have been thinking about a dual sport since I can use it to commute on plus go exploring on my days off. My last dirt bike was a 83 XR500 super pig which I rode up until it was sold . Was fun but a handfull. It looks like the XR650L is even heavier :naughty: but it is one of the bikes I have been considering. I haven't read any magazines on the newer bikes but see the Suzuki 400 is fairly popular. I am in the trying to figure out which bike I want stage but am leaning towards the bigger bikes since it will be ridden on the freeway quite often to work.

Currently I have my Kawasaki ZRX1200 and ZX12R but I miss getting dirty so i will be selling the ZX12 and using the funds to buy the dual sport.

Well, off to search the fourms. :bonk:

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chuck1

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I thought the Suzuki might be underpowered. Since the bike will spend quite a bit of time commuting on the freeway I am worried about having to rev its guts out for miles on end. I know there are hop up parts for it but I would rather not tear into the motor.

I have ridden a friends XR650L on the street and I am familiar with that along with the engine being close to my old XR. I went to the the KTM and Huusky sites for a quick look. Maybe later today after taking a nap (working nights sucks!) I will head to a couple of dealers to have a look. Looks like it will be a nice day for a ride too.

I would like to look into a plated XR650R because of the water cooling but that is also a huge bike and I haven't seen many around. Since I have a place in AZ I thought about getting one there and just keeping AZ plates on it. Still need to do lots of research (made it to page 25 in the DS section!).

I am in Whittier.

Stoddard valley, Gorman/Fraizer Park and Texas Canyon were the places I rode at most when I was still dirt riding.

I figure with a sniney new bike, GPS unit and 4 days off every other week I can head out and have some fun exploring the areas that you can't get to on a off road only bike.

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Grand Master

Bill_P

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Husky or KTM big bores. No doubt. EXCEPT you said something about a lot of highway use. If so, I'd have to say (hate saying this cause I hate to ride them...) the DRZ400 would be a cantidate. Not as dirt worthy, but less maintainence and it would probably hold up better on lots of highway conditions. Buy why? Why not ride the street bikes on the highway and just use the DS bike to connect trails. You'll have a lot more fun with the Husky or KTM, but they are not highway bikes.

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Grand Master

coffee

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Hello to everyone. New to this site.

Welcome to TT :naughty:

A bit of hopefully unbiased info

-Husqvarna TE250/450/510 & KTM 450EXC / 525EXC are all fine bikes with fine accoutrement's - but they are "dirt bikes" with plates.

Husqvarna TE610 is the dualsport - weighs about the same as the DRZ400 and comes with fan, key, holds more oil, etc. It also has a pretty wide gearbox so rpms will be lower on the road and still have low gearing for off road use.

You mentioned your town - but I do not know where that is, if you are near Uptite (look at husqvarnausa.com to find) he is an excellent resource.

Don't forget to check the drz/ktm/husky sections of TT. :bonk:

.

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Grand Master

coffee

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For the record the Huskys come with factory license plates 2006 & 2007, the ktms just started coming with factory plates in 2007.

That might make things a little less confusing when you are reading thumper talk posts.

.

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chuck1

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I do those hours, the blessing and curse at the same time!

It's not too bad and I like it much better than our old schedule of 12 days on and 2 off. I work 3 twelve hour shifts, then off 3 then work 4 off 4. The only killer is vacation time when covering co-workers. One guy in Aug. is taking 2 weeks off which means 21 twelve hour shifts straight for me. :naughty::bonk:

But we knew that could happen when we changed schedules.

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chuck1

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Husky or KTM big bores. No doubt. EXCEPT you said something about a lot of highway use. If so, I'd have to say (hate saying this cause I hate to ride them...) the DRZ400 would be a cantidate. Not as dirt worthy, but less maintainence and it would probably hold up better on lots of highway conditions. Buy why? Why not ride the street bikes on the highway and just use the DS bike to connect trails. You'll have a lot more fun with the Husky or KTM, but they are not highway bikes.

I plan on riding to most of the places I want to explore/ride at which means lots of freeway time to get there. I am sure my butt will regret it but, I don't want use my tuck to get it there.

If I haul it in my truck it kind of kills the idea of getting a street legal bike since my truck has a large appetite for gas. :bonk:

I figured the larger bikes would have a easier time getting there on the highways

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