Reassessing my bike needs

[fatgit]

Hi
Currently have a Tuono Factory for generally blatting about and a KTM Superduke GT for touring needs.
I’ve done a couple of trips this year (Wales and Scotland) and generally the GT ticks all of the boxes in many ways but………
I’ve noticed that the road surfaces are generally shite in many areas, my speed rarely has exceeded 80mph and is more generally 50-60mph and I also have a fancy for some mild off roading so considering swapping the GT for something like an adventure bike.
I used to ride off road a lot as a kid but not recently but do ride a mountain bike regularly to a reasonable standard so my off road skills are probably reasonable but nothing special.
Could go for a 1290R or a second hand 1190/1090R or alternatively maybe a 790/890R with some extras.

Anybody any thoughts on this or maybe something else? 700 Tenere? Africa Twin?
I’ve been chatting to various people who ride similar bikes and someone from the TRF and it’s fair to say opinions vary.
Some say the bigger bikes are too big and the middleweight ones are better and others say the bug ones are fine as long as your off roading isn’t too extreme

Could go the other way and get a Honda CRF300?

Or could just keep the GT and buy a trail bike as well?

If I decided to just buy a trail bike what are my various options at reasonable cost-say £3K?

Cheers
Steve

[KungFooBob]

Honda sold the @ on some very very competitive PCP deals (0% and £64 a month)... I imagine that when the 3 year PCP deal ends most of them will be handed back to the dealers and there'll be loads of them available 2nd hand.

Head would say @ over something like the 1190, but the heart says 150bhp FTW!

[Yorick]

Go lightweight. My pal has a CRF300 Rally jobby and loves it.

[dern]

I've got an 1190s and it's an epic bike, absolutely brilliant.

I took it off road road once on some light gravel roads and it was fine but I wouldn't want to do any more than that although plenty do. I've got a drz400 for the mud now.

[Count Steer]

You can off-road on a big adv bike but I've always thought it was like teaching a dog to dance. You can, but why would you?
Keep the GT and go light I say. Apart from anything else, they're easier to pick up.

[Rockburner]

You can off-road on a big adv bike but I've always thought it was like teaching a dog to dance. You can, but why would you?
Keep the GT and go light I say. Apart from anything else, they're easier to pick up.

You can go off-road on anything you want.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I'd always go as light as you can get away with for off road

[Supermofo]

690 Enduro would do the job nicely on and off road. In comparison to my 690 Duke the 790 Adv was HUGE whereas the 690 Enduro is tall but small. Or a 700 Tenere if you wanted a dual type bike.

[Couchy]

I’ve had both the Africa twin and tenere 700 and took both off road in the peaks. Both fine in the dry and there’s only one or two lanes I wouldn’t take them down. But you have to go slow and they are heavy. By contrast my 250 rally went everywhere. Still not super light but much much better than the heavy adv bikes.
I’d def have another but prob the 300 rally next time

[PitaNaanRoti]

As an FYI - the CRF250L/300 is almost the same weight as a 690/701 with a third of the power. The Rally is heavier with no more power.
Even the 450L doesn’t have much more power than the 250 because of how Honda have tuned them down from the 450R
CRF450X was about the best off road I’ve used. Carb’d, 110kgs wet, 50bhp. A little too focused for road use though and short service intervals.
We’ve a 690 and a 701 in the garage now and they’re a little heavier but ready to ride with rally kit they are 165kgs.
If I was doing it from scratch then I’d do what someone I know has with the 501. Full rally kit, larger clutch cover gives 3-4K service intervals. 150kgs.

[fatgit]

Hi
Thanks for the replies it makes interesting reading.
Excuse my ignorance but what model are 690(KTM?) and 501/701?
Any other good models to look at?
Please bear in mind I’ll mainly be doing road touring/trips and I’m just looking at mild off road not full on Enduro and I’ll only be going out in decent weather and ground conditions
Cheers
Steve

[PitaNaanRoti]

KTM 690 Enduro R
Husqvarna 701 (basically same bike as above)
501 is baby version

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

KTM 690 Enduro R
Husqvarna 701 (basically same bike as above)
501 is baby version

Fucking barges the lot of them, a 40 year old Yamaha IT175 would be more use (and faster for most people) off road than any of them.

[Gregor]

You could probably pick up a fairly decent 2nd hand Kawasaki klx250 or crf250 for 3k.

There really isn’t a lot of choice of new trailbikes on the market apart from ktms.

I’ve been toying with the idea of new Beta Xtrainer for purely greenlaning, it’s about a grand more than the crf new but much more suited off road.

I’ve got the old 660 tenere, I bought that as a do it all bike and it turned out to be a fine greenlaner .........when I was younger and fitter. 13 yrs on and I’m looking for something a lot lighter and with a tighter turning circle.

[Yorick]

I’ve been toying with the idea of new Beta Xtrainer for purely greenlaning, it’s about a grand more than the crf new but much more suited off road.

I have one and the suspension lets it down, badly. My Husky TE300i is light years ahead, but the Beta was built to a price.

[PitaNaanRoti]

KTM 690 Enduro R
Husqvarna 701 (basically same bike as above)
501 is baby version

Fucking barges the lot of them, a 40 year old Yamaha IT175 would be more use (and faster for most people) off road than any of them.

Glad to see you did your research whilst frothing at the mouth this morning.

690 - 157kgs fully fuelled.
701 - 158kgs fully fuelled
501 - 116kgs fully fuelled.

[PitaNaanRoti]

You could probably pick up a fairly decent 2nd hand Kawasaki klx250 or crf250 for 3k.

There really isn’t a lot of choice of new trailbikes on the market apart from ktms.

I’ve been toying with the idea of new Beta Xtrainer for purely greenlaning, it’s about a grand more than the crf new but much more suited off road.

I’ve got the old 660 tenere, I bought that as a do it all bike and it turned out to be a fine greenlaner .........when I was younger and fitter. 13 yrs on and I’m looking for something a lot lighter and with a tighter turning circle.

Good luck getting a reasonable CRF250L for the £3k mark - they've gone through the roof price wise. Ours went for more than we paid new as dealers couldn't get hold of the new ones.
XTrainer is built to a budget - a low one. Suspension is a known weak point. You'd be better off looking at a 250/300i or the 250/350 FE. Weigh around 105kgs before fuel.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

KTM 690 Enduro R
Husqvarna 701 (basically same bike as above)
501 is baby version

Fucking barges the lot of them, a 40 year old Yamaha IT175 would be more use (and faster for most people) off road than any of them.

Glad to see you did your research whilst frothing at the mouth this morning.

690 - 157kgs fully fuelled.
701 - 158kgs fully fuelled
501 - 116kgs fully fuelled.

Have you had your sense of humour removed, I was hardly frothing at the mouth, and for your info an IT175 weighs about 85KG with a full tank of fuel.

[Hairybiker84]

I have one and the suspension lets it down, badly. My Husky TE300i is light years ahead, but the Beta was built to a price.

Completely disagree, there was nothing wrong with the suspension on the Xtrainer I had, conversely, most KTM's I've ridden and the one I owned have suspension that lacks compliance - can't comment on how they are racing-wise as I don't.
The Beta suspension was superb at everything apart from riding like a loon, when it got a bit unsettled. You shouldn't really be hooning around on lanes anyway.
How old is your Beta, mine was a 2017 model

[Yorick]

I have one and the suspension lets it down, badly. My Husky TE300i is light years ahead, but the Beta was built to a price.

Completely disagree, there was nothing wrong with the suspension on the Xtrainer I had, conversely, most KTM's I've ridden and the one I owned have suspension that lacks compliance - can't comment on how they are racing-wise as I don't.
The Beta suspension was superb at everything apart from riding like a loon, when it got a bit unsettled. You shouldn't really be hooning around on lanes anyway.
How old is your Beta, mine was a 2017 model

Mine is 2017. All our riding is hard enduro. I couldn't keep up with the lads.
The Husky is 2019 and just goes where I point it.