Dual sport/Light Bike Recommendations

[Skub]

Say I was interested in a bike that can cope with exploring crappy lanes and bumpy ungraded roads,offers a level of isolation for said crappy roads and above all is light. By light I mean around 160kgs.

Where would I look? For example the Kawasaki Versys 650 is 217kgs wet. That's 10 kilos heavier than my Zed ffs.

I'm not wanting to go completely off road very often,so the bike would need to be road biased.

[KungFooBob]

KTM 390 Adventure
Honda CRF250/300L

[KungFooBob]

Versys 300 is probably just a bit over your weight limit.

[weeksy]

KTM 690 Enduro

[dern]

I've got a drz for this kind of thing but it has 80/20 tyres on it to cope with more or less anything on a green lane. This means it's woeful on the road. I rode it for 2 hours to get to the ABR show a few years back and it was a massive struggle of will frankly. For it to be better on road you would need to go for 50/50 tyres and then you might have more problems when it gets muddy off road and it'll still be pretty shit compared with anything you'll be used to on the road.

Anything will be more or less the same unless you go heavy and road capable but then you've got a much harder job off road. People do this all the time but they have more confidence than I have.

[G.P]

NX650 Dominator - cheap(ish) 160kg(ish) 21" front but fine on the road.

Or if you're not going too far, just get a little 250

[Rockburner]

Not quite there on weight, but the single cylinder F650GS is damned good on road, and not bad (for a road-oriented bike) off it.

[ChrisW]

Or if you're not going too far, just get a little 250

A KTM Freeride 250f iss quite a handy thing.

[Yorick]

Or if you're not going too far, just get a little 250

A KTM Freeride 250f iss quite a handy thing.

Freerides are good. But 2 stroke option is far better.

[Bustaspoke]

They're old bikes now so you might struggle to find a good one,but I'd be looking for one of these
https://bikez.com/motorcycles/yamaha_xt_600_e_1998.php

[Couchy]

CRF250L, perfect trail bike

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

DRZ400 but they're stupidly expensive second hand these days, Husky 610 if you enjoy rebuilding engines.

Weeksy's KTM 690 suggestion isn't a bad one

[Skub]

It would have to be more road focused than some of the outright dirt bikes mentioned.

I'd be wary of KTM,even though I know they are a fun bike....

Suzuki DR 650 weighs in at 166kgs,are they decent,or a boring pile of sludge?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Depends which DR650, the early ones are white and eat can shafts, the last ones are reliable but don't handle well on dirt, they're actually pretty good on tarmac, Suzuki Freewind and CCM 650s have the same engine, the CCMs handle nicely, but they are big for a trail bike, which can make them hard work in really tight off road stuff, but this is true of any Suzuki 4 stroke dirt bike.

Basically if fast open tracks are your thing, buy a Suzuki, Yamaha or Kawasaki, if tight twisty single track is your thing, but a KTM or Honda.

[Supermofo]

KTM 390 Adventure
Honda CRF250/300L

KTM 690 Enduro

Those.

On you being wary of KTM's if the Enduro ever came with the later head design of 690 then I don't think they have any real worries at all. The 690 engine mine had 2012-2015 has the chance for the rocker arm bearings to fail. Mine had the later design bearing not suppose to fail but mine showed signs of wear so I had them replaced. If you can do this yourself then the rocker arms are £100 each so not terrible cost. But I'm a shite mechanic so had mine done as part of the valve check. The later 690s 2016 onward had a different head design and these don't fail as far as I am aware. Not sure if/when the Enduros got these engines. These engines also make a bit more power.

Other than that the 690 engine is decent, fair few 40k mile+ plus bikes out there. One matey did 86k on his enduro before his rocker arms failed stopping play. For a 68-72 bhp single that's some going. They need topping up with expensive oil but not that often, mine used to use about 250 ml every 600-700 miles but they only hold 1.7 litres so you need to keep an eye on levels. Valve checks are every 6k service, although I used to do oil/filters/screens every 3k and then dealer valve service every 6k. I eventually sold mine partly cos of the rocker arm issue as it can't be solved just checked and I wanted something without an inherent fault. But in 15k miles I got the rocker arms bearings done as preventative maintenance and I snapped an oil filter bolt and that was the sum of my issues.

Not sure on the 390s.

But it you want no issues then maybe the CRF would be ideal. Def if off road I reckon. On road though the 690 would be way more fun though.

[KungFooBob]

Pony bought a 390 Adventure.

He uses it to go to Waitrose and gets 107mpg.

[KungFooBob]

How about a 450cc water cooled Rally Raid version of the Enfield Himalayan?

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new ... ally-raid/

[Couchy]

How about a 450cc water cooled Rally Raid version of the Enfield Himalayan?

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/new ... ally-raid/

That’s what the lightweight adv market needs, a proper 450/500cc bike with 40ish hp and off road bias. No idea why Honda don’t make a CRF450Rally

[KungFooBob]

You mean like CCM's GP450 Adventure... That no one bought

[Dodgy69]

The 390s look massive, I'd go crf aswel.

Crf 300 rally I reckon.