Dual Sport bug....

[the_Journeyman]

My pipe dream?  Honda XR650R (much lighter and more powerful than the factory dual sport L model).  Reality?  KLX250.

JM

[rockaduc]

I am seriously contemplating pulling the trigger on a 2011 KTM 450 EXC.  Still doing the research.  WHY the KTM?  Light, powerful, light, premium components right off the floor, and oh yeah, it's light.  (Bout 251 lbs before fuel).  I'll be keeping an Eye on this thread for any revelations that may get me to change my mind.  If any of you are thinking KTM, go join KTMtalk and lurk around.  The people there are just as friendly as the people here.  So far, I have learned a few usefull things about the bike I may purchase. 

[zooom]

I am seriously contemplating pulling the trigger on a 2011 KTM 450 EXC.  Still doing the research.  WHY the KTM?  Light, powerful, light, premium components right off the floor, and oh yeah, it's light.  (Bout 251 lbs before fuel).  I'll be keeping an Eye on this thread for any revelations that may get me to change my mind.  If any of you are thinking KTM, go join KTMtalk and lurk around.  The people there are just as friendly as the people here.  So far, I have learned a few usefull things about the bike I may purchase. 

I have the same feeling about KTM and their peeps, especially when I was seriously contemplating replacing the Cagiva Gran Canyon with the 990SM-T ( I still think about it, but I had the shelf that to the back burner for now)...but based on your rationale, the Priller 450 would be right in line too then!

[Timmy Tucker]

I've been hanging out at ADV too much because I'm actually considering selling the Duc to get a DS bike. But I know I would regret it in the long run. Regardless, I plan on getting a DR350 as soon as financially possible. For my needs, it's the perfect all around DS bike out there. My goal is to do the TAT in 2013 and would eventually like to do the Pan Am Highway.

[triangleforge]

I'm still kicking myself for selling this XT350 a couple of years ago....

[rockaduc]

I have the same feeling about KTM and their peeps, especially when I was seriously contemplating replacing the Cagiva Gran Canyon with the 990SM-T ( I still think about it, but I had the shelf that to the back burner for now)...but based on your rationale, the Priller 450 would be right in line too then!

Aboslutely!! The Aprilia looks like a great bike...I just don't have a dealer within 30 miles of me...
As several people over on advrider have put it..."you can spend the $ up front and be happy (ktm) or spend later when you realize you aren't happy (the Japanese DS bikes).

[the_Journeyman]

The XT350 is a good DS, I should have jumped on that DR350 I found locally a couple years for next to nothing.

JM

[bulldogs2k]

Here's my crf230L passing my wife car on the highway.  [moto]

[ungeheuer]

As several people over on advrider have put it..."you can spend the $ up front and be happy (ktm) or spend later when you realize you aren't happy (the Japanese DS bikes).

Hmmm not sure that's a balanced opinion  .  I understand the passion for the brand.... I could seriously get into the KTM thing too.  But.   If I'm "dual sporting" sexy isnt the top priority.  Dependability is it.  For as nice as KTMs are, and they are indeed nice..... can they really be ranked amongst the most dependable of machines?  I know the same can be alleged by Jap owners of.... dare I say it.... Ducati... but my Duc is a beautiful show pony - a horse for a different course.  I'll take the unburstable dependability of a DR650 and spend the money on upgrading the crap cycle parts if I'm gonna be heading off into remote yonder.  And I wont care if I scratch it or drop it or get it covered in outback grime. 

And I'll still have change in my pocket  .

[zooom]

I think the key difference is in how hard you are riding said machine and in what conditions and how regularly....there is no question, the rougher things are, the better a KTM reveals itself to be over the DR's and DR-Z's and so forth....but for the casual DS rider who engages on a less regular or less fanatical or less aggressive course of riding degrees than the more directed and honed "hardcore guys"....the more dependable a "just ride it and keep on going till it doesn't go anymore" japanese bike reveals itself to be...I know one guy who is riding the same 01 DR-Z 400 that he has been for the last 5+ years and he has put over 70K on the chassis and has gone through 2 motors and still is under the $$$ of what his old LC4 Duke II cost him, even after upgrades so that he can swap it all out to go motarding as well as DS'ing and single tracking on the thing...

[triangleforge]

This month's Overland Journal http://www.overlandjournal.com/ has a great story on exploring the washboard & trails north of the Grand Canyon aboard a Royal Enfield Bullet 500, inspired in part by Guarev Jani's exploits taking a 350cc Royal Enfield to places that would make your basic, fully-accessorized ADV rider piss his Rev'it suit http://www.dirttrackproductions.com/ocr.html. Reminded me me that people were riding their standard motorcycles where they wanted to, road or no road, a long time before BMW declared those places off-limits without Gelände/Straße...

[Timmy Tucker]

...Reminded me me that people were riding their standard motorcycles where they wanted to, road or no road, a long time before BMW declared those places off-limits without Gelände/Straße...

Post that over at ADV and there will be black helicopters over your house in 5 mins, tops.

[gregrnel]

I think I'll go Jap, I already have a bike that costs a lot to maintain and has a very limited dealer network, at least in WI.

Aboslutely!! The Aprilia looks like a great bike...I just don't have a dealer within 30 miles of me...
As several people over on advrider have put it..."you can spend the $ up front and be happy (ktm) or spend later when you realize you aren't happy (the Japanese DS bikes).

[rockaduc]

All very valid replies.  For me, I would end up modding the crap out of a DRZ 400s (convert to an inverted front end, new rear shock, gearing, etc.) until I have spent the same if not more $ (not to mention the time doing it all myself) that it just makes sense for me to look harder at the KTMs.  All I need to do with a KTM is replace the seat (the seats off the show room are hard as concrete) and set the suspension to the proper sag.
TO each their own I guess 

[Preisker]

I'd say that the new KTMs are at least as reliable as the new Japanese bikes.   The guys I know that ride them, love them, and I don't ever see them getting towed back to camp, either.  Parts prices?   Well, can't have everything.   And they flat smoke those DRs and XRs.