dual sport bikes..?

Question

im looking for a dual sport bike, im 17 soon. i like the ktm 525s but hear they arent very reliable. so whats good for tghe motorway but also fun through the trails. i would really like passenger footpegs, but not needed and be able too cruise at 70-80mph. also reliability is needed. which is the only thing against a ktm 525 =( sadly

Answer 1

Kawasaki KLR650 is quality.
Search the web for reviews.
The United States military uses them exclusively.

Answer 2

The KLR, XR, DR 650 are all heavy and underpowered. The XR400, or my favorite the DRZ400 both make more power then the 650's. The DRZ400 was my first bike when I turned 16. If you are going to take it on any trails the 650's are much to heavy. They do well on fire roads and such. The KTM's are very nice offroad but they have a headshake at freeway speeds. They DRZ isn't as good offroad as the ktm's but much better all rounder. Gets better gas milage and you can actually get parts for them. The KTM's are a little harder to get parts for. Also the suspension on the 400's is lightyears ahead. The 400 has upside down forks with big fork tubes. The 650's have conventional forks of a lot smaller diameter. I'm not saying they are bad bikes but they suffer on trails. For road use they are adequate.

Answer 3

Dual-sports are a great choice for a first bike.

KTMs aren't necessarily unreliable, but they can require a lot of maintenance in order to stay in good shape. If you are unwilling or unmotivated to put in some quality garage time, I wouldn't recommend them.

It sounds like you're tending toward the street side of the spectrum. A KLR is definitely a good choice. Relatively cheap, plentiful, and good aftermarket support. There are a couple of well-known weaknesses (front brake is not great. There's a "doo-hickey" in the engine that needs to be replaced with a re-engineered part. Front suspension is suspect), but a whole lot of upside.

Other bikes to consider might be the Suzuki DR-Z 400, the DR650, and the V-Strom 650. The Honda XR650L has a lot of offroad potential, but isn't particularly well-suited on the road. If you can find a used BMW F650, that might be a good choice as well. They tend to be spendy, but worth it. (I have a Dakar model with nearly 82,000 miles on it. Still ticking).

Answer 4

My first bike was a dual sport sport as well. After careful consideration I decided on the KLR 650 for it's excellent reliability record, load capacity, superior highway ability, and build qaulity. And as previously mentioned they are used exclusively by the US military which is an endorsement that no other dual sport can lay claim. And as an added bonus despite being the best it is also one of the cheapest. The new version released for 2008 has also solved all of the few problems the original had including the front brake, "doo-hickey", and somewhat weak front suspension.

Answer 5

Figure out what you want the dual sport for, if your planning most of our riding time off road in the dirt and you want a street legal bike you can jump it 30 feet like a motocross bike buy the Suzuki DRZ400S.
If the majority of your riding is going to be on road and you want the speed to keep up with traffic buy the Kawasaki KLR650.
The Suzuki DRZ400S is the closest match of the KTM525 and the DRZ400 has a top highway speed of 90 mph, but its not a good bike to take a long road trip on, its designed for short road trips 40 miles from home.

Answer 6

KLR 650's are a good choice. I'd also look at the run-of the-mill XR650's. If you're going to stay on the tarmac most of the time, you'll need a strong tranny and higher gearing.