Yes, it's been awhile since I've had anything to put on here but honestly, I don't think anyone even knows about this blog so it doesn't really matter.
I've been looking for used motorcycles on pretty much a daily basis. I mostly look on Craigslist and there have been an occasional "good deal". I really just haven't been ready to lay out the bucks just yet.
I am still in a quandry about the exact bike to get. I have recently added to the list of things I'd like to do with a motorcycle and now off-road racing / enduro races are among them. Since I have started entertaining the idea of racing, I decided to ask someone involved in racing to see what their suggestions might be about what bike to get. Well, "my" Honda 650 was not on the top of his list. In fact, he said it wouldn't even be very good in the woods here in western Washington. I assume because it's fairly big. He mentioned a few others like Husqvarna, KTM (his favorite), and a couple others. Honda wasn't on his short list and Kawasaki is apparently a bad word to him. I realize this is just one guy's opinion and he may be biased to a particular brand or whatever but I have to definitely consider that he's much more in tune with the off-road racing community and probably knows a thing or two just from experience.
In light of this information, I think I have decided to go with a smaller bike. I like the Suzuki DR400 but will need to ride it and do some more research. I have heard that Yamaha might be making their race bikes with the option of a street legal version. Something to consider. I am very interested, however, with the 2008 Honda CRF230L. It seems they've geared it such that it won't actually be that bad on the pavement. I don't plan to spend much time on the pavement but on occasion it'll be nice to not have the thing screaming bloody murder at 45 mph. I also like the lighter weight (50 lbs less than the 650). I'm not sure how it'll do in race trim but I guess that's something else to look into.
Well, that's about all for now, the time is drawing near when I'll actually have a motorcycle in the garage. till then...
2 comments:
Not that one experience is what you should base your purchase on, but I had the predecessor to the DR400, the DR350, a mid '90's model as my first bike.
1. That thing was indestructible. I rode the hell out of it, ran it into trees, dropped it on the road, in rivers, in mud, everything. It never stopped running.
2. As I said, it was my first bike, so I did very little maintenance that I now know I should have done. I also left it out in the rain, and in the snow all year round. It never missed a beat. The only thing I ever did was clean the carbs with a bit of spray, lube the chain, and change the oil.
My vote, get a DR. But you might want to think about the 650. I felt that I outgrew my 350 very quickly and was occasionally in want of more power/more on road ability.
Just my 2 cents.
Interesting to know.
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