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Help choosing a bike

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wildebube said:
Based on a lot of the responses, I may have oversold the highway requirements. This bike will rarely be on roads with speed limits over 45 or 50. I just want the capability of doing those speeds on the occasions that I may need to be on highways for short distances. And when I say highways, I'm talking state highways - it will never see an interstate.
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LOL, ok, I'm done here. Best of luck.
 
Tigerkf said:
Dao is that your bike?
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NO, I TOOK this picture out in E. TEXAS, actually, in front of a cajun restaurant about 10 miles into the tx-la border
the beta rider did the same 2 day dual sport ride that we did per my awesome:mrgreen: vid below.

Now that I've ridden 3 full d/s days out in beatiful E.TX...
i can say w/ 100% confidence that the beta alp is THE PERFECT BIKE FOR E. TX, all of LA, and HILL COUNTRYd/s rides
 
Lots of good advice so far:
Personally, I would not get anything below 300cc for what you described and nothing above
650cc.

I had a CRF300 - great as a "BDR" bike and would have kept it but I needed a 2-Up bike
I had a DRZ - also great bikes but THAT seat - I'm still sore years later !!!
I had a KTM390adv - pretty good all rounder and I would have kept it but then the Ibex 450
was released, which is pretty awesome bike - does everything I want out of a dual-sport bike;

Great power, super smooth engine, great suspension, great brakes, >70MPG, low seat, comfortable, TUBELESS, etc etc
It is a bit heavy but feels light once you get going - and easy to pick up as the weight is down low.

Looking at the new 390X - seems like a strong contender.
 
Dao said:
NO, I TOOK this picture out in E. TEXAS, actually, in front of a cajun restaurant about 10 miles into the tx-la border
the beta rider did the same 2 day dual sport ride that we did per my awesome:mrgreen: vid below.

Now that I've ridden 3 full d/s days out in beatiful E.TX...
i can say w/ 100% confidence that the beta alp is THE PERFECT BIKE FOR E. TX, all of LA, and HILL COUNTRYd/s rides
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@Dao nice vid. Did you shoot it in an HDR mode, or post-process it? I'm a video noob.
 
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Tracker said:
@Dao nice vid. Did you shoot it in an HDR mode, or post-process it? I'm a video noob.
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i recorded short video clips on a gopro, set for 4k resolution ( to view on 65"+ TV).
then I wifi -download those clips into my phone using the gopro video app. The app links w/ the gopro, and it does a few nice thiings with organizing and moving the large vid files up to the gopro cloud.

i let the app pick snipets of each clip, let it select the music, and after it's done, i type in a title, clean up the snipets if i want, and then upload it to the web (youtube, fb, instagram, etc..) &/or save it as new MP4 video file.

that whole video there took me less than 5 mins to complete.
You impressed? :mrgreen:
 
Dao said:
i recorded short video clips on a gopro, set for 4k resolution ( to view on 65"+ TV).
then I wifi -download those clips into my phone using the gopro video app. The app links w/ the gopro, and it does a few nice thiings with organizing and moving the large vid files up to the gopro cloud.

i let the app pick snipets of each clip, let it select the music, and after it's done, i type in a title, clean up the snipets if i want, and then upload it to the web (youtube, fb, instagram, etc..) &/or save it as new MP4 video file.

that whole video there took me less than 5 mins to complete.
You impressed? :mrgreen:
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Wow! I've got to do this. SO impressive!
 
wildebube said:
I'm looking to get a (relatively) small displacement, street oriented dual sport, but I'm having a hard time finding something that suits me. This will be used about 80% on paved roads: poorly maintained county roads, but roads nonetheless. The other 20% will still be roads, but unimproved - dirt, gravel, rock, etc. No serious, or even semi-serious off roading.

What I really want is something like an early '70s Honda XL250. They are around, but I have some serious reservations about a 50 year old bike. I can most likely do any maintenance issues that come along. I made my living as a Yamaha mechanic back in the late' 70s, so I have the tools and the skills. Parts are what worries me. Simple things like sprockets and cables could sideline the bike for quite a while if parts aren't readily available.

I would really prefer a new bike, but nothing I've looked at seems suitable. Everything follows the motocross style trends with sky high seats that look more like upholstered 2x6s than actual seats. I want something with a seat height suitable for someone under eight feet tall. I want to be able to swing my 70 year old leg over it without having to stand on a milk crate first.

A Yamaha TW200 or maybe the new generation Kawasaki Sherpa 230 look like possibilities, but I wonder if they're suitable for highway use. I can't imagine going more than 20 miles or so on a highway, but I will need to do it some.

This is getting long, but I think you get the gist. Can anybody help.with advice either on new bikes that fit the bill or on living with a vintage dual sport? Not necessarily an XL250, but something similar - XT350, DR350, XL350, etc.

Thanks
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I would go with a CRF250 L or Rally. Plenty of extras to make it what you want it to be. I bought used with seat upgrade and safety ypgrades. From there I upgraded to fit me by upgrading suspension and stroked/big for HP . Added used 300 parts cheap and have the Unicorn I was looking for. I had the KLR,KLX,XR650l and have A Tenere . My CRF gets most of my attention and the T7 got street tires. That my logic for what it is worth
 
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