Looking for a street legal bike; suggestions?

[Quinton]

I am thinking of buying a street legal dirt bike & am looking for suggestions & advice from you all. Could you tell me the pros/cons of a 250 vs 650 or any size in between. I would want one to cruise on the backroads with and hit some trails etc.
Also, I am 200lbs and the wife is 180lbs, is there a bike that both of us could ride on? Or would you not advise it? I don't think it'ld be too comfy. Thanks all.

 

[Anssi]

Do you mean both of you at the same time? Forget about it if you want to go two-up for any amount of time and still have an off-road-worthy bike.

Smaller displacement bikes are usually lighter and easier to ride in the dirt but less comfortable at higher speeds on roads.

 

[truespode]

There is some great info on dual sport bikes in this forum already.

You seem to have a unique situation but you may find some of the former threads helpful as well. If you do a search in this forum for "dual purpose" or "XR 650" I think you will find the threads.

Good luck.

Ivan

 

[Monkey Butt]

I am selling a 2002 DRZ 400E with a dual sport kit added to make it street legal in Illinois. I currently have it registered and it has an Illinois street legal title. The bike has plenty of power but is very controllable. Let me know if you want more info.

Neal

 

[woodsy]

Quinton: You have uncovered a very unique situation that a real close friend of mine just went thru. He bought (against my advice) a brand new KLR 650 Kawasaki for WAY under retail because the dealer just could not get rid of it! He paid $4000 out the door for the bike and REQRETTED it for the following 2 years/just traded it in!
Throughout the entire time he owned the bike many discussions took place in our riding circles about what exactly the bike would be good for! It was WAY to soft for any of the highspeed fire laning we do, way to much room and tank size (like 4.5 gallons) for tight woods riding! Bike was awesomely plush though and the rear riding potential was the BEST of any bike any of us had ever owned!!
I was out in Utah this summer and was shocked to see how popular they are for Mountain touring, backpacking, ect... The bike was definitly in its element out there as it could for for hours on a tank of gas and very realiable!!
I think the XR650 is also a great bike (there are 3 in our group - 1 is the L model) but they dont have the excellent rear riding capabilites that the KLR does!
Perhaps you should look closely at the KLR, price them out!! They are very inexpensive here!
Hope this helps/good luck in your search!
Woodsy