Fastest,most offroad capable dualsport?

[Pitts]

I was looking to dual sport kit a KTM 520 EXC. Dealer said too many problems"Limited oil capacity,narrow 5th and 6th gears,Clutch wear,rear end wear,loss of warranty,overheating in stop/go ,etc. I am looking at a KTM 640 -Six Days model. Anyone have any experience with these heavy dualsports.Can I do some intermediate difficulty offroading?Will something better be available in 2003?

 

[BunduBasher]

Speed ? the DRZ400S can get up to 100 miles an hour, how much faster do you want to go. I geared my DRZ400S down to a top speed of just over 80mph. A 300 pound dirt bike ain't much fun.

How much on road riding do you plan to do, and will you spend much time in the dirt. The KTM520EXC makes a very good dual sport, Husqvarna have the TE610, also a very good dual sport.

Unfortunately there are not many light dual sports out there. Another option is to go the DRZ400E route, add a baja kit, and there you go ! :)

BTW, try only post the same topic in one forum ! ;)

 

[tristan18au]

how about trying a wr426f??
or XR650

 

[BunduBasher]

One word - magic button ! :p

 

[tigerowner]

Originally posted by BunduBasher
One word - magic button ! :p

Amen to that!

 

[trivial]

I thing that the 650r makes a good dual sport. All I added to mine was a resistor and a hydrolic brake switch to get my tail light to work as a brake light, and i passed inspection .

 

[Pitts]

So, the Suzuki DRZ400S weighs 291lb. with 33-34h.p. The KTM 640 weighs 300lb. and has 43-44 hp. With a 200 lb. rider,the KTM has 11.36 lb/h.p. The DRZ has 14.4lb/h.p. I think for a 9 lb. total weight penalty, the 10 extra h.p. would be worthwile. We are talking about 25% faster acceleration at all speed ranges.

 

[BunduBasher]

And most of the time you will be riding in the 20-50 mph range. Get to ride some of the dirt bikes, see how they rate. The DRZ400E is a very forgiving bike, great in the dirt and the LCG and slim ergos make it feel a lot lighter. The DRZ400E can really be opened up, a change of exhaust pipe, new jetting settings and this bike rips. If you like the power but want a lighter bike, you may want to consider the KTM520EXC.

I don't know if the KTM640 is any good in the dirt, desert, touring and fire roads maybe. A bike designed for enduro or MX is a much better option. The emphasis being on 'dual' here - being able to ride on the street and dirt. If you have dough to throw, the new E440 Cannondale may be a very good option.

Alan

 

[John 300 EXC]

There are as many definitions of Dual Sport as there are Dual Sport riders. A 99 mile pavement ride with one mile of dirt track is a dual sport ride just as 99 miles of dirt with one pavement mile is dual sport. I have owned and dual sported 2 520 KTMs with none of the problems your dealer mentioned. I am easy on the transmission while on pavement, and never use full throttle or try to see how fast it will go.
I recently took a 450 mile Baja dual sport tour with a group that included 2 520s, one WR400, 2 XR650R, 2 DRZ400, 2 XR600, 1 CR500, 3 CR250s, 1 KTM 200, 1 Gas Gas 250, none of the bikes had any problems. The tour companies seem to rely on Hondas, some are using DRZs. If your riding is mainly off-road, decreased weight is probably more important than horsepower. If you intend to spend a lot of time cruising at high speed, then weight becomes less important than horsepower or cc's.
IMHO the DRZ is an excellent compromise. I owned a DRZ400E with a Baja kit and it was an excellent off-road bike; capable of cruising 55-60 mph which is about as fast as I want to go on off-road tires. You may also be limited by the ability to obtain a tag in your area, check before you buy..

 

[truespode]

Originally posted by John 300 EXC
There are as many definitions of Dual Sport as there are Dual Sport riders. A 99 mile pavement ride with one mile of dirt track is a dual sport ride just as 99 miles of dirt with one pavement mile is dual sport. I have owned and dual sported 2 520 KTMs with none of the problems your dealer mentioned. I am easy on the transmission while on pavement, and never use full throttle or try to see how fast it will go.
I recently took a 450 mile Baja dual sport tour with a group that included 2 520s, one WR400, 2 XR650R, 2 DRZ400, 2 XR600, 1 CR500, 3 CR250s, 1 KTM 200, 1 Gas Gas 250, none of the bikes had any problems. The tour companies seem to rely on Hondas, some are using DRZs. If your riding is mainly off-road, decreased weight is probably more important than horsepower. If you intend to spend a lot of time cruising at high speed, then weight becomes less important than horsepower or cc's.
IMHO the DRZ is an excellent compromise. I owned a DRZ400E with a Baja kit and it was an excellent off-road bike; capable of cruising 55-60 mph which is about as fast as I want to go on off-road tires. You may also be limited by the ability to obtain a tag in your area, check before you buy..

Now that was an excellent and informative post.

Thanks.

Ivan

 

[LoneStar]

I will have to agree with John, you need to figure out a little more what your definition of dual sport is.

Most of my personal experience is with KTM's. My dad has an LC4 400, my brother has an LC4 640 and a cousin has a LC4 620. My sister has a Honda XR400.

I have ridden each of these extensively and found two things were paramount to finding the right bike for me, power and my riding ability.

I ended up purchasing an '01 LC4 400. I have recently been informed that I will be working in Thailand for the next 14 months so I am selling the 400 I bought.

What brought me to the decision to buy the 400 was my own riding ability and giving some candid thought to what I enjoy when riding. The LC4 620 and 640 are great bikes, but the riding I most encounter/enjoy is relatively low speed off road trail or woods riding.

Both the 620/640 were too much to manage for me to have an enjoyable time riding. Both were great on an open fire road or when doing a little street riding, but in the woods I never got out of second gear. Both were a handful in second gear due to massive amounts of torque.

I rode my fathers 400 in a 60 mile loop off road and never had a problem other than my ability to manage rocky overly technical for my ability sections.

I was under the impression that more power is good, and it is in some situations it is but I had the most fun with the 400. The 620/640's were a lesson in throttle management. Not a bad experience overall but more work than I wanted.

The Honda has proven to be a good bike, but in all candor, it isn't near the bike a KTM is. One thing to keep in mind also is the maintenance that goes with any bike. the KTM's are easy to maintain and forgiving as you could hope for when ridden hard.

Take a look at what kind of riding you plan on doing most often and then buy a bike to suit your abilities and terrain. The 400 LC4 my father has will do about 85 mph with the sprokets and jetting on it. Waaaay too fast for me off road but more than enough on the street.

It will pull the front end in 4th gear doing 50 mph with the flick of a wrist and off road it just chugs and never complains.

Don't get caught in the advertising hype or get on an ego trip regarding the baddest beast for the bucks thing. It will only get you in trouble when trying to ride beyond your abilities or cause you to have to manage the hell out of the power while trying to enjoy a great day riding.

Bottom line: Decide what your definition of dual sport riding is and match the bike to meet the needs you have to gain the most fun.

Isn't that what it's all about ?

LoneStar

 

[kmccune]

I agree with the posts above that suggest defining your idea of dual sport. My buddy rides a KLX 250 (Kawasaki DS 4 stroke) and he claims it is perfect, well I think it is crap!(sorry Matt) But hey, he does not like my YZ 250WR either as he says that it is too tall for trail riding :scream: If you are serious about trial riding or may want to race an off road event sometime go with the conversion, as the manufacturers idea of DS is 90 % street , 9 % graded gravel road and 1 % across the lawn :| Now for me a converted CR 450F of the new WR 450 are the thing :cool:
Do your home work and make sure that you can convert off road bikes in your area before going in that direction.

Kevin