Which Dual Purpose

[sensei]

1) your physical size 5'7" 200lbs
2) How physical / aggressive are you ? moderate
3) what do you plan to ride- Woods, trails, small jumps later, occasional commute to aand from work. The ride park is close to my house and I don't have a truck so I was going to ride there.
4) Do you have any riding experience? 3yrs dirt as a kid. 20yrs sport bikes.
5) Do you think you will race ? No
6) Are you mechanically inclined and will you be doing your own bike work? I can wrench but too busy so taken it to the shop.
7) Do YOU have a preferance to a brand/ motor choice (2 or 4 stroke)? 4 stroke
8) Do you have a dealer close by your home that you might use and what brand(s) does he carry? I bleed yamaha blue.
9) How much ($) do you plan to spend on a bike? 6k max.
10) Do you live in California? Yes
11) Your age? 37
12) anything else that you think would help form an opinion.
I already know I want the Yamaha WR250R but when I went to the dealership the bike was just too tall. When I sit on it and try to touch both feet their floating off the ground by about two inches. Then I tried to sit on the 2009 Kawasaki KLX250S. I could touch tip toe just like on my R1 sportbike. My problem is I hear the KLX is untterly gutless. After a couple of rides I know I'll be wanting more power. Also, it just doesn't seemed as refined or that it could handle a thrashing.

Is it possible to shave about 2" off the WR's seat? Is that too much shaving? Are there aftermarket low seats I could just buy?

The sales guy was telling me he has a friend that's an AMA mechanic and they could cut two inches off the suspension at his shop. It would be a brand new bike. I don't want anything cut.

Thanks,
sensei.

 

[XRpredator]

it bothers me when everyone thinks the bike is "too tall"

Trust me, at 200 lbs, once you break it in, when you sit on the bugger it will squat enough for you to be able to touch. Buy the WR.

 

[sensei]

So by breaking it in it will sag an additional 2"? Ok....

 

[Papakeith]

it bothers me when everyone thinks the bike is "too tall"

. . . says the 7 foot - eleventy two inch tall yetti :uh:

 

[magneto]

You can get the suspension lowered on most bikes by suspension places such as www.mx-tech.com. Shaving a seat will probably make it uncomfortable for commuter use (kinda like a stock KTM board/seat...)

 

[sensei]

Anyone have any thoughts on the KLX 250S. Is it totally gutless?

How come I can't get any HPnumbers for these?

 

[justalonewolf007]

So by breaking it in it will sag an additional 2"? Ok....

No.

Ah...Pred is just huge (speaking for the 5'2" crowd).

I am not too familiar with the Yamahas, but there are a few suspension settings you can tweak to make things work. Ask the dealer how to set the sag (or do a search on this forum, or anywhere). You may find a happy medium so you can touch with one foot!

 

[SpeedyManiac]

Get a longer dog bone for the linkage and move the forks up in the triple clamps and you'll be good to go. Don't be afraid to send the suspension to a tuner to get it lowered either.

 

[sensei]

Yeah, I think that's what I'm gonna do. First, I'm just gonna buy that damn thing hehe. I've ridden dirtbikes before where I couldn't touch. That was all dirt. My concern was more around the street when I get to lights, etc. But fook it.

Then I'm going to take it to the suspension guy in my area. Dude is one hell of a wrench and although he does just about antyhing on bikes his primary is suspension.

 

[rmc_olderthandirt]

The time that the height of the bike matters most is when you come to a stop and need to put a foot down to keep the bike from falling over.

If you are fairly even terrain, such as a track or many trails, it isn't any problem at all. Even if you have to lean the bike over a bit to comfortably hold it there it really isn't a problem.

When you get to really uneven terrain, especially when you are forced to stop at a spot you didn't really want to, it can be a big issue.

I am 6 feet tall and I will occasionally come to a stop in a spot where there is a hole where I want to put a foot down. I have actually fallen over because there wasn't any ground within reach of my foot when I put it down.

As others have said, there are ways to lower the suspension in a manner that you can undo it later if you wish. Buy the bike that does what you want, then make the adjustments to fit your height.

Rod

 

[sensei]

Thanks, Rod.

I'm gonna complete the purchase tomorrow. It is the bike I want. Now I'm gonna have to drop some $$$ on gear. All the gear I have today is for sportbikes.

I'm liking them alpinestars T10's.