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Re: [St] I can't decide...Another Bike To Consider



I have to agree with you there Matt.

A few years back I did a trip to The Tip of The Cape York Peninsula, in Far North Queensland on our little island of Australia. ( A ride I highly recommend to anyone that may be thinking about it)

I had a good chat with the tour operator before hand and he suggested with my limited off road riding experience I would be better off on a TTR 250, rather than one of his KLX 400's (the one thats the same as the DR 400 anyway). It turned out to be a very wise decision and very good advice from an "A" grade rider.

Despite the fact that the little TTR was light and very easy to ride, I struggled to keep the damn thing upright whenever we hit soft sand. After loosing count of the amount of times I had to pick it up, I was glad it wasn't a 400.

The upshot is that it all came down to riding skills, or lack there of in my case.

Brett.

-----Original Message-----
From: Matt Knowles <matt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: ST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 4:23 am
Subject: Re: [St] I can't decide...Another Bike To Consider

As a KLR rider, and just as a motorcyclist I have a few comments.

1. Skills are always more important than the bike. Take the money
you'd spend on the BMW and spend a small portion of that on taking a
dirt riding class. Spend the rest of it on a vacation.

2. Would you rather drop a $5k bike, or a $10k bike?

3. The BMW is a heavier bike, meaning you're more likely to drop it,
especially in the soft stuff where you're already having trouble.

4. The KLR is an almost bullet proof bike. From what I've been
reading lately, BMW's quality reputation has been slipping on several
fronts.


On Dec 15, 2008, at 10:15 PM, marc Ve wrote:

Hi all, been lurking a while.

I still ride a KLR 650 as a dirt/ gravel/ trailie alternative to my
Daytona
955. It handles commuting and gravel/ fire roads very well. The
suspension
is a bit soggy for it to like soft stuff, sand is my nemisis.


Matt Knowles - Ferndale, CA - http://www.knowlesville.com/matt/ motorcycles '99 Sprint ST - for going fast and far (2CZUSA) '01 KLR650 (A15) - for exploring the North Coast backroads '97 KLX300 & '01 Lakota - for playing in the dirt '79 KZ400 - just because it was the first vehicle I ever owned

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