What's The Best, No Nonsense, do it all Green Lane Bike?

[JJay51]

Whether or not certain parts of the USA are 3rd World is open to debate

But don't tell them that.
Mind you hasn't every country got home territory they don't want to crow about :unsure:

That's correct, in the case of the UK it's most of England :woohoo:

[johnnyboxer]

Johnny

We were out yesterday on ktm 450's and similar in North Wales on the trails (all legal) and a DR350 would still be out there now.

It seems like the older they get the better then get for those with rose tinted spectacles but the newer bikes be it KTM, Yam, Kawasaki, Husky etc kick bikes like a DR into the long grass and then some.

Sure, they are (road legal) race bikes, but they can't be beaten on trails, and the combination makes them the best trail bike (thumbs)

There we go Mike

Not North Wales, but mid Wales and the Brecon Beacon area

March 1996 ....Gwynne Fawr (closed now)

A couple of DR350's,RMX250 and a XR250R - however the bike the whizzed up the side was a KMX200, feet up in the snow............however the rider is a bit special on the KMX

I reckon the latest 2016 KTM's would have made no better fist of it, had they been available :whistle:

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[catcitrus]

I did just about all the ADV meets with Timpo and co--and great they were. I used a good old Honda CRF230--well its not old(2007), but air cooled--and with a suspension tweak is a fine bike. I did the ADV GYOA trip on it --Greece, Albania and so on--trails and loaded with camping gear--did it well, if a little slow on the paved bits. I have graduated to a WR250R which is a proper trailie--its lowered etc--and is also a fine bike. I have now started on an 89 Honda NX250 "restoration"--I'll publish when finished--but the key points are that its 118 kg dry, 26 bhp, good ground clearance (as good as the WR)--and only 830 mm seat height. It will be completely resuspended to make it work with a heavier pilot--and it might just replace the WR--we'll see--I'm way past retirement age and need to foot a bit more these days--so the low seat will be an advantage. Shame Honda only made them for about 3 years--and never sold in this country. This is it when "offloaded"--its a bit more naked at the moment!

Here's the CRF230 in the middle of Albania in July--note the snow on the peaks--you won't get to this valley in a hurry--70 kms of rock and hairpins with shear drops !

[boboneleg]

however the rider is a bit special on the KMX

That would have been Yoshi Adams then?

[picos mestizo]

I did just about all the ADV meets with Timpo and co--and great they were. I used a good old Honda CRF230--well its not old(2007), but air cooled--and with a suspension tweak is a fine bike. I did the ADV GYOA trip on it --Greece, Albania and so on--trails and loaded with camping gear--did it well, if a little slow on the paved bits. I have graduated to a WR250R which is a proper trailie--its lowered etc--and is also a fine bike. I have now started on an 89 Honda NX250 "restoration"--I'll publish when finished--but the key points are that its 118 kg dry, 26 bhp, good ground clearance (as good as the WR)--and only 830 mm seat height. It will be completely resuspended to make it work with a heavier pilot--and it might just replace the WR--we'll see--I'm way past retirement age and need to foot a bit more these days--so the low seat will be an advantage. Shame Honda only made them for about 3 years--and never sold in this country. This is it when "offloaded"--its a bit more naked at the moment!

Thanks for that Cat.
Being of a similar age I now use my DR250XC Djebel for the same type of work.
250+ range & 30hp gives comfortable cruising @ 70mph unless headwinded or uphill.
A bonus is 0 - 60mph in 5.5 seconds which surprises. (thumbs)

[johnnyboxer]

however the rider is a bit special on the KMX

That would have been Yoshi Adams then?

That would be, the one and only (thumbs)

[Tonibe63]

however the rider is a bit special on the KMX

That would have been Yoshi Adams then?

That would be, the one and only (thumbs)

I watched him ride a few LDT's and like you say a bit special.

[ChasF]

When I used to ride trails in the UK many moons ago I had an xt500 and the an xr350, both perfectly capable bikes for a fit, gung-ho youngster. I really wanted a bike with a disc brake and often, when stuck somewhere awkward, I wished I had an electric start.

Since then, swept along by all the hype in TBM and on forums, I've tried various enduro bikes - some are better than others. Assuming you can cope with the height these make you a better rider, if faster is better but take up all your spare time keeping them in good order. I've now moved on to a 690 which is OK but as time moves on I'd like something much lighter but not an enduro so I'll be giving a ttr250 a go.

[gspod]

What a fantastic thread this has been for me as I'm (hopefully) going to get into some trail riding - so thanks for all imput.

The conclusion I have made is this:
Any Trail bike will be capable of the kind of riding I want to do with my limited experience.

The perfect bike for me will be the one that has the greatest distance between the handle bars and the footpegs as I'm fairly tall.

I have ridden a KTM 350 enduro which was brilliant and if it had bar risers, long service intervals and was in my price range would be the one.
Also tried a CRF 250L which was great but a bit small and a TTR250 which again was too small and really showed it's 20 year age even against the heavier CRF.

The DRz400 is a tall bike and although everyone says it's heavy it's much the same as the DR350, ALP4, not much more than the WR250R and lighter than the CRF so I assume it's because the COG is higher.

So A DRZ400e (the lighter, more grunty version) with handle bar risers and lowered footpegs (to reduce COG) is the one - isn't it :huh: :laugh:

[Tourist-Biker]

Lots of willy waving on this thread :whistle: Also think theres a few with an inferiority complex, reading this thread there seems a lot more that look down their noses at “whizz bang” ktm’s riders etc than I ever thought. My experience over the years ( not trail rode much for two years now as traveling more ) is your more likely to hear the “whizz bang” ktm’s riders say “well the DR, XR etc is going well (thumbs)

Question to all the above, when you ride pass big 3-4 bedroom houses with big gardens and say what a knob you only need a one bed flat with a window box, then see their 3 year old BMW on the drive and say you don’t need that new expensive car when a 15 year old larder will do ever thing that BMW will do ? :laugh: :laugh:

So for me I work hard and don't spent out on others things because I enjoy riding what I want (thumbs)