My next motorcycle

I previously owned a '06 Vstrom and it was incredibly reliable. I did multiple long trips on it and never had a problem. It was comfortable, could take it anywhere hot or cold, and it was tough!

Just my two cents!

Based on your local market, I would say a DR650 or a Freewind. They're as simple as your XR. Hecho en Colombia, tambien. The Freewind has bigger valves and dual Carberators. I don't think it's 'better' though. I've owned both and prefer the DR.

Stop by Suzuki Super Servicio on Calle 36 N46-36. Talk to Carlos. He's a great resource.

650 V Strom.

Reliable. 60,000 miles with low maintenance is common.
Good gas mileage. 50mpg (21km/l) is easy.
Fast enough.
Cheap to keep running. Add gas. Change oil. Ride.

Simple mechanics? Yes and no. To work on major things (valve adjustment, for example) you have to remove the tank, and some plastic. However, it doesn't need to happen very often. I can remove the tank and plastic in 5 minutes now.

The Versys would also be a good choice, but the V Strom has a 19" front tire, and has a better selection of tires for 80/20. See if a Shinko 705 is available. They are cheap, and work well for pavement and soft off road.

I have one, and love it.
I ride mine for commuting to work, fast weekend rides with friends, and camping/touring. It will easily haul all the gear I need for camping for 2 weeks. I think it's a good compromise between street and dirt. There are many bikes that do one thing better (dirt, freeway) but not much does everything well enough, for that little money.

The KLR is a good, simple, cheap bike. However, on the highway, I do not like single cylinder bikes. Traffic in the US is *very fast* and I don't feel safe if my bike is straining to keep up with traffic. I rode a KLR in Los Angels for 3 years and I didn't enjoy it. Traffic goes 120-130 kph, and I don't think a KLR does well at those speeds, and has minimal brakes for those speeds. It is a better bike offroad than the V Strom.

Have fun!

You might have anouther bike to choose from next week.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/N...news/2013/January/jan2913-husqvarna-for-sale/

One big happy family I say. Ha Ha.

There are lots of choices of bikes but I am quite biased towards the V-Strom.

My 2006 DL650 V-Strom has over 202,000 km or over 125,800 miles. I parked it when I bought my 2012 DL650 V-Strom March 12 2012 (which now has over 43,000 km or about 27,000 miles.)

You can read some comments on my 2006 here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=543149

But it basically has been an incredibly reliable bike that never left me stuck anywhere. Issues I had were minor at best and only occured after lots of mileage. I would still be riding that bike if they didn't come out with the 2012 which I like even more.

Besides being very reliable aand durable, the Stroms are great commuting bikes, touring bikes, back road twistie bikes, two up bikes, gravel road bikes and basically a do-almost-anything bike. I don't do any real off-road so can't comment on that but I see lots of pictures of people going offroad with them.

..Tom