What do they really weigh?

There is so much nonsense thrown around about the weight of dual sport motorcycles that I decided it was time to make a list and get some objective, comparable numbers all in one place.
1) All weights are wet, ready to ride, with a full gas tank
2) All weights are from a national motorcycle magazine road test for which they actually weighed the motorcycle -- no manufactuer's numbers here.

List moved near the end of the thread.

My Weestrom is so heavy it broke my scale.
My XT225 is exactly what you have. 268lbs advertised is 238!
1986 XL600R is 318lbs. owners manual says 297lbs.

My 06 TE 510 with oversized gas tank , EE barkbuster & moose hand gaurds, uptite skidplate, dual rim locks, & Buell headlight & windscrean came in at 305 lbs, complete ready to ride with a full tank 3.9 gallons

My Beta weighs about 160lb.

1998 DR650se Weighs in Today at 332 Lbs, Ready to ride with about 3 1/2 gallons of gas. Advertised at 324...

Thanks for putting this together. I assume this refers to the KLX650C (e-start), not the KLX650R?

Kawasaki KLX650, 379 lbs, Motorcyclist, Nov. 1993

Interesting the the KLR650 would be listed at 401 and 442. Mine weighs full of fuel 415 lbs.

One is the 2008 model, I assume. What's more odd is the Tengai version at 424lbs. I wouldn't figure a bunch of extra bodywork weighing 20lbs.

BMW R1200Gs 581 lbs dry what a pig, its beyond me why they are so popular off road!

What would be easier to do, but not as accurate would be to calculate the weight of ~4 gal of gasoline and 3 qt of oil.

Than add that number to the advertised dry weight of any motorcycle.


I wonder what the average wet wieght that you have listed minus the advertised dry wieght would be. I'm figuring that these two methods would produce a similar number.

Nope. Maybe if you took out the battery and removed the tires and tubes.

In March 2006, Cycle World weighed the KLX250S at 289lbs with no fuel. Gas weighs 6lbs a gallon, times 1.9, added = 300.4lbs.

Somebody may want to weigh their own oil, and consider the container it is in, but it seems engine oil weighs 2-4 lbs per quart.

As MotoMind said, gasoline weighs about 6 lbs per gallon.

Weight spec threads are always helpful. Thanks to all contributors, especially montesa_vr.

They're not really popular "off road" bikes. They are extremely popular as a "I can ride this hundreds or thousands of miles on road to get to the short dirt road i want to ride for a few miles" bikes.

OPINION; most GS owners will, if honest, agree that they are great on the highway, and acceptable off road. As most KTM Adventure rides would agree with the opposite!

I think more manufacturers are moving away from the "lie weights" and listing actual "dry weights". KTM's dry weights are real weights. Husky's advertised weights are accurate too, aren't they?

Kawasaki said the new KLR650 was 50 lb heavier than the old, but the main difference was a more accurate weight spec for new model. The same goes for the new 250 ninja which is 30 lbs "heavier", but I suspect the main difference will be a more truthful spec for the newer model.

The folks that are weighing their new Yamaha WR250x bikes are finding them close to the 280lb spec.

99 LC4e 317 lbs ready to ride and the 04 LC4 625 motard was 321 ready to ride.

not the most accurate of scales I suppose, but here we have truck scales that are open or "turned on" whether they are manned or not. I pull on the scale on my '05 12GS with a tank of gas, and consistently weigh in at 780 pounds. I weigh about 220.
On a trip to B.C. with full gear and a pillion passenger we hit a scale in Washington at an even 1000 pounds

Because they are a blast, And I ride mine 75% off road, There is nothing like it, no you don't take it on single track but out west we have dirt roads that are an absolute blast on a GS, roads that would suck or would be just plain boring on smaller dual sports is pure heaven on the GS, It is fun to put in 3 or 4 hundred mile days in the dirt.

i think it depends completely on how you define "off road". i sold my r1100s to buy a dualsport, and i have ALWAYS wanted an r1200gs, but im short a few grand. i'll have one someday, but it wont go where im taking my dr650, i can promise you that. im seriously considering an f800gs, which im hoping i can pick up used at the onset of the 2010 model year and keep the dr as a more offroad oriented machine, or even replace it with something in the 400 range.

motorcycle consumer news' test bike performance index lists actual wet weights and is a free download from their site:)