Best Dual Sport for 65 year old

GO KLR...............................and old guy's

I too have a WR250R, and as a mature rider (58), have really liked the lightness, on-highway manners, (it will cruise many miles at 70), mpg at 60+, quickness in corners, yet will handle fairly tight off road conditions. I've always thought that it could be a competent minimalist tourer to Baja where I have family. Outside of that, go with a Wee Strom. Very comfortable for long highway jaunts, and quite competent as a dirt road fire trail with good tires, (I ran TKC 80's while commuting up and down 3 miles of steep, rough dirt road for a couple years.) My$.02

Give me a shout anytime, I am always up for a ride. Can show you lots of riding areas & will do it at your pace. Don't believe in pressuring anyone to ride over their ability. I only ride for enjoyment & not to prove anything to anyone.
Tom

When it get's rough, weight is your enemy. If I were to buy a motorcycle for rides like the TAT or Baja, the little WR250R would be my choice.

congrats on the new bike!!! i bought the same bike, year and color, and i must say it has been a great little bike over the last 3000mi i have put on it so far. it handles fire roads and jeep trails wonderfuly. the only thing that came with the bike that i diddnt like was the stock tires and flimsy hand guards. but what i paid for the bike i can afford to put some extras on it. enjoy your bike and take some pics of your rides to share with us!! oh and so far my KLR and my neighbors KLR dont burn a drop of oil.

Thanks Tom, I will do that as soon as I complete the break-in. Sent you a PM with my contact info.

Man, I couldn't agree more with this. I am always amazed that some riders don't recognize the design differences between motorcycles and that each rider's needs are also different. These types constantly recommend the motorcycle they ride to everyone.

You can make your case and I do but then quietly show some respect for other rider's decisions.
bill

I think the new KLR's in "black" look great. They're also a lot of bike for the money (= VALUE).

I rode D2D last year with two guys on KLR's (I rode my WR250R). They were both good riders and did just fine on their KLR's.

It is and always has been 90% rider!

Enjoy your new bike and the freedom it provides.

Take care,

Alaska Greg

Congrats on the new bike!
Excellent choice!
You are going to love it!

Ha Ha . That reminds of tennis racquets and skis too. About 90% what's attached to the racquet or skis.

I've ordered crashbars and a tank bag and put 200 miles on it so far. It's amazing how I enjoy putting around town on it, in spite of it's realtively low power. Kind of mellows you out a bit. I did 10 miles on a fire road that I like and am pretty jazzed about getting to do more dirt when I complete the break-in.

Okay, today I did my first dirt on the new KLR. It was a fire trail that I had been on many times on my Wee-Strom and the F-650 Funduro. The KLR felt much better than the Wee-Strom (which had very harsh front forks), but not as cushy and stable as the old BMW.

I did encounter 10 to 15 stretches of mud and snow ... some about 100 feet long, and it was pretty unnerving for me. I don't think I want to ride on the mud again.

...i used to own a klr.

so you the bought the pig.

i'd recomend you set it up for adv touring (sargent seat, motech crash bars, luggage) and then buy add a wr250r for day DS ride. you're gonna find you're dumping (& having a hell of time picking it up) a heavy bike trying to ride it offroad on anything technical. if it's all smoother dirt, then you bought the right bike.

atleast try tom's wrr and might see the light. tom sounds like a much better rider than you, so watch out.
lloks like you have the finacials to afford another bike.

this thread could get funny.

eventually off-road = some mud, even for AZ.

& sure compared a strom (which is basicly a street bike), the klr does dirt better.

Ah ... time for some tires. I like my Mitas E09s. The back is very good, the front not quite as good and they wear well.

You need to get her sliding a bit otherwise you won't find out how very stable they are. She will happily slide about and once you get used to it ... no serious worries.

Keep your weight forward. You want the front to be planted and you don't need to care much about the back.

Stand up when it gets rugged. Makes a huge difference. You can pop through ditches and just stand there as the bike rotates from almost straight down to almost straight up. For added points goose her on the way out for cute air.

The position. Forward with knees grabbing the tank. Almost on your feet but ass touching. Elbows out and head up. Elbows out positions you and isolates your throttle hand for fine control ... a must although I did learn on two stokes .

Hi Eakins, Is it just the KLR that people refer to as "the pig", or is it all heavyweight dual sports? When I read "The Essential Guide to Dual Sport Motorcycling" by Carl Adams, he talked about the various attributes of light, middle and heavyweight DS's. He put the GS, KTM 950 and V-Strom in the heavyweight category. Said they were good for smooth dirt and some two tracks, but not single track. Examples he gave of "middleweights" were the DR650, KLR650, and F650 GS. Perhaps the KLR gained enough weight in 2008 to bump it to the heavyweight category.

You may be right that I will find the KLR is too much for me, and move towards a true middleweight, or a lightweight like the WR250 as you and AZTom suggested. Then I will have to buy a trailer hitch and a trailer which is not too appealing to me. I was hoping that I could safely negotiate the KLR "Pig" on the fire roads AND some two tracks here in Arizona, but be able to get there comfortably on the pavement versus trailering.

I have used both of the V-Strom's for the fire roads here, and they do just fine. I just could not manage them on the two tracks.

i suggest a new set of tires as an absolute necessity. i run Dunlop D606's front and rear on an 07 KLR in southern AZ and they serve me well. stock tires and even 50/50 style tires left me feeling very uneasy. i ride forest service roads ALOT and the 606 is hard to beat.

they make alot of noise on hard surfaces like chip sealed roads and asphalt. they also last about 4,000 miles for me. i weigh 230 pounds and have a handful of throttle every chance i get. a friend of mine rides much less aggresively on a set of 606's and gets more life out of them than i do.

any knobby style tire is going to increase your confidence and ability in the terrain you're riding.

have you picked the bike up from on its side yet? crash bars for the radiator area and an aftermarket skid plate will go a long way when it comes to protecting expensive parts that are prone to crash breakage.

I will be installing the SW Motech crashbars tomorrow. I assume this will protect the tupperware and radiator from side drops. The radiator appears to have a protective grill alreay installed which I assume would protect it from small rocks. It came with a skid plate ... do I still need to upgrade this? (I'm not going to be jumping logs)

the motech bars are a great idea.

the skid plate is up to you. i've ridden the stock skid plate for quite some time. it does a good job at deflecting rocks but isn't sturdy enough for that one big rock you nail on accident that cracks your water pump cover and makes you walk home. the motech bars will more than likely prevent damage.

my personal opinion is that if you can swing an aftermarket skid plate, go for it. it's a good purchase.

the mesh type grille in front of the radiator will do fine; stuff (rocks) big enough to damage it won't be flung that high.

maybe look into a set of bark busters and some pro taper (or any reputable aftermarket) handle bars. the stock bars are soft and bend easily. of course all this stuff is not mandatory and can be done at your own ride & crash pace. my advice is based on a single 29 year old's smash the gas and go ride habits. i ride my KLR like it weighs 200 pounds and there's no tomorrow

heard that term mostly refered to klr.

a klr is a big top heavy dual sport. alot guys (and often they are noobs) get one thinking they just bought a dirtbike to ride all over the place. i think they see big tank and think, i won't need to upgrade that like on other bikes. klr is the best choice.

the problem comes when they start to really ride it off-road and explore. i'm talking about riding beyond the smoother dirt roads. at this point they figure out, man this bike is too big for the terrain i'm on...oh shit. you bought a gen 2 klr which is even more street oriented than a gen 1.

i've read rydnseek's blogs w/ aztom and i can tell you you will be in oh shit mode real quick if you spend time with them.

on the other hand a klr makes a great traveling bike, after you upgrade the seat & add some luggage capacity.
plenty of guys tour on klrs.
it's big, wide, heavy & does great going down the road.

as far as adams book (i've read it) even heavier are beasts and do even worse off-road. they work best traveling great distances at high speeds w/ alot of luggage.

most people who ride off-road (daily DS riding) gravitate towards lighter, better suspended bike over time (klr also has way weak suspension). it's what works. it's easy to ride and pickup after you dump...and you WILL dump.
lay your klr upside down in a ditch and pick it up. it might make sense after that. i doubt you have the strengh you had at 35.

now if all you do is stay on smoother, easier dirt roads then the klr will work great...however i've seen all the RR about AZ. your roads are more technical than that. you're not riding dirt roads in the flatlands!

you'll get plenty of guys who will chime in and say klr is great off-road, don't listen to me. dig deeper and make sure their not just ploding along or they live in the flatland. flatlander are clueless to rocky mtn riding needs.\

i can talk all day, but in the end you need to ride your klr and then get on tom's bike to feel the dif.