All right, I know questions like these have been asked a million times and brand loyalty/dedication comes into play more than people intend. Brief background and use for the future dual sport. I used to ride 125/250 two smokes all over the place between private property, tracks, and the California deserts. In the past couple of years I switched to street riding and have been without a dirt capable bike. I've used my Yamaha FZ6 as a pseudo dual sport going on fire roads and such, but it's not the bikes intended purpose and essentially is stupid of me to use it as such. Here's my intended use in order: 1. Desert riding through Ocotillo, Plaster City, Glamis, and other local spots. 2. Trying to tag along on any trail that other Southern California dual sport riders go on; I'm going to try to blend myself into any group rides that I can. 3. A few times a year use the bike as a camp hauling mule to explore Mammoth Lakes and the Bishop area. Basically camp, hike, fish the entire 395 stretch using the bike as the main means of transportation and base camp setup. All of the following bikes have CA legal plates, and were plated prior to 2002; being street legal is a must for 2/3's of the riding I want to do. Right now I have leads on a rather beat up, but well taken care of XR600R. I love the idea of this bike for the sheer simplicity of it and the endurance record that many of these bikes have. There are many XR650R's in the $2500-$3500 range that look appealing. I like the idea of better brakes and more up to date frame than the 600Rs. I'm not sure if the addition of liquid cooling is worth the risk of damaging radiators of the air cooled 600; honestly I simply don't know. I also know of a couple WR426F's that have been well maintained and are in great shape. The yami is the best trail bike of the three, in my opinion, and probably my favorite in overall appeal, but I'm worried about their road worthiness and parts availability compared to the other bikes. There are some other models out there that are appealing, but I'm not sure that I want to throw a ton more bikes out there than the three core ones above that I know of locally. For example, there is a 2001 KTM LC4E on CL right now, but something is scaring me away from that bike. I like the thought of drinking the orange cool aid, but I've never dealt with a KTM before. So flame away...err I mean please toss out recommendations on what to look for with these bikes. I didn't find a whole lot of information here on the WR426's. I know they're reliable, but will they hold up to road use and is the maintenance difficult, valve adjustments, and are replacement parts as readily available as the big red pigs parts?
Each bike has its strengths and weaknesses, but all three are incredibly reliable, fun, and powerful bikes. I ride with guys who have all three (and have two XR600s myself) and can say that all three bikes perform well and have never broken down on the trail. Since you're looking at bikes in the $1500 to $3000 range, I would search out the best kept of any of the three bikes rather than looking at one bike over another. "O"
There are plenty of parts (OEM and aftermarket) available for the WR426. If you've heard otherwise then someone wasn't looking very hard (or maybe at all). There are lots of opinions about whether this bike is street worthy or not: http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=208606 The safe bet is the XR600R, but it is also the slowest. I think you have the right impression of all three bikes listed. You should probably just look for the best maintained bike.
I've ridden a few WR's, but that's the only one on your list I haven't owned. I came very close to buying a WR450F a while back. To me, desert=XR. When I lived in Las Vegas and rode in the desert all the time, it was three XR's to one LC4. I actually loved the KTM, and have had a couple others since (300 2T, 520 RFS). Don't let the LC4e scare you, they are excellent bikes. I could own another one, even though I'm XR to the core these days. You could always find a cheap XR650L and put a 675 kit on it and deluxe up the suspension a bit. I rode a friend's with the 675 motor....and was blown away by how good it was.
WRs tranny is limiting. Had 2 400s. Can't comment on 650r. Owned a 650l and i can't recommend it for real dirt use.
Stock, the XR-L is a softly tuned wheezer with bad legs and no range. They can be brought to a higher spec fairly cheaply. I had never given one a second thought until I rode the impressive 675. It just needed a few bucks thrown at the suspension. The slightly taller overall gearing makes it a better traveler than a plated XR too, if you've got ground to cover.
I own a XR600R (628cc) and a XR650R. I've also rode some on a plated 426 that belongs to a buddy of mine. It's worth mentioning that the 426 is a true moto-cross racer optomised for fast lap times. The XR's are marathon runners not sprinters. A couple of things about the 426 that I noticed straight away: It's feels very light compaired to the XR's. It has all the trappings of a modern 4 stroke, i.e. FCR carb, very nice suspension, excellent throttle responce, and it's quick. It also has the liabilities of a modern 4 stroke, i.e. holds less than 1 qt. of oil, steep steering angle (front end hunts at high speed), small gas tank, carb tends to be a little fussey, very uncomfortable seat. None the less a very nice bike. That being said I'd go with the XR for your type of riding. Read any of the XR threads and you'll see why.
I realize that this is absolutely no help...... I have a 93 XR 628 that I will never sell, in the past 15 years the XR and I have loged thousands of dualsport miles from Baja to Oregon to Colorado in all conditions. Never been stranded yet. In 2001 I bought a WR 426-F as a lighter weight technical woods rider, and it turned out to be a great all around dual sporter, just at higher rpms. I don't want to sell it either. In 2008 I bought a KTM 530 EXC-R and it is purely awesome. Probably won't sell it either. Each of these bikes have strong merits in their class. XR's win on cost and reliability. WR's win on light weight, performance, and reliability. EXC-R's win on light weight, high cost, high performance, reliably so far...... OTHER THOUGHTS XR's are the bikes to take to Mexico. alost agricultural. WR 426's rare to have plates. still a kick starter, hot start drill. EXC-R is plate ready at the dealer. also has the button. No one bike does it all. I still Love them all for the reasons that I bought each one. .
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm keeping my eye out and will make a purchase in the next couple of weeks. The primary bikes that I'm looking at are the xr600r and xr650r. I'm going back and forth between the two and am not sure whether to spend the money for a newer water cooled 650 or use the money that I'll save to do basic suspension and other changes to the 600. A '96 KTM 620 LC4 also popped up, so I'm digging through trying to find about about the 620/640 models. Not sure about the left side kick start :huh . Too bad the search engine hates 3 character searches, ie KTM 620 = no worky. I'm just going through all the ride reports and thumper posts that I can and know that I'll be happy to just ride in the dirt again.
Mate the XR650r is the bomb. A KTM even only a few years old is a liability,they do have a habit of failing. Just my 02 as you asked so it's your fault basically
I had a 2001 XR650R that was dual sported. I just bought a 2009 530 EXC. So far it feels like the 650R was quite a bit stronger, but the 530 seems to handle a lot better. Very light, flickable. I think the 650 was a better machine to ride on bigger roads though, much more comfortable and the engine seemed to like that kind of service better. It's early for the KTM though, perhaps I just need to change a few things and I will feel better about it. Still kind of feeling nostalgic about the XR though. If they still made that bike but with CRF suspension I would have been all over it.
Has the OP considered a DRZ400S? I sold my 2001 for $2500 with only like 5,000miles on it. There was a lot of 2000-2001 400s for that price last year. Seems they're worth more this spring for some reason or another. I had a XR650L and the DRZ was equal on the street (top speed and "comfort") yet was far superior off-road. The DRZ ain't no Moto-X bike but I enjoyed riding mine everywhere.
(no offence intended)The BRP rulz! I use it in enduro riding(romanian forrests and montains) open trail in the South of the country and on highways! If you are in good shape, this is the bike for you! The piggy does it all! saturday's ride was in the company of a yz 426, exc 530, yz 250 and a exc 450 and it went wherever they went. They had a few nasty falls, but so did I. All hail the pig, master of all bikes!
Well I bit the bullet, dumped some cash, and picked up a BRP! Now I know why they're called BRPs because this think is a monster! My MX bikes all had tall seats, but this is just a wee bit taller and about 100 pounds heavier. So far I love it . I got home late so took it for a quick spin around the town, then pulled out the FZ6 to compare them side by side, and finally put it away in the garage so that the neighbors could sleep without the brap brap! I'll post in the XR650R thread, but here's a couple pictures for those that helped in or followed this thread, what little thread it was. See the "little" FZer hiding behind it's new big brother? Fineline suspension set for a 190 lbs rider, so it'll fit me fine. IMS 3.2g tank on the bike. IMS 4.6g tank included. Factory tank also included. Full Baja Designs kit with 55/100 headlight. BRP Top clamp set up for Scotts Stabilizer; the next big purchase. Renthal Fat Bars. IMS pegs. Braking front rotor. Pro Circuit full exhaust; kind of loud and poppy, but maybe I'll adjust to it. Baja Designs Stator 125w x 2 Clutch redone and bearing updated to 2002+ Some other stuff I'm forgetting. Thanks Tim, if you read this. Can't wait to hit the trails and get my dirt legs back after a couple of years of not having a dirt bike. It'll also be an all new kind of riding...like actually using counter steer rather than just flinging the bike around. I've also got the starting drill down to about the second kick, but we'll see what happens the first time I lay it over. :eek1
I'm a current WR426 owner and previous pilot of an XR650R at the '09 Baja 1000 that belonged to my teammate/partner/brothafromanothamotha/fellow ADV inmate. I fell in love with that BRP, and after mexico I was gonna steal it from him but his ex-gf (and to be nice, let's just leave it at that) got it instead when they split. Awesome bike! used to be the king of Baja and is still a worthy competitor, but awfully heavy. better be in shape if you want to muscle that thing around. the 450's do have an advantage in this regard. damn thing was bulletproof though. we beat it up pretty good and it kept coming back for more. friendly word of advice....DON"T RIDE SLOW on that 650, or it'll overheat. I found that out the hard way by idling in the staging queue in Baja and the thing started spewing like Old Faithful literally seconds before I took the green flag. a guy in the crowd noticed the green drip as I approached the staging mound and few seconds later a race official was uncapping it and shoving 2 bottles of Evian into it. 6:45am, just over 50F air temp and Grunt was bellowing like a dragon. Sal Fish (SCORE Pres.) shook my hand at the starting line, and had a rather inquisitive look on his face as I idled up next to him at the line. told him everything was ok, just overheating, but that I had to get going to cool it down. Get yourself some Engine Ice. It's supposed to run a lot cooler than standard coolant. What others in this thread have said about the 426 are all true. more nimble than the 650 but without sacrificing power. different bikes for different reasons is still a good motto, though. Enjoy that piggy of yours!! She'll treat you right.
forgot to mention that you can eliminate the need for remembering the decompression kickstart drill by adding a Hot Cams auto-decompression cam (exhaust side). I added one to my 426 and it fires right up with just a few kicks (when cold. fires on first or 2nd kick when warm) and you don't have to be concerned with trying to find top dead center in the routine. you lose the "routine" altogether. just whip out the starter, step on it the necessary number of times to get it fired and get moving. if you dump it, just pull the hot start button on the carb, wait about 5 seconds, and kick it again. she won't let you down. was able to free up handlebar space and unnecessary decomp cable by installing the new cam. best $130 I've spent in a long time.
