Stablemate for S10

[Stray Goose]

I'm thinking about getting a smaller brother for my S10.
Seat height (low) player a role in selection, so I've been thinking about the DR 650, or the CRF250L.


Any inputs from the gallery?

 

[kenbike]

How much off roading are you planning? The Dr 650 is still a big bike so I would think the DR 400 would be better if that is your goal. Wr 250 good of road bike or the KTM's are great but they do require a lot of upkeep. I looking for a cheap street legal Honda XR 200. Very light and run for ever and guys do pretty good in vintage racing on them.
My bah up bike is a scooter for the road.

 

[fxst78]

I have a WR450F, an XT225 and a CR125R as stable mates and used to have an XR400R as well. Depending on what you want from the other bike will greatly shape what is best suited. If you want a smaller dual sport to do day rides without much luggage, an XR400R or a DRZ400E would be best . If you want a dirt only single tracker a WR450F or KTM EXCE etc would be good. If you want a light weight trail bike to just put around on, then an TT230, XT250 or CRF230L would be good.

 

[sportsguy]

How much off roading are you planning? The Dr 650 is still a big bike so I would think the DR 400 would be better if that is your goal. Wr 250 good of road bike or the KTM's are great but they do require a lot of upkeep. I looking for a cheap street legal Honda XR 200. Very light and run for ever and guys do pretty good in vintage racing on them.
My bah up bike is a scooter for the road.

Ummm...neither has what would be considered a low seat height. Especially the DRZ-400...that's about at tall as my KTM, if nto taller...

CB1100 - seriously wonderful UJM
Triumph Scrambler/Bonneville/T100 - very nice everyday bikes
Royal Enfield if you really like a nostalgic look and are OK with a bit slower pace
Vespa GTS300 - don't knock 'em 'till you've tried 'em - I recently test rode a Vespa and damn near bought it on the spot! (That's when the rule of "two bikes only" appeared in my household...or I'd probably still have my FJR and not the STen. )

 

[trikepilot]

I am in the same boat somewhat. I came the S10 from a KLR which is my ONLY other motorcycle reference point. I love the S10 but I find myself unable to resist the temptation to take this 600lb beast into places it neither belongs nor has a rider with the skills to take it. So I am trying to sell my KLR and get something more woods/dirt worthy than the S10. My initial online research has me leaning towards the WR205R but I am open to suggestions. I also am a bit confused as to the difference between the WR250R, the WR250X, and the WR250F - anybody able to clue me in? I am in no rush and will keep trying to sell the KLR.

 

[bloodline]

Not sure what state laws you may be dealing with, but around here you can get a tag on straight up race bikes as long as they are euro and you have the MSO or someone already titled it as a motorcycle.

So, the current stablemate is a ktm 200.

Just depends on your intended use. Having owned a wr450, I would never want to ride it on the street since I have a S10.

I don't think DR's, xr's, wrxxxf, crfx, etc are light. They aren't good offroad and they suck on the road.

In a perfect world, I'd have a YZ 125 with a tag on it. The ktm 200 was as close as I could get for right now.

That said, I'll probably wind up with a ktm 300 xcw like everyone else, eventually.

Did I mention how much I miss my YZ's?

 

[JohnB]

I was raised on 2 stroke dirt bikes and would therefore try to find one of those if I had a place to ride them. I'd probably go with a KTM 2 stroke 300 with a wide range tranny. I'm not sure what model that would be.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I'm thinking about getting a smaller brother for my S10.

Me too. The Tenere has reawaken my love of dirt, and I find myself wanting to skim across the top of the rough stuff rather than always having to pick my way through and directly into it. Still love and will keep the S10, but need something that will let me grit my teeth and crack open the throttle when things get interesting.

In the market for a WR250R. It appears it will fit my desire for size/weight, power, reliability and noise. Did I mention I'm going to setup a track around my yard and don't want to annoy the neighbors anymore than necessary? I'm telling the wife I'm buying it as a piece of workout equipment. She's fine with that as long as I get her a XT250.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Anyone compare the XT250 to the WR250R? Like I said before the WR was not any good for me, but maybe the XT is tuned for better low RPM power and has a seat that can be sat on for longer then 5 minutes?

Sat on one yesterday. Much more cushy and wider seat than a WR. My wife had a similar XT225 for a while, comfort was never a significant issue on that bike. I would expect the XT250 to be as good or better.

 

[trikepilot]

My problem is I have little experience with all these variations of smaller bikes. Guess I need to go to a dealer and sit on a bunch of them so I can get some frame of reference.

The KTM's seem to be out of my price range as well as out of my interest in terms of maintenance and repairs and I have no good dealer nearby.

I kinda like the idea of the WR250R since it will be a Yamaha like the S10 but I have never seen one other than online. Thanks for the explanation of the difference in the WR family. However, I have seen ads for the WR250F that has it listed as street legal so there must be some sort of add on options to get it to street legal.

But my KLR has not sold and I am in no huge rush to get anything. All the potential bikes I am seeing for sale online are very far away. So for now I will keep gleaning info from forums like this and bide my time.

 

[cosmic]

I own a '12 WR450F. It comes with street legal kit, so it can be plated, or you can take off all the extra bits and pieces, load it on the trailer and go somewhere to have fun. 3rd option is to buy exta SM wheels and go sliding frenzy. WR450F is known to be bullet proof, and that is rare with competition enduro bikes.

©

 

[Yamaguy55]

Since plating a WR450 here in the USA is not plug and play, I'd suggest what I did and get a WR250R. Not easily outgrown, lots of mods available for those that feel compelled to change everything, or pretty good with just a skid plate, decent rubber, a 47T rear sprocket and the airbox/flap mod. See my other post to Dirt Dad for details. I'd most likely sell my Tenere before the WRR (Gasp! Shock! Amaze!) If it lost 25 pounds and had all of my mods stock, it would be 98% perfection for me.

 

[NittanyXT]

New slablemate! Before and after pics as I had a farklefest this weekend. Yamaguy, we need to get together again!

 

[Stray Goose]

Which Suzuki is that?

 

[NittanyXT]

DRz400s

 

[Stray Goose]

Nice bike.

I need to find something shorter. Waning toward a lowered DR650.

 

[greg the pole]

second bike to the ST is a tough one.
Having had two klr's (99 and 2008), two DR's (07 DRZ 400S, 04 DR650) I never fell in love with any of them.
My main problem is that to get to my off road spots, I need to travel about 45 km one way. by the time I got to the riding spots, I was done.

So I tried again, with a bike that came up locally through a friend. So far so good.
Ugly as hell, but it works, and cheap too
http://thetenerist.wordpress.com/2013/06/29/frankenstrom-build-2/

 

[Stray Goose]

Cool project!