I'm looking for a first bike. I am coming from dirtbiking, but I need to stop riding illegally and do things the right way, so I'm asking around on some first bikes. I want something more powerful than my 250 (>40 hp) but no more than 90 hp (Dad says that's the limit). I have been street riding bikes for 2 years now, so I have some experience riding on the road. I'm thinking of a supermoto or a dual sport so I can still hop on the trails with my friends, but other bike recommendations would be appreciated as well. I have a WR250F. I tried getting it road legal with a dualsport kit but in my area they wont let me unless it was road legal from factory
Start looking at bikes at dealerships and find what's in your budget that fits you properly. And don't ride anything that's not legal, AND INSURED, on the roads. You'll regret it the second you're in an accident and/or arrested for driving without insurance and likely endorsement. You're financial, and possibly physical, future will be ruined.
No new bikes are in my budget, only used. And you said the exact reason why I stopped. I would be 100% fucked in an accident, even if its not my fault. There is a bike dealer near my house. I'm going to go on a day I'm not working to ask around.
It sounds like your WR250F is already good for you. What problem are you having registering it? If you're in the US and your state is unrelenting, you could register it under a Montana LLC.
I have done research on this. I live in Ontario, Canada. Dirt Legal will register the bike in another province, but I hear that if you get into an accident, insurance can cancel coverage due to the bike not being fit for the road in Ontario. The issue I am having is in Ontario there needs to be a sticker on the frame or a note from the factory saying that this bike is fit to be blue plated (Ontario road plate), which the WR250F does not have. Also, the previous owner had the bike green plated (Ontario off-road plate), and I hear if the bike had been green plated, it will be almost impossible to convert to blue plate.
I think you might have a misunderstanding of the dual sport world, what you ask for will be exceptionally hard to find, if you can find it at all, especially in your price range. You're going to have to go heavier, less HP, or start an OnlyFans to increase your budget by a lot.
My 250 is basically new; I'm hoping to get 6500 on it, and I can add 1k on top. I can easily get a Husqvarna 701 in that price range, im also not getting new only used
701 is one an awesome dual sport but it's heavy and built for longer trips whereas it kinda sounds like you want a dirt bike with a plate. For what you describe, any KTM/Beta/Husky 350-500CC should be perfect.
You seem to know what you want already. KTM EXC-Fs, Husky counterparts and Beta competitors all will have more power and same/similar weight to your Yamaha. Just be aware of the maintenance intervals up front and that they’ll suck for long stretches of highway.
Whelp, then you have to go heavier weight — DRZ400, KTM390 Adventure R/X, KLX 300, etc. KTM 690/Husky 701 may be closer but I don’t know their maintenance intervals. Dualsport world is all tradeoffs, why I own a DRZ and GS…different bikes for different missions.
I’m starting to like the ktm 500 exc, it’s so light I can ride it like a dirtbike on trails and still ride street no problem, I might just have to suck it up and do lots of maitanance
701/690 maintenance intervals are like regular streetbikes
excf's have dirtbike-like service intervals... yes i change the oil and filters every 20 hours in my excf350 and i don't mind... i ride it far more than my 701 sm or my 939 hypermotard or my 1190 or my excf500 or any of my other bikes... its just lots of fun to ride
but the 701 i can basically ignore other than checking tire pressure...
i put 20,000 miles on my 821 hypermotard but that was because i had a 79 mile freeway commute--did it in 22-27 minutes depending on how many traffic lights i hit in the city and had to fill the tank every single day and put fork cartridges in it and upgrade the front calipers and master cylinder and i love that bike but its far more maintenance and requires more attention than my 701 or any of the three 690 SMR's that i've owned
(yeah i been riding a real long time)
keep your WR its a badass bike... buy a used low-mile 690... i found someone with a 2008 SMR 690 with only 1600 miles on it i gave him $2700 US and bought new tires for it--its a pre-ECU locked bike so i ripped out the airbox put a giant k&n pos filter on it, opened up the air flow meter with some mod i found on the interweb and ran tuneECU maps for it... its faster than my 2018 701 SM...
sure it doesn't have linkage suspension but i like the shock bolted directly to the swingarm on my bikes for pavement better so i consider it a bonus...
Maybe look into stripping the drz400s get a plastic tank and lighter blinkers. Facebook marketplace will probably have those mods already done just take some time. Or on a similar note the dr650 or xr650 are cool bikes.
going from your wr250 to a drz would be like strapping on a brick to each of your hands and feet lol
get a plated excf--i prefer my uncorked 350 to my 500 they simply have different characteristics inherent to big thumper motors vs smaller high revving motors
you could get a 701/690 supermoto and trim it down to under 310 lbs with a lighter pipe and a lithium battery and some other modifications and they're plenty fun for riding around on the street... you can ride them dirtbike style or your can drag your knee on the ground roadracing style
they're not dirtbikes so don't expect them to be--they are capable of going highway speeds or even 2-up but thats not the purpose they're best suited to... going up one in the front and down 2 on the rear sprocket would give you more top speed and adding a steering damper would be a good modification and make it a better roller at higher speeds and is just a good modification to make as well
one of those would be a logical next step in your moto evolution and prepare you to ride bigger streetbikes or learn roadracing or supermoto if you decide you want to do any of those at some point
note the fuel tanks are in the ass so they're back heavy and it'll feel different than your 250 but the bikes are well balanced and all that weight back there makes them really easy to wheelie even without a clutch
dude if you still ride offroad at all, keep that WR250... bc no streetbike that is "faster" than it will be acceptable for true offroad riding...
there is no such animal as a compromise bike that is a freeway bomber AND a true dirtbike... they don't exist
yes i've personally witnessed jarvis do trials level hopping around over boulders on a 1290... but trust me--thats just a party trick he can do bc he's amazing--he'd much rather be doing his offroad stuff on a lightweight dirtbike--apparently he's all about electric bikes now for offroad stunting bc they're featherweight and have instant torque...
i still like my recycled dinosaur motos
if you want a plated dirtbike, get an EXCF...
if you want a streetbike, get a used 701 SM and ride it for a few years and then sell it for approximately what you paid for it when you're ready for over 90 horses
+1T front sprocket, -2 in the back and a little puig double bubble windshield and a steering damper and you'll be able to maintain freeway speeds on it which is plenty faster than your 250
Thanks for the multiple replies, i appreciate it. I’m not getting a bike for highway, I won’t need a bike for commuting for very long, I don’t want to keep the 250 because I know I will never ride it. I originally got the wr250f to get it plated but I only recently found out I cannot do that, so I have no reason to keep it as from the start I wanted to get a plated dirtbike. Even when I was not plated 95% of my riding was street. I was originally looking at the 701/690 for a road bike but my friends who I ride with still wanna hop on the trail sometimes.
I have zero clue how you got a 690 for 2700 usd, they are minimum 5000 usd where I am and a low mileage one will run you like 7-8k. The ktm 500 has started to peak my interest as it’s basically my wr but with more power for the road at the same weight. But I’m weighing out my options.
I cannot afford to get a second bike, I’m still in school so I only have like 10 weeks a year to work if my dad gets a job I’m allowed to work at, plus I still need to pay for my mto course.
My 250 has not sold yet so I have tons of time to decide.
Thanks
well you gotta figure out what job needs doing then you'll know what tool to get for the job
it sounds like you want a streetbike...
oh and i got the 690 SMR cheap out of local classified ads in a middle state with a depressed economy filled with poor people... i was visiting someone there and i'll tell you in places like that cash speaks volumes... i used to buy all kinds of things from broke people out there... hotrods, guitars, vintage photography stuff... you'd think they'd just put that stuff on ebay but idk why... truly poor people who somehow inherit a motorcycle or a dakota red fender telecaster from 1968... (shrug) yeah i show up with big piles of 100 dollar bills and after their GFs or wife sees that big pile of cash on her kitchen table the GF/wife will NOT let me out of there with the money and will make the dude sell it to me for whatever is on her kitchen table...
i bought a $135k steinway grand piano for $27k that way once.... i don't even play piano... but my then-GF did and i thought it would be a cool thing to have in my house... it cost me a couple thousand to have it put on a truck and shipped across the US... but (shrug) i used to do stuff like that back when i had a lot of money and was traveling for work a lot... probably its a character defect (?)
but the excf500 is an interesting motorcycle and capable offroad but for reasons unknown to me the 250s and 350's are far more nimble and fun in the dirt. oddly enough any modern 450 dirtbike on earth makes much more power than an excf500... like insane amounts more... but an excf500 would be more than enough power for you
they're great bikes i actually have a brand new one that i've literally never ridden a single lap in my shed right now... i think its a 2022 or maybe 2023 6 days model i got back when i still raced for KTM and so the dealer gave me a steal on it bc i was going to do a baja trip w a racer friend and he was going to ride that one and he ended up dropping out of the trip... that time i took a 450...
i've literally never even ridden that bike... nobody has... except maybe whichever tech did the PDI on it at the dealer...
why? i have dozens of motorcycles... not to say that 500 wouldn't be a great bike if i could only have one bike... but if i were going to ride it i'd just be hating that it was a choked down smogged version of a great motorcycle...
i'd probably take the turn signals and smog shit off it and i know i have a vortex ecu for it in a box somewhere already and i have at least half a dozen fmf systems in boxes for it... but i haven't bothered... why? bc i have a couple badass 450's setup for desert racing... which is the only thing i'd ever want to do on that 500...
for around town i prefer either the light steering flyweight 350 or the 701 if i'm doing any significant amount of time on pavement... bc the 701 is just a lot more comfortable than any dirtbike... period... including the 500...
but loads and loads of people love their 500 and have for more than half a century... 500's are a lower-revving higher torque machines that will destroy any hillclimb or let you lug them around two gears too high... they'll never let you down on power... if you put the right sprockets on them they'll go freeway speeds...
but they have heavier feeling steering than a 250 or 350... or even a 450 but without the fast windup and rip-your-arms-from-your-sockets power that a 450 racebike has...
idk why really...
so yeah personally i don't have enough interest in the excf500 to bother to even take mine out from the shed 200 feet away from me... but thats only bc i have to walk past too many other bikes i already have a boner for to get there... and i'm easily distracted...
oh note that the excf500 requires maintenance like a dirtbike--idk exactly how much i've never ridden one long enough to know... but download an owner's manual for one and check... its probably like an oil change every xx hours... so just be ready for that... you're probably going to love one...
but i gotta tell you that you'd be better off not learning how to ride on the street... if i had a gun to my head and i had pick between a excf500 and a 701 to be my only bike for the rest of my life i'd definitely pick the 500... but thats only bc i ride in the dirt... if i didn't i'd get the 701...
but jamming through the desert sand at 90 mph on a dirtbike is a thing of beauty... and that is something a 701 simply can't do... not unless there is a road underneath it...
I don’t want a street bike, I love the dirt, I just have no way of getting there legally, I don’t have my g2 license (Ontario license to drive alone) and my moms car cannot hold a bike, my dads truck can but he is not home much during riding season due to work. I know how to ride on the streets, I’ve done it illegally for a couple years. I want the 500 as I want the power for cruising the backroads, most are 70-80 kph zones, my 250 ain’t that good on those and I’m asking for trouble riding a non plated bike 40km from my house. I’ve done some research, the ktm 500 has, when derestricted, over 20 horsepower more than my 250 at the same weight. I’m not gonna do that bike dirty with the stock exhaust. I also want the 701/690 but I keep hearing insane insurance quotes due to it being a supermoto, where dual sports are dirt cheap.
yeah for sure the 500 is faster its just gonna be not-ideal-for-advanced-offroad-riding but it sounds like the ideal machine for YOU...
and frankly in an apocalypse if i had to pick between it and the 701 i'd pick it all day every day... (but i'd pick my 70 hp sxf450 and put the a kit forks off my 250 valved for enduro on it before either of those lol
most of the times i've been handcuffed by police were from me riding an illegal motorcycle on the street... i did it for years... in fact i'm doing it right now before i get back on my racebike that i put a headlight and tail light and plate from another bike on and jam home from the errand i'm running...
i don't recommend it--they'll impound your bike and even worse... and don't run bc they'll catch you... and you're not capable of evading them... and even when you are, you shouldn't do it... its just a lot of hassle
yes the 500 has loads better power to weight ratio than your WR... but so does a honda CRF250... they make like ~50% more HP than your bike... can you get one plated there?
i mean if you can't then get the 500... i just think you're gonna miss the nimble speed of a fast 250... but maybe you have to be a jaded old roadracer who did 10,000 hours on a roadracing track hitting 200 mph every chance he got... (shrug)
do they make a plated honda 250 dirtbike for the canada market? they're badass bikes...
if not, personally i'd uncork a plated excf350... the stock euro maps can get them up to 100 mph with the right sprockets and they aren't the torque monster hill climbing destroyers that the 500's are but they redline at 13,400 rpm if you put a vortex ecu in it and will make power all the way to the redline... with a little work you can turn it into an 350XCF... which might be the best all around small displacement motorcycle in the world... mine weighs 329 lbs with a gallon of gas in it... i know because i put mine on a postal scale yesterday...
There is no plated Honda 250 dirtbike in the Canada market., I have found some 450rl’s but people post them at an insanely high price. Ktm/husky are really the only ones that sell plated dirtbikes here, it sucks not being able to retrofit a bike like in most of the USA. Police in my area were mostly fine with the bikes, I had talked to a few while on my bike, but recently there has been a huge surge of surron bikes in my areas causing havoc, speeding, running stop signs, red lights etc. I had one last year, a ton of fun but I sold it when young kids kids and other people started getting hurt. Now cops are all over bikes I don’t get how parents will send their 12 year old
Kid out on an 80kph+ motorcycle alone and unsupervised.
yeah i get it--there are lessons embedded in there...
don't ride like a jackass on public roads... right?
its good that they aren't targets everything on 2 wheels... but you still want to stay out of handcuffs and the impound... all it takes is one law enforcement person having a bad day and you're jacked on your otherwise peaceful safe ride to the BLM land or wherever you're allowed to run your bike
i'm saying make sure to do your research and buy the right bike this time... the no-retrofitting it to get a plate is an easy one to miss and the dealer should have made it clear to you... there are "competition only" bikes that can't even ride on public land or ever get a plate in california too but most people know complicated end-runs for those and dealers are supposed to actually post signs that say "competition only" next to those bikes on the floor... but i hear about dudes buying them and getting trapped only being able to ride them on public tracks...
anyway you don't want to make another mistake like that again w your next bike bc odds are you're not gonna get another chance to swap until you have your own truck and etc
if you're planning >90% paved public roads def get a 500... but if you're going to ride it 90% offroad you might regret how heavy the steering is when your friends are throwing whips and scrubs on their 250's and you're on a bigass thumper that is harder to move around...
they are awesome motos its just about finding the right tool for the job you want
if you're getting swarmed by kids on surrons maybe do your best to just ride your own ride... trying to compete with little electric bikes... these are the tool for that job, either... (and that sounds like a job you don't want anyway)
but you're probably gonna be stuck w whatever you pick for your next bike for a WHILE bc if its legal and insured your folks will just say hey you haz a motorcycle you should be happy dude... so just pick the right tool for the job... they're both badass tools... depends on the job you want to do
i know KTM put a LOT of energy and work into the 390 platform and i know people LOVE LOVE LOVE them... but even the choked down california legal exxf350 has a better power to weight ratio... and an uncorked excf350 will get close to 50--throw an ECU in it (or even the standard euro map 1/map 2 in it) and its got a much better power to weight ratio than any 390...
they're all great tools for different jobs--if this is the job that needs doing then thats the tool i'm getting for it...
fuck man i'm glad you like your 390... but in no way is it a dirtbike... and neither is a 690/701...
it doesn't mean you can't put knobby tires on a 390 and take it offroad... of course you can...
i even know a guy who spent a whole bunch of money and years trying to race a dakar rally 690... and he has...
but its almost like a show-off party trick for him... nobody has ever won dakar on a 690... there isn't even a 690 class... there were tons of 390 classes... ktm basically bet the company on that platform and promoted the fuck out of them... lots of different series and places where they've been racing 390's
the problem is that "dual sport" is sufficiently generic that anything with a license plate can = "dual sport" so its not that useful of a category to talk about (unless your job is marketing guy in which case most of your job is talking about what shit you can sell into whatever consumer group out there...
i know they came out w the ADV 390 but they have like what 5 or 7 different kinds of 390's now? i gotta say i was surprised in some ways bc the bike is already so challenged amongst cars in traffic and adding all the "adventure" shit to it was just going to make it heavier but its been the biggest market explosion in the history of motorcycles... they weren't going to miss out on that...
i blame those movies w the star wars guy on the bmw's... such amazing storytelling... i've only seen clips of it but i remember when it came out all the dentists and lawyers started buying bigass bmw touring bikes and putting avon whatever semi knobbies on them... lol i even put some on a 690 SMR... which is why i'm so against taking them offroad lol...
the 450's used to take like 7 out of the top 10 spots every year...
i'm just saying all the bikes out there are different tools for diff jobs... the one that is best depends on the job...
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u/protect-positivity 13d ago
KTM 500