Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've been touring on a 2008 GSA for a while. It's kinda big for the rougher off-pavement stuff, so I added a used 2006 DR650 to the stable last year and farkled it with a few things like a larger fuel tank, better suspension, better carb and a more comfortable seat. Being air-cooled it's a bit simpler to maintain than a KLR, but you really can't go wrong with either the DR or KLR.
There are tons of 'KLR vs. DR' discussions to be found; this post lays out the differences reasonably well.
Last edited by Scratch33; 12-14-2016 at 04:27 PM..
Enough power when you get off road, not enough to ride to get there.
Spoken like someone who has precisely Zero experience with bikes this size.
As a larger individual at 6'4" and 230lbs (though I was 280 at one point while owning a Ninja 250), who's lived with a Ninja 250 everywhere from sea level to 6200' in elevation across 12 years of continuous ownership, there's nothing that bike can break every speed limit in this country with room to spare. And it'll do so faster than 90% of the cars on the road today to boot.
It has more rear wheel HP than the above mentioned Yamaha WR250R (or X), and About the same as the Suzuki DRZ400 (or KLR650 for that matter). You think the KLR650 also doesn't have enough power to "get there"?
Spoken like someone who has precisely Zero experience with bikes this size.
As a larger individual at 6'4" and 230lbs (though I was 280 at one point while owning a Ninja 250), who's lived with a Ninja 250 everywhere from sea level to 6200' in elevation across 12 years of continuous ownership, there's nothing that bike can break every speed limit in this country with room to spare. And it'll do so faster than 90% of the cars on the road today to boot.
It has more rear wheel HP than the above mentioned Yamaha WR250R (or X), and About the same as the Suzuki DRZ400 (or KLR650 for that matter). You think the KLR650 also doesn't have enough power to "get there"?
It will do it, but you'll be wringing the poor bugger out to do 70 on the highway, and not have enough giddy up to quickly get out of the way at speed. The gearing will be different than your Ninja too. If you notice, I only recommended the KLR as a second bike specifically for adv riding. A super single is tiring to ride at speed too.
Spoken like someone who has precisely Zero experience with bikes this size.
As a larger individual at 6'4" and 230lbs (though I was 280 at one point while owning a Ninja 250), who's lived with a Ninja 250 everywhere from sea level to 6200' in elevation across 12 years of continuous ownership, there's nothing that bike can break every speed limit in this country with room to spare. And it'll do so faster than 90% of the cars on the road today to boot.
It has more rear wheel HP than the above mentioned Yamaha WR250R (or X), and About the same as the Suzuki DRZ400 (or KLR650 for that matter). You think the KLR650 also doesn't have enough power to "get there"?
Actually, no. Or at best, barely. When I rode a WRR I rode with people with KLRs (and a Ninja 250 for that matter), and I also had a DR650. All were just about identical in speed on pavement. All sorta sucked on hills or at elevation. The deciding moment for me was on a ride in Montana. 8000 ft, long (several mile uphill grade) and a strong headwind. Couldn't do over 50. All those bikes are FUN in the dirt and will get you around on pavement-but are underpowered. V-Strom 650 has about 75% more power than a KLR or DR (both right around 40 IIRC) and is much more reasonable on the street. I do wish a Japanese company would come out with a bike that compares with the KTM 690 Enduro (or Husky 701), with a reasonable maintenance interval and cost. Sadly, none have stepped up to the plate. The Japanese mid-sized ADV bikes are few and far between, very dated (KLR, DR650, DRZ400) and really need some updates. Would love to see a WR450R. Having said that-for secondary roads and more modest speeds, all are more than adequate.
The little bikes (or underpower bikes in the case of the 650s) will certainly get the job done. But you're wringing them out pretty hard at any kind of speed. OTOH, if the OP is only going to ride enough pavement to get to the dirt, all are great choices. I did a 2000 mile trip on the WRR, fortunately mostly on dirt. And it did the job. But it wasn't much fun wringing it out on the pavement.
It will do it, but you'll be wringing the poor bugger out to do 70 on the highway, and not have enough giddy up to quickly get out of the way at speed. The gearing will be different than your Ninja too. If you notice, I only recommended the KLR as a second bike specifically for adv riding. A super single is tiring to ride at speed too.
Again, spoken like someone without direct, real world experience (and a healthy misunderstanding of how to avoid trouble at speed ~ brakes are the best answer 9999 times out of 10000). The 4 different Ninja 250's I've owned were "wrung out" at about 90mph, but would happily stay there for hundreds of miles so long as you topped off the oil when you filled up with fuel. At 70mph I had enough throttle left to easily pull out on a 2-lane road, accelerate and pass a vehicle also going ~70mph, all in a relatively short distance. This on bone stock bikes as I'm not into speed/power mods (waste of money IMHO). Again, the bike has more power to weight than most cars you see on the road today.
I also owned a KLR650 and it had Slightly more umpfh, was wildly more comfortable to ride at 65mph (mostly because I'm 6'4" and the physical size is better) and I had zero issues doing 1000 mile weekends with combined highway/dirt. No issues riding the bike from Denver to Grand Junction/Fruita, playing around in Rabbit Valley and riding back then feeling well enough to hop on the bike to commute to work the following morning. Again, I don't really do mods so that was with the stock seat on a 1999 model.
There are thousands of people who've done multi-country, multi-month trips on Both the Ninja 250 and KLR650, which include lots of highway riding. The Ninja 250 is capable enough for long distances on the highway that it's something seen in the Iron Butt Rally (and has finished as high as 12th ~ which is amazing if you pay attention to that sort of thing). If it doesn't fit your personal criteria, that's fine, but don't belittle what it (or this new Versys-X 300) can do just because you have an opinion not grounded in real world use/experience.
Troy, you're introducing the one variable that makes a difference, elevation. When you're losing about 3% of total power per every 1,000 foot in elevation gain (which doesn't seem noticeable until 4~5k), above 6k you're down 20% and more. That's About the overhead you have with 30hp to travel the speed limit with reserve on the highway. Of course, you get high enough and even big tractors like my BMW R100GS could hardly do 50mph (Mt Evans and Pikes Peak in CO) without a headwind so it's not like it's Just the low HP bikes that suffer.
Again, spoken like someone without direct, real world experience (and a healthy misunderstanding of how to avoid trouble at speed ~ brakes are the best answer 9999 times out of 10000). The 4 different Ninja 250's I've owned were "wrung out" at about 90mph, but would happily stay there for hundreds of miles so long as you topped off the oil when you filled up with fuel. At 70mph I had enough throttle left to easily pull out on a 2-lane road, accelerate and pass a vehicle also going ~70mph, all in a relatively short distance. This on bone stock bikes as I'm not into speed/power mods (waste of money IMHO). Again, the bike has more power to weight than most cars you see on the road today.
I also owned a KLR650 and it had Slightly more umpfh, was wildly more comfortable to ride at 65mph (mostly because I'm 6'4" and the physical size is better) and I had zero issues doing 1000 mile weekends with combined highway/dirt. No issues riding the bike from Denver to Grand Junction/Fruita, playing around in Rabbit Valley and riding back then feeling well enough to hop on the bike to commute to work the following morning. Again, I don't really do mods so that was with the stock seat on a 1999 model.
There are thousands of people who've done multi-country, multi-month trips on Both the Ninja 250 and KLR650, which include lots of highway riding. The Ninja 250 is capable enough for long distances on the highway that it's something seen in the Iron Butt Rally (and has finished as high as 12th ~ which is amazing if you pay attention to that sort of thing). If it doesn't fit your personal criteria, that's fine, but don't belittle what it (or this new Versys-X 300) can do just because you have an opinion not grounded in real world use/experience.
Troy, you're introducing the one variable that makes a difference, elevation. When you're losing about 3% of total power per every 1,000 foot in elevation gain (which doesn't seem noticeable until 4~5k), above 6k you're down 20% and more. That's About the overhead you have with 30hp to travel the speed limit with reserve on the highway. Of course, you get high enough and even big tractors like my BMW R100GS could hardly do 50mph (Mt Evans and Pikes Peak in CO) without a headwind so it's not like it's Just the low HP bikes that suffer.
You're making a lot of assumptions. I've done my Iron Butt and ridden through the rockies for decades, and prefer not to ride in the top 25% of the performance envelope of any bike. To take a 300 on the interstate does that. Just because you think you know everything, doesn't invalidate those that have a different perspective.
Location: Butler County Ohio and Winters in Florida
929 posts, read 2,723,125 times
Reputation: 635
As a life long MC rider and maybe one of the older guys here, there are few things that popped up in my mind on this subject. Those big adventure bikes are rather top heavy , once they start failing over they go. Then you must follow a specific process to pick it up unless you are the hulk. I have seen many street bikes ridden off road, well dirt roads , just look at other countries like the Middle East. The smaller scale of the Adventure bikes, are also the larger Dual Sport bikes; the DR650 and KLR650 are great bikes for a little of everything. You can set up either for whatever you are heading out to ride, then get home later and swap a few parts out for a direct opposite ride. I used a DR650 for years as a street bike , then a XR650L . I would explore dirt roads, trails, whatever I came across .
Last edited by ghostrider7811; 12-16-2016 at 09:19 AM..
Reason: spell
Troy, you're introducing the one variable that makes a difference, elevation. When you're losing about 3% of total power per every 1,000 foot in elevation gain (which doesn't seem noticeable until 4~5k), above 6k you're down 20% and more. That's About the overhead you have with 30hp to travel the speed limit with reserve on the highway. Of course, you get high enough and even big tractors like my BMW R100GS could hardly do 50mph (Mt Evans and Pikes Peak in CO) without a headwind so it's not like it's Just the low HP bikes that suffer.
Never been quite that high, but my 600 is fine at 11,000. It would be better if it was FI rather than carbed. Faster at those altitudes than the little Ninjette is at sea level either way though. High elevation is compounded by the fact that there's almost always a lot of elevation change at high elevation. The Ninjette doesn't even particularly like elevation change at sea level. Santa Cruz mountains, for example, is mostly under 2,000. The elevation may not be noticeable, but the 8% grades are.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
