Dual Purpose bikes

[Rick_Laffer]

Greetings old friends,
Long time no see.
Looking for a bike, capable off road, but primarily on road hot conditions I suspect.
Maximum say Aus$4k or so (used).
Thinking about KLR, Tenere, perhaps Dakar.
Any thoughts?
I think reliability most important factor (after all, I did own a Vision :P.
Thanx

[Lucky]

Rick!!
Great to hear from you!! (alive & presumably well) I have no suggestions for you, but it's great to here from you anyway.
For those of you 'newbies' who don't know, Rick is (was?) from Tasmania, and was a frequent contributor way back on the old board. Sadly, he lost his V in a fire.
Hope all is well with you & Happy Holidays!!
--Lucky

[Humber]

My friend has a KLR, it's very reliable and wonderful in cornering.. but I don't like the looks.... YAMAHA XTZ750 or 660 is ok for me..

[Blake]

I'm fond of the dual purpose hondas (XLR's?) rode a 93' 650 model.. what a blast... handled great..




Blake

[Rick_Laffer]

Thanks Lucky, old pal, for the re-introduction.
A couple of months or so away, and this forum really gets away from you.
Still be keen to help out, but net time restraints mean when I look up this site, there's a million questions to answer and my mind just goes "........faaarrrrkkkkkhhhhh!"
Anyway, for old timers ( ;D), been a busy time, finally looks as though getting compo payout for fire, and after a long, busy year looking forward to a bit of an Australian mainland tour for the tail end of summer.
Thus the necessity for a bike!
Hell of a lot of dirt roads in Western and Southern Australia, wanna explore, so that type capability required.
I would appreciate thoughts.
Anyway, Hey to QBS, Rick G, Leather, Dan B, Jeff, Ron "Hope this Helps" Ghetti, Blake, Jason M, Mauricio, Humber, our wonderfully outspoken Bernard Lajoie and all the Visionary Faithfull (Seriously, do miss the bastard V)

[Rick G]

Merry Christmas  Rick! Glad to have you stop in!  Rick was on the old forum when I joined , ttas why I used my last initial. Ithink that was in 1999.  
The KLR would be a good choice , the Honda version  is more dirt oreantated  and the Yamaha leans tward the street. The Kawasaki  splits it right down the middle. The handle really well on pavement , right up to the point where the tyres let go.  They are enough of a dirt bike for fire  , logging and dirt roads. and they hold six or seven gallons of fuel.
The US army  uses them as scout vehicles , and even have a diesel version.
Used ones here go for 1800. to 4000. USD
Please stop back  again  good to hear from you.!. ;D

[Humber]

Dear... I searched on ebay and u don't seem to have XTZ650 TENERE at all, what a pity.. here are some pics of it...

[QBS]

Rick, Good to hear from you.  Have thought of you from time to time.  Always with a bit of sadness at your V loss and the Forums loss of your fellowship.

The KLR seems the way to go.  Long time in production=low cost, proven design, and many on the market to choose from.  Many wonderful aftermarket assessories.  Long time choice of many for world wide/around the world travels.  All the magazines continue to praise them to the heavens, even when compared to newer offerings.  Merry Christmas, Cheers!

[Walt_M.]

Much as I hate to recommend a non-Yamaha, the KLR is probably the way to go. Just make sure of parts/dealer availability on the planned route. The Yamahas do look good though.

[Rick G]

Yes Pau, the XTX 650 is a Europe only model . The 660 engine isn't sold here, except in the MZ bikes  imported from Germany. I've heard it is used in some snow mobles , but have never seen it.