Advice on bike for a novus.

[malt25]

Hi all.

Some advice please. This may seem a bit of an odd request, but I'm a bit of an odd individual. I'm on the very wrong side of 60. Never been a biker. Did a bit of scrub bashing in Oz many years back. Enjoy playing on a 125 Wave around the village & into the local town.

I'm contemplating getting something a bit bigger / better. I find the Wave ok for pottering about the village but struggles somewhat on the highway. I don't want to race the traffic, but 90 is about a reasonable limit for the Wave without ringing it's neck & 100 it's starting to feel a bit unstable.

I "think" I'm interested in an off road type bike. But I'll not be doing any, much, off road work. My use will be about 50/50. 50% highway, 100kph & 50% dirt road, track.

The highway use will be mainly into Sakon Nakhon, about 30k from home. It's 110k limit & I find I get "blown" off the road by trucks doing the limit when I'm pottering along at about 80.

There's numerous dirt roads & tracks I'd love to explore. Ok on the Wave, but !!! I kinda figure something in the 250 range will be what I need ?????

So ! what am I looking for ? I don't want to spend a fortune, but don't want a junker. I'll probably buy new as I know little about bikes "as if you didn't already know" I feel new is the way to go.

Would really appreciate some positive, knowledgeable advice.

Thanks..... Mal.

[dave_boo]

If you're set on the 250cc class, I'm going to recommend you go to a Kawasaki dealership and look at the KLX250. The D-Tracker is the same bike with street tyres. Get a feel of the dealership. Then go over to the Honda dealership and check out the CRF 250L.

Remember how the Kawasaki dealership was set up? How did they approach you? Did they engage you and seem knowledgeable? How does that rate compared to the Honda dealer?

Buy the bike from whichever dealer seems better for you. Seriously. The two manufacturers have produced bikes that are essentially the same and it will come down to who will take care of you better. If you lived in Nakhon Sawan, there wouldn't be any debate. The Kawasaki dealer is heads and shoulders above the Honda dealers around.

If you're not set on the 250cc class; look into the 500X. I think the nearest Big Wing to you is in Udon? You'll pay some 150% of the price, but get a bike that has 200% the power and definitely doesn't get blown around. It will sit all day at 140 (which is about 6400 RPM) without complaint. ll2 had its brother (the 500R) up to an indicated 190. Works good on dirt and pea gravel roads. I wouldn't want to take it on worst than that though.

But for the really gnarly stuff (you mentioned scrub bashing) none of the bikes I've mentioned are really designed for it. The 250 bikes are definitely dirt inspired and the 500X is ADV styled, but they aren't going to hold up to beating on them as you would with a proper bike. AFAIK you have a choice of KTM and an expensive CRF 250R (275,000) that is also not street legal for all I know.

Just as an aside, please make sure you take it nice and easy when on those roads. It's quite a work-out and if you were to suffer from heat stroke who knows how long you'd be out there and how long it would be to get you proper medical care.

[ktm jeff]

Mal - . Dont be supprised if this question gets moved to the bike forum . Dave,s advice is spot on. The 250,s may be a little tall , but you can ( get ) them lowered , at the susspension points , by any good "off-road" shop . Seats often need to be lowered / sculpered out for easy access , unless your 6 FT+ . Ask for advice at your local dirt bike shop . For riding the more demanding tracks it has to be the unbeatable KLX , but for dirty / dusty roads some may consider the CRF L not far off , and slightly cheaper . The KTM ,s and other motocross bikes may be too much no offence .Your never too old , but please wear decent off0road kit . The dirt bike shops will again be able to help here . There are cheaper 200 / 250 cc dirt bike "looking" bikes out there , Keeway , Platinum , Lifan , ECT , but they wont sit at 100KPM all day.

[dave_boo]

One thing I didn't think of. If a Wave is doing fine for the roads you are wanting to explore, perhaps going with a 'dual sport' bike isn't required?

If that's the case, a single cylinder Z250SL is an excellent choice. It's only 118,000 and doesn't perform all that worst than the similar competition from Honda (the CB300F which costs ~135,000). Only weighs 151 kg, so not terribly heavy.

They also offer the Z250 and Z300 for 151,000 and 172,000 respectively. The Z250 (non-SL) is a twin that appears to be in the process of being phased out. It doesn't perform all that much better than the single and weighs an extra 17 kg. The Z300 definitely has better performance (about 9-12 hp over the competitors) and weighs 170 kg.

Of course there is also the SR400; Yamaha's classic bike that has been around longer than I've been alive sure has the looks and easy to modify to suit your style. It's a heavy little bugger though at 174 kg and at only 23 hp the 265,000 asking price is too much in my book.

[draftvader]

Moved to Bikes forum

[malt25]

Thanks guys, very much appreciated.

Cheers..... Mal.

[papa al]

Lifan makes an inexpensive dirt bike in the Cross200 or X-plore200, using its highly popular and reliable 4-stroke single.

Under 50K new.

The model has been discussed in another thread.

'Lifan200.'

And

etc.

Edited January 29, 2015 by papa al

[DILLIGAD]

Mal - . Dont be supprised if this question gets moved to the bike forum . Dave,s advice is spot on. The 250,s may be a little tall , but you can ( get ) them lowered , at the susspension points , by any good "off-road" shop . Seats often need to be lowered / sculpered out for easy access , unless your 6 FT+ . Ask for advice at your local dirt bike shop . For riding the more demanding tracks it has to be the unbeatable KLX , but for dirty / dusty roads some may consider the CRF L not far off , and slightly cheaper . The KTM ,s and other motocross bikes may be too much no offence .Your never too old , but please wear decent off0road kit . The dirt bike shops will again be able to help here . There are cheaper 200 / 250 cc dirt bike "looking" bikes out there , Keeway , Platinum , Lifan , ECT , but they wont sit at 100KPM all day.

Good advice in all these posts.

As stated, your never too old to ride but some could be considered too old to fall off.

Hope you enjoy whatever bike you chose!

Dave

Edited January 29, 2015 by DILLIGAD

[ll2]

a second hand honda crf l is going for 100 k thb for a good condition one.

kawa klx second hand ones also go for as low as 80 k thb but klx is in the market for a while and most of the second hand ones are abused on what i see.

dont go through the Chinese bike route like lifan, keway etc instead keep your wave, throw some knobby tires, new fork springs and shocks with more suspension travel - cheap as chips - and you go better that those Chinese bikes and of course with reliability.

actually honda wave is a good performer on dirt or back roads.