Posts
1521
Joined
1/13/2016
Location
NJ
US
Fantasy
296th
Edited Date/Time
8/4/2022 11:50am
I'm bike free at the moment after selling my last one a few weeks back and I'm hunting for a new dualsport. I'm hoping to get some testimonials/anecdotal reviews for dualsports.
I'm going to commute on it a bit, 50 miles roundtrip, but I want to be able to take it trail riding or to a dualsport event without having to change too much besides maybe tires and a sprocket.
I've been enamored with the idea of a DR650 for years, but now I'm not so sure because it is a pretty bulky bike at 360+ lbs. The DRZ400 seemed like a good alternative, but I'm told it isn't so comfortable on the highway because it really screams at 50-60 mph.
The XR300 was suggested to me since it is 6-speed and is better at highway speeds, but I'm not totally feeling it. I hadn't considered it before, but now I'm kinda liking the XR650L. It's 20 lbs lighter than the DR650 and it's just barely heavier (+15lbs) than my old XT350 was and I never had any issues with the weight of that bike offroad. I don't know anyone who's had one though to get any feedback.
I don't really like the KLR or KLX, and I'm not looking to spend the $ on a KTM or Husky.
So anyone have experience with the XR650 or maybe with a DRZ400 with sprockets changed out for better road speeds?
I'm going to commute on it a bit, 50 miles roundtrip, but I want to be able to take it trail riding or to a dualsport event without having to change too much besides maybe tires and a sprocket.
I've been enamored with the idea of a DR650 for years, but now I'm not so sure because it is a pretty bulky bike at 360+ lbs. The DRZ400 seemed like a good alternative, but I'm told it isn't so comfortable on the highway because it really screams at 50-60 mph.
The XR300 was suggested to me since it is 6-speed and is better at highway speeds, but I'm not totally feeling it. I hadn't considered it before, but now I'm kinda liking the XR650L. It's 20 lbs lighter than the DR650 and it's just barely heavier (+15lbs) than my old XT350 was and I never had any issues with the weight of that bike offroad. I don't know anyone who's had one though to get any feedback.
I don't really like the KLR or KLX, and I'm not looking to spend the $ on a KTM or Husky.
So anyone have experience with the XR650 or maybe with a DRZ400 with sprockets changed out for better road speeds?
https://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Let-s-talk-new-dual-spor…
I've been checking out the CRF300L Rally this past week after a friend pointed it out to me. His wife has one, they liked it enough that he's getting himself one. I might give it a test ride and see how I like the feel.
I’ve had my XRL everywhere, even the MX track. If I could only have one bike in the garage the XRL would be it.
The Shop
I have had a few DRZ 400s, both SM and the dual sport model. I didn’t mind taking the SM on the highway. I commuted to work on both bikes and they were fine at 65-70. If you needed to get up and go much faster than that it took a bit. From 40-70 it accelerated plenty fast enough to feel safe. I took both the SM and dual sport in the woods and rode some tough single track with both setups. Obviously street tires made things much tougher. I found the dual sport with Avon Distanzia tires worked great on the road and could go pretty much anywhere in Connecticut woods as long as it wasn’t wet or super steep hills. It looks like Michelin has a nice looking dual sport tire that is still smooth for road riding but has good knob spacing. If I really wanted to ride woods I always put my old Pirelli MT16 tires on it and got plenty of traction everywhere. I rode a RI enduro race on the DRZ and it was slower overall than my KTM but there was nothing I couldn’t do on the DRZ that I could do on the KTM.
I have ridden the XR650L as well. It is a torque monster and is happier at faster speeds than the DRZ. I found it pretty too heavy and harder to handle in the woods. With that being said, one of my friends races his competitively when his regular woods bike is broken and it doesn’t hold him back much. He’s a local A level rider.
All the bikes I’ve ridden have been stock or really close to stock. I don’t think you could go wrong with either. I would say if you’re smaller in build, go with the DRZ. If you’re taller or over 200lb the XR would definitely be better on the road and highway.
By the way, I owned DRZs through college and into my later 20s. I am 5-8 and 165lb so take that into my biased consideration.
Let us know what you go with.
DRZ400S with stock gearing. The only pavement I ride it on is around town or connecting trails/forest roads. If I ride out and there is a 60MPH+ highway coming back, I actively search out slower back roads instead just to keep from being tapped out and blown all over the road by medium sized trucks.
I love the bike, but it's definitely no freeway cruiser. When I replace it I will get a true ADV style bike, most likely.
I’m around 185 pounds. I had a 93 xr650L for a few years. I did ride some single track and trail and it was a pig, but man that fucker could haul ass when I had an open road.
I’ve ridden a buddies stock DRZ400 a few times. If my balance of road/off-road was 50/50 I’d go DRZ. If I was more road riding I’d get the xr.
Both bikes are a good time.
Finally happening after almost a year of what turned out to be relatively passive searching mixed with furious rushes of scouring. I should be picking up an '04 XR650L after work today.
Congrats on the new bike, curious what you think of it.
I haven't had a chance to really give it a ride yet. I got it home late last Monday, I couldn't get to the DMV until Thursday morning, and then I took the family for a camping trip Thursday morning. It's been raining almost non-stop, so I'm just waiting for a decent day now.
Took a short ride last night after work. I went for maybe 30 minutes just around town and to the next town over.
Seems like it wants to stall when idling in the beginning and while I just had it warming up in the driveway while I was gearing up. It would idle ok if I had the clutch pulled while in 1st but any higher gear it wanted to stall while I coasted to a stop at a red light or stop sign. I saw the page in the manual about setting the choke. It is pretty specific about timing when to go from full choke, to half, to off, so I'm thinking I just didn't have it totally warmed up.
Dang it is fast though. I was surprised how fast I was going each time I would look down at the gauge.
Hopefully you will be able to just adjust that idle problem out of it. Did the bike sit for an extended amount of time before you bought it?
Does the bike have any mods, maybe like “Dave’s mods” for removing the emissions stuff? If it’s bone stock, Honda is notorious for setting the bikes up super lean which could cause some hiccups.
I've been getting a better feel for it this past week. It has a few quirks, but all within my comfort level and not really problems. I don't think it did sit for too long judging by what the seller told me.
It does have some mods, and it has a big gun exhaust, which I plan to take off when I find the time to hunt down a replacement. That thing is just a tad obnoxiously loud for my liking
Post a reply to: XR650 or DRZ400 Testimonials