Naughty or nice?!

[Overlander]

In my pursuit of getting back into motorcycling (after 20 years hiatus) I've been narrowing down my search and I was leaning heavily towards one of these Honda's here. The person who owns these machines, by the looks of it, loves these machines, and is meticulous about maintenance. He's already done a lot of the reasonable add-ons that I was thinking of doing. These are nice, solid bikes that would probably do everything I need to do. Stock, they weigh 348lbs - with those add-ons, probably 360lbs+.

And then, these KTMs started popping up on CL - they're also in my price range, and are about 100lbs lighter than the Hondas above, which is a serious consideration for a novice dirt rider like me. But on the down side, these machines are probably a lot more than I need in terms of power, and they have been heavily modified by really experienced riders... Frankly, I don't know what half of those add-ons do... plus they look like they've been ridden a lot harder than those Hondas.

2002 KTM 520 EXE - clean, with electric and kick-start...nice
2008 KTM 450 XCR-W - is the tail crooked on this one? Tank also seems off to one side...

So, what to do... I want something that I can take on most easy/moderate trails in CO/UT - I want to go on some of those guided adventure trips through there. I've seen videos from Rainbow Trail and Rampart - it looks like some of the sections are tough: narrow, twisty, steep and rocky - I want to be able to ride those without regrets that I bought a heavy bike that I can't control...

I'm willing to take some courses and probably will sign up for some to make the most of the equipment - regardless of what I buy. It's just that it got more difficult to decide now...

James

 

[Shuksan]

Can’t help you decide, but it all looks like fun. Without much reason I would go with the middle ktm.

 

[Johnny Utah]

You can ride nearly all of rampart and rainbow falls on xr650. Even the tougher single track. But would it be easier and maybe funner on a smaller bike? Definitely. I am riding a KTM 300 2-stroke, and have been for the last several years. I don’t think I’ll own anything else for mountain riding. My 300 weighs about 220lbs and feels much lighter when I’m on it. So in other words, my vote goes to the lighter bike.
My dad said something to me when I was younger that took me years to figure out. He said the smaller the bike, the more fun you can have. I’ve had tons of bikes over the years and the ones I miss the most were usually smaller or lighter or something like that. I’m not saying go buy an XR80, but find something that you can move around easily and have fun on. My $.02.

 

[rover67]

How much pavement do you see yourself riding and how fast will you go on it? 60mph 80mph? Is your focus single track tech? Double track dirt with some blacktop mixed in?

My vote is smaller also. Unless you wanna cover lotsa miles on the pavement, then get something like that XR or a KLR. Scratch that, skip the XR maybe.

450 vs 525 KTM I might go with 450 if I were to do it again. Same bike but the smaller 450 piston makes the bike way more nimble.

I sold the 525 for a 300 2 stroke. BUT 90% of my riding is trails that start less than 4 miles from the house. The rest I can tough it out on the 2 smoke. The 525 would do a solid 100mph on pavement or sand but was kiiiinda dicey on pavement if you aren't into headshake at 90mph. on fast dirt 60-70mph it was friggin bad arse.

Friend of mine and I rode from fruita on the kokopelli to moab then white rim and back on the kokopelli and he was on his XR650R (way different than a L) and I was on the 525. I'd say the 525 was perfect for that trip. Rose garden hill was a tough climb on both bikes but I was happy for the 525 over the 650R. We both trailered there from Denver.

I will say the xr650L while it's a neat bike, is pretty ancient and heavy. I did follow a dude on one down Pritchett though. So you can make them work. Not sure I'd personally take a XR650L down Pritchet though.. certainly not a KLR650. anyhow the XR650L is kinda slow for pavement and heavy for off road. I'd lean towards KLR 650, similar ancient but seemed to ride nicer on pavement. Equally porky off road. I rode the snot out of a KLR for a while and actually loved it a lot. Super smooth. Some people do the Iron Butt on KLR650's. I also owned a XR650L for a long time and rode the snot out of it as well. My brother built a hot motor for his XR650L and it was kinda Meh..

 

[Danger Noodle]

I run a 17 Husky FE 350 that I put a full exhaust, de-smogged, and vortex ECU on. It will roll along fine at 70 MPH, but I mostly run single track on it though. It currently weighs about 230 lbs wet. It is pretty good for trail hopping, single track, and track days. My dad runs a similarly set up FE450, and it pulls a bit better on the highways. If you are looking at trying to ride a lot of highway or fire roads that put a lot of miles on, I'd look for a dual oil case KTM. they have separate engine and drivetrain oil systems that can really help with a lot of miles.

 

[Overlander]

I'll be staying away from highway riding (house rules) and opting for trails and occasional single track. KLRs don't excite me that much - sorry, just personal preference.

I was really excited about that KTM 520EXC until I found out that racing engines (which that one has) require much shorter oil change regiment (20-25hrs, or 1-3 rides), depending on use, while change intervals for the XR bikes are much longer. How do I know if the past owners followed that strict change interval... Also, found out that some of the parts for that KTM are unobtanium at this point, so I'm leaning more towards the trusty Honda XR.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I loved my KLR but I know why they don't excite a motorcycle guy. It's the Toyota pickup of bikes. Kinda slow, not super nimble but simple, runs forever, can be fixed with a Crescent wrench and a dull screwdriver in rural Mongolia. They do whatever you ask of them all with about same level of mediocrity.

 

[subzali]

FWIW, in 2008 KTM updated their frame designs. At this point I would steer you away from anything older than 2008, it was a pretty dramatic change in geometry and feel. I would love to have a 300, but I really don't like to be hampered distance-wise on my rides so for me the 4 stroke is the consistent winner. I started on a 250 and have tried a 530, and a 450 seems to be the sweet spot. I have yet to try a 350 though. Be aware that the 2008 450 had a new motor that had a cam issue. Make sure that's fixed on any bike you're looking at. Good luck!

 

[J Kimmel]

As with everything “lighter is better,” given the choices I’d go lighter ktm, and figure out what you really want to ride. I see the dual sport guys and I’m sure it’s fun but dirt roads in a heavy bike with bags and stuff...no thanks. I prefer almost entirely mountain singletrack. I’m on a ktm 300xc fwiw

 

[60wag]

Those short oil change intervals are for racing. I've been doing 30 to 40 hour changes on my '03 KTM450EXC for the last 10k miles. Seems to be holding up just fine.

 

[Overlander]

@Bruce - any trouble sourcing parts for your KTM 450EXC ?

 

[Overlander]

I called the dealer about that KTM - predictably, he has no history of ownership of that bike - he said they bought it and just put new tires on it.... that, plus a $4000 price tag.

 

[Danger Noodle]

I'd avoid dealers if possible. Now is a great time to buy bikes, the price only goes up in the spring. I will say that fuel injection and starts are huge game-changers, and I'd take a new bike with those if possible.

 

[60wag]

I bought my bike used, it is/was my first bike. It had no odometer or hour meter on it so I have no idea of the original miles. After I put 100 hours on it, the valve adjusters ran out of adjustment due to the soft OEM valves. I did a top end, piston, rings, and a recoated cylinder. That was 500 hours ago, and about 11,000 miles. Still runs great. I'm going to run it until it fails. Haven't really needed other parts for it other than the usual consumables: tires, fork seals, wheel bearings, brake bits, chains and sprockets. I have rewired most of it because I've added stuff to it but its so simple, there really isn't much there. Mine is the old RFS motor, pre '07 ish?

 

[Overlander]

These two popped up on FB:
2007 - https://www.facebook.com/marketplac.../?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search
2006 - https://www.facebook.com/marketplac.../?ref=search&referral_code=marketplace_search

The prices are more down-to-earth

 

[Danger Noodle]

Both look good. Make sure they are cold when you start it, you'll see if they are burning oil a lot more. I'd rev it bout a bit too. Sometimes they don't look like they are burning oil at idle but will smoke a lot when you open em up. I learned that lesson the hard way. Estarts are reallllyyy nice.

 

[rover67]

The RFS motor will need a rebuild at around 300 or so hours or so (according to most folks I think) due to issues Bruce saw. I rebuilt mine on the 525 at 350hrs or so. after rebuild with the right valves they last a real long time as Bruce had demonstrated. Just an FYI when looking at bikes. I bought mine with 300+hrs on it and had to do a rebuild immediately to the tune of $1kish.

 

[Overlander]

And nice to have a kick-start as a backup too. Think one of these would serve me well to figure out where I like to ride and how.

 

[Overlander]

Is a Recluse auto-clutch a nice add-on or another unnecessary complication? I see something with recluse clutch listed - never rode one. All I know is bikes with auto clutch are harder to stall, definitely a good thing.

 

[J Kimmel]

Rekluse made my old YZ450 rideable in tight rocky singletrack. Aside from suspension it was the best mod I did to that particular bike. Not necessary if you’re mostly fire roads or mild trails etc. I didn’t put one on my 300, I ride tight rocky singletrack most of the time and haven’t needed it due to the gearing differences.