OMO Which Enduro Bike ?

[SIII]

I have taken a bit of a fancy to getting an Enduro bike this year. Fed up spending winters not riding, can't get land to ride MotoX bikes and think this would be a good answers to both these problems. Plenty of forests up here to ride around and also a few green lanes to go play on, plus not too far to Lake District to go play on some of their pass'.


Looking to spend £2000 to £2500 for a road registered endure bike. Really not very keen on 2 strokes, so would have to be a 4 stroke and preferably with an electric start.


Bikes which are catching my eye are KTM 250 EXC-F, Yamaha WR250F and maybe DR-Z 400, KLX250.


Really like the idea of owning a KTM but are they too off-road biased? Are the bigger KTM's too much 400's etc, quite a few kicking around but scared they could be too much of a handful off road? Are 250 4-strokes quick enough on the road, can't see any BHP figures for them!


SO mighty Org - recommend me an Enduro Bike !

Don't do this to me! I've been searching for Enduro bikes all week since going on an off-road riding course last weekend.

My favourite at the moment is the KLX250 (note, from what I gather European models have fuel injection so you can ignore the criticism of them being hard to start from most of the yank reviews). Been around for a few years now so a decent second hand selection, bit lighter than some of the other 250cc bikes and pretty good off-road focused suspension from what I gather.

We done the off-road course on Honda CRF250L. I gather that the suspension is a bit budget when you get really into off-road stuff but we had them doing knee-deep river crossings, massive puddles and thick mud. Two of us had reasonably decent spills on them and after a quick pressure wash they looked no worse for wear. I was pretty impressed, the only thing is there aren't a lot of them on the second hand market yet.

The 250's aren't going to be fast. Most of them will top out between 70 and 80mph, but realistically are happier cruising at 60mph. Still great fun on a twisty section with their wide bars and high seating position though.

The DRZ400 is old, reliable, available and trustworthy. It has a little more power than the 250cc bikes but only 5 gears so not hugely more relaxed when it comes to cruising.

[SIII]

Cheers bud, I am drawn towards Team Orange, just cos KTM is a cool brand and bikes look really nice, but the WR250F gets really good write ups, plus they all have electric start, not sure on the KTM's. Plus theKTM's at that price range have been properly 'used' look about them, whereas a lot of Yamaha's look like light green lane & road use.

For me the KTMs tend to be a little bit too serious in off road stakes. I'm tempted to get a bike I can leave out on the road ready to go at a moments notice, ideally with a spare set of wheels so I can use mostly road based tyres on it most of the time but still change them to go for a weekend in playing in the mud.

The fact that KTMs often don't have steering locks, or even an ignition key on some of them, doesn't make them particularly suited to what I'm thinking of. I've also heard they tend to be a bit more hard work maintenance-wise, but nothing specific so I'd take it with a pinch of salt.

[Bibio]

drz400 with rwu forks, gaiters and sump pan. usd look good but not practical and will get stone chipped in no time. its a toy not a show bike.

[rictus01]

I have (although laid up a couple of years now) a CCM 404DS, basically a hand built DRZ with the 400E engine, better carb, full WP suspension, both supermoto and off-road wheels.

good for just over 100mph, very light, bog standard servicing, handling is "lively", no luggage capacity and a small tank are the only real drawbacks.

Original bodywork



with replacement bodywork

[carelesschucca]

I think you should get a TM Lol.

Ron you've seen what I said on messenger. .. DON'T GET A TM!!!