Marty, are they really selling them for $7600? That's the list price of a 650. Is that where you got yours?

 

Yes it is and yes they are!

Went in and tried buying a Wee-Strom, but the price was not negotiable. I guess they sell too fast.

Decided that the 1000 was far enough away from the KLR650 on the speed spectrum that it was worth the extra $$$'s.

I haven't been sorry about my deicison one iota.

Please do me a favor and ask for Gary Till. He'll take care of you. Tell him I sent you.

 

Mike,

I've been on "The Loop" many, many times. Always a great ride though.

So, how is the Strom?

 

Hi Marty,

I bought the '03 Dakar, I just couldn't pass it up. The price was great and I love the bike. I rode about 200 miles today. My camera isn't working so no pics yet. I'll be out of town tommorrow (Sunday). Monday I need to do a little work in the morning, but I am open after that and off Tuesday. I would love to put some miles on her. The poor bike has been neglected too long, the guy I bought her from only put 800 miles on her in over a year. Let me know if you want to meet up sometime Monday, I'm up for a long trip if you are.

 

Just let me know when and where and I'll be there.

 

Marty, I lost your phone #. I sent you a PM, give me a call if you want to meet up somewhere. I was thinking about riding up to Jeckyl Island today. You up for it?

 

The XR 650 would be my opinion just because it does the dual purpose deal really easy you can just be tearing up the dirt and when you find a road and are sick of the dirt you hit the street and zip around on the street and go really wuick because it is a 650. i dont know if this helps so good luck.

 

i gues im the only one that doesnt like the look of bmw bikes.......

 

I know that I am probably in the minority on this question, but what the heck.
I love my KLX for what it is. Its a dirt bike that can leagaly be ridden on the street. The knobby tires are not the greatest on the pavement, the seat is not comfortable enough to go on long rides, cruising at 65 mph is a little stressful turning 6600 rpms, and the high profile is sometimes a handful in strong crosswinds. That being said, its still a ton of fun!!!![sm=yeahsmile.gif] And when I ride it I'm usually grinning ear to ear
Sport bikes are great for speed and performance, but the riding position makes it so that long rides and off road riding are a bit uncomfortable......IMO
So if I'm going cruising... I'm going on a cruiser!! Here goes....don't throw anything at me.
I love my Fatboy. It runs smooth, sounds great, and is comfortable on long rides. And IMO looks cool too![sm=shades.gif]

 

I enjoy the KLX for an off-road bike. I specifically went dual sport for the fact I did'nt want to truck and/or trailer the bike everywhere, and leave my vehicle unattended while I was off riding. That said.., the KLX has to be taken for what it is, a light trail bike. I grew up riding in the dirt since I was 8 years old ( now 26 ) and grew up with MX bikes, so the KLX lacks the feel and handling of a motorcross bike, and is extremely weak in power as well. On pavement.., I consider the bike barely functional.

But that said.., dirt riding has been in my blood along time and fell from novalty to simply an old, warm friend long ago. My strong passion turned to sport riding.., which is why I'm quite happy with the KLX for its intended purpose, an adventure bike for the forest. On pavement.., unless I know I'm going off road, I use my 05 ZX-6R. The stability and response of the bike, and the power, are things I'm simply not willing to go 'less' on. Once you grow used to having enough power to shift down to 2nd, simply twist the throttle and have the front end lift almost to balance point off the peak of any gentle hill, settling it smoothly back to the turf to see around 90 on the guage, its hard to go back. Especially after experiencing it on track.

The riding position I admit is tiring at slow ( legal ) speeds. If its sustained at 80 and above, its very comfortable all day long in a full situp position because the wind will provide enough support on your chest to let you relax despite the forward riding position.., but anything under 80 will bother your back after awhile. Sport bikes however are something that should never be taken offroad, if anything else, for the care of the bike. If you can't keep it on the pavement.., a sportbike is not what should be chose.

Sounds like your leaning towards the offroad side of things, so I would discount sport and sport-touring bikes. Simply far to pavement oriented, and I don't know about you, but I'd hate to see a good bike torn up outside of its engineered environment.