if you had more then lumberjacks in ur town ide say get one and try it...lol
good morning deej

 

Lumberjacks? What happened Hoe, did you take a time machine back to the 1800's? Or are you from Canada?

 

I'm looking at both bikes, myself. If you're going to spend most of your time on the street, get the SF. It has better, larger street tires; better, larger brakes; lower, firmer, fully adjustable suspension (Lower seat height for feet down; lower c.o.g., customization, and better handling.); taller gearing for street speeds (And gas mileage.); and I love the SM look. It'll just be a better street bike.

 

Because small dualsports are awesome commuters. Great handling and brakes, yet not so small as the more typical scooter. The seat is a weak point, but if you don't go long distances it's OK. Or you can always sit on a cushion like I did to go 720 miles in a day.

 

Mate, we're here to help, but it's a no brainer. Motards were invented for guys like you - like the off-road looks, but without the knobblies and with other 'street' features. If it wasn't for the fact that I like to get off-road into the mountains, I'd trade for the F model. Nice lookin bike!

 

Or you could get the used KLX250S, and put on a set of supermoto wheels. They handle the roads really well, only time I have slipped is on the manhole covers in the rain, unless I was trying to slip of course.

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice - it's a motard for me. I plan to buy as soon as the local dealer gets a 2009 in. I'll post a picture!

 

I'm thinking about going the other way: get the SF, and make it more dirtworthy. I'm not sure what kind of off-road tires you can get for the stock sizes. But, surely, extra dirt rims would be cheap enough. Then you still have all the SM advantages in a dirtbike. Haven't researched it, though.

 

I'm not sure of the specs on the 'F' model, but here in Japan, the new D-tracker suspspension is closer to that of a true motard, where the spring rates are a lot firmer for than that used for dirt. It's generally not recommended to do any serious off road with that level of firness.