Just wondering exactly which model KTM you've got goin. And did it come street legal straight outta the box?

 

ktm 450 exc.... pretty sure... and im sure it came street legal.

 

Oh ya, and price, if you don't mind sharing

Thinking about one for the mainland. Have family in VA and I'd have a long ride to find good trails, thinking about a bigger bike for over there one day.

P.S. Not getting rid of the KLX, suits me perfectly for HI.

 

cant help ya on that one... gonna have to wait for brian to wake up....... isnt it really early over in Hawaii?

 

Yeah, it's an '07 450 EXC and it came fully street legal which was THE major selling point for me, everything else being equal, otherwise I would have given a VERY serious look at the KLX450R. I bought mine in March and it lists for $8000, but I shopped around and got it for $900 less than that, OTD + NC sales tax which for vehicles is like 3% or something, not the usual 7% for most stuff, no bogus setup fees or anything like that.

If you can still find '07s you can probably get an even better deal with the new '08s coming showing up now. Not sure what kind of a deal you could get on an '08, I expect not so great since they are brand new. The '08s have some nice upgrades, and the engine is brand new so it's a bit more of an unknown than then '07.

You'll need to spend a little extra to get it running like it should be. Street legal is important, but the downside is that they have to really stop them up to get them to pass EPA. So just like the KLX, it needs uncorked, i.e., jetting, derestrict the pipe, and regear. You'd want to add a skid plate for sure and probably hand guards. That's about all I'd consider essential. Probably around $100 to $200 extra and you'll have a great woods bike that you can legally connect the trails with on pavement.

 

Brian, you had said before that the stock gearing was pretty long legged on the 450. With that in mind, it sounds like it should handle cruising at 55 pretty well and not really work the motor.Are the stock seat and small tank the limiting factors for using it as a dual sport commuter bike? Say it was a 15 mile commute, ~12 miles @55mph. What about longer pavement rides, say 100-150 miles at a time carving up the mountains etc?

 

At 55 even with my changed gearing, it's only running about 4500 to 5000 RPM is my guess (no tach). With the stock gearing, it's cruising at 55 in 4th gear.

As far as commuting, it'll handle commuter duty fine, but it won't be as comfortable as a bike designed for that. You are correct in that the small gas tank and the hard seat make it not so comfortable on the road. Also, the off-road suspension might be considered a little firm for the road, so it's not the most comfortable in that respect as well. But I will say that it is a real blast on the road with a lot of pep and get-up. But that's not necessarily the best thing either, though, because I recently got a ticket - first one in 17 years. [:@] So I guess I'll save the "fun" riding for the woods.

Drivers down here are pretty agressive, so I've not been commuting on the bike much lately. So most of my 1300 miles are quality off-road miles or riding the roads to get to the trails. But I did commute on it a few times and it was just as comfortable as the KLX, or nearly so. I know that's not saying much.

It'll do 70 or 80 on the interstate just fine and top out at around 100 MPH or so I've heard. I'd not feel comfortable doing that on my TrakMaster II's, though. Also, I'd worry about holding that for extended periods with the smaller oil capacity. It would be tremendous fun with supermoto tires, though. But 55 for a dozen miles would be a nice relaxing ride. When I'm on the pavement heading to the trails, I'm usually on back roads and I like cruising at 50 to 55 - it's a nice low RPM easy pace. I never push the knobbies on the road, especially in turns. A little throttle on this bike can cause the rear end to drift out and on knobbies on pavement that's a recipe for road rash.

 

Thanks so much for the info That's what I wanted to know. Not in the merket right now but might be in a year or two. That will be the bike of choice down the line for me!

 

That's what I said.

 

I would like one too. Not too many dealers around here tho. Since I rode with a guy who had the 525 EXC... He said it had crazy power, it could come up in every gear up to 5th with just throttle, and 6th he had to put a little effort into getting it up.
But I know a couple times I have said "if my bike had been much more powerful, that could have been bad".... I still want a big bike tho!
I think an awsome bike would be a dualsported WR 250. Not the new dualsport one, but a custom dualsport one, light weight. They're about our bike size, but lighter, and apparently 40 horses! What I've been told by a guy with one anyway.