My ideal, do-it-all motorcycle...

doesn't exist, at least not to my knowledge. My IDIAM would be equally capable of off-road (decently maintained dirt roads) work and paved streets (short-to-medium length highway jaunts, I hate riding in the city); about 350-400cc; fuel injected (no more carb bikes for me); and no more than a 30" seat height. Know of anything that fits this criteria?

Of course, at this time it's a moot point due to some financial constraints (relatively recent divorce and numerous unexpected [ain't that life?] vehicle repairs), I can't afford a momocycle now anyway, but in 2-3 years...

I know, just like the ever-elusive one gun for all things, what I'm looking for likely either isn't made anymore (the old Honda XL-350, although not FI'd, is pretty close to what I'm talking about), or just plain isn't available.

If only I was in charge of product development for a motorcycle company...they'd probably be bankrupt inside of two years!

Less the fuel injection part... Sounds like you want a drz400.

bulletproof reliability, easy to work on, loads of aftermarket support, relatively inexpensive.

Slap a sumo setup on it to make it more street, but with the right tires it'll do great with factory wheels.

Get a vstrom. Pretty good on road, can be made quite capable on trail. I rode mine for 30k miles in 2 years, without any problem, riding some nasty mountain pass, before i crashed and couldn't ride anymore. After the crash, the bike was fine, I wasn't.

The DRZ400, aside from the mentioned FI deficiency, looks darn near ideal EXCEPT for that insane seat height of almost 37"! Not everyone is 5'10"+. I think that is about what KLR is and I KNOW that bike doesn't even come close to fitting me as I've sat on it. Sure, it wouldn't be bad while riding, but rolling in to a stop would get tiresome; it reminds me of the old joke aboit the Oh-No bird: that's a bird with legs two inches long and balls four inches long that mutters to itself every time it comes in for a landing "Oh, no! Oh, no!"

The V-Strom IS a good all-around bike, I'd just like to have a bit less displacement (imagine that, an American that actually wants less of something!). No doubt I could drop the 32.9" seat height an inch or so to make it nearly perfect.

Yeah, I know, I'm just too picky but, hey, it's my fantasy.

I would say the KTM 450EXC is close. Except for the 30" part.

The new Honda CB500X should be close, but maybe a bit tall. Perhaps you can dogbone the suspension a bit, though it should sag quite a bit when riding normally.

Offroad means ground clearance. Which translates to seat height. If you motard the drz you are at the same seat height as the vstrom a slight lowering and youre good.

You can look at the 250 ninja geared with tires.

Id never take a less than 600cc bike on the highway.

Maybe an old BMW R800R with the adjustable seat might work too, though they're quite heavy.

I have a 650 vstrom. It's a ton of fun on the road and very fun on dirt. I have done some gnarly riding at rampart with it even ! The bike is as capable as the rider. My buddy flogs his like its a damn dirt bike on some dirt roads. it's not really a major off-road bike by design, but it gets the job done if you push it. Did 1300 miles of street and dirt in 4 days last year. Was pretty comfy.

Screw it! Buy a good used dual sport and a good used street bike. Nothing wrong with two or more bikes in the garage.

You know what they say about a man and his motorcycle ... You only need one ...













More!

Hell, buy my KTM 500 XCw and lower it to your needed Seat Height. [Coffee]

The BMW F650GS worked great for me, height wise, and I'm only 5'8". And I bought one in fantastic condition with like 11k miles for under $2500. Way better than a KLR. But I like big highway cruisers far better than the dual-sport type bikes.

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Originally Posted by Bailey Guns

The BMW F650GS worked great for me, height wise, and I'm only 5'8". And I bought one in fantastic condition with like 11k miles for under $2500. Way better than a KLR. But I like big highway cruisers far better than the dual-sport type bikes.

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Unfortunately the bmw support on the road is few & far between. Need a part for a KLR, they're all over the place nor so much BMW's.

I was talking about how the bike fit me...not the support network. But I never needed support on any of KLRs or the BMW.

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

Unfortunately the bmw support on the road is few & far between. Need a part for a KLR, they're all over the place nor so much BMW's.

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Define "the place"...

http://youtu.be/qU35_tZ4G-E

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Originally Posted by DAL357

doesn't exist, at least not to my knowledge. My IDIAM would be equally capable of off-road (decently maintained dirt roads) work and paved streets (short-to-medium length highway jaunts, I hate riding in the city); about 350-400cc; fuel injected (no more carb bikes for me); and no more than a 30" seat height. Know of anything that fits this criteria?

Of course, at this time it's a moot point due to some financial constraints (relatively recent divorce and numerous unexpected [ain't that life?] vehicle repairs), I can't afford a momocycle now anyway, but in 2-3 years...

I know, just like the ever-elusive one gun for all things, what I'm looking for likely either isn't made anymore (the old Honda XL-350, although not FI'd, is pretty close to what I'm talking about), or just plain isn't available.

If only I was in charge of product development for a motorcycle company...they'd probably be bankrupt inside of two years!

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Found it for you:

Attachment 55995

http://silodrome.com/caterham-brutus-750/

Deleted

Can you just shift your perspective and buy taller boots? Sounds like it'd save you a lot of money and just as much grief. I don't know anything about riding though.

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Originally Posted by Great-Kazoo

Unfortunately the bmw support on the road is few & far between. Need a part for a KLR, they're all over the place nor so much BMW's.

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I don't know about that Kazoo. There are BMW dealers in every state and there are 5 in Colorado. We don't have any issues with BMW supporting their product and please tell me where you can find a Kawi dealer that stocks parts for 10 year old KLR's. Few and far between is where. And, if you have repairs performed at authorized BMW dealer, the vast majority of those repairs will carry a two year parts and labor warranty even if the bike repaired is out of warranty, even 20 years out of warranty. And you can take it to any BMW dealer for that warranty repair.

Well apparently I'm not smart enough to embed a video, so heres the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhWR5jjGzfM

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Originally Posted by ColoWyo

Well apparently I'm not smart enough to embed a video, so heres the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhWR5jjGzfM

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Copy the part after the = and paste it into these brackets. [youtube ] yhWR5jjGzfM [ /youtube]

Take the spaces out of the brackets.

Thanks Irving.

Attachment 56063

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Originally Posted by Irving

Copy the part after the = and paste it into these brackets.

Take the spaces out of the brackets.

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Or just click the INSERT VIDEO link in the WYSIWYG toolbar.

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Originally Posted by mcantar18c

Attachment 56063

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Nice! Need a hell of a reinforced belly-pan to survive the larger debris on the ground...

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Originally Posted by Danimal

Haha.

I know that you are worried a lot about the seat height, but don't. I have friends that are <5 ft tall that race on full size 450's and they kick ass. You get used to the height, all that really matters is that you can control the weight from the center of balance while riding. The only caveat is that a bike that is a little big will wear you out on long trail rides. But as long as you are not planning on riding a couple hundred miles of trail in a given day on it, you will be fine.

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Dani Pedrosa has almost fallen off his stopped bike multiple times because he couldn't slide onto his lower thigh fast enough to get the other foot down. It's hilarious.

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Originally Posted by ColoWyo

Well apparently I'm not smart enough to embed a video, so heres the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhWR5jjGzfM

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Nice! Great shots in there. I might have to pony up for the full movie...

http://youtu.be/A0d3B7MPqUg

I would kill myself quickly with an R1 on the dirt!
I can hear the wife now - " I told you so..."

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Originally Posted by TFOGGER

http://youtu.be/A0d3B7MPqUg

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