>ct_bob said:
>I am currently looking at the KLR650 and the KTM 650 adventure.
Ct_bob-
Welcome! You've certainely come to right place to ask such a question
especially considering that you can consider most people to say "Get a
KLR!"... I won't go into the KLR, other than to say I love mine and have
found the bike more capable than I ever expected, I'll let the others
expound its virtues. Just to give you some food for thought, my ex-roomate
and owner of a KTM 620EXC LC4, forwarded this along to me just this
afternoon as he is trying to convince me to buy a KTM... I am simply posting
this to offer up one mans opinion of a bike very similar to the Adventure R.
Ride Safe and welcome back into the fold!
Zack
SE DC
1991 KLR650 "Buster"
1986 Concours
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I currently own a 1996 620 EXC, which I believe to be the same except
for bore/stroke and carb size, etc. I chose the 620 over the 400
because the weigh the same, and who doesn't want more power?
Strengths:
-nimble yet stable handling
-excellent suspension
-manageable weight (but much heavier than your 300)
-great power- everywhere from 3 rpm to ???. Most tight trails never
require a shift, and open ones require very few.
In short, I love riding this bike. It has a great integrated feel,
and the suspension and handling package top notch. I like riding it
MUCH better than anything else I have ridden (for example, XR 600R,
XR 650R, DR-Z 400, DR 350, KDX 200). In particular, the XR 600 feels
like it is from the stone age by comparison.
Weaknesses:
-vibration. It is fatiguing compared to my old XR or a friends DR-Z.
It was awful without the counterbalancer. You can check for the
counterbalancer by looking for a bulge forward of the crankshaft on
the left (clutch) side of the engine- SX models generally don't have
them, my EXC does.
-requires fiddling. Not unreliable per see, but I have a more or less
continuous list of things to keep on top of, which was never true
with the japanese bikes I owned. When I have ignored things that I
thought I should do, they invariably cause me to regret that decision.
-requires setup. It took a bunch of work to get it running smoothly
(carb vent breathers, jetting, etc)
-uncomfortable seat
-not a good Dualsport mount. I consider myself fairly hardy, but
wouldn't consider doing more than a couple hundred miles in a day,
even if it were mostly graded road or pavement conditions. It is not
fatiguing in singletrack, however, as long as it is faster than 5mph.
-short range- 2.3 gallon tank good for perhaps 80 miles in most conditions.
I have put Avon Gripsters on it and played super-retard in the
parking lots and city streets- at this it excels. It slides very
predictably even for a novice such as myself, and its limits are WAY
out there even with trail suspension setup. Its weakness here is the
front brake- the 260 mm rotor just isn't too stoppy-able, and fades
when pushed hard. Not sure how the 400 would compare here, as it
might lack the grunt to break the rear wheel loose.
Hope this is helpful. If have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Ned Suesse
1996 620 exc "lucy"
1999 Honda Superhawk "fumes"