Well, the first step of some long journeys is now complete – I now own a dual sport bike.
After much research on the net, and having a play around on some of the candidates at the recent expo, I kept a very close eye on the classifieds for the two main contenders – the Kawasaki KLR650 and the Suzuki DR650. With the trips I’m considering, I was leaning towards the DR650, being a little lighter and the better of the two for more serious offroading.
Looking around for a few weeks, there seemed to be new bikes, and seriously used ones. Some of the second hand bikes had plenty of aftermarket bits, but they were generally the ones that had seen a hard life already – and you never know what problems you’re going to inherit along with it!
Anyways, after considering paying the extra and getting one brand new, a perfect bike popped up…
It’s a 2012 model DR650, with only 1250kms on the clock. It’s basically been run in, with the first service done, and nothing else – except for some light rub marks, it’s pretty much showroom condition. It’s also got a bashplate, some new handlebars (the stock ones are as soft as cheese and bend very easily), and barkbusters fitted – so several hundred dollars worth of mods, too.
It’s certainly very different from my current bike – very agricultural, with lots of torque but not much power. It’s fun to ride though, being very light weight, so it turns in and leans very quickly. I visited a mate today and threw him the keys for a quick spin around the block, and I think you can pretty much see his grin under the helmet:
So: first step done, I now have my steed. I’ll be selling my road bike in the next few weeks/months (after a proper farewell ride, of course!) to fund some of the farkles, then doing this one up to make it properly adventure-spec.
Cool new ride. I’ll be watching for trip reports.