New Guy Here!

I'm getting ready to buy my first dual sport. Although I'm new to dual sports I'm not a new rider. I have a dilemma..which bike should I get?

Reading reviews is no help as each author likes the particular bike they are reviewing! I've looked at the Husqvarna TE630...marked down $2,500.00 off msrp...a good deal. I Like the Suzuki DRZ400 too. I also like the WR250R. I will probably ride mostly off-road and think the WR would do just fine. However, I'm 6'4" and 240. Will the bike be able to handle me or do I need a 400 or 650?

Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

Personally, I think theWR is too small for someone that size. I'm 5-10 and 185 and I consider myself more or less at the limit.
It's not that it won't work, and it's not about how you look on it, but about how you'll use it. If you expect some good power punch here and there, the bike is going to have a hard time with you. However, if you're just trail riding along, with occasional street, no big uphills, no jumps, then the WR250R is probably the best dual sport machine ever built.

Me, if i were your size, would buy a 400.

GusinCA:

I've been lurking around here for a little while because, like you, I am interested in the WR. This last weekend I had a chance to ride my 650cc bike around quite a bit and was pleased with the power delivery. I was riding highways, where I spend more than 50% of my time, and I believe that my infatuation with the WR is about over.

While I still admire it as an exceptional bike, for someone my size, 6'3" @ 220#s, I don't think that it will satisfy my need of being a true Adventure bike or a Dual sport. I must emphasized that I am stipulating, "for my size" because the WR is unquestionably a great bike. For me, however, I know that I will quickly find it lacking in top end for running down the road or tearing up some back road dirt while hauling my butt plus my gear.

I want to say again, no disrespect intended, that the WR is a great bike, but not for me as a all around bike. That being said, my VStrom in NOT a dirt bike and never will be. So, I am caught in between, wanting a bike for dirt and a bike for the road. You've proposed a Husqi as and alternative and I believe that I will find myself in the marketplace looking at bikes of that size/weight class for the power to weight ratio that will be able to haul me around and keep me interested for more than a year or two.

All that being said, one of the points that has become glaringly apparent to me a a motorcycle rider, is that we, as a group, tend to change bikes, somewhat frequently. If that premise could be applied to a large percentage of the riding population, then for me, I might be changing bikes again within that same time period anyway, irregardless of size or weight or power/displacement.

The real question, you'll read here, as well as many other forums, when you ask about, "what bike should I buy?" What are you gonna do with it? How are you gonna ride?

If you're gonna ride forest service roads, a little dirt, and some mild off-road; then the WR will serve you as well as me for years of trouble free riding. However, if you expect to take the WR out on the super slab for any extended riding or off-road onto anything real "technical" or hill climby like, you're asking the WR for more than it may be able to provide, for you and me. Cause we ain't little guys.

I've come away from Harleys and Goldwings and cruisers and had my fill of that "stuff." I will be staying in the 650cc and lower class of bikes, because, I don't think I will ever need anything more from my bike. But, hey, your mileage may vary...I have been asking the same questions that you are asking. Your answer should be to evaluate what you riding style and terrain will be and then find the bike designed for that use.

Me, I'm gonna end up with something green or red, used, and small displacement, because my VStrom is brand new and I love it, for the road, and I need something that I can take out and thrash about with in the brush while not being afraid to drop it, repeatedly, and not wear myself out picking it up. Maybe someday I'll find such a machine, maybe not, but that's what I want to used it for...good shopping.

Of course, I could be full of crap because I've never riden the WR and I still like it, so...