Newbie: first road/trail bike purchase

Discussion in 'Australian Motorcycles' started by Heath Raftery, Jan 19, 2006.

  1. Hi folks,

    I'm a recent subscriber to this bubbly group and as is custom I'm sure,
    I have a proverbial first post. I'll try to be as specific possible, but
    I admit, I have develop questions quicker than answers or decisions.

    I'm 23, 75-80kg, 175cm or something, and have had my bike L's for a few
    days. I'm capable on a motorbike but not confident. I am very confident
    on a pushy, both on road and off, and am optimistic of gaining
    confidence on the motorbike.

    I've owned an old modified 4WD for a few years, and have come to the
    point where I'm sick of driving it on the road. I hate travelling - for
    me automobiles are entertainment first, commuting/travelling grudgingly
    second. Unfortunately I'm doing a lot more travelling these days. I
    always liked motorbikes, but never owned one and very occasionally
    ridden one.

    I want a bike that I can commute short distances (seriously, commuting
    would be 10k's a week, but around town jobs would be another 20-25
    maybe) and take on the trails when I want (difficult to predict how
    often, but I'd say 2-3 times a month for starters). I also want low
    maintenance. Not that I'm not mechanically minded, I am, it's just that
    I do a lot of (modification and maintenance) work on the 4wd and do not
    want or have time for another mechanical project.

    I'd like the option of taking the very occasional trip on the highway,
    up to 300k's, perhaps once or twice a year, but I really favour the
    "trail" style bikes over the "tourer" mainly for styling and agility.

    I'd like rego up front. I couldn't be arsed with blue/pink/rego before I
    even get started.

    Now here's what I'm looking at and my impressions so far:

    DT200 - too agricultural; want the fuel
    efficiency/mellowness/sophistification of a four stroke.
    KLR/KLX 250/300 - Dunno about reliability or air vs water cooling;
    seriously concerned about engine size limiting versatility, suitability
    on road, growing pains; attracted by significantly cheaper green slip.
    DT650 - not agile, light, "zippy" enough? But better on the road?
    DRZ400 - basically haven't seen any 2nd hand ones around. Seat looks
    high. Can't see advantage over XR.
    XR250 - inspired by reliability, but same concerns as KLR/KLX
    XR400 - my sweet spot as far as I can tell.
    TT350 - simply can't find much info/support on the web!
    WR400 - cool, but too sporty oriented, too highly strung for the road.

    Right, so that's the models I've been looking at. The other (very)
    significant thing is price. I'll be honest, I set out intending to spend
    3000 on a 99-00. When I discovered that's not really the way they go for
    clean bikes, I was tempted to go cheap, so my first purchase wasn't a
    big investment/mistake.

    This is the quintessential model:

    Bike 1991 YAMAHA TT350 B ENDURO
    Price $2,000*
    Kilometres 19,800
    New seat cover, bark busters, good tyres, good strong bike. $2000 ono.

    But I decided older than '95 is getting too old (I don't know how true
    that is), and was happy to get a loan for $4000. One of the conditions
    for the loan was the vehicle had to be less than 10 years old anyway.
    Here's the quintessential model in this range:

    HONDA XR400 98 model, good tyres, chains, sprockets, long reg, DM-308
    $4150.

    or maybe (price, year, riding gear sounds good, it's a lot further away
    though):

    Yamaha TT350 2001, reg 26/5/2006, excel cond, 4450kms, riding gear, $4000

    Anyway, I went around to the dealers this morning as sort of a final
    check before making an offer on the XR400. There was nothing in my
    range. I got home and realised I had perhaps unfairly discounted one
    bike. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it's the better
    deal. It's an XR400, 2003 model "immaculate" for 6000.

    That's definitely more than I intended to spend at the start, but I
    really didn't know what I was getting into. I could afford that kind of
    money, naturally at the sacrifice of other wants. The way I was
    rationalising it was to think that if I could get it for 5500 (or with
    some protective gear) it's ~1500 more than the '98, which is 5 years
    older (quite a bit in a 8yo bike) and I'm essentially getting a second
    hand "new" bike. As I understand it, it's not going to depreciate much
    in a few years.

    So as you can imagine, I'm now very confused! I can't even decide
    whether to spend 2000 or 6000! Any comments appreciated. Shoot me down
    if you wish - I don't mind the flaming if its based on solid information.

    I'll be sure to update with any progress. I plan to write a bit of a
    guide for people in my situation once I've completed the process. Tis a
    daunting and frustrating procedure!

    Cheers,
    Heath

    --
    Heath
    ________________________________________________________
    | *Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool* |
    | _\|/_ |
    |________________________________________m(. .)m_________|
     
    Heath Raftery, Jan 19, 2006
    #1
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  2. In aus.motorcycles on Fri, 20 Jan 2006 02:27:48 +1100
    If you want a dual sport type bike, then you might want to chat to the
    dual sport club.

    http://www.dsmra.asn.au/

    Zebee
     
    Zebee Johnstone, Jan 19, 2006
    #2
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  3. Heath Raftery

    JL Guest

    OK, I'm seriously out of date re dirt bikes so just some general advice:

    Your initial thought to go cheap and cheerful initially was on the
    money, as a beginner you don't yet know what you like and don't like, a
    lot people start on one style and migrate to another, a lot of people
    sell their first bike quite quickly when they find the ergonomics or
    what ever don't suit.

    Most people on the other hand want something nice and shiny and new :)
    Without fail every time I've gone shopping for a vehicle I've started
    out "sensibly" like you did and ended up spending way too much money on
    something that grabbed me :) So don't feel lonely on that progression.

    The flip side is the old dunger may be so crappy you never ride again
    because it ain't fun.

    The 03 XR400 will probably lose you less money if you sell it in 12
    months going by the price on the 98 (dunno if that's typical), on the
    other hand I would suggest minimising expenditure now so you have more
    money for gear and the absolute value of your loss on resale is
    minimised (people get too hung up on % deprec, 2grand is 2 grand
    regardless of whether it's 2% or 50%).

    BTW you understand incorrectly if you think they're not going to
    depreciate much, most bikes depreciate horrifically (it does vary wildly
    though) and as I understand it dirt bikes are up there with 600cc
    supersports for plummetting values (because Kms matter less than how
    thrashed they've been as I understand it)

    Just a thought though, have you considered getting a 50cc or 125cc scoot
    for the daily commute (much cheaper to run and register, 2grand for a
    50cc brand new, and it has more storage). A 50 will top out at about 70
    K usually, 125s usually pull around 100K - good enough for urban runs.
    If you're out of town or will spend time on freeways might not be so
    good an idea). Get a dirt bike as well of course cos you can never have
    too many bikes ;-)

    One last thought, you may find a better long term compromise is to get a
    cross over (dual purpose bike), they'll neither be excellent road nor
    excellent dirt bikes, but most of them are surprisingly good at both
    considering the compromises made. They'll be a lot more pleasant to
    commute on than true dirt bikes, and are very capable on crap roads
    (dirt or bitumen) but generally a bit out of their depth for serious off
    road. Bikes of this type are BMW F650, Aprilia Pegaso 650 (learner legal
    in NSW), Suzuki DL650, there's probably a few others I'm not aware of
    (errm a "freewind" or something ? Kwaka maybe ? Who's was that - Ash I
    think ?)

    JL
     
    JL, Jan 19, 2006
    #3
  4. Heath Raftery

    Grump Guest

    Buying an expensive dual purpose bike may defeat your intentions in 2 ways:

    1/ in the dirt you won't want to "go for it" for fear of expensive damage &
    a larger 4 stroke isn't anywhere near as agile & fun off road as a light,
    smaller capacity 2 stroke which is also a lot easier/quicker to
    maintain/rebuild after a weekend's abuse.

    2/ for daily commuting your tyre choice will be a poor compromise at
    best...universal tyres don't work well in the wet, road or dirt.

    I would suggest you look at dividing your intended outlay between 2 bikes.
    A reliable 4 stroke commuter & a cheap 2 stroke bush basher. (depending upon
    where you live & ride you may not even have to register it)

    For a learner I firmly believe the best investment in your future well being
    & safety is to buy a cheap, older 2 stroke dirt bike up to 250cc. Then
    outfit
    yourself with appropriate protective clothing & join a group/club of weekend
    bush bashers/trail riders & practise falling off for the next 12 months
    under all conditions. If you don't drop it at least once on each ride then
    you're not really trying/learning. lol.
    You'll have a much better chance of survival then on your road bike when the
    inevitable "oh shit!" situation arises.
    Best wishes,
    Grump.
     
    Grump, Jan 19, 2006
    #4
  5. I'm the OP, back with a follow-up. Thank you all for your comments and
    suggestions. All very much appreciated. The '03 XR400 was sold next
    time I went to look for it, and pretty much nothing else suitable came
    up in the next couple of weeks. I went back to the '98 XR400 and had
    another look.

    $3900 later and I'm a Honda boy!

    '98 XR400 clean and straight, 9000k's. Blows some smoke when cold,
    haven't seen any with choke off. Starts easy. No tears, small plastic
    scratches. Well maintained. Steering lock key missing!

    So first question, what do I do about the steering lock? New key,
    new lock or different lock?

    Heath
     
    Heath Raftery, Jan 31, 2006
    #5
  6. In aus.motorcycles on 31 Jan 2006 21:48:15 GMT
    Ignore the steering lock - it's only an illusion of safety.

    Buy a disk lock - the u-shaped ones perform best in tests as the flat
    ones seem to break more easilyt because of the way they are made.

    Add a bright coloured curly cord (available from the place you got the
    lock) as a reminder it's fitted.

    The disk lock should be enough for casual trips to the shops. If it
    parks somewhere regularly, even if that's your garage, get a solid
    high-strength chain and lock the frame of the bike to a solid object.

    Dirtbikes are high on the list of garage-breaking thieves, so make it
    as hard as you can for them.

    Zebee
     
    Zebee Johnstone, Jan 31, 2006
    #6
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