Very wise post. For the record, my EXC was extremely smooth and comfortable on the road provided the wheels were balanced.
Really sound advice above re: KTM maintenance etc. It's a myth based in racing schedule that they are high maintenance. This said they do need more frequent oil changes due to lower capacity and if you're a remove one drain plug and one spin on filter type of person then the KTM may still not be your bag. I have friends like this. The valves on the rfs are a pain to me as the stock valves move a lot and the screw adjust process is imprecise. Even though the 08 is shim under bucket and thus seems like more work the valve clearances stay in spec much longer. Internally balancing the rimlocks on my 07 solved the oscillation issues and the bike is smooth at 80 now plus with the 6 speed its a nice ride.
Interesting 4 bikes to toss around (including your previous XRR). Warning: The following opinion is designed to leave you just as stuck in the middle as before as I've endevored to praise and criticise each contender equally! As you already mentioned, there's not a real big weight difference between the XRR and WRR. I think you'd find the weight the same with 1/2 the power and 1/3 the torque. The positive differences would be: WRR even more reliable than the XRR with even futher maintenance intervals. Electric start, more electrical output, nearly twice the gas mileagle, easier mods for luggage. The KTM's mentioned would be really lucky to make 1/2 the miles of your XRR with 3X the maitenance. I'm sure if you rode the WRR and the 2 KTM's back to back there'd be no comparison; the KTM's would really stand out. And though the 350 might seem a bit more desireable in tricky situations I think the 500 would more than make up for that if you were ever on the freeway or open desert. What you wouldn't get from the test ride is how the WRR would kill either one long term reliability wise. I notice that kind of thing as I do 20-30,000 miles a year so it really matters! Tons of riders have a blast and never do more than 2,000 miles a year; I'd get the KTM if I was them. Personally I think you could hone your riding skills better on either KTM. I used to erroniously think I would better my dirt skills by riding a "harder to ride" bike. I started riding off road with an already heavy KTM LC4 and it was super tough to hang with my friends on YZ125's. It was often in a shop that gave out loaner bikes and I often got a Suzuki DR800 which was nearly 100lbs heavier to ride for a few weeks. I'd try to ride the same jungle trails that were already tough on the 320 lb KTM thinking "If I can just master it on this, it'll be real easy when I get the KTM back." Never worked and in fact I found when finally borrowing my friends light motorcross bikes I learned more in a few hours than a few years and things were so much easier back on the heavy KTM - not compared to the MX bikes but compared to riding it before I had the knowledge of how I could do such and such a track on a light bike!
I like to balance the wheels without tires on them and then once the tire is mounted I check the balance again. That way if you have to install a new tire on a trip and you cannot find a spin balance machine you might have a better chance of the new tire and wheel assembly being close enough to properly balanced that it is tolerable until you can get to a balance machine. .
This is a bit of a tangent but of course correct. Rimlocks are the issue and the phase oscillation that forms between front/rear wheels. Stick some weight *inside* the rim channel to balance the rimlock, never going to fall off. Tires are usually pretty close balance wise. As for KB and djh yes. Just waiting till mine lose adjustment. Point was I wouldn't be scared of an 08 b/c of the shim under bucket, more so the separate oil supply migration issues.
If you're truly not interested in trucking your bike to location and you intend to put upwards to 10K+ mileage in the next 2 or so year and beyond. Get the WR250R. It loves to be ridden and often. I did the complete TAT on it and it's a great bike for that. I've personally done dualsports on the WRR where I've ridden solo 4 hours from NYC to PA, camped out, rode a couple days of technical singletrack, packed up and rode back as it was raining on the way home. I did it, but given the choice, I would've rather had it on the back of a truck and been warm. Recently my WRR was stolen, so I'm sorta where you are. This time round, I think I'm gonna go with a more single track oriented bike that is street legal with the intention of trailering it. I too am tired of wrestling pigs on technical rides. I do have a big adventure bike as well, so that informs my decision. That said, if the mood struck and I wanted to take a trip down to South America, I would buy a WRR (or the new CRF250L) just for that trip. See my TAT report here: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=698330
If you don't already know this, it's important to know that the difference between "reliable" and "high maitenance" in the bike world is much greater than the car/truck world. For instance when shoping for a truck many years back and studying consumer reports reliability records I found that particular year the Toyota was #1 and I think Dodge ram was in last place. The Dodge seemed horrible compared to the Toyota but the reality was there was less than a 50% difference. Toyotas would average 220K miles and the Dodges 130K. However in the bike world, bikes that make it 50,000 miles with no major issues are considered extremely reliable and those considered "high maintenence" might only make it 5,000 - or a 10:1 difference with double or triple the services in that same time frame. (By the way, in the KTM world, I think the "high maintenance" EXC's are more reliable than the supposedly reliable 690's - I was on my 3rd engine/9th fuel pump by 22,000 miles and constantly heard from dealers around the world similar stories with the 690.) Many people never go over 5,000 miles in the years they own a bike and in that situation I'd see no reason at all to get a WRR over a KTM EXC. Maybe the electrical power, sub frame? I think those could be remedied but it wouldn't be easier to ride the WRR ecspecially with a throttle tamer on the EXC.
Hopefully the OP will forgive us for the tangent, for which I am somewhat to blame. While we are out in left field, I'd like to mention Talon rim locks which are in my opinion in a class by themselves with respect to quality and how they grip the bead of the tire. I have no affiliation with the company or the distributors in the US. I am just a happy user of the product. .
Indeed, bikes are not like cars. I have wondered why bike engines cannot last longer than they do. I think some of the cause must be the wet clutch which shares its oil supply ( and consequently its bits of friction material and steel from the clutch ) with the rest of the engine. Look at BMW boxer twins which have a dry clutch - it's common to see them exceed 100K miles without so much as a top end rebuild. Of course they might need a final drive To the OP : we on this thread want to see a photo of the your new KTM, ok ? . .
great advice everybody. rode my old xr yesterday (sold to a buddy so i can still grab it from time to time) which gives me some perspective. i can remember when the bike was uncorked, what an unbelievable difference. couldnt really imagine same weight and drastically less power and torque(wr), or having the same feeling of the corked 650(350). also, when i was riding the xr on the road, theres just no comparison to my multi- i really have no desire to do 20-30,000 miles on a thumper every year, but with the multi no problem. i literally was on my way to the yamaha dealer when i stopped at the ktm dealer. i have a buddy who is avery good dirt rider that advised less weight=better and its the reason i stopped to take a peak at the exc. glad i posted this here. it really forced me to asess what my riding needs really are, and when comes down to it, i want to be on the multi for long trips and want a dirt bike that i can legally ride to the trails in reasonable comfort. if there was a husky dealer here this would be much harder. im going to see if i can get on the wr this weekend and check it out, but im leaning heavily towards the ktm. i can always buy a used wr for the tat if for some reason i dont think the ktms sorted for it, right?
I wonder too and my guesses are that cars don't rev to 8K RPM on a daily basis, especially automatic transmission ones. The components are larger and structurally heftier. Motorcycle engines have to be light -- maybe that is why Airhead's can ride to 100K?
The 350exc will be better than the husky because of the wider ratio gearbox, in the case you're doing long pavement connectors. Husky has no top end at all if geared for technical riding.
is there a reason to get the 350 over the 500? seems to me the exact same bike with different engine and 6 more lbs. have not seen abad review yet, anyone have negative experiences with the 500?
If you lived in the eastern US and wanted to ride tight woods a lot the 350 might be the better choice, especially so if you didn't mind trucking or trailering the bike but you still wanted a street legal bike. But given your stated goals I cannot imagine why you would get a 350 instead of a 500, especially when you made it clear that you do not want to truck or trailer a bike, and you also want power similar to the XRR. It seems to me that you need to ride that Yamaha so you can eliminate it from the selection process. After that it should be apparent that unless you are willing to buy a Beta, the KTM is the only bike which meets your criteria.
Watch the pocket watch which is swinging back and forth in front of your eyes ... your eyes are getting heavy ... you are relaxed now and you are asleep but you can still hear us clearly .. When you wake up and you see an orange bike with a headlight and tail light and "500 EXC" on its plastics, you will open your wallet and give your credit card to the nice man who can sell you the motorcycle. You will not remember any of this after you wake up, you will only wonder why you waited so long to treat yourself to the wonderful bike you now own. .
I'll point out that with some patience you can probably get a nice well cared for 07 525 EXC for $4000. 09 530 for $5800. That's probably enough left over cash to get a WR and still be less than the purchase price for a new 2012 500.
A 2007 525 EXC will if anything be less hassle than a 500 EXC with fuel injection. FWIW, a 2007 450 EXC could also work. The stroke in the 450 EXC RFS engine is the same as the stroke in the 525 EXC, so a 450 can become a 525 ( or a 570 with an aftermarket kit ) without splitting the engine cases.
And you were on such a roll Not sure I agree. Everything I've heard about the 350/500 FI has been positive. Kick start too. Here is my 07 450, somewhere in Nevada on the TAT. Great bike.
True, if you are in the west, the 500EXC is probably better. You won't be revving it to the moon at higher speed helping you achieve better reliability. Better torque slow going as well. It'll feel heavier to turn than the 350, but that's ok if you're not riding majority tight woods.
