So... I currently have a R1200GSA. Great bike. Really, an awesome bike, all the kool-aid the GSpotters smoke is correct. In my opinion this is one of the best dual sports you can ride at 80mph for 12 hours at a time. Throwing it around trails is kind of another story. It's shitty offroad, but I mostly bought it to be a reasonably rugged bike on the highway with the occasional gravel road, which it is doing well at. However! I'm getting a bit nostalgic towards the end of 2013. I miss my old XT225. It's light weight and the nimbleness was great. Now Yami has a fuel injected XT250. I was wondering if I should buy this bike? I can swing the 1000$ down and the ~150$ a month for 48 months, not a problem. I love the round headlight styling and I always rather disliked the carburetor in the older model, now it's kind of not a problem. I want a dual sporty bike I can sling on the back of my FJ Cruiser on my dirt bike rack and throw around the trails when I get to a campsite. I was just wondering what experiences people have had so far with this fairly new model? It seems pretty cool and the only experience I've had was my sluggish 225 that was poor at cold starting.
Stop smoking koolaid fer shits sake! Not sure how you keep kool aid lit Crack pipe I s'pose try drinkin the shit... your experience may be better
XT 250 is a mild mannered bike,should work. Like all lightweight japanese 250's it weighs over 300lbs but dont let that squelch your buzz.
1975 Honda XL350 and a more recent 1993 DR650 , offered after a few..... and they accepted it. So far so good! Oh, as well as a 1995 CB1000 850 miles away......Damnit! (But again, worth it)
Look at the Honda CRF250L when you sober up. It has the same limp suspension, same EFI and the same modest power but it leaves five more Benjamins in your wallet than the XT. I am a long time Yamaha guy but I would go Big Red for bottom of the barrel 250 dual sports. The green one still has a carb and costs more.
Keep drinking and smoking till Tuesday, then go out and buy a KTM 350 EXC-F before you sober up. You'll thank yourself on Thursday.
If you want a foo-foo bike I think the Honda dealer is the place to go. Ultimate harmless quiet sensible bikes.
I just sold my 07 990 adventure and bought an xr650r! Loving it for all types of riding. After throwing the 990 around for 37000 miles, this thing feels like a mountain bike. You will love your thumper!!
Mission Creep... Trail Work is not the same as evoking old memories of soggy bikes of bygone days. It's easy to talk yourself into more bike than you need when you start trying to justify performance and costs of lesser machines. But sometime lesser machines are just enough, but not too much. A man with a GSA might be tempted to go for overkill.
http://www.thumpertalk.com/topic/1015524-2013-yamaha-xt250-vs-2013-honda-crf250l/ It's a CRF250L vs XT250 discussion. I think I'd go for the XT250 over the Honda.
You may be off on the color ? But....... But I went EFI after fighting my last carb'ed bike carb ha. Love it. I also haul with a Yota but a little longer one. If you have the do ray me and room to store it, I don't see how ya can go wrong adding dirt worthy scoot.
How can it be one of the best dual sports if it's shitty off road? Doesn't the "dual" in dual sport mean it does both relatively well? Sounds like you've got a street bike you're not afraid to take on well maintained gravel roads. If you want something you can sling on trails, it sounds like you need a dirt bike. I'd buy a dirt bike, something like a CRF450X.
apparently, for many people the "dual" means it can handle both paved and dirt roads. took me awhile to figure that out. i was confused as heck when i got back into riding and started looking for dual sports in used bike ads and the searches kept turning up street bikes... (OP, yes, you should definitely by a smaller trail bike. i'd suggest something that weighs no more than 250lbs, though. size of the motor doesn't really matter, but a 300lb bike is about 75lbs too much bike on trails. 25lbs too much isn't a big deal. 75lbs too much is. at least in my experience... that "buy a KTM 350exc on tuesday, sober up on wednesday, thank yourself on thursday" plan posted above is a good one. if a new 350exc is too much for your wallet like it is for mine, look at a used KTM/husky/gasgas...or some other plated dirt bike--you already have the adventure side of dual sporting covered.)
If you want to stimulate the economy, buy new. If you would rather have more retirement or fun money, buy used. A used WR250R, the street legal dual sport model with FI, great power and excellent suspension. Over 20,000 mile valve adjustment intervals doesn't hurt either.
suzuki DR200SE less than 300lbs wet with a 3.4 gal tank, epa rated city 105mpg. with some carb re-jetting and modding the stock muffler I get 75-80 mpg avg. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=229927 search out the great ride reviews on the web and from mags., esp motorcycle consumer news.