450cc ADV bikes

Since the DAKAR has gone to a 450cc maximum displacement for bikes, do you think manufacturers will release a plethora of new 450cc dual-sports?

I ,for one, hope so. I think 450cc is the perfect size for a dual-sport, a 250cc is just a bit small for toting a load of gear, and a 650cc is just a bit clumsy in the single-track. IMHO

Plethora? NO. They are out there... They are just not here.

i hope so, being the drz is the only adv bike that fits that bill currently.

Good. Now go out and buy 12,000 of them so manufacturers might see things your way and consider making one for the rest of us...

There are some Japanese ATVs with 450cc motors, so it would be easy for those manufacturers to produce. XL450s? KLR450? DR450? I'm not holding my breath. I waited around for Honda to install the 700 ATV motor in their dual sport, and it never happened.

The one I'd like to see, though, would be a Triumph Tiger 450!

I think something that'd be interesting to see from this would be a boxer 450.

Still 11ish to 1 compression and have the cams come on at @ 5,500. EFI tuned down low for stumbling and stall resistance, and leaner as the revs rose for economy....


That'd be bad ass, IMO.

Y'know.. 450Rally is a great name for a bike.

Especially since I own the .com

lol, spamtard! ^^^



eggs, spam, spam, spam spam, spam,,, sausage, spam, spam, spam, spam

Except that I've owned it for over a year and have had no time to do something with it.

Quick... let me go fill it with banner ads then I'll come back and spam

Lets see.......now where did I put that check book?

I bought my husky 510 for the purpose you mention, its turned out to be more trail worthy than I expected it to be.

Don't hold your breath on one from Japan... the 450 singles have done well at Dakar for several seasons now and no action. About the best you're going to find is the DRz400, which is a darn good bike and close enough.

Honda used to have their XR400 in a dual sport form in other countries, but not in the U.S. That's a shame, but again, based on my sales experience, blame it on "biggest is best" and "gimme the cheapest you got" syndrome in the U.S. That XR would be way better than the XR650L for 90% of the riders, especially going off road. Back in 1985 Honda's XL350R was Cycle World's pick as best dual sport for the year. It had tremendous mid-range power delivery and "the sum of the performance was greater than the total of the parts" to paraphrase from an old saying (my quote, not CW's). But no one bought. A great dual sport and (at the time) mid size road bike that didn't sell.

After 6 seasons and some 60k miles aboard my KTM 950, I discovered the best adventure bike is an adventurized dual sport. Mine is a Yamaha wr250r.

Stock it weights under 300lbs with a full tank. It's quiet and very smooth with nice fuel injection. The six speed gearbox extends utility. Its valve service intervals are a whopping 26k miles. :eek1. Of course it needs a few comfort, luggage, and fuel range mods to ride the long trail:

Safari 3.7 gallon fuel tank- $475
Cee-Bailey wind screen - $90
Wolfman Expedition luggage/rack system- $440
Happy Trails tail plate- $100
2 elec power outlets- $24
Garmin trail gps kit- $300
Skid/rad plates- $150
Cycra hand guards- $110
Alaska Leather Buttpad- $80
Powerlet elec glove liners- $80

That's it!




After completing the CDR for about 2500 miles over 8 days, here is it's performance loaded for several days camping:

Fuel range- 210 miles tested. Prolly under 230 till dry.
Top speed- 92mph on my gps
Best cruise speed on the highway- 65/70mph
Weight fully loaded- about 160lbs less than my 950
Exploration capability- A total revelation.

I left this bike in AZ to visit during my snow bird time. In fact I will visit it next Tuesday for couple weeks to work on a section of the 'Great Western Trail' between Prescott and the Mex border. I am a totally average veteran rider. I am in my sixty's and not as strong as I should be. For me this little bike was like a gift. So much so, that I have decided to sell my old twin and buy a 2012 KTM 690R enduro. I will set it up exactly like my little Yamathump right down to the Cee Bailey screen. It was so effective, I will use the same one to fit the KTM. I'll probably install a 1" lowering link too.

My hope is that I'll have the same riding experience with the thrill of 68hp instead of 25...

$475 for a 3.7gal tank?! Does that come with a new fuel pump or something?

Is there an even bigger tank available for the WRR/X yet?

That sucker's heavy for a 250 too. 300lb is shaved DR-Z400S territory. Otherwise, SWEET little bike! It just sucks that Suzuki can't make their 400 as dual-duty-capable by putting a decent gearspread in it. How difficult could it be?

That's barely into my comfort range for travel. Does it do better at 55-60MPH?

Couple that with a decent crawling gear and Suzuki should be ashamed of bringing the DR-Z to market in this country. Having to swap sprockets in the middle of a ride is just stupid.

Seems like the world is ready for a WR450R with:

Wide ratio 6 speed
4 gal tank
Racks
Skid Plates

NFE

Didn't BMW make one .... once.

That sounds like a nice bike, give it the same engine maintanence schedule as the WR250R and I'd be interested. Heck I looked long and hard at the WR250R, but at the end of the day I want a bit more power.

Don't forget about the KTM Enduro 690, it's a nice bike. Although I'm a little concerned about it's reliability.

Something to be said for simplicity... right?

I've run 8 hours and covered less than 210 miles on a dual sport. It's not just about miles covered. We spent nearly 3 hours in a national forrest covering less than 20 miles.

As for the DRz, realize what it was originally. It was a dirt bike! Not a cross country special, but a common dirt ride. As a dual sport it is a great general dual sport, not a full range trail creeper to high speed highway bike. Fact is back in the 70s some of the true ISDE bikes had SEVEN speeds. We had a Sachs engined Hercules back in 85 with a 7 speed. It was cool to ride. For Suzuki to do any different would screw up the cost of the bike. Maybe on a rework it would make sense to try to develop a six speed, but possibly the cases don't have enough room to accept an acceptably robust gear set to do the job. There are limitations.

By the way, a box stock DRz400 can do damn near 100 mph. My friends thrash around at 70+ mph for miles on end when we're out on pavement. One friend would thrash his at 80-85 mph when we were out playing Joe Supermoto. The case is if one can not accept the limitations of the design they should look elsewhere. Face it, the stock DRz400 can likely outdo any of the six speed 250s without much effort at both ends of the spectrum. The only disadvantage would be the bit more weight. There is a reason for the rpm range they have, just use it.

The world may be, but the U.S. riders won't pay the price. They're stuck at KLR650/XR650L price range. The riders willing to do so already have the bike they'd buy - aka KTM450.