If one looks at an SR400 for a bit, with a little effort it could be made off pavement durable. An IMS tank, some fenders, suspension work, and tires to start.
haha, that reminded me of my first starting episode with an SR500 back in about '81. I had been kicking this bike for probably half an hour because there were center stand skid marks on the shop floor that were about four feet long. Had it kick back and jam my knee up into the right switch gear at one point. I was not liking this bike! The senior shop tech comes by grinning and tells me to step back. Ok. He gets on starts it on the first kick, looks at me, turns the key off, dismounts, and walks out. Sunofa....! That day I learned the trick to starting Yamaha singles. Later I would own an XT500 and the more recent WR400F.
The XT 250 comes close to your wish list specifications. Comfortable on road cruise might be closer to 60 than 65 and you might need a slightly larger tank or an extra fuel bottle to get 250 mile range. But it's a bullet proof fuel injected, air cooled engine, a bit under 300# with decent suspension travel. I've been reading the XT 250 threads on here and mulling it over . . . On the other hand, your Monkey shines are really impressive. That the Monkey is so appealing that you just have to jump on it at 4:00 AM after an all day Harley ride is just crazy! I'll be closely following your upgrades. Suspension improvements are always the greatest bang for the buck; but if you can gain a bit more power & hill climbing ability without sacrificing reliability that'll be great!
That sucks. I hope it's not the case. I've been hoping they would introduce a full Sumo lineup(basically applying what they did with the 125 to their other bikes). They're small enough to pull it off. I always forget about the XT250. Definitely ticks a lot of boxes if modern suspension isn't a big issue.
They did but with a manual compression release. The other cool feature that Yamaha has is the kick starter itself. Always kick down to the stop and do not release until the engine is either running or the crank has stopped turning. Reason is that the kick start gear is disengaged when the kick lever at at the bottom. Doing so ensures one doesn't get his knee kicked-back up into the handlebar. The WR400F had this feature too. Slick, I'd say.
Yup, it has been 2 months today from the Surgery for me. Nov 24th I get out to start walking again, slowly.
Nope. Dr initially told me 3 months until I should walk again. So we are sticking with that till my next X ray on Nov 18 to reassess. I am off the pain pills weeks ago, but dang-nambbit It is still is painful, sore, stiff, etc.. Getting old sucks.
Light is a matter of perspective, That is light compared to the ElectraGlide. I would love to have a R9T Scrabmler/GS in the stable but that is not in the stars until I rebuild my savings.
Top heavy, already been down the Triumph road and well I love the bikes, just not the parts availability and service. I am that guy that prefers a F350 to a Mustang.
No, those are better that what I have. Wow, this is huge!!! another Monkey off-road convert... as I've said before; "less is more..." fun that is... although I have high displacement bikes, the little bikes are the ones I take off-road...
This 2 smoke bike kicking over traffic brings back very fond memories of my 360T of many years ago. My first bike back in the saddle after my 550/4 tried to kill me. Was a abandoned project I picked up for a pittance and made roadworthy. Thanks for the memories. David
@Chillis With your relative low body weight, moderate skill level and and a need to try new and dangerous things you should consider a used WR250R. It can be lowered, great fuel range, great stock suspension and with a Rekluse and proper gearing you can climb a tree in 1st gear. I don't have the skill level or the cojones but you do. Imu