Oh my but what have I done? A KLR?

[mexican]

Tis an excellent motor, Amigo! I was very impressed at how well it lugged my 275 lb butt over some very steep terrain and rocks.
Pay attention to the year that started FI (I think 2017) versus carb.
Dan's is a carburetor model (I think 2016) and the elevations, even at Moab, affected his performance.

thanks for the heads up

 

[warp9.9]

I've been thinking instead of a new Rocket

Oh and no I'm not trading in the beast. Just adding more adventure

 

[1olbull]

I've been thinking instead of a new Rocket

Oh and no I'm not trading in the beast. Just adding more adventure

Good luck straddling that sucker, Scott.
Those are pretty heavy critters in the dirt. I tried a 800 Tiger and, for me, it was just too huge for proper dirt riding, hill climbing and jumping. I'm real happy with my XT250 - of course I wish I had more horsies, but the under 300 pounds is pretty easy to toss around.

 

[Nat67]

Good luck straddling that sucker, Scott.
Those are pretty heavy critters in the dirt. I tried a 800 Tiger and, for me, it was just too huge for proper dirt riding, hill climbing and jumping. I'm real happy with my XT250 - of course I wish I had more horsies, but the under 300 pounds is pretty easy to toss around.

Totally agree with you there pops . Great bikes on the road and good at weaving along easy flat trails , but anything more severe and they become very hard work ! Pick one up 2 or 3 times and you will want to go home for a cocoa . Drop one at anything over 5mph and the weight ensures bent handlebars ! That said , great bikes to ride and look really cool , but you need to be extremely fit to ride one in anger off road !

 

[Nat67]

Good for those of you with giraffe legs.
That Yamaha saddle of yours looks to me to be nose bleed high. I would have to slide my butt over the side of the seat just to get 1 foot on the ground.
Only the Yamaha XT 250 allowed me to sit with both feet on the ground. I would have preferred a larger displacement engine, but could not find one with a reasonable saddle height.

It is tall and once aboard can reach the ground on tip toe . The ground clearance means your feet don't get brushed off the pegs in deep ruts , and generally only need to put a foot down whilst falling off , which is probably far more often than not falling off !

 

[1olbull]

Totally agree with you there pops . Great bikes on the road and good at weaving along easy flat trails , but anything more severe and they become very hard work ! Pick one up 2 or 3 times and you will want to go home for a cocoa . Drop one at anything over 5mph and the weight ensures bent handlebars ! That said , great bikes to ride and look really cool , but you need to be extremely fit to ride one in anger off road !

So true. I'm so out of shape and old that little 250 gassed me after a hard quarter mile of uphill boulders. I'd have to take a breather. Whenever I ride it, I wish I was @mexican Loopy size and @UnicornRider age

 

[Steel]

I had one, briefly, it struck me as a Bulgarian knockoff off a Ukrainian copy of a pre WW2 Russian farm tractor.

That would be a good description of the old style Rocket.

 

[Nat67]

So true. I'm so out of shape and old that little 250 gassed me after a hard quarter mile of uphill boulders. I'd have to take a breather. Whenever I ride it, I wish I was @mexican Loopy size and @UnicornRider age

Ah but if you were as long as @mexican and as young as @UnicornRider pops , you wouldn't be able to reach the top shelf in the supermarkets , or have your great wisdom to share with us young uns!

 

[Navigator]

Weight and seat height is why I bought a 650VStrom for our 2015 ride to the Arctic Circle. It is of course not the best off road but did everything I asked of it, and we got into some pretty serious muck. One of our forum members, Elcanaco rode his Triumph TEX 1200. He lost his front fork seals, and therefore front brakes, on the way back from Inuvik. Upon replacing them was advised that the Triumph has some fairly significant fork seal issues and that they might go again, which they did while he was riding in Columbia.

I would never take my KLR on single trail riding, for which the 250s are much better suited. It is great for long distance touring where one gets into the situations "where the pavement ends".

But the Brit that I met in Dawson City, Yukon, showed that one can turn just about any bike into a dual sport. He was among those riding from Florida to Alaska with the Nick Saunders tour group.

Street tires and all. I don't know how he kept it upright.

 

[mexican]

Ah but if you were as long as @mexican and as young as @UnicornRider pops , you wouldn't be able to reach the top shelf in the supermarkets , or have your great wisdom to share with us young uns!

I have to climb up to the first shekf just so i can reach the second one