Advice for a newbie.

[gerhardsteenkamp]

Hi All.

Recently joined the forum and require some advice.

I am looking at buying a motorcycle, however choosing what would fit my needs is a different story.

The run down:

I am moving to Maun, Botswana pretty soon and I am looking for something that I can use there as a daily commuter (so needs to be Road Legal) and also go on some adventure outrides with a few mates up there (They have GS 650 and Yamaha YZF250's). I am by no means looking for something like a Scrambler, I want something that is reasonably comfortable.

Main concern is reliability as well as ease of servicing, as I will need to service the machine myself.

Also would like something a bit bigger than a 250, as I am a pretty tall guy.


So far what I have looked at is the following:

Yamaha XT660R (Seems to be top contender right now, as it fits the bill and can do on and off road well, apparently.)

F650GS (Parts availability and cost of maintaining is high?)

CRF250L (Bulletproof, but a little on the small side and uncomfortable on longer rides.)

KLR650 (I have no experience with these machines, but they seem to be a good option?)



Any feedback and advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

GCS

[Mr.Silver]

Hi All.

Recently joined the forum and require some advice.

I am looking at buying a motorcycle, however choosing what would fit my needs is a different story.

The run down:

I am moving to Maun, Botswana pretty soon and I am looking for something that I can use there as a daily commuter (so needs to be Road Legal) and also go on some adventure outrides with a few mates up there (They have GS 650 and Yamaha YZF250's). I am by no means looking for something like a Scrambler, I want something that is reasonably comfortable.

Main concern is reliability as well as ease of servicing, as I will need to service the machine myself.

Also would like something a bit bigger than a 250, as I am a pretty tall guy.


So far what I have looked at is the following:

Yamaha XT660R (Seems to be top contender right now, as it fits the bill and can do on and off road well, apparently.)

F650GS (Parts availability and cost of maintaining is high?)

CRF250L (Bulletproof, but a little on the small side and uncomfortable on longer rides.)

KLR650 (I have no experience with these machines, but they seem to be a good option?)



Any feedback and advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

GCS

My suggestion would be KLR650. I owned one, they go almost everywhere, easy to maintain, relatively comfortable ride. I did a trip from East London to Vereeniging some years ago and have been to Transkei with KLR multiple times
Alround, best bike for all purposes


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[AMZ]

Yamaha XT660R: Tall bike, but I would be very surprised if this bikes disappoints any new owner. Well worth a second look.

F650GS: Are you referring to the F650GS (single), later became the G650GS or the later F650GS (twin)? Either would be a nice bike to own and ride. Not as expensive to maintain as many suggest. All three models well worth a 2nd look, but if you did mean the single I would suggest the F650GS Dakar, or the G650GS Sertao. The Dakar and Sertao are a tad more off-road orientated.

KLR650: I don't know them well, but they do have a reputation for being bullet proof. They are usually loved or hated.

In the end, your budget and since you will be in Botswana parts availability will be pushing your choice.

[gerhardsteenkamp]

Yamaha XT660R: Tall bike, but I would be very surprised if this bikes disappoints any new owner. Well worth a second look.

F650GS: Are you referring to the F650GS (single), later became the G650GS or the later F650GS (twin)? Either would be a nice bike to own and ride. Not as expensive to maintain as many suggest. All three models well worth a 2nd look, but if you did mean the single I would suggest the F650GS Dakar, or the G650GS Sertao. The Dakar and Sertao are a tad more off-road orientated.

KLR650: I don't know them well, but they do have a reputation for being bullet proof. They are usually loved or hated.

In the end, your budget and since you will be in Botswana parts availability will be pushing your choice.

AMZ,

I was indeed refering to the single F650GS. I am looking at the F650 GS Dakar as well. The parts thing isn't too difficult, as we have guys that come to Joburg and back to Bots fairly regularly and parts can always be brought up with them when they do come up.

One thing about the F650GS that is making me nervous is the ease of servicing. I am pretty handy with a spanner and a pair of pliers, but I would prefer something as simple and as "mechanical" as possible, just to not have to struggle to maintain the bike if something does go sour. From what I can tell online the GS isn't difficult to maintain, but the KLR and XT (front runners at the moment) are a little simpler to maintain, more like a "Dirt Bike" than a sophisticated piece of German engineering.

I am going to go look at 2x KLR's today, can't find a XT660 that stays on the market for more than 2/3 weeks and they don't seem to come around often.

Regards.

GCS

[AMZ]

AMZ,

I was indeed refering to the single F650GS. I am looking at the F650 GS Dakar as well. The parts thing isn't too difficult, as we have guys that come to Joburg and back to Bots fairly regularly and parts can always be brought up with them when they do come up.

One thing about the F650GS that is making me nervous is the ease of servicing. I am pretty handy with a spanner and a pair of pliers, but I would prefer something as simple and as "mechanical" as possible, just to not have to struggle to maintain the bike if something does go sour. From what I can tell online the GS isn't difficult to maintain, but the KLR and XT (front runners at the moment) are a little simpler to maintain, more like a "Dirt Bike" than a sophisticated piece of German engineering.

I am going to go look at 2x KLR's today, can't find a XT660 that stays on the market for more than 2/3 weeks and they don't seem to come around often.

Regards.

GCS

I can't really comment on how complicated, or simple these bikes are to service and maintain at home. As I see it, they must all be very similar as they are all single cylinder engines with the BMW and Yamie fuel injected. All three run electronic ECU's, etc. The F650GS (singles) were not particularly electronic either, but still, the Yamie is probably the better choice anyway. The BMW and KLR are both nice bikes, rock solid, bullet proof and every other good thing you can say, but both may well be a tad boring compared to the 660R.


IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read the last sentence and destroy the message immediately before any BMW or KLR fans see it!!!!!

[Mr.Silver]

Saw the post "AMZ"
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IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read the last sentence and destroy the message immediately before any BMW or KLR fans see it!!!!!
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Although I owned and rode a KLR, I agree with the boring statement, the 660R is a stronger contender and does warrant more respect!

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[Jadd]

One I don't see on your list is the Suzuki DR650, bullet proof motor and easy to maintain

[Diakonos]

I have thousands of kms under my belt on a KLR 650 - it is the only one of the three I can personally comment on.
I did a trip into Africa with my cousin some years back - me on the KLR and him on the XT660.
Neither of us had problems on the 28 000-odd km trip over eight months. We had hundreds of "little races" along the way, and the 660 would win most of the time (I think I had more luggage on the KLR...). However, we ran into some diplomatic issues in Kenya and had to leave the country in a hurry - we had one night to strip our bikes down and pack them into crates to be flown out to Malawi, and I had a much easier time disassembling the KLR than my cuzzie's XT.

We also swopped bikes from time to time, and I must say that the 660 was more fun to ride than my KLR. That said, however, one can fix anything on a KLR with bloudraad and prestik. The KLR also survived a lot of harsher treatment than the XT, mostly because I was a poorer rider. The worst abuse it took was a vertical 3 meter drop onto its head... Picked it up, bent back the cock-eyed pieces, started it up and kept going.
I did find that for Africa, simpler is better - we did run into some guys on big Beemers (not the 650 Dakkar), who had run into some trouble, and were fairly stuck, waiting to be bailed from South Africa. There is, however a lot of BMW 650 Dakkar parts and support in Africa.

My advice would be to ride all three of the bikes on your list - you really can't go wrong with any of them.
Many happy miles!!

[freerider]

I have thousands of kms under my belt on a KLR 650 - it is the only one of the three I can personally comment on.
I did a trip into Africa with my cousin some years back - me on the KLR and him on the XT660.
Neither of us had problems on the 28 000-odd km trip over eight months. We had hundreds of "little races" along the way, and the 660 would win most of the time (I think I had more luggage on the KLR...). However, we ran into some diplomatic issues in Kenya and had to leave the country in a hurry - we had one night to strip our bikes down and pack them into crates to be flown out to Malawi, and I had a much easier time disassembling the KLR than my cuzzie's XT.

We also swopped bikes from time to time, and I must say that the 660 was more fun to ride than my KLR. That said, however, one can fix anything on a KLR with bloudraad and prestik. The KLR also survived a lot of harsher treatment than the XT, mostly because I was a poorer rider. The worst abuse it took was a vertical 3 meter drop onto its head... Picked it up, bent back the cock-eyed pieces, started it up and kept going.
I did find that for Africa, simpler is better - we did run into some guys on big Beemers (not the 650 Dakkar), who had run into some trouble, and were fairly stuck, waiting to be bailed from South Africa. There is, however a lot of BMW 650 Dakkar parts and support in Africa.

My advice would be to ride all three of the bikes on your list - you really can't go wrong with any of them.
Many happy miles!!

This sounds amazing, do you by any chance have a write up about your trip?

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[Diakonos]

Hi freerider
No, no write-up. This was about 13 years ago, just after I finished varsity. It was a mission trip - we would ride a stretch, get to somewhere and then stay there anything from a few days to a few weeks, and help out where we could. We would then get new contacts from our church back home, and hit the road to the next place. We also needed to work from time to time in between to get funding, so it wasn't all that glamorous. It was definitely nothing Ewan McGregor-like or anything, but we did get to ride quite a lot. We did take some pictures here and there, but I would have to sit down with a map for a week to figure out where we had gone - so long ago.

If I had to do it again I would go smaller (lighter). I would opt for a Versys 300 or a Honda XL250 or the like. It wasn't often that we could blast away at highway speeds, and pushing/dragging/throwing/lugging/sweating/crying/bleeding/swearing a big KLR through sand/mud/bush/mountains/wetlands is a lot harder than perhaps an XL250...