KLX250S or CRF250L

webfors · Apr 20, 2015

Thoughts on these two bikes? I'm looking for a second bike... I wouldn't dream of selling my SFV650

I'm considering a bike to head up north with, back road riding, and to pull on camp trips. I'm not against going second hand but the displacement has to be reasonable for insurance reasons.

skyactiv · Apr 20, 2015

My wife wants a bike and I've researched these bikes along with the Yamaha WR250R and a few others. Between the two you have listed, I'd get the Kawasaki and re-jet it so it runs good. The Honda is good but it's 22 pounds plus heavier and has no suspension adjustments other than the rear preload. The Honda has fuel injection and runs good I'm sure. For the same weight as the Honda a Suzuki DRZ400S is a good buy and good used examples can be often found cheap. They have been around a long time and have lots of aftermarket accessories to choose from. My wife has long legs and I will probably get her the Yamaha.

aquariuscsm · Apr 20, 2015

With motorcycles I always prefer Honda.

webfors · Apr 20, 2015

Originally Posted By: skyactiv

My wife wants a bike and I've researched these bikes along with the Yamaha WR250R and a few others. Between the two you have listed, I'd get the Kawasaki and re-jet it so it runs good. The Honda is good but it's 22 pounds plus heavier and has no suspension adjustments other than the rear preload. The Honda has fuel injection and runs good I'm sure. For the same weight as the Honda a Suzuki DRZ400S is a good buy and good used examples can be often found cheap. They have been around a long time and have lots of aftermarket accessories to choose from. My wife has long legs and I will probably get her the Yamaha.

At a solid 200 pounds the Suzuki would have a benefit, but I'm much too short for the 36.8 inch seat height unless there's a kit to drop it 2-3 inches. Haven't even look at the yamaha. Thanks for the suggestion.

skyactiv · Apr 20, 2015

Yamaha also makes the XT250 which has a low seat height for a dual-sport. It's pricy for what you get but is probably the best choice for a camping bike if you don't wanna ride like you stole it. Consumers Reports actually rated overall motorcycle brands for reliability in the 2015 annual auto issue. Yamaha came out as number 1, but all four Japanese brands scored well.

webfors · Apr 20, 2015

The tw200 is interesting... can't believe the mods of this bike online. The seat height on the xt is exactly what I need. Wish they had the liquid cool WR engine in that bike. Do we know the power difference between the two off hand?

Jarlaxle · Apr 20, 2015

What about a CSC Cyclone 250?

webfors · Apr 20, 2015

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle

What about a CSC Cyclone 250?

Interesting bike! I'll have to investigate.

Mackelroy · Apr 20, 2015

Originally Posted By: webfors

Originally Posted By: skyactiv

My wife wants a bike and I've researched these bikes along with the Yamaha WR250R and a few others. Between the two you have listed, I'd get the Kawasaki and re-jet it so it runs good. The Honda is good but it's 22 pounds plus heavier and has no suspension adjustments other than the rear preload. The Honda has fuel injection and runs good I'm sure. For the same weight as the Honda a Suzuki DRZ400S is a good buy and good used examples can be often found cheap. They have been around a long time and have lots of aftermarket accessories to choose from. My wife has long legs and I will probably get her the Yamaha.

At a solid 200 pounds the Suzuki would have a benefit, but I'm much too short for the 36.8 inch seat height unless there's a kit to drop it 2-3 inches. Haven't even look at the yamaha. Thanks for the suggestion.

the Yamaha is taller than drz, the drz is much more bike than the Honda or kaw, suspension and motor wise. Really if you going to be competing with traffic at freeway speeds, DRZ is about minimum I'd look at.

hansj3 · Apr 20, 2015

There is a special place for my klr 250. At 300 lbs it wasable to pull my fat rear around at over highway speed. And built like a tank it is!

sunruh · Apr 21, 2015

the crf has EFI, has the klx caught up to that yet? the yamaha wr250l also has EFI

adolan21 · Apr 21, 2015

I have a CRF250L and I've been pretty happy with it (it's my first bike so I didn't have anything to compare it to). I cross shopped the DRZ, the KLX, and the WR, and the CRF250L won due to being fuel injected and $4,999. The WR250R is a really nice bike with the best motor and suspension out of the bunch. But for me it's too much money $6,690 msrp. Since this is my first bike and will be trading up soon, having a better motor and suspension isn't a real selling point for me personally versus having a lower msrp. I think if you do a lot of off roading and plan on keeping it for a while, the WR250R is the better choice. If you do very light off roading (I do 80% road 20% off road), then the CRF250L is a good choice.

webfors · Apr 21, 2015

Originally Posted By: adolan21

I have a CRF250L and I've been pretty happy with it (it's my first bike so I didn't have anything to compare it to). I cross shopped the DRZ, the KLX, and the WR, and the CRF250L won due to being fuel injected and $4,999. The WR250R is a really nice bike with the best motor and suspension out of the bunch. But for me it's too much money $6,690 msrp. Since this is my first bike and will be trading up soon, having a better motor and suspension isn't a real selling point for me personally versus having a lower msrp. I think if you do a lot of off roading and plan on keeping it for a while, the WR250R is the better choice. If you do very light off roading (I do 80% road 20% off road), then the CRF250L is a good choice.

I think it would be more appropriate to compare to the yamaha XT250, since it's in the same price range as the Honda and Kawasaki. Thoughts?

sunruh · Apr 21, 2015

the xt250 is very comparable to a bike from the 70s when they were not liquid cooled. end of discussion

IndyIan · Apr 21, 2015

If you don't have to deal with highway speeds and traffic, a mild 250cc air cooled bike is fine. It will be happy doing 80km/h for as long as you want to. I wouldn't want to ride it at 100km/h for an hour though, it will do it but it won't be fun. My buddy likes his DR350 as its air cooled, but has more power without much extra weight over a 250. He's geared it taller for the road as the trails he goes on are fairly fast anyways.

webfors · Apr 21, 2015

Originally Posted By: IndyIan

If you don't have to deal with highway speeds and traffic, a mild 250cc air cooled bike is fine. It will be happy doing 80km/h for as long as you want to. I wouldn't want to ride it at 100km/h for an hour though, it will do it but it won't be fun. My buddy likes his DR350 as its air cooled, but has more power without much extra weight over a 250. He's geared it taller for the road as the trails he goes on are fairly fast anyways.

What's the power specs between these three bikes? The manufacturer websites don't list them.

Cardenio327 · Apr 22, 2015

Originally Posted By: webfors

What's the power specs between these three bikes? The manufacturer websites don't list them.

Try foreign websites like UK or Australia for the HP ratings. US websites haven't listed the ratings for a few years now.

Spazdog · Apr 22, 2015

For the purposes listed? Save $1000 (and probably on insurance) and get a DR200SE or leftover CRF230L Yeah, they are slow but durable and easy to maintain. I've been kinda' wanting to do some easy trail riding on a Ruckus.

All the used Ruckuses are stretched and have golf cart wide rear tires

I can get a Piaggio Typhoon 125 for roughly the same as a new Ruckus.

webfors · Apr 23, 2015

Originally Posted By: Spazdog

For the purposes listed? Save $1000 (and probably on insurance) and get a DR200SE or leftover CRF230L Yeah, they are slow but durable and easy to maintain. I've been kinda' wanting to do some easy trail riding on a Ruckus.

All the used Ruckuses are stretched and have golf cart wide rear tires

I can get a Piaggio Typhoon 125 for roughly the same as a new Ruckus.

I've looked at the DR200SE, I'm just not sure it if will hall my heavy butt around well enough.

Spazdog · Apr 23, 2015

Originally Posted By: webfors

Originally Posted By: Spazdog

For the purposes listed? Save $1000 (and probably on insurance) and get a DR200SE or leftover CRF230L Yeah, they are slow but durable and easy to maintain. I've been kinda' wanting to do some easy trail riding on a Ruckus.

All the used Ruckuses are stretched and have golf cart wide rear tires

I can get a Piaggio Typhoon 125 for roughly the same as a new Ruckus.

I've looked at the DR200SE, I'm just not sure it if will hall my heavy butt around well enough.

I'm 6'3 200lbs. I had an XL185 for years. Off-road in lower gears it was fine. Full tuck on the freeway would indicate a bit over 75. (probably actually 65-ish). The problem wasn't the power though. It was what the rain grooves would do with universal trials tires from the '80s. Anything above 55mph on rain grooves was downright scary. My current ride has a 10" tire and it is much more stable in rain grooves at speed. That's how bad it was. I raced my XR200 cross-country. I did okay vs the 125 two-strokes. They were more powerful to be certain but I could ride the 200 at 10/10ths more, the powerband was more predictable (well, maybe I shouldn't use the word "power" when describing an XR200), and I was never left running on fumes at the end of a race.

KLX250S or CRF250L

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