NX 250, any tips??
 

Hi,
I would like to get some advice for the mini dominator nx 250. Would this be a good bike for travelling ( in its class 250/350s)? It is very light and quite powerfull. Has anyone got some experience? What about the tires. From what I heard, there is only to kinds of tires that can be used on that bike. Are they good enough for dirt tracks and sand. I guess they won´t do for dunes and deepsand and mud.
Is there any possibility for increasing the fuel capacity. Does the acerbistank for the nx 650 fit?
Thank you.
Also what would be another option in that class. I won´t be able to spend much money. 1000 - 1500 EUR.

Rene

Hey,

Maybe other bikes you could think of :Suz. DR 350,Yam TT 250,Yam XT 350,...
If you take an older one it gets cheaper but then you should check it completely.
Btw,I bought my XL600LM '87 for a 1000 Euro.Ok,I rebuilded it before i left but everything together it costed me a 1500 Euro.I'm in S-E-Asia and did a 45000 km and it still works fine.
If you're on your own,i still think one of the smaller ones would be great!Although it depends what you're planning to do and how many luggage you want to take.
Hope you find a nice bike!
Cheers,Bossit!

Don't know about the 250 but I had an NX125 which was amazingly reliable even though I did nothing in the way of servicing it. Vibes quite bad at 60mph though. I ended up buying a Dominator.

Hi Rene,

I also own an NX 250, but I don't have any offroad riding experience yet. It's true that you can only mount two different sets of tyres on the original wheels, and neither of them is good for any real mud digging, but I've been told that the Dunlop pair (which I have on right now) is fine for starters. What you can do, though, is put different wheels on your bike. Those of the XL350 will fit, you'll just have to deal with TÜV or DEKRA. Once you've done that, you'll have a wide variety of tyres to choose from.
As for the tank - no, the big Acerbis tank doesn't fit. I've been looking for a solution to that myself, but as of now, it looks like you'll have to find someone to custom-build one for you. Might be easier to take a spare can with you.

Drop me an email if you like, we don't live that far apart. Would be nice to hear if you've had any success in getting more info since June. http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

Anna

Hi ANNA,
thanx for your reply. that sounds like good news, because the tire thing was pretty much the only thing that kept me from buying one. Do you know that absolutely for sure, that the xl350 wheels will fit the nx250. I think tuev/dekra could be a problem that could be solved.
i am not to concerned about the bigger fuel tank, since fuel consumption is so low. i would just take a can.
please send me your email adress so we can get into contact. it doesn´t show in your profile.
ciao rene

Funnily enough, I have just bought one of these. http://fifai5.free.fr/Ebay/moto/index.html

I think it would be fine for overlanding. You are right not to worry about fuel capacity: there are fuel stations everywhere in the world where there is a road. If not, there is someone standing there waiting to sell you a gerrycan full of the stuff.

I don't see why the wheel/tyre choice would trouble you too much either. There are very few rides where trail tyres are a good choice. (Where are you heading?)

The drawback I see is the suspension. It is very soft and there is no preload adjustment. This is fine if you are light and you pack small and are staying on the road. Otherwise it may be an issue.

Hi Simon,
actually I am not too worried about the soft suspension. I would go pretty light, including me maybe 80 -90 Kg plus the bike of course. And I wouldn´t be riding tough either. I am just fascinated of the nx, as it uses very little fuel and is very light and supposed to be very reliable, more reliable than other 250´s - 350´s. maybe it would be a better idea to go for a dr 350 or klr250 or even an xt 350 but for some reason i think it has got to be the nx.
i hope you like your new little bike. tell us about it.
it is hard to find information about the little honda.
rene

[This message has been edited by doublefour (edited 25 January 2005).]

Some comparisons.

I spent a long time with a KLR250 and was very impressed with it. The (possible) drawback is the kick start only. It is better in the dirt than the NX250, and on the road about the same. It is generally tough where it counts, but let down by some very cheese-like minor components, particularly the switch gear. (Although mechanics complain that the engines are very difficult to work on).

The NX has fabulously strong bits on it. I am very impressed so far. The build quality is as good, if not better than my Transalp. I have an 87 model and it is sound as ever. I am guessing that they were constructed in Japan.

Both the NX and KLR will go pretty fast on the road. Suprisingly so. In my experience everyone I met with 600 and 650 singles cruised at 100km per hour, and complained that their bikes were unhappy beyond this speed. The 250s mentioned above will keep up at this pace no problem, return better fuel mileage and be generally easier to handle in poor countries.

I dont hear very good things about the XT350, but I have no experience of it. The DR350 on the other hand is a well proven machine for overlanding. I suspect it would be my first choice if I were going one-up. Depends on the route of course.

I have an 88 NX250 and have ridden it all over the US on and offroad, 12,000 miles worth. From tight eastern woods to wide open desert in Navada and Arizona. I also use it to prerun the coarses at the Best In The Desert races. Only mods I've mad are preload spacers in the fork with 20 weight oil, a Works rear shock and custom alum skid plate.
It even crusies at 75mph all day with no complaints. I use offroad tires, they are the same size as a CR80 bigwheel so there are lots of choices as far as offroad tires go.
Here is a trip report of my most recent trip, one of the stops was Pikes Peak in -20 degree temps. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...ghlight=parker

------------------
Jeff Stoess
Factory ATK
GNCC #17
www.quadshopatv.com

[This message has been edited by Jeff@TheQuadShop (edited 29 January 2005).]