Mumbo, you really need to learn how to do quotes. So simple, hit the quote box and go from there. Makes reading your posts MUCH easier.

According to latest news from big OEM's, Women are now on the radar. Better late than never. But may be too late now ... OEM's are in a bit of a panic at this point ... plus, the Chinese are coming fast. :help smilie:
The Tide has shifted here in USA regards BIG ADV bikes. (mostly BMW GS's)
Many riders now going smaller, lighter. Older riders especially are now looking at smaller, lighter bikes if doing more off road.

I thought I was doing ? I deleted the end quote box when I was deleting some text on my earlier posts that cocked it up a bit I realised afterwards.

Yeah ..one more and I'll have fifty posts in seven & a half years...I suppose I should be an expert

Yea ... we're all experts here! Welcome aboard and hope you can post more. HUBB needs more activity and intelligent comments about bikes out there.

My vote is for a CRF450 Rally. Having ridden a hopped up CRF250 Rally prototype with improved suspension, it needs more power! Keeping it no more than another 10 pounds would be fantastic - a great off-road and travel bike.

Note that I'm a big fan of small bikes for off-road, but for a bike to do both off-road and travel well you either need a very light 250 with a powerful engine, or a lazier=longer-lasting 450, and I definitely vote for the 450 version.

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Ahaaa....!!!


Loving this thread cus it compounds my decision to build me a CRF500L and yes I have upgraded both ends of the suspension and will be increasing the fuel capacity.
Intended use of bike..?? Lots of off-roading and some overlanding/travel, i'll start a thread at some point.

any basic plan yet? Are you squeezing a 500 twin into the CRF250L chassis?
... or? I'm sure you've seen the build threads on ADV Rider on this? I've never seen one in person ... but if done right could be a GREAT bike. Hope you can
keep us dreamers updated on your progress.

Yes for sure but lets hope if they do bring out a CRF450 "Rally" it comes out in the form of a CRF450 "L" and stays cheap and cheerful with the long service intervals and reliability etc. There will be a wait for it though even if it does happen. Honda are now thinking of building a mid range Africa twin apparently, maybe a 650, although they say they are not working on it yet :

Honda Africa Twin 'little brother' on the way | MCN

That's something they would probably release before thinking of any 450 "Rally" I think....Maybe when or if they do build a 450 they could call it the CRF450 "Africa" and consider over landing as a design priority rather than "Rally replica" ? But it's doubtful, marketing men and stylists will have the final say probably...I love the "rally" styling but the bike many of us are looking for would also have the stuff people do after purchase when doing their "overlanding" conversions designed in. It's a thing many love doing and rightly so and it's amazing what some people achieve with their conversions but it can also be a pain when such things as a bigger or extra fuel tanks or whatever just aren't available or there are big compromises in fitting them such as using up airbox space etc. Nowadays there are also so many insurance implications when modifying from stock too and allsorts of regulations regarding fuel tanks in Europe. It's always going to be about cost though, or styling and competing with other manufactures on price, weight, performance etc. and it's a niche market. It's a bit unbelievable that some bikes come without even a stone guard on the radiator or oil cooler though, and even worse when (BMW) fitting one can affect warranty because of reduced cooling of the oil filter ! WTF? Intended use? Build it with one then! (I've got a BMW btw.). Some are having a good go though, there are some amazing bikes available. I'm looking for a change of bike in the not too distant future and at the moment (while we wait for Honda and their 450) I can't stop myself from having the Husky 701 Enduro at the top of my list. It's approx. 145kg dry (CRF250 Rally is 157kg "Kerb") 74hp good service intervals of 6000 miles, a 13ltr tank and good economy, the build quality looks good, its got a map for crappy fuel and it's well suspended with white power both ends. Yes the seat is apparently torture and a bigger tank would be really nice as it would be if some of the extra crash n bash protection was factory fitted but I think it's very nearly there. It's about £10,000 cheaper than a GS1200 ADV. and about £3000 more expensive than the CRF250L Rally. So pricing is not crazy I guess, it's crept up £300 for 2018 but hey.......Any thoughts ??
I've never owned a Husky or a KTM, Jap. stuff is hard to beat in some areas but I think Euro stuff has come a long way...hasn't it?

Good article! and MCN (IMO) have got to pretty much right.
Agree, Honda will most likely do smaller AT at some point ... When?

And hopefully a 450 Rally of some kind will appear as big brother to Made In Thailand CRF250L Rally. Why none of the big four have come out with a street legal, dual sport version of their 450 race bikes is a mystery to many.

GREAT Africa Twin sales means a smaller AT could, IMO, become a reality. Will Honda wait another year to see in sales continue strong? Which way they go anyone's guess. (500 twin? new 650 twin? 750 twin from current slug?)

IMO, Honda should take the 500, Hot Rod, increase HP, cut weight. But if they go with all new 650, would work too ... but likely would steal sales from the BIG Africa Twin. A lighter, cooler 500 could be the way. A 650 may still be too heavy, IMO. Weight is very expensive to get rid of.

Agree, KTM/Husky consortium doing really well. Much better reliability. That's why I bought a near new 2017 KTM Duke 690.

Didn't need it but deal too good to pass up! Way better than my first Duke ll 640 back in 2001. Fun tight back road hooligan bike.

KTM Duke ll from 2001

KTM are discounting Duke's but NOT the 350's or 690 dual sports or their Husky line of dual sport bikes. All super expensive here in USA. Maybe you get better deal in UK? I doubt it!

Those kits you linked to a few posts back are great ... but have you seen the prices? Add that to "on the road price" and it's quite a lot of money for a dirt/Travel/ADV bike that's likely to get beat up in a year of travel.

As some very experienced riders of many KTM's have said on other threads ... "a well set up DR650 can be about 85% as good as a new KTM 690 ... and is BETTER for fast highway riding."

It also costs almost nothing to maintain ... it's very hard to break. My own 60K mile, 10 year old DR650 proves this. 5 trips to Baja tip and back, plus lots more like rides out to Colorado, Utah and all round Nevada.

So, for travel ... IMO, it's hard to beat bikes like KLR, DR's, XR650L. Not fun enough? Only those who've never ridden a good one would say that!

But all that said, I love bikes and look forward to see the new ones coming.
BMW's new 850, KTM's new 700 and Yam's new T-7 all look promising ... especially the KTM.

I'm going smaller and currently have eyes on Yamaha WR250r ... but if Honda brought out a Rally 450 ... I'd be on board in a New York minute. I'd love riding the light Husky 350 or KTM 350. But fast is, for me, both are TOO TALL, too finicky and very expensive. Fact is, for travel you simply don't need a World Class capable Enduro bike. Some dirt ability is required but much depends what the rider seeks out.

KTM 690 Duke - 2017



DR650 in California Sierra ... thousands of miles of fire roads and trails.

chilling in the shade in Baja.