CRF450RL or XR650L ?
Hey everybody, I’ve got a supermoto CRF250L right now, and while I love the bike, I’m starting to outgrow it a bit. I’m 6’0 and around 200 pounds geared up, and sometimes it just feels kinda slow, especially on faster roads. I’m 19 and finally landed a better-paying job, so I can actually afford to upgrade now.
Right now I’m stuck between a CRF450RL and an XR650L.
Most of my riding is backroads, twisties, late night rides, and light off-road/trail stuff. I really care about acceleration, power, and overall fun. One of the biggest reasons I want to upgrade is because I want something that feels way more alive than the 250L.
But at the same time, I’d eventually love to do longer trips too. Stuff like Oregon, Baja, Vegas, camping, exploring trails/desert roads, etc. That’s what keeps pulling me toward the XR650L.
I’m mostly worried the 450RL might be annoying to live with long-term because of maintenance and highway riding.But I’m also worried I’ll get the XR650L and wish I got the faster/more modern 450 instead. My dad was a mechanic, so im not really that worried about maintenance, but still.
Anybody here ridden both or gone from a 250L to one of these? Which one did you end up preferring and why?
I fully intend to supermoto whichever bike I get, and I’d definitely be doing mods like a Seat Concepts seat, FMF exhaust, ECU/tune, and the usual upgrades.