What do you guys think? Or would you go full ADV style instead if there is any highway driving involved? I live in Austin TX so it's would be super nice to be able to ride anywhere considering it's TX some roads have high speed limits. Thanks.
I recently posted about getting my gal a new to her 05' Yamaha XT225. She loves the bike and was really excited to ride it. I cautioned her that we should ride around the neighborhood to get a feel for the bike, and get knobby tires before hitting trails. Her response was "that sounds fkn boring". Fast forward a few hours and she takes a spill on trail due to the tires. I knew it was going to happen from experience, I can't tell you how many times I've crashed a new bike on trail. Thankfully it wasn't serious and we continued to ride the rest of the day. Getting some knobbies for her tomorrow. Crashing is a part of riding and a right of passage when riding a new bike. I'm thankful I was recording and didnt need to use my first aid kit. I know for us guys we get a kick out of being right since we're "wrong" so often lol. I couldn't rub it in though.
I'm from Florida but I trailered my KLR out to California to ride with one of my close friends. What an awesome ride in those mountains May 2025. The KLR is quite the pack mule right?
First bike for me and my buddy says that 4k is too much but from what I’ve read it’s not totally unreasonable. Idk I’d like to hear some input from people who have the bikes.
Should’ve mentioned the bike has a little less than 8k miles, original owner, it’s 2001, it has new tires, breaks, tensioners, sliders, led hesflight, and clean carb and fresh oil.
Very stock oem restored on the outside. Underneath: 237cc big bore, high compression forged JE piston. Big cam and springs. Mikuni TM33. Supertrapp exhaust. Racetech GVEs and springs upfront, Hagon rear shock. OEM oil cooler retrofit. KX85 front caliper. New gold Excels.
After 5 years of motorized 2 wheel riding and 9 years of manual 2 wheeled riding-bike/cycling, i finally have MY own first motorcycle. I picked up this 2015 CRF250L with 2100miles for 3,350$. the headlight has a weird wiring gremlin but that was a good discount chance. I’ve been riding and power creep modifying my 2 stroke scooter for the last 5 years to the point it’s a rocket that has a starting procedure. I love my zuma. I’ll forever own some part of the bike, for some sentimental value but it doesnt get out much… I’ve also spent some time in the vintage moped scene and met a lot of fun people in the small engine world. I’m excited and happy to meet a new type of rider. I’m most excited about less headaches and things to worry/check on while riding. It’s a liquid cooled, 6 speed with fuel injection and *electric start*. A HUGE leap in worry free riding from a high strung 2 stroke. Here we just plug it up, turn key, push button- start!
Finally joined the T7 family. The 2026 Sky Blue really is a beautiful machine in person. Can’t wait to see where it takes me!!
I grew up riding dirt bikes, but this will be my first technically street legal bike. I have a 10 mile commute to work, no highways, max speed 50mph. But I also live an hour away from the blue ridge mountains (20 mile or so on highway or I can take hairpin backroads) so I’d like to have the ability to pack it up and go camping or fly fishing. No cross country stuff, and no hardcore off roading outside of mountain/forest roads.
I really like the TW200 but I feel I might be underpowered on uphill roads. KLR seems like a popular recommendation. Like the DR but feel like I should get something FI. KTM 390 adventure looks awesome and is also something that looks like it might fit the bill.
NOTE: I want to be honest right up front. I built this for myself, it worked way better than I expected, so I spent the last 6 months building it solo and I need beta testers. Also, it uses AI. Some people will not like that, and that is fair
Why I built it:
I love motorcycling and have been riding since I was 4. I'm 40 now. I used to rely on my dad's memory for which roads to take when I was a kid, and now that I'm an adult I don't really have many of my own. I've moved around a lot too, which doesn't help, because every new area means digging through forums just to start. I always find myself looking for that “holy grail” twisty dirt road and I keep ending up on the same old thing. I wanted a way to easily find new and fun routes, so I made TrackScout.netWhat it does:
You tell it something like "3 days through southern Utah, mostly dirt, fuel every 100 miles" and it plans the route, sticks it on a map, and hands you a GPX file. The routing actually respects dirt and gravel instead of trying to dump you on the interstate. Fuel and lodging get marked along the way.
TrackScout Free Beta:
You can sign up for this free open beta on the site (TrackScout.net). I’m humbly requesting your feedback (feel free to comment on this post). Please let me know if there’s anything you like, don’t like, or wish was different. I can fix the issues very quickly.
Eventually there will be paid subscriptions to cover costs and make a small profit, but I plan to offer some kind of reward for beta testers at launch. I haven't decided what yet.
All that said, I want to keep it affordable. I am a rider too and I get it.
Thanks!
Alex
I’m a pretty wacky dude. I’m durable as fuck, I don’t mind premixing and replacing a top end every 300hrs, and I love old 2 smokers. Rode a 250mxc and a yz125 for like 69000 years. I found a super cool older plated 2 stroke for a decent price, and I’m tempted to jump on it.
But I’m looking at commuting anywhere from 10-30 miles every day for the next 69000 years and beyond. Mixed freeway and canyon, fire roads if I’m feeling spicy.
Does anyone who’s commuted on what is basically a 2 stroke enduro bike have any warnings or praises?
I’m wondering if anyone here has an opinion on which of these bikes would make a better light ADV bike. Love the T7 for long days on tarmac and fire roads, but it’s way too heavy for more technical sections. Keep in mind, I live and ride in Peru. A country where you can ride in the desert at sea level in the morning and can be at 14,000 feet in the Andes mountains. The dessert trails are about an hour ride from homeI usually do have to ride a couple of hours (at least) to get to the fun stuff in the mountains and usually take light camping gear. Also planing on taking longer rides to the Amazon jungle. Any advice would be appreciated.
Still very new to riding but have gotten very comfortable on the 230. But I think i would feel a little safer if i could get up to speed a little faster and have a slightly higher top speed so dick heads will stop riding my ass when im pinned at 70 and they wanna go 80 lol. Ive been looking at the 25’ DRZ4s can anyone tell me how their experience has been riding it and if you think it makes logical sense to upgrade from the 230 to the drz4s? Or if you know of another option lemme know. Thanks.
I just got a CRF300L. I would appreciate it if you all could recommend me solid and affordable riding gear. I plan to use this bike for everything, on and off road.
I have a Bell MX9 mips helmet (white)
Alpinestars SMX-2 Air Carbon V2 Gloves (black)
I am looking for:
Jacket- armored and breathable (prefer gray or olive)
Pants- can put pads underneath (prefer black)
Knee pads (easy take off)
Elbow pads (easy take off)
Boots- ankle protection for if the bike falls on me (prefer black)
What would you recommend and what do you wear?
Traveling are much more fun in a small bike. You can crash and laugh about it.
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.
Obviously it's about cornering / fast turns on gravel. When applying slight or more rear brake meanwhile still using throttle more or less "glues" the bike to ground and increases the stability a lot. Do you use this technique and why it works so well?