How to rate a d/s bike

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KiLRoy

You said it, man. Nobody fucks with the Jesus!
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I've started with an article in which I rate and evaluate the d/s bikes in the 650 class. I'm doing it purely for fun but it can be use to help a potential buyer decide on which bike will fit him best.

Now I do realise that emotion plays a huge role in choosing a bike (and I do allow for this) but one also need so form of objective criteria for selection.

In short this is my reasoning thus far:

IMHO a d/s bike must be able to do all of the following three things (some bikes will do some of these things better than others, but a bike needs to score an acceptable score in all of these areas) - call them functions:

1. Able to handle off road terrain - more than smooth gravel but not necessarily mx and enduro kind of tracks
2. Street riding - must be able to ride the bike daily on tarmac - view this as its commuting capability
3. Touring capability - its ability to cover longer distances or run for a long period. Included in this is its ability to carry load

Now these areas can be further analysed ito suspension reach for say #1, seat comfort for #3 etc etc. One can then see that some bikes will score differently in each category eg The Suz V-Strom 650 will score high in 2 and 3 but low in 1 whereas the KTM 640 will score high in 1 but lower in 3. Bikes like the Dakar will score well in all 3 areas, but maybe not as well in 1 as the KTM etc etc

The above look at what the bike must be able to do and how well it fit these function. Next we must look at performance issues - how well do the bikes perform its functions:

1. Power
2. Torque
3. Weight
4. Economy
5. Handling
6. Reliability

Next comes Cost:
1. Price
2. Cost of ownership

Then a bunch of other stuff like:
1. Looks
2. Functions - abs, heated grips, decent lights, etc
3. Repairability - since we ride in far off place we need to be able to do basic repairs

What i intent to do is to build some form of model where given a potential buyer's stated intended use for the bike, he can derive at some more objective pointers regarding a suitable bike. The bikes can also be objectively evaluated against each other ito the right criteria as well as a suitable set of measuring techniques.

Your opinions?
Hein

PS the contenders are:
KTM 640
Honda XLV
Suz V-Strom
KLR 650
Dakar
GS 650
Yam XT 660

any others - i'm taking about current production bikes
 
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