A delicious dilemma

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LanceSA

Race Dog
Joined
Feb 2, 2007
Messages
1,930
Reaction score
0
Location
East London
Bike
KTM 690 Adventure
So yesterday, out of the blue a guy phones me and says ' Do you want to sell your Gas Gas 300?'
Well I have been toying with the idea. I doubt I am going to ride any more enduros. I rode the poor bike twice last year. This year a bit more but really it is playing second fiddle to the 990 and my adventure rides. I want a lighter 'hard adventure' type bike than the 990 but the 2-smoke isn't it.
Anyway he came, he looked and he did an internet transfer then and there and left with the bike. Checked - money in the account!
Right so what to buy? I want a four stroke, street legal bike able to do longish trips but still capable in the rough stuff. A good example would be a Transkei trip along the coast or the trip we did in Mozambique earlier this year - lots of sand riding where the 990 was good but just too heavy. Additionally I would like to commute on the bike around town. If I could do a little bit of light enduro work too that would be a bonus.

Soooooo these are the bikes I've been thinking of:
Suzuki Drz 400: cheap, reliable, many mods available, great off road, could even be raced at a push but certainly riden on an enduro loop (had one before and raced it for 2 years). I saw some ot the WD EC bash that had come from a long way away so I know they can be ridden as a touring bike but I'm not sure how comfortable that would be and also if they can maintain 120km/h for an extended time.
Ktm 525/530: have seen a thread where they turn this into a decent ds bike: https://dsadventures.com/ds525 It would certainly meet my objectives.
Bmw X-challenge: There was one on our Moz trip and it really impressed me. Don't think it could do the enduro loops that well, getting a bit heavy but would meet the other criteria and they seem to be really cheap (relatively) second hand with lots of farkles coming out for them.
Ktm 625 scx: Don't know a lot about this bike but what I have heard is all good. In the same mold as the X-challenge I would think.

The Ktm 690 enduro would probably be my dream bike but I have a budget of about R 50k so beyond my means.
I went looking on Auto Trader and there seems to be quite a lot of bikes to be had at that price. Does anyone know what the Ktm 560 smr is? One on Auto Trader, 2007 model for R 44 900!!!

So there you have it. I would love to hear from Dawgs that have owned some of these bikes. Good points, bad points etc.
 
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