wjn
Race Dog
So I have had enough of big adventure bikes for now, my time has become limited and the order of the day is short trips for the most part 1/2 nighters, agoiding the highway as much as possible. If I need to go further afield I will be combining family camping trips with biking to maximise on my time.
To this end I was eyeing a DRZ but happened upon this 525 for similar money.
https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=250005.0
Bike was sold a while back and now back on the market. Its on 135 hours now, since the rebuild. As far as I understand the engine wasn’t opened so the hours on the engine is an unknown. So I have come to the forum for some wisdom.
1. Should I be wary of the bike in light of its age and unknown hours on the engine, or am I being paranoid? I have read alot about the RFS engines being very reliable.
2. Will parts availability be/become a problem due to its age? I have no experience with KTM backup on the older models.
3. Should I be planning for some major engine work to be done as a matter of course (top end), or what clchecks can be done to determine that that would be coming in future?
I understand these bikes have a rather short maintenance interval, but thats fine as I will likely not do trips in the near future to make that an issue. The newer 500s seem to be scare and pricey for something I would only be using as a toy and maybe 5-6 trips/year.
To this end I was eyeing a DRZ but happened upon this 525 for similar money.
https://wilddog.net.za/forum/index.php?topic=250005.0
Bike was sold a while back and now back on the market. Its on 135 hours now, since the rebuild. As far as I understand the engine wasn’t opened so the hours on the engine is an unknown. So I have come to the forum for some wisdom.
1. Should I be wary of the bike in light of its age and unknown hours on the engine, or am I being paranoid? I have read alot about the RFS engines being very reliable.
2. Will parts availability be/become a problem due to its age? I have no experience with KTM backup on the older models.
3. Should I be planning for some major engine work to be done as a matter of course (top end), or what clchecks can be done to determine that that would be coming in future?
I understand these bikes have a rather short maintenance interval, but thats fine as I will likely not do trips in the near future to make that an issue. The newer 500s seem to be scare and pricey for something I would only be using as a toy and maybe 5-6 trips/year.
