Discussion
I am currently in the process of getting my license. I'm 35 so not your typical new bike rider.
The problem I have is I am unsure which direction to go, Dirt (green lane) or Road bike.
The two bikes I am currently looking at are the Yamaha XSR700 and the Honda CRF300L. I will only be riding for pleasure, not commuting, and am surrounded by great roads and loads of green lanes with Salisbury Plains about 20 mins away.
With your experience riding in the UK (UK weather, UK roads etc), do you think I will get more use / more enjoyment out of an off road focused low power bike or a road focused mid range bike?
I understand this may be a personal preference question, I'm just interested to hear everyone's thoughts.
Thanks
The problem I have is I am unsure which direction to go, Dirt (green lane) or Road bike.
The two bikes I am currently looking at are the Yamaha XSR700 and the Honda CRF300L. I will only be riding for pleasure, not commuting, and am surrounded by great roads and loads of green lanes with Salisbury Plains about 20 mins away.
With your experience riding in the UK (UK weather, UK roads etc), do you think I will get more use / more enjoyment out of an off road focused low power bike or a road focused mid range bike?
I understand this may be a personal preference question, I'm just interested to hear everyone's thoughts.
Thanks
"I'm 35 so not your typical new bike rider" Oh I think you'll find you are very typical.
Good advice above and as long as you buy used you probably won't lose much if anything.
Like many I grew up riding off road. Nothing serious, just tearing around fields on wrecked old crossers. I got my license (at 39) because I wanted to spend some quality time with my dad who is in to classic and vintage bikes. I've never been interested in sports bikes and during the course of getting my license I discovered that I didn't really enjoy riding on the road (I think I even started a thread here about chucking it half way through). However, I have rediscovered off road riding and I LOVE it. Having a license means I can ride road sections to various trails even if my bike (Beta 300RR) isn't very civilised on road.
I've also ended up with an old BMW R80 RT butchered to cafe racer for classic runs with the old man... you'll probably end up with more than one bike eventually anyway. I think most of us do.
Good advice above and as long as you buy used you probably won't lose much if anything.
Like many I grew up riding off road. Nothing serious, just tearing around fields on wrecked old crossers. I got my license (at 39) because I wanted to spend some quality time with my dad who is in to classic and vintage bikes. I've never been interested in sports bikes and during the course of getting my license I discovered that I didn't really enjoy riding on the road (I think I even started a thread here about chucking it half way through). However, I have rediscovered off road riding and I LOVE it. Having a license means I can ride road sections to various trails even if my bike (Beta 300RR) isn't very civilised on road.
I've also ended up with an old BMW R80 RT butchered to cafe racer for classic runs with the old man... you'll probably end up with more than one bike eventually anyway. I think most of us do.
I doubt you would want to take the XSR off-road at all, so if you plan on doing any off-roading, get the CRF300L.
I had the CRF250L for 3 years as my first dual sport, and it's an absolute hoot. With decent tyres it can do almost everything, although a suspension upgrade wouldn't go amiss. But as a beginner, it's an amazing bike. Not great on the motorway, but great for commuting, and very capable both on and off road. I highly recommend it.
If you are only doing on-road, and want to go fast, get the XSR. I actually had the MT-09 and the CRF at the same time. Personally I have more fun off-road.
I had the CRF250L for 3 years as my first dual sport, and it's an absolute hoot. With decent tyres it can do almost everything, although a suspension upgrade wouldn't go amiss. But as a beginner, it's an amazing bike. Not great on the motorway, but great for commuting, and very capable both on and off road. I highly recommend it.
If you are only doing on-road, and want to go fast, get the XSR. I actually had the MT-09 and the CRF at the same time. Personally I have more fun off-road.
Buy a cheap 600 road bike like a cbr600 and then the rest on a dirt bike, see what you like and then upgrade.
A dirt bike like the CRf will be pretty quick but you do need to try a proper road bike on road tyres to get the experience having done both. I have a GSXR600 and it is an amazing road experience.
A dirt bike like the CRf will be pretty quick but you do need to try a proper road bike on road tyres to get the experience having done both. I have a GSXR600 and it is an amazing road experience.
I really appreciate everyone's feedback.
My maximum budget is £5k so I am limited to which bike, also as a new rider I need to take into account insurance costs.
I love the thought of a Saturday morning ride out to a coffee shop in great weather on the road with an XSR, but I hate the thought of it sitting in the garage because the weather is too rubbish to enjoy it.
I love the thought of the freedom a dual sport will give me in any weather conditions, but worry the lack of power will frustrate me.
I also want to take into account service intervals (which I believe the CRF is great at 8k miles) and tinkerability.
I apologise for my lack of decisiveness, I just don't want to make a big purchase and regret it and I don't have biker friends to get their experienced opinions.
I will look into the other bikes mentioned. Thanks again.
My maximum budget is £5k so I am limited to which bike, also as a new rider I need to take into account insurance costs.
I love the thought of a Saturday morning ride out to a coffee shop in great weather on the road with an XSR, but I hate the thought of it sitting in the garage because the weather is too rubbish to enjoy it.
I love the thought of the freedom a dual sport will give me in any weather conditions, but worry the lack of power will frustrate me.
I also want to take into account service intervals (which I believe the CRF is great at 8k miles) and tinkerability.
I apologise for my lack of decisiveness, I just don't want to make a big purchase and regret it and I don't have biker friends to get their experienced opinions.
I will look into the other bikes mentioned. Thanks again.
I reckon you'll struggle to make the wrong decision here, given there's so much to learn and enjoy in both directions.
For my part I didn't even consider off road until 14 years in and getting fed up of gravel tracks stressing me out. Then I went on one of the BMW Offroad Skills courses, then went to Portugal with them for a week this February, and then bought a CRF250 Rally
. I still enjoy road riding on my big bike, but I'm loving the new challenge.
An important thing to remember is - generally - no bike is for ever, so you can get whichever, have a play, learn, then try something else.
Have you bought hat and boots etc yet? Whilst there's some overlap in kit, there's stuff like proper boots for trail riding that you won't really want with a road bike.
For my part I didn't even consider off road until 14 years in and getting fed up of gravel tracks stressing me out. Then I went on one of the BMW Offroad Skills courses, then went to Portugal with them for a week this February, and then bought a CRF250 Rally
. I still enjoy road riding on my big bike, but I'm loving the new challenge.An important thing to remember is - generally - no bike is for ever, so you can get whichever, have a play, learn, then try something else.
Have you bought hat and boots etc yet? Whilst there's some overlap in kit, there's stuff like proper boots for trail riding that you won't really want with a road bike.
Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff