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@jambon the guy who punishes me on green lanes has a 350 exc-f, but with a few modifications.
It’s his dirt-muppet machine and I don’t think he uses it on the road if he can help it. From what I’ve seen, it’ll move but looks super uncomfortable for road miles. Definitely a trail-destroyer though. He does road miles as well, but also spends as much time rebuilding it as riding it. More suited to aggressive rides followed by rebuild. I believe service intervals are very short, so you’d not cover much distance before getting annoyed.
Saw only one guy with a WR250 last year, and he was too busy playing Su Doku in the shade than actually riding it.
Dad bought a new 2020 CRF250L back in October and has done little more than a few road miles, and dropping it when parking (failing to lift his leg high enough to clear seat, losing balance).
The one single green lane I got him onto it had no trouble at all, but it was just a bit of mud and gravel and a few potholes. Probably very capable if driven in anger. Seems there is a big following for them as a dual sport, even Mundo Enduro himself uses them these days.
I tried it around the car park a couple of times when adjusting clutch cable, testing setup etc. Definitely wouldn’t swap my DR350 for one. However, I didn’t get to pin it down the road to try. The Rally version looked way more my cup of tea anyway.
I believe the 2021’s (if buying new) will be better suited as they’re 300’s now with some tweaks to power delivery.
Dad has barely been out, and hasn’t the mentality to give it a squirt and see what happens, but it ticks over happily at A-road speeds. You won’t be able to overtake anyone and it will feel very underpowered compared to everything.
If dad loses interest in time, and I must inherit the CRF250L, I’m sure my opinion would change.
Honestly if I was doing mostly mud, and hard, I’d suffer the service intervals (and insane parts costs) on the KTM. If I was looking to be mellow the CRF.
You know the answer is the DR350 was that bike. I think the Beta Alp was the nearest neighbour until recent years (using the Suzuki engine). I’ve hit maybe 85 or so on the DR, but it needs some stretch of road to get there. Cruising at 70 on the motorway required a fair amount of throttle control, mostly I was going more than or less than.
The KTM will go fastest and lightest, but you know that already.
pdlouche-
That's super useful, thanks a lot. I've recently come around to the idea that motorbikes don't have to be so serious and dare I say it powerful. I like the idea of having fun at lower speeds exploring green lanes on a lightweight machine you don't mind dropping.
Everything I've read online seems to say using an enduro bike on the road will be annoying, so get something that can predominantly handle road riding with occasional bumpy stuff as opposed to the other way around. If you live in the middle of a national park, or have a van to transport your enduro bike then maybe that's another matter.
If I bought anything it would most definitely be used and cheap, personally new would defeat the point of being okay dropping it. This video is partly responsible
jambon
Does anyone know if using a Yamaha WR250F or KTM 250/350 EXC-F as a dual sport would be utter misery on the road? The Honda CRF250L seems like the sensible choice but looks pretty pedestrian. I know dual sports are a compromise, but does a lightweight (100kg-ish) bike that can sit at 70mph exist?