Posted: 8/5/2010 3:11:55 PM EDT
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1996 suzuki dr350 low miles, excellent condition $1500bux give or take 1997 Suzuki DR650SE, only 4600 original mile $2000 OBO. Both bikes on Craigslist, both have posted a few times and lowered price. Both look very good from the pics. The DR650 will be able to travel better on interstate, but be heavier on the dirt. would be a good urban bike, lower COG and would have decent power. The DR350 will be okay on the interstate but handle off roading better. its a taller bike and not sure how it would do in urban city driving. |
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hmm, id say mostly city pavement with some beach/sand riding and a couple 100mile one way trips (maybe)
The other thing is I want to be able to put it on the back of my Blazer. Here is how I carried my DR200, it didnt have enuff power for me, so I sold it. So weight is a concern. the 350 is in the 280 range, the 650 is in the 330-340 range. Neither one lightweights for sure. Another option is a KLR 250, but dont know if that would be powerful enuff. So as you can see I need to find a balance of powerful bike, lightweight, with decent range and decent power. 
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My brother had a DR350 while I had a Honda XR650L, which is fairly similar to the DR650 only not as tall. We both ran knobbies on these bikes and rode very little pavement, lots of "fire roads" and some single and double track off roading.
The 350 was a nice bike, but once you had ridden the 650 you didn't want to mess with the 350 any more. If you plan to ride much pavement at all, there is no way I'd choose the 350. |
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Quoted: Ok, thanks guys. I think the 650 will give me more options. I just dont like the weight of it, esp. when carrying it on the back of my truck, if I do. I carried my XRL on my hitch hauler, did just fine. The DR650 is a pig, but it's got great road manners and with some suspension work and aggressive tires it'll tractor you just fine on the trails. Just gotta get used to it. |
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Quoted:
Sounds like the 650 is more in line with what you want/need. And I think you've been hitting the crack pipe a bit hard if you actually believe a DR350 weighs 280lbs....... Brian Only going by what I read. http://www.bikez.com/motorcycles/suzuki_dr_350_se_1996.php http://motoprofi.com/motospecspictures/suzuki/dr_350_se-1999.htm I know those are dry weight, so I figure with gas and oil, ill add 15lbs -/+ The 650 is running dry weights of 360lbs or so http://www.suzukicycles.org/DR-series/DR650.shtml Not light by any means. lol |
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I really like the DR650. In my opinion, it's the best of the "old school" big bore dual sports. (in other words, street oriented)
I understand it's heavy. However, one can remove tons of weight from that bike. It takes some effort, but it can be done. The end result is a bike that is well under the 300 pound mark. For example, the older ones were kickstart only. They had some form of automatic compression release (that I suspect is still there, but am not 100% on that one). Removal of big battery, headlight, big taillight and bracket, muffler and startermotor, along with instrumentation and switchgear removal will significantly reduce the weight. A riding buddy equipped his DR650 with Acerbis lightweight parts and a trailtech speedo along with a lightweight aluminum muffler. His bike was much lighter than stock and an absolute pleasure to ride on the street. While being worlds better than stock in the dirt. Not bad at all off road, as long as you keep the suspension limitations in mind. No 90MPH whoops. |
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Quoted:
1996 suzuki dr350 low miles, excellent condition $1500bux give or take 1997 Suzuki DR650SE, only 4600 original mile $2000 OBO. Both bikes on Craigslist, both have posted a few times and lowered price. Both look very good from the pics. The DR650 will be able to travel better on interstate, but be heavier on the dirt. would be a good urban bike, lower COG and would have decent power. The DR350 will be okay on the interstate but handle off roading better. its a taller bike and not sure how it would do in urban city driving. You'll spend 95% of either bike's life on the road. Get the 650. Yes, the 350 will do freeway speeds all day long, but a 4 stroke thumper going down the freeway and buzzing your hands, nuts, and feet at high RPM ain't no fun. I have not ridden the 650, but I just have to know that it's better for daily living. Yeah, you can be hardcore and suffer with the 350's everyday living for a little better off road perfomance but the tradeoff isn't worth it. You can hustle a DR650 down a trail pretty damned fast..... You won't catch a CR250, but you don't need to if you are just trying to outrun Zombies... |