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Recommend me a small/mid sized Fuel injected adventure bike.... Recommend me a small/mid sized Fuel injected adventure bike....
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Which Bike? Comments and Questions on what is the best bike for YOU, for YOUR trip. Note that we believe that ANY bike will do, so please remember that it's all down to PERSONAL OPINION. Technical Questions for all brands go in their own forum.
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  #1  
Old 19 Oct 2016
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Recommend me a small/mid sized Fuel injected adventure bike....
Hi. Im hopefully heading off to south america in a year or so and am starting to think 'what bike?' All my current bikes are what most people call 'old' and are carb fuelled. I quite fancy the idea of a FI bike to make the altitude changes easier. I was considering ccm gp450 or Ktm 690 but money may be a sticking point. So basically im looking for an off road biased adventure bike (cheaper than the above), Between 400cc and approx 600cc, lightweight (less than 175kg) and FI. Im happy to modify stuff, fitting tanks/ crashbars etc. Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Karl.
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  #2  
Old 19 Oct 2016
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How tall are you? KLX450R?
Ride safe, and enjoy the planning stage,
Simon.
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  #3  
Old 19 Oct 2016
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Sorry, scratch that. I think the 450's still on a carb. It's the 250 that's efi, and actually very effective torquewise, but not very exciting as the revs rise.
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  #4  
Old 20 Oct 2016
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Buy one out there - saves shipping costs. And you'll know that parts are available.
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  #5  
Old 21 Oct 2016
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At the moment the two main options are the 690/701 and WR250R, but KTM is rumoured to be releasing an 800 Adventure in November so keep your eyes peeled for that.
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Old 21 Oct 2016
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How about playing with a big bore DRZ and megasquirt FI? You've got a year to get it running right! Sadly, as the previous post suggests, there're not a lot of options at this size hence why the CCM generated such a lot of interest. Wait for CCM to sell their next batch of demo bikes?
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Old 21 Oct 2016
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tea View Post
At the moment the two main options are the 690/701 and WR250R, but KTM is rumoured to be releasing an 800 Adventure in November so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Whilst we may hear some news on the expected KTM 800 twin motor at EICMA next month (and may even see a 'concept' Duke 800 with the motor in) I don't expect we will see an 800 Adventure until 2018 model year at the earliest. And then it will be another year before you can get all the necessary 'Adventure' kit for it and all the year one bugs are ironed out.

A 690 would be a pretty good solution - ideally a used 'Adventure ready' one with sumpguard, luggage, big tank, decent seat and all the other bits fitted, just like the one I may have for sale in a few weeks ..........................
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Old 21 Oct 2016
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There really is not much in the 400 - 600 range with FI and under 175kg as the guys have said, how long are you intending to spend in South America, do you intent to ride it off road much or just on sealed and easy hard packed gravel roads - and what are your plans for the bike afterwards?

I ask this as if you are planning to spend a long time there, then shipping your own bike is not so bad cost effectively, but if its only for a few months then I would rent one - and as mentioned the cheapest way would be to buy one there locally and sell it after your trip.

maybe something like this:

Honda Chile

A Honda CB500X ticks all of the boxes apart from being over 175kg, or if you don't mind a smaller bike a locally bought CRF250L would be a good buy.
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Old 22 Oct 2016
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These seem to be getting decent reviews. Many will say Chinese bikes are rubbish but I'm not so sure. They said that about Japanese bikes too not so long ago

THE NEW TRAIL 400 - 400cc TRIALS BIKE FROM WK
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  #10  
Old 11 Nov 2016
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As many have said there really aren't many options that fulfill those requirements.

I think the closest bike would be the CB500X with the Rally Raid kit that gives it an off road edge. Rally Raid offers 3 different upgrade 'levels' depending on your needs. You can try to find a used CB500X to bring the cost down.

A used F650GS Dakar version could be another good option too.
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  #11  
Old 9 Feb 2017
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why not 250?
Quote:
Originally Posted by mavis cruet View Post
Hi. Im hopefully heading off to south america in a year or so and am starting to think 'what bike?' All my current bikes are what most people call 'old' and are carb fuelled. I quite fancy the idea of a FI bike to make the altitude changes easier. I was considering ccm gp450 or Ktm 690 but money may be a sticking point. So basically im looking for an off road biased adventure bike (cheaper than the above), Between 400cc and approx 600cc, lightweight (less than 175kg) and FI. Im happy to modify stuff, fitting tanks/ crashbars etc. Any thoughts?
Cheers,
Karl.
If I were you I would choose lighter bike such as WR250R because it:
-is more enjoyable off-road
-is safer off-road
-will allow you to go places you would not consider on heavier bike
-is economical, therefore with a bigger tank it is a longe-range weapon
-has proven reliability.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjebEnWlG2M
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  #12  
Old 10 Feb 2017
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomek View Post
If I were you I would choose lighter bike such as WR250R because it:

-has proven reliability.
not anymore, with recent stator or engine failures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hXFdCF4l7s

WR250R engine failure; or, the THNGVB noise | Adventure Rider
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Old 10 Feb 2017
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That stator has a recall on it. At least mine did. Dunno about the engine noise thing. Don't have time to look into it now, but these bikes have been going for a fair few years now with a lot of km's put on them. This doesn't look like a common issue to me having never heard of it before.
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