Keep the Wee or get a Transalp?

[Stephen PaulineMember]

I currently own an 09 V-Strom DL650A that I bought brand new.

It has 53,000km on it now.

Having bought an old KLR650 to improve my dirt skills I now find I want to do more dirt rides [including interstate trips, and some two up rides].

I have realised the DL650 isn’t that good for me on single track stuff, the KLR I can handle on single track but it sucks on the highway.

I can get a Transalp 650 with around 69,000km on it, the bike seems in fairly good condition and rides well.

My dilemma is should I trade the Strom for the Transalp [changeover will cost me around $1,500]. :unsure:

Or should I keep the Strom and look for a cheap dirt oriented bike that will still do highway better then the KLR.

I really need to know if the Transalp is as capable on single track as the KLR while still being able to cruise at 120kph out on the highways .

Feedback would be appreciated, as well as comments from people who have owned the Transalps and are familiar with their dirt/highway capability.

[oh, and the bank account is struggling a bit at the moment :blush: – but then isn’t everyone’s after Christmas?]

[SteveMember]

Keep the v,I WOULD ask for 1500 to ride the honder.
Have you had to rebuild the v strom engine yet with 53 tho ks
cheers toes

[ScottMember]

I think what you are trying to achieve may not be possible. A cheap dirt bike that can carve single track but also sit on 120kph for long periods.

After owning a 600 Transalp there is no way I would buy one for single track work, they are heavy have bugger all ground clearance and not much power I have riidden single track on one and its not an enjoyable ride. But out on the open dirt they are fantastic and will cruise on 130 to 140kph all day.

I think the Transalp would be very similiar to your Strom kind of a road bike adapted for Dirt Highway cruising.

Heaps of guys do big Km’s on KLR’s so they must be able to be geared to do the higher speeds?

[GregMember]

I don’t think means single track like we know single track BB do you Ock, you mean twin trails fire trails etc don’t you? Single trail is 30cm wide IMO

TB

[Stephen PaulineMember]

toes wrote:

Keep the v,I WOULD ask for 1500 to ride the honder.
Have you had to rebuild the v strom engine yet with 53 tho ks
cheers toes

Rebuild at 53,000km ??????
Shit, the DL650’s aren’t even run in at that- it just stepped up another notch in performance when it hit 50k.
There are some that are over the 400k/500k mark that have not yet had the heads off, I haven’t even done a valve adjustment yet.
Replaced first set of rear pads 4,000km ago, first chain and front sprocket 3,000km ago [still on the original rear sprocket and it still looks good].
Still on the original front pads and will get another 2,000km before they reach the wear groove limit.
Since September 09 have only spent on oil changes, fuel and tyres [other than what is listed above].

It is ok on dirt roads and fantastic on highway touring [even two up and loaded] but lacks ground clearance on the single track stuff as well as not feeling very stable on the loose stuff [but part of it is my poor dirt skills, I can handle the KLR on single tracks and rough stuff reasonably well but the Wee scares me on dirt :blink: ].

The TA650’s seem to handle about the same as a KLR on dirt but are happy at 120+ on the tar.

My old KLR is crap at 100/110 on tar and the new ones I’ve ridden don’t seem that much better on tar, they have also had suspension changes and been lowered compared to the older models so are not quit as good in the dirt.

[Nick JacksonMember]

toes wrote:

Keep the v,I WOULD ask for 1500 to ride the honder.
Have you had to rebuild the v strom engine yet with 53 tho ks
cheers toes

If you don’t know toes , ocker , he is a well above average rider and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he bought an R1 to cross the Simpson desert on :silly:

I looked at the strom, the klr , the transalp and the Dr650se. I settled on a Tenere but my second choice would have been the DR650 and with a few mods end up comfortable at speed. Next I would choose the klr. As Badbowie said the transalp and strom seem too low for singletrack use.And any bike that can cruise at speed seems to loose it’s capability in technical stuff !!

Good luck with whatever you choose

Nick

[Scott SouthwellMember]

I think Jeffro is the man to ask on this question. I believe he has owned both in recent times.

I would say looking at both bikes they are very similar other than the Honda having better wheels for off road work. I doubt it will be better the your KLR off road.

[Stephen PaulineMember]

Not quite some of the single trails you guys do TB [although I’m hoping to get more in to some of that as my skills improve].

The single trails I’m thinking of are more the bush walking tracks you find in the Blue Mountains in places, I’ve been up a few off Comleroy and Mountain Lagoon roads as well as off the Wheelbarrow Ridge Track.

Fire trails and four wheel drive tracks are something I want to explore both here and interstate as well.

An XR660R or a Tenere would probably almost do both the highway and dirt for me but not sure about the interstate and two up requirements.

Sadly the bank account has taken a beating over Christmas with a needed OS trip to visit Belinda’s parents who are not well, and it will suffer more in the coming months as well.
The Wee-Strom has to go to fund a replacement that can do both jobs, or maybe a cheap KLE500 will be able to do solo interstate including dirt and just keep the Wee for tar and two up with Belinda.

[Dwayne OMember]

Easy Peasy,,,

By a 690R Pumpkin :laugh:

Sorry, i missed the TWO UP BIT :dry:
Not so good for that

[Jeffrey SmithMember]

I had a 600 Transalp for a while but it felt under powered to me. I don’t know how much more grunt the 650s have but with the 600 I couldn’t get the front wheel off the ground in anything but first gear. Not that I wanted to mono down the highway but sometimes it is neccessary to pop the front wheel over some of the rough stuff and I couldn’t get it to happen which lead to some testing moments.
I had the Weestrom after that for a while and it definately had better power but the lower ground clearance was a killer in the rough going. I did manage to man handle it through some sand dunes but it really was hard work.
If I had to pick from the 2 I would likely go for the TA with the extra clearance and suspension travel and I did do a bit of single trail on both buth neither are well suited to it.
I now have the 1995 Tenere and think it is a great compromise between dirt and tar. I wasn’t prepared to fork out the bigger buck for a new model with the way I go through bikes so thought the older model was a good starting point. Mine cost $3800 and if I have to spend another $2000 to freshen it up and set it up for me it is still a cheap, good all rounder. IMO

[Stephen PaulineMember]

Geez, instant feedback, fantastic- thanks all.

I will try to respond to bits of the replies to date.

The TA650 and the current version of the KLR seem to have close to the same ground clearance and dirt ability, the TA is faster and smoother on the tar.

I guess the smoothness of a twin over a single for long distance highway trips is something that appeals about the TA650 as well.

An earlier Tenere 660 would be good and I’m not sure if they have any inherent issues like the KLR does [the doohickey/balancer chain for one and oil burning as well on the newer models as well].

DR650 would be ok with some gearing changes to make it less tiring on the highway but it falls down for two up so it would have to go in the “second bike” category with keeping the Wee for the two up highway stuff.

And there lies the Pumpkin, right next to the DR.

[GregMember]

EAGLE`02 wrote:

Easy Peasy,,,

By a 690R Pumpkin :laugh:

Sorry, i missed the TWO UP BIT :dry:
Not so good for that

:huh: :blink: Get off the gear Eags they aren’t good for anything radiator leaking, subframe breaking heaps of euro trash wouldn’t do the work that a DR, Tenere or Translap would over a few YEARS! But anyway back to Ock :laugh:

After the conversation we had at my place Ock I cant see how the Transalp won’t do what you want to do. The two up business well the Tenere does it fine Salina and I have done Yamba to Foster easy in more or less one go at above legal speeds not to mention the bush tracks ets we have done. Transalp is a good enough compromise if that’s what te budget allows IMO

TB

[Dwayne OMember]

Off to bed for me then :laugh:

[Stephen PaulineMember]

FWIW TB, the Transalp has 69,000km and still runs like a Swiss watch- real smooth and quiet engine and transmission.

The bike is clean and very few marks on it [no touch up work in evidence anywhere].

Good rego, new tyre on the front- near new rear.

New clutch, bike looks like it has only done road miles- not much dirt [if any at all].

Trading a bike I’ve owned from new and is still running bulletproof for a second hand high miler is the bit where I’m unsure, other than that the TA would go a step or two further towards where my current riding is heading.

EDIT:
Just noticed I posted this in the wrong section- mods, please feel free to move the thread to a more appropriate section. Thanks.

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