Anyone ride an enduro?

I'm thinking about picking up a used dual purpose bike. Something like a KLR as shown. I want more to be able to ride light duty off road stuff, but I also want to be able to ride it there to do it (30 miles away), which crosses 4-wheelers off the list, although they are a lot of fun.

Anyone here ride one? Thoughts? I like Kawasaki's, but I don't know anything about bikes in general, so no real reason.

Crosspost to Sprockets? I know you'll probably get more conversation here, but we can use the chatter over there...

That said, I think my next bike will be a KLR, after I can sell my death machine TL streetfighter. The Killers were almost entirely unchanged for like 112 years - as complicated as a hammer and equally reliable, great aftermarket.

FYI, what you're looking at are generally referred to as 'dual sports.'

A little more dirt-oriented but still street-capable would be Honda XR's and Suzuki DR's. Even their middleweights (which is 350-450cc for dirtbikes) can hang with highway traffic, and they're lighter and therefore a little more friendly in the dirt.

Yeah, I'm going this direction soon.

I don't own one yet, but I think this may be the year that I pick up a used DRZ400s.

I've got a DR650SE, bought for half a challenge budget. Got me to work for several months last year and I'm planning to use it for commuting again this year. Just took it off road for the first time today - it's a little too heavy for my liking (especially as I don't know what I'm doing) and I'm thinking about getting something a little smaller and lighter.

That said, they're brilliant for getting to places a little further away, you have decent aftermarket support for the 96-on bikes (clever here has a '95 (:/)) so you can get stuff like big tanks and lots of adventure touring parts.

Do it. I have a Yamaha IT 400 that I ride from home to the trails. It is much nicer riding on dirt roads than paved. A speedometer would be a nice for on the street.

I am partial to old Yamaha two strokes. (I have a CT3 I am restoring).

I ride an older small dual sport (XL125 with a 200 engine) almost daily. I don't ride on the freeway, but I suspect the high seating position might make it less than ideal for that. The seating position is good for city driving though since it gives you a good view of what is around you.

My only concern with the newer bikes would be if the seats are comfortable for any extended riding (I have no experience with them). I suspect they are fine and I also suspect you probably won't be riding it for hours at a time (on the street) anyway.

I think dual sport bikes make great city bikes. Just look at the trend of "Street Fighter" bikes. Those are essential lay down bikes converted to a more dual sport configuration to make city driving easier.

I met a guy who rode a KLR650. He said that while it was a good commuter bike (lots of power and easy to keep up with hwy traffic), it was a bit heavy and and unwieldy for the east coast style riding we have around here. The KLR250 that Kawasaki used to sell was the opposite. The compromise seems to be the DRZ400.

It already is, under a different title.