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howdy... i just sold my cbr600 (it had so many issues that were over my mechanical aptitude) so im in the market for a new bike... i really like to ride off road .. and on road so i'm thinking about getting a dually. What should i be looking for when buying one? is just air cooled a no no? ... and should i just buy an offroader and then make it street legal ... or go head an get the real mcoy from the get go? how long can a bike last in traffic if its just air cooled? and so on and so forth... any wisdom on the subject would be greatly appreciated ! : )

hehe another dual-sport thread
here's what it comes down to (sorta).

KLR650 has longer range (6 gal tank i think), better (stock) road tires/capabilities, and some crazy aftermarket support, and is a better commuter than the XR650L.

The XR650L is better offroad (stock for stock) due to it's lighter weight, and knobbier tires, which also make it less capable pavement bandit. Not to mention it's meesly 2.8 (or is it 2.6?) gallon tank.

Though tires and gas tanks can be changed or swapped out to fit your needs, so go with what ever one feels better to you. I myself am a 650L fan, and if i were to get a dually, that's what I'd get, along with an IMS 4 gal tank.

When it comes to dual sports in-seam length comes into consideration. Many of the duallies have seat heights at around 32 in. and can go to 35 in. (think BMW 1200GS Adventure). Also you said you like to go into the dirt too... many of the dual sport bikes come with tires that arent aggressive enough for serious dirt/ sand thrashing and mostly just for road going use but can deal with gravel and hard packed dirts.

Many of the dual sports also have soft front suspensions so beware of front end dive while braking.

I haven't seen many air cooled only dual sports but maybe there are some. You can add on stuff to an offroad bike to become street legal but it's really a hassle (to me anyway when I was looking into doing it)

I know this probably won't help much but at least you can get a gist of what to expect.

I have experienced a BMW 650 Dakar and Suzuki V-Strom 650 but they're not mine so the last thing I can tell you is that both of the ones mentioned above will get great fuel mileage.

Now go browse those bike shops to find one that'll fit you.

Its depends how much of ur riding time ur going to spend off road and on road, and how far you planning on riding ur bike on road. If ur planning on 80% on road and 20% off road buy the Kawasaki or the Suzuki 650, if ur planning on 80% off road and 20% on road buy the Suzuki DRZ400S, or the Honda XL650. If you want a street legal bike that can also handle rough motocross dirt tracks, keep up and pass any motocrosser bike, jump 30 feet get the DRZ400S, if you want to travel 200 miles on road and take it on light off roads like smooth level logging roads get the Kawasaki 650. I did own an 03 Suzuki DRZ400S, this bike can go 90mph on road and run like a motocrosser off road, but its not a good bike to plan a long all day road trip across the state. The KTM 950 and the BMW are too expensive, over $10K, I figure ur not that stupid to spend that much on any dual sport. Dealer around here is selling the new 06 Suzuki 650 for $3999 and the 06 DRZ400S for $4399.