my height is is 5 10 180 with out gear.  I will go and give the XRL a look.  I really thought there would be more love for the BMW on here.  I know it is not a traditional dirt bike.  I did see a used KTM690 on a local craigslist for around 7000..  Anyone thought of that

Most KTM's are tall, XRL's are tall.
BMW 650's are low.  They're pretty much a fancy KLR, and there's nothing wrong with that.  I've had many DS's and I have no quams with my KLR.  Great touring bike that does good on gravel.
I'd go check out a DR650.  MUCH better cruising down the road than a DRZ, and seems a tad bit more nimble than a KLR.  You can lower them or go back to stock height with no additional costs or parts involved.

I never really thought about seat height for the dual sport.  I ride my CRF and my KX which have a taller seat height.  If I thought the engine wouldnt be worn out prematurely and the tires used up on the pavement, i would consider an MX based dual sport.  Well actually I am still considering the MX based dual sport as I have not made up my mind.  Is seat height something I should think about.  As mentioned before, I have never had a problem with seat height on the MX bikes.  The street based dual sports such as the BMW, and KLR would complement my stable of MX bikes.  Maybe I should reconsider the more dirt oriented bikes such as the XRR, XRL, DRZ, KTM etc.

Well, umm,  you're all over the place.  Sounds like its a decision you'll make the day you buy something.  

Edited by Yokomo, 19 March 2012 - 07:07 PM.

I would stay away from MX bikes for commuting, you will wear them out quick. Thats what make the big air cooled pigs good at adventure/commutting. Low maintenance and easy to fix.

I have a friend with a CRF450X and its plated and now worn out from slabin it around........My 2 cents

The BMW's are to sissy man. Why get a bike that is just TERRIBLE on most off road situations. Sure its good for gravel roads, but who cares!? lol

Get a bike that can be bad ass on the road and off as well!

If this doesnt make you want an XRR then you got issues lol: Watch all 5 episodes.

Edited by DAAANG, 19 March 2012 - 07:43 PM.

condor74, on 19 March 2012 - 06:44 PM, said:

Based on your back ground on dirt bikes and desire to go off road on your commute bike ... I would stay away from the BMW ... period. It's Heavy, expensive and not that reliable. The BMW looks good in the showroom ... not so good on the trail. For something with great style, performance close to the KTM 500, and the ease on the road doing your 80 mi (1600 miles a month!! ) , I would look into buying a nice, low mileage Husqvarna 610 or 630. Just fantastic bikes. They are no longer made, and now BMW own Husky ... I would NOT buy a BMW made Husky. Get an earlier Italian made 610 or 630. I am partial to the 630 shown below. They are not as maintenance free as the XR's, DRZ's, KLR's, or DR650. But ... first off ... they are gorgeous bikes.
Fast, smooth and very good off road. With a few key mods the Huskies can cope well and survive the miles. YES ... they will need a bit more maintenance, more frequent oil changes than the Japanese bikes ... but the performance should make up for that. Used, prices are quite reasonable. Certainly something to consider.

Edited by 54321, 21 March 2012 - 10:18 AM.

What's wrong with the new Husqvarna's?  Curious because I just bought a TE449.

Edited by drjon, 21 March 2012 - 05:25 PM.

DAAANG, on 19 March 2012 - 07:41 PM, said:

Yeah that does push the XRR right to the front of the line.

I wouldnt get anything bigger than a 400cc becuase of the wieght if you really want to enjoy the best of dual-sporting.
Just gear it right if your gonna do more highway riding.

drjon, on 21 March 2012 - 05:25 PM, said:

What's wrong really depends on what you thought of the "superior engineering" claimed by BMW on the earlier X450 and other X Series bikes that your bike is based on.
None are currently production: X450, X Country, X Challenge and X Moto ... all out of business. Only dual sport made is the two new G bikes ... G650 and G650 Sertao ... both made in
Loncin, China. (not a bad thing!)

If you're happy with your new Husky ... then it's all good and that's all that really matters for our purposes here.   I have high hopes for the Taiwanese made 450 motor in your Husky and expect it be more reliable than BMW motors made in Berlin. Is it there yet at 100% ?
Dunno. You tell us!

Couple things that got my attention about the BMW X450/TE449 Husky is the swingarm pivot set up. This is an old idea invented by ATK founder Horst Leitner, the idea is to improve traction and allow the chain to remain at a more consistent tension through out suspension travel and have less negative affect on traction. In theory ... sounds great.
But ATK's sucked and none were ever close to the handling of big four bikes. These bikes and every one of Leitner's ideas was eventually discredited and proved NOT to work. I've seen some of this in person, having several ATK owning buddies. But that was then ... this NOW.

BMW adopted the swingarm idea for the X 450. Apparently World Enduro / GNCC champ David Knight didn't care much for it. He quit BMW, giving up $$millions$$ to get off the bike. To be fair, Juha and other racers did well on the X450. But were are they now?

Do you know what you have to do to change the front sprocket? Swing arm OFF.   I would never buy a bike with this set up.

It is my opinion that the MV Augusta/Husqvarna engineers know far more about building off road bikes than anyone at BMW ... who are playing big time catch up. BMW have never, in 100 years of production built purpose built off road bikes, unless you count the R75 side car Nazi rigs from WW2.   I don't consider ANY BMW GS an off road bikes. (all BMW Dakar race bikes were ONE OFF, custom made race bikes, made by HPN. I've seen them up close: NO resemblance to a stock GS BMW ... this includes Sainct's (RIP) bike ... which I sat on! )

BMW have a tendency to make things too heavy, too complicated and too UNRELIABLE. I wish you all the best with your new BMW/Husqvarna ... but must say, mag comparo reviews have not been good. Consistent last place. But most of those mags are moto cross based mags ... some don't get what a nice trail bike can be ... or should be.

The Italian Huskies had teething problems in the early 2000's but over the few years they made big strides in reliability. I've friends with '09 through '11 Huskies and they have been very good.
Lets hope BMW can take this trend towards quality even further, and have the 449 be as bullet proof as a old XR. It's early days for these "new" bikes (made by BMW) ... so lets see how they do!
Best of luck with yours ... let us know how she's holding up and how she rides!   

PS: I've ridden the earlier TE450, SM510 and last year TE630 ... all really nice bikes, IMHO.

54321, on 24 March 2012 - 09:31 AM, said:

Oh really?  Let's see:

The first ATK conceived in back in 1985 won the Barstow to Vegas Off-Road Race and ATK has won multiple AMA National off-road and Dirt Track Championships.

ATK made the 1st production electric start 4 stroke Dirtbike.
ATK made the 1st production Motard.
ATK made the 1st production fuel injected Dirtbike. (back in 1991).
ATK made the 1st Side mounted shock, linkless suspension.
In 1989, Horst Leitner developed the single-shock, link-less suspension system for KTM of Austria that has become the foundation for all KTM motorcycles sold worldwide today.

Pity Leitner's stuff "doesn't work".

I'm loving my TE449 so far. I do notice the added traction of the pivot design. You can still steer the rear with throttle, just more of it and you have to modulate the throttle better than a conventional bike. I do run a MT43 trials tire on the rear though.  That contributes the not being able to rear steer as easy.  I've gotten the back very sideways and it comes right back in line when you let off the throttle. The motor is so smooth that it doesn't seem that fast on the pavement. In the dirt, I love that smoothness. I will say that I'm severely disappointed in the factory manual that came with the bike. I need a real service manual for it. It's pretty tall, but I'm used to only tip toeing on offroad bikes. The 1" risers I put on the handlebar mount really made standing much more comfortable. I've ordered a Seat Concepts seat foam and cover for it. Stock it's a torture device on 200 mile days. I carry 3 liters of extra fuel with me because of the small tank. 95-100 miles is what I get mixed pavement and offroad until the bike runs out of fuel.

Edited by drjon, 24 March 2012 - 05:44 PM.

I have just about settled on an XR650R with a plate.  Prices are not bad, excellent off road desert bike, large low tech enough motor to live during a road commute,

However tonight I was at the gas station and saw a pair of "adventure bikes".  One was a BMW 800 GS and the other was a KLR650.  Both bikes had extra side boxes, GPS, Radio communication. and other accesories.  Both had a middle of the pack off road tire on them.  They both looked like a lot of fun and made me reconsider the "Adventure bike" thing.

condor74, on 29 March 2012 - 06:37 PM, said:

Triumph Tiger 800 if you are going to do an adventure bike.  I'm a little biased though, lol.  I own a Speed Triple 1050.  Triples are just fun motors and that Tiger 800XC is a bad mofo.

I dont consider them much of "adventure" bikes if you cant stop along the way for some nasty single track. That rules out everything bigger than the KLR650.

You made an excellent choice. Now give us pics.

condor74, on 29 March 2012 - 06:37 PM, said:

You are gonna hate that XRR for commuting. You're also gonna get sick of wrestling that beast around on a technical stuff
. You're really gonna hate that pig when you have to kick start it after a drop. That seat height is WAY up there and there is a routine that must be followed religiously to re-light it after you dump it. That's why the 450X is a better bike.
Since you are an off reader that wants decent on road commutability and decent off road ability there is only one option...
KTM 690. Don't let the uninformed steer you away from the orange bikes due to "increased maintanance". That's just utter BS. The 690 motor is silky smooth and bombproof. You will walk away from all the other street legal turds previously listed off road and be damn near as comfy on road as Tiger 800xc.

You KTM Guys see this yet?

BRANDNEW KTM FREERIDE 350 - YouTube

somethingnuw, on 22 April 2012 - 07:14 AM, said:

Awesome bike, too bad their not going to be brought to the USA