[ThumperG]

Wondered if you anyone could throw some light on this.

Want to get a supermoto for the road / enduro use
Choice of 2:

From what I have herd :hmmm:

Honda xr 400
look a bit dated with air cooled engine
Bit slow in standard form
easy to start

OR

Yamaha wr 426
looks great
water cooled
difficult to start



What to do :hammer:

 

[motowidow]

wr 426, great bike and easy to start once you put a yz/wr 450 cam in(auto-decompression)
motowidow
smusa #246
wr 400

 

[fourstrokin]

I never had a problem starting my WR426. It was stock except for rejetting and uncorking. I had a more difficult time starting my XR440. The people who have a hard time starting fourstrokes are usually the two stroke guys who are not used to the system. Once you get it down, it's easy. The big deal about starting comes in to play when you are in the middle of a race and dump your bike. It is hard to start a hot fourstroke on the track after you flood the crap out of it.

The big difference I would say is reliability. I always find myself more comfortable with the reliability of the Honda XR's. If I were racing, I would do one of the motocross style bike like the WR. For a dualsport I would stick with the XR. If you want to keep it in the 400 cc range, another excellent option would be the DRZ400. Check what most of the converted dualsport guys are riding and it will usually be an XR650 or a DRZ400.

 

[bdmmotard]

yep what four strokin said. drz400 seems like the best way to go.

there's a pretty big difference power wise, about 30 vs 40 hp between the xr and the wr. my xr is a fun track bike, and a fun street bike, but it's a little slow on the track, and a bit underpowered for serious daily use. i love it though, and the honda reliability factor is nice. easy to start, first kick cold, a little tougher warm. it's got a tiny wheelbase and is super super flickable. makes for a tard to build skills with.

 

[tvebrewer]

KTM is the way to go my friend. the above mentioned bikes are anemic imo. if you are lookin for somthing in the 400cc range, i would strongly reccomend the crf450 or the smc450. or if ya want some real power, go for the smc525 or the smc625. just my 2c.

 

[bdmmotard]

the man's looking for a road bike. so crf450/smc450 are out. i'd go drz or wr.

 

[tvebrewer]

i dont know much about the yamahas, is the wr street legal?

 

[Chrome-CRF]

if ya want some real power, go for the smc525 or the smc625

What does that mean? My CRF450 smokes the ass off my 625smc so as you can see just because it has a bigger motor, its not faster. 625smc=310lbs-53hp..........CRF450=240lbs-50hp Go with the DRZ since it is already street legal. If you want something fast, you will have to convert a dirtbike and then make it street legal. Its all up to how much time and money you want to invest :thumbup:

 

[bdmmotard]

i dont know much about the yamahas, is the wr street legal?

nope but people convert em and they're pretty reliable. go drz!
:infrandom

 

[nmilne]

I can recommend the DRZ ..... I strongly thought about either the WR or a husky TE before getting the DRZ. The S model DRZ can be brough more up to speed with some E mods, but if you can get a road legal E then that's a better starting point. Over here you can get the TE, WR and DRZ-E all street legal, but I ended up going the DRZ because of maintenance since it's my daily driver. WR sump is 1.1 litre while you can squeeze 2 into the DRZ, which means more time between oil changes for us street pukes :laughingr

 

[bdmmotard]

this thread was made for me! (see pic). i'm still in the process of setting the wr up to my tastes but here's my basic impressions:

wr is a far superior track bike. better power, nice handling, just overall more of a race bred bike. feels much better jumping too.

xr is a far better city bike. when you kick it, it doesn't kick you back! crazy easy to start, more flickable due to small wheel base, and WAY MORE COMFORTABLE. if i still lived in sf city, hands down the xr would be the better bike. you can kick start it in sneakers no prob, and the conventional forks are less jarring.

I hoping to get the compromise i'm after by gearing the wr tall (15 or 14/44) and doing a supercomfy seat from a guy that does seat work in SD.

 

[Eddie]

this thread was made for me! (see pic). i'm still in the process of setting the wr up to my tastes but here's my basic impressions:

wr is a far superior track bike. better power, nice handling, just overall more of a race bred bike. feels much better jumping too.

xr is a far better city bike. when you kick it, it doesn't kick you back! crazy easy to start, more flickable due to small wheel base, and WAY MORE COMFORTABLE. if i still lived in sf city, hands down the xr would be the better bike. you can kick start it in sneakers no prob, and the conventional forks are less jarring.

I hoping to get the compromise i'm after by gearing the wr tall (15 or 14/44) and doing a supercomfy seat from a guy that does seat work in SD.

Your reg. expires on the wr this month.. :twofinger

 

[bdmmotard]

Your reg. expires on the wr this month.. :twofinger

it's in the mail....you forgot to inform me that the pipe/turn signals/headlight don't meet ca code :thefinger

 

[PowerFiend]

KTM is the way to go my friend. the above mentioned bikes are anemic imo. if you are lookin for somthing in the 400cc range, i would strongly reccomend the crf450 or the smc450. or if ya want some real power, go for the smc525 or the smc625. just my 2c.

A WR426 is only anemic if it is left absolutely stock. You can set it up to YZF trim with just a little labor. Add a pipe, a auto-decompression YZF450 cam or the auto-decompression 426 specific HotCam, and a JD jet kit and they are very competitive.

 

[PowerFiend]

this thread was made for me! (see pic). i'm still in the process of setting the wr up to my tastes but here's my basic impressions:

wr is a far superior track bike. better power, nice handling, just overall more of a race bred bike. feels much better jumping too.

xr is a far better city bike. when you kick it, it doesn't kick you back! crazy easy to start, more flickable due to small wheel base, and WAY MORE COMFORTABLE. if i still lived in sf city, hands down the xr would be the better bike. you can kick start it in sneakers no prob, and the conventional forks are less jarring.

I hoping to get the compromise i'm after by gearing the wr tall (15 or 14/44) and doing a supercomfy seat from a guy that does seat work in SD.

Look into the guts racing seat foam. Their tall wide top seat foam is praised for comfort. And the auto-decompression cam is a must have mod for any of the earlier YZF's or WRF's.

 

[ThumperG]

Things have recently progressed. My mate who has a Honda dealership in the UK has sold the XR400 that I was interested in. :headshake

He has just got in PX a 2004 XR650R which I have just taken out for a spin. :thumbup:

Nice bike. I have also been offered a brand new 2004 KTM SMC LC4 (625cc) for the same money. :rofl:

Speaking to the guy at the KTM dealership, he reckons the you need to spend about £1500 (sorry, not sure what this is in dollars) to get the XR to the same spec. as the SMC.

Not sure if this is true or not, the XR felt OK when I took it out…..

Will be interesting to see what Chrome has to say when his new SMC arrives.
:hmmm:

 

[wrecker]

the wr is not a hard bike to start even in sneakers. i have had both a wr400 and an xr 400 and the wr is a better bike all round. who cares how hard a bike is to start anyway wen they are better to ride.

 

[bdmmotard]

the wr is not a hard bike to start even in sneakers. i have had both a wr400 and an xr 400 and the wr is a better bike all round. who cares how hard a bike is to start anyway wen they are better to ride.

it's 90 degrees out, you got 30lbs of groceries on your back and a leather jacket/helmet....it matters how hard it is to start!!!

luckily with the auto decomp, the wr starts like a champ, usually 1-2 kicks.

 

[omegas]

You guys still have kickstarts on your bikes?