Hello from good ole Southern Indiana!

I'm just starting to get into adventure riding and actually have a Smoky Mountain trip planned in April, one month before my wedding. My best bud and I are renting a couple KLR650s and plan to bike and camp for a long weekend. We're both really excited to get away, relax and have some fun. We're calling it the Bachelor Adventure.

I've grown up riding dirt and absolutely love wrenching on anything that moves. In a way, I think I may like wrenching almost as much as riding itself. I had a Lifan 200 5 or 6 years back and had a great time putting it together, riding it and fixing things that broke. I ended up trading it (plus cash) for a sports car. I wish I'd have kept it seeing how my latest hobby is ADV Riding.

All that being said, I'm in the market for a Dual Sport. I've got my eyes pealed on all used moto outlets (CL, ebay, local paper, etc.) for a nice used jap bike under $1500. As you can imagine, I'm struggling finding something under that price point. As I've patiently scanned for the bike I'm looking for I remembered the Lifan and instantly thought about the "joy" of Chinese bikes. It's been 5 years since my Lifan and it was a great bike, there's gotta be some cool new stuff on the market...

I plan on posting a solid question in the dual sport area in regards to the bike I'm looking for and I'll post a link.

But, for this welcome area, hello and I hope to not only gain info from this forum but also give a little as well.

Adam

Dear Gravetter,

Welcome to MCM. Have a spin through the site and you'll find quite a bit of information about various DS chinabikes that are available in the US. Here's a very nice steed for sale out in Oregon. OK, already sold. I saw some guy in Turlock, CA, selling three Qlink 200s in craigslist.

Must be plenty of other choices. Craigslist and MCM will be your friends in this quest. Happy hunting, and keep us posted.

cheers

Hi Adam, welcome aboard. We are now 1 stronger!

Have fun on your bachelor ride and let's hope it's not the last one. My mate what got married once told me that nothing would change, but i haven't seen him in the same room as a beer since! Anyway have a good one on the KLR, ah if only we could afford such a luxurious piece of kit out here...

Thanks very much for the warm replies. I've been buzzing around online for the past 2 weeks trying to get reacquainted with the Chinese bike scene and I'm having trouble deciding on the best bike for me. I apologize in advance for this surly common question among newbs.

I'm 6'3" and weight 180 lbs. My goals for the bike will be putting around town and doing some light adventure riding with 20 lbs of gear. I also need to get the bike here to S. Indiana. The adv riding will be dirt roads/trails, gravel, wet conditions, etc... I'd love to spend less than $1500. What's the current best Dual Sport that would fit my criteria? Again, I know this may be an annoyingly common question, but any help is appreciated.

My first bike, which I purchased on my 52nd birthday not too long ago, was a 2000 KLR650, and I paid only $1200 for it. Still runs great with 35000 smiles on the clock. Not a cosmetic gem, but what KLR is? I've done a bit of maintenance, but that's another big benefit of the KLR -- it's inexpensive to maintain. Parts for a GS or other "premium" bike are sometimes five times more expensive, or more. And because the KLR has been basically unchanged for about 375 years, scrap yards are full of parts that still fit. KLRs are tall, but so are you, so it's a great fit.

Something tells me it's probably a great time for second-hand bikes in America right now. Be patient, choose well!

cheers

Grav,

Welcome to MCM. You may also look at Pitster Pros. I believe they were liquidating some 450's dual sports for not too much more than that. Don't see it on their site anymore but you may want to give them a call. They also have a 250 which is the Galaxy 250 here on MCM.

CC

Welcome to the forums and have fun in hunting for a bike. It is part of the adventure!