I'm thinking about picking up a BMW F650 Dakar. It'll be my first bike, I'm about to sign up for my motorcycle safety course. I want a dual use bike that I can ride to work and on weekends explore fire roads and easy trails around Colorado.
Any thoughts?
Love motorcycles. Made deal with wife that resulted in my no longer having any.
Never had a Dakar, though.
I've ridden an older Dakar that my BMW dealer in the UK had as a loaner. They're supposed be pretty good offroaders but if I wanted to commute on it would depend on the length of the commute. On the 130 mile roundtrip commute it wasn't that great.
If you're a trail riding virgin like I am, I would get a smaller bike - I took the Suzuki DR650 I had for a while out on a trail once and decided I really needed something smaller to wrestle around.
Try over here
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/sprockets/
I have a Suzuki 400SM that's pretty good in town and goes off road OK. A 400 S would be better for off road though. I like that it's light compared to a DR650.
The 650 Dakar is great bike. Put it in the same family as a KTM 990 ADV/KLR650 the adventure touring genre. Capable of light off roading on gravel/unprepared roads and relatively long trips.
What kind of riding do you want to do? Only reason I would caution against one as a first bike is weight.
Do you have any off road only riding experience? How far is your commute to work? Is it mostly highway? How tall are you?
I had a 2008 Yamaha WR250R that I bought new in 08 and put 13,000 miles on. Most of which ended up being commuter miles. My commute is 60 miles a day and includes a lot of 75-80mph southern california freeway. The bike was fast up to about 70-75 it didn't like doing 80 but it was actually quite comfortable and I rode it to Los Angeles a couple times. I also ended up getting supermoto wheels for it which was a lot of fun.
I would strongly recommend a used WR250R (they have titanium valves and an engine that is a slice off a r1 motor so real long maintenance intervals) should be able to find one for 3k-3500 or go brand new and get a Honda CRF250L which is an amazingly capable bike and also happens to get 70+mpg
Even on a fire road you will be happier learning on something that is lighter weight. Oh and The DRZ 400 is a great choice too. The WR250R and CRF250L are nice because they benefit from both being fuel injected (I hate carbs on motorcycles)
I rode without incident for about 30 years. My counsel would be to buy an inexpensive used bike that will handle the commute and the trail rides BEFORE you step up to something bigger/nicer. Get your MSF school out of the way, and then take the advanced course on your bike. Get a good 6 months of riding regularly under your belt BEFORE you spend more money on the bike you think you want. You won't really know what you appreciate or don't like about riding/bikes until you have some experience on them.
aussiesmg wrote: Try over here http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/sprockets/
As a younger guy, I used to eat sleep and breath motorcycles. Sadly I haven't ridden more than a mile or two in about ten years, thanks to moving into the inner ring of Philly suburbs. (The land of psycho raging inattentive texting and woefully unskilled drivers).
If I ever escape back to the country I'll definitely start riding again, and a larger displacement dual sport would be my ride of choice. But since I've been out of the game for so long, I might start back up with a smaller size beater, and I would definitely go back to MSF for some refeshing. Basically treating myself as a brand new rider again. (Which is ashame because in my mid twenties I probably could have been a MFS instructor)
Since its your first bike, get a light POS that you won't mind dropping, and get a feeling for what you like (highway, back roads, racing, etc). My first bike was a Virago 750 and it was great for learning because it could do everything OK and I didn't care if I would damage it. I didn't, but a lot of people do in the first years.
Agreed. My first bike was a $200 Suzuki GS550E That was ugly as sin. I rode it till the clutch cable broke then sold it for $100 because someone had ground out all of the screw heads trying to get into the case where the clutch cable went. Then I had an $1800 yamaha radian. let the buyer beware. It had been wrecked and rebuilt and had one front caliper frozen. the other caliper worked great though (heh). Since I didnt know much about bikes at the time, I burned out the rings in two cylinders and when the starter went out, I sold it for $400. Thats when my dad asked me to not own another bike while he was alive. Someday, somewhere Ill have another bike. Now that I know how to treat em. :)
Don't let people tell you that you need a 600 for a beginner's bike.
I find the F650 rather interesting. The seat was lower than I expected (I'm a smurf). Not terribly top heavy. Semi-decent road manners with the right tires. Some rather interesting weaknesses and such, like fork fracturing. All in all, a better bike than the KLR, imo.
Not my choice for a starter bike. But, not impossible to learn on either. As a new rider (and you said you will be), falling over and such will be a part of life. So you will be bending and breaking things, and scratching other things. Embrace the learning curve.
Don't stop at the beginner course. There are advanced courses that are well worthwhile. As well various dirt rider courses. They will all help you to be a more proficient rider.
Dig around a bit, there's a lot of enablers over there. Not to mention the picture-heavy travel logs.
Yup, ADVRider: the best motorcycle forum by far. LOTS of world-class journalists contribute both bike and car race commentary and it's not a teenager's hang-out. Huge fun.
JohnInKansas wrote: http://www.advrider.com/ Dig around a bit, there's a lot of enablers over there. Not to mention the picture-heavy travel logs.
SlickDizzy wrote:aussiesmg wrote: Try over here http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/sprockets/
Appleseed said: Don't let people tell you that you need a 600 for a beginner's bike.
That's right. If everyone were to start with something around a 750, where would we be able to get all those nice 2-3 year old smashed-up Hayabusa and CBRs for some fun projects
Yup. You'll have way more fun on a Ninja 250. Its Isle of Man every day. Plus, you can sell the little bikes to the next crop of riders for the same money you had into it.
I still stand by dual sport. Since his original expressed desire was fire roads a lot of the starter bikes you guys are suggesting are old street bikes etc.
Plus with a dual sport dropping it doesn't really hurt it if you have brush guards on to protect the levers
There are small displacement dual sports as well. 
yeah my recommendation was WR250R/CRF250L or DRZ400
I went to the Sprockets area, scanned back 6 or so pages but couldn't find the "First Bike" thread.
If you've never ridden and plan on taking the MSF safety course, wait to see what the course offers to ride. Usually they are under 500cc, low seat height and not top heavy. I would find one for <$800., run it for a season or two, sell it to a beginner for what you paid for it.
Imagine the pucker factor when your brandy new BMW 650 tips away from you and all you can do is squeal and flap your hands around; can't even get ther in time to break its fall. $500 UJMs don't elicit the same response.
The rules say you have to put up pictures of whatever you bring home.
Dan
I would also suggest you get a 2nd-hand beater as first bike.
For road riding... I like "quick" and don't ever recco a pip-squeak bike that can't blur your vision a bit. A 600-750 jap motor is good scoot for a 185lb guy to get the hell out of a situation rapido and manageable enough that you won't crash on every wet manhole cover, RR crossing or tollbooth oil slick (if you have never ridden... you will know what I mean soon :) )
For fire roads and trails you could drive in a jeep I think you are seriously going to want light, and already scratched because you are going to drop it alone and need to pick it up with a sore body at least once. The already scratched part makes the heartbreak of a torqued brake lever or twisted exhaust pipe easier to take. I am not very familiar with the small bore dual sport bikes but I have wailed around a lot of woods on a 250cc two stroke... I imagine the 350-450cc 4 strokes to be the sweet spot between too slow for the highway and too big for mud & gravel. None are going to rip like a moto-x bike w/o mods. I have been tempted by a KLR on more than one occasion but didn't bite yet.
I really do like your choice, actually, (BMW 650) they should be out there wearing someone else's depreciation curve and scars but they are still pricey for a sport you might not be all that in to... do the class, buy a junker, then post this question again next year at this time :)
Happy Riding.
Love my 650 Dakar!
Shockingly my '02 was almost as expensive as a new one. a DRZ or DR might be a better starter bike, but they suck on the highway. My Dakar is pretty comfy commuting.
Very slow though...
I put a small bolt on windscreen on my WR250R and it was actually a lot better than a DRZ-400 on the highway even with gnarly dirt tires. 30hp doesnt sound fast but when its only pushing about 280lbs or less without rider it will out accelerate most traffic easily up to 70+. Sure not like my 1000cc Aprilia but honestly I really miss the little blue bike after I got the heavy liter bike
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