What motorcycle should I get?

Novice motocycle rider, looking for a bike that can handle cruising comfortably at 65-70 as well as a very rough dirt road into my property and riding around on my property (woods).
I mainly want to use it to commute, 26 miles each way with most roads posted at 45-55 on the back roads or 25 miles highway posted 70 but the flow of traffic runs 80-90.

Looking at a used KLR 650, just under 14K miles for $3K, I am also considering a DR-Z400 but from the research I have done they seem to be a little more off-road oriented.

 

SV650

 

Dude if you wanna cruise comfortably at 70mph you're going to need more than a 650 or 400. I'd get a something with 900+

 

Well cruise and dirt don’t often go together. But the Klr650 is a great dual purpose bike. What’s the budget? There is also the bmw gs800, the tiger 800, and the vstrom650 to look at. There are also old Honda’s with 2 speed transfer cases that can run dual sport rubber. You don’t need big engines if you can stay heads up and plan a bit.

I commuted over 100 miles a day to college on a 250cc most of the year. Never had an issue and it was interstate highway the whole way.

 

It' hard to have one bike that does both well... I'd say go for Drz but don' expect it to be "comfortable" at 70mph... fun ass bike though if geared appropriately

 

That KLR for 3k is a pretty good buy depending on year. As others have said though, when you get a dual purpose anything it will do both poorly rather than each proficiently.

Dual sports are a little too heavy to man handle offroad and handling, balance and capability are effected by it. Then they are a little too soft suspensioned, up high, underpowered for long distance on road.

For what you're wanting though the KLR should suit your needs happily.

I myself keep eyeballing the Honda Africa Twin.

 

Agreed! Damn that Africa Twin is sick!

 

Well guys after doing some research today while I was in class for work (got paid to look at motorcycles!!!!) I'm going to look at the Suzuki V-strom 650 as well as the KLR, the Zuki is more street biased but due to the lack of trails locally I think it would be a good compromise, and maybe one year I'll be able to take 3 weeks off and ride out in Ca, Az, and Utah.

 

Budget is 3-3.5K

 

Check out the vstrom 650 and the versey 650. Both are good starter street bikes that can wear knobbies

Or Klr, there are the old truck of the motorcycle world

 

I'd say start with a 650 and be open minded to upgrading after a while. Don't look at your first bike as your one and only bike that needs to do everything. I have a Honda CRF250L for off road and running on road as needed. A BMW G650GS which is a fun commuter, but NOT a 70+ mph highway commuter. And I have the Affica Twin which is actually a nice highway bike and can handle a little off road, but I've definitely crashed and can attest that it will go down quickly in loose dirt. You'll learn quickly that tires make all the difference on road and off, and there isn't a tire that does both well.

 

I should clarify that my BMW 650GS is a fun bike that can be taken off road and will definitely handle highway speeds up to 100+ mph, but riding a highway at 70+ with traffic gets sketchy real fast. The bike just isn't quite heavy enough to sit tight in the wind and turbulence from other vehicles. The Africa Twin doesn't flinch on the other hand, but is a heavy hog off road.

 

I think a street legal CRF 450 supermoto would be fun as hell, probably wouldn't fit your needs but would be fun as hell.

 

I've looked at the versey but they're physically smaller and i think my 6'4" 260 lb frame would prefer the larger bike.

I'm not opposed to getting a more road/off road oriented bike later (I'll probably get a true dirt bike later for use only at the farm), but I also think a 650 would be a good starter bike.

For highway the most I would run locally would be 20 miles at 70-75 MPH.

 

Check out a Honda CB500X or the NC700X. Throw some knobby tires on and ride for a summer. Good commuters.

 

Between those two bikes and your budget, the KLR is your best bet. May be worth a few extra bucks if you find one that already has some aftermarket goodies on it... much like tacomas, it's only natural to customize

 

I vote KLR. Like someone said before, it’s tried and true and you basically can’t kill it. With your size the extra weight shouldn’t be a problem at all.

 

As much as I hate to say it, I think a DRZ would suit you very well. Both @AR15xAR10 and @Sacrifice has/had one.

 

DRZ is a nice all around bike but it’s pretty short, this guy is 6’4” and 260 I don’t think it would fit well. Just my .02

 

Im not a Kawasaki fan by any means, I would normally go Suzuki any day I used to sell both. The KLR is in a category of its own.