[augiedoggie]

Greyhound or mountain goat?

2 vastly different requests from the same bike. Sorta like a Swiss Army knife of motorcycles. Freeway able rocky trail bike. It sounds like you are satisfied with either 350cc freeway ability. I would think your 450 would allow less stressed freeway running and low wide ratio first gear would allow cow trailing through the rock gardens. Any of your selections are 40+ pounds lighter than your DRZ. I think if one bike was required a larger one is better than smaller bike. Weight is close enough on both.

 

[augiedoggie]

Wrong bike for the right job

The DRZ is a great bike until you drop it. It was my favorite bike for many good years. Weight becomes a factor in technical trails and becomes a liability when dropped. Most bikes would be a bit compromised for your requirements. I suppose you would try to measure your percentages of trail vs road service required of the machine. I tend to believe bigger is better here. A bigger bike can do a smaller bikes job
(Within reason) but a smaller bike can’t do a big bikes job. You can find the occasional idiot to argue a small bike can be modified for more performance but that is a fools argument. You don’t hunt bear with a pea shooter. Buy the right bike for the job and do it right the first time. You can ride your bigger bike more conservative if needed, but your smaller bike will be sucking hard when tasked with a high speed freeway run.

 

[augiedoggie]

Easy answer

No need to ride a 2 smoke to see if she buzz’s. Your smoker is not well suited for street or highway unless you like punishment. The only time those are happy and smooth is when you are screaming them. And they vibrate at any speed. You will need the biggest 4 stroke you can lift off the ground. You’re off to a good start but most dealers don’t like to offer individual test rides on off road or dual sport stuff unless it’s in their parking lot. Not too many dealers offer rides unless it’s factory sponsored ride day. Some KTM dealers still offer those. You can call around and ask. Or look for a rider with the bike you are interested in and ask for feedback. Most guys would allow you to take a ride, unless you looked like a hippie or something like that:surprise: