Hey Scott,
It's a little complicated if you're insisting on staying with a Japanese brand. Not many OEM dual-sport models to choose from except the heavy-weights that are bad in any riding genre - street or off-road. An important feature to check is the power to weight ratio. If you'll consider KTM - I know, I know, they're orange, they don't have a linkage - not 'til recently anyhow - and they're Austrian. (Bad news/good news: - Arnold Schwartznegger is Austrian, but so are Glock firearms) Commencing around '07 or '08, the EXC models came street-legal from the factory. The (dirt) magazines love them, as they're as close as you can get to a real dirt bike that is also street-legal. My personal experience with them is that they're a great compromise. KTM has made several model revisions over the years, so the pre-owned market is pretty target-rich.
Good luck,
Dan
Thousand Oaks, Ca.
I don't know about other states, but in California, we must watch that 8th character of the VIN. If it's coded off-road, you'll NEVER get it street-licensed.
Original Post
)
)
)
