Then one day, it just stopped running and never ran again. (For me anyway.) Except for what was apparently an electrical issue, she was in beautiful condition, and I let her go for $100.
Skip ahead to August 2005. The hunger was back stronger than ever. My brother and I purchased KLR650's to ride with the http://www.backroadstouring.com gang. We attended our first real off-road trail adventure at R.L. Lemke's Fall Color Tour in Arkansas' Ozark National Forest. I was in love! This was the kind of riding I wanted to do more than anything else.
However, I still needed/wanted a street-legal machine to ride backroads. So a pure dirt-bike was not an option. Budget demanded one bike to fit the bill.
That's when I met the DR350SE. Mine is a 99--the last year they made them. Purchased in November 2005 with 6,700 miles, she now has almost 14,000 miles! A lot of that has been off-road, too. So you could say I've been getting my money out of her.
Yesterday I returned home from what was supposed to be a 3 day Chadwick, MO trail ride. On Sat morning, I tweaked my already badly-sprained right ankle. I know--stupid to even try to go riding an area as rugged as Chadwick. 11 riders. I was the only non-KTM machine. With the exception of a 525exc, they were all riding 250 or 300cc race-ready machines with more farkles than I want to afford. Suffice it to say, I had brought a plastic knife to a machine-gun fight. These guys all race hare-scrambles on weekends. I was out of my league for sure. Don't get me wrong, I've got adequate skills--and even on my heavier, less powerful DR350, I can ride most any of the marked trails at Chadwick (there is some hairy stuff in there). I just can't do it at 30 MPH while riding a wheelie!
I have a week-long adventure planned for July that involves riding the famous Rainbow Trail in the Rockies. Some of this trail is single-track. After riding those other machines---KTM 525exc, Husky TE510, KTM400, etc, I really don't find them any less-comfortable than my DR350. The DR350 is not what you'd call a comfy, road machine! So now I'm thinking--why not trade for a more high-performance machine. Other than money, what would I be giving up? The DR350 has proven to be EXTREMELY reliable. However, if it does break, it's not a machine that can swap parts with the other guys on the trail.
So I'm doing what I should not--I am lusting new motorcycles. So I'm checking out the 2007 Husqvarna models. My weakness right now is the TE450 and TE510.
http://www.husqvarnausa.com/
Question...the TE510 weighs one lb more than the TE450. They appear to be identical. What is the difference other than obviously another 61cc of displacement? Why would a person purchase one over the other?
![Smile :)](images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Please reply and simply tell me "keep the DR350". That's what my sanity and budget demand!