dual sport rambling

[jjn]

While I was perusing the list of sellers of 250cc (actual 239cc) I got to Countyimports.com, and looks like they have a new 250cc bike there. Here it is:

http://countyimports.com/inc/sdetail...--/45335/22312

It has, a rarity on a dual sport, either cast wheels, or some kind of giant spokes on it. It's a bit more than the 1200-$1400 bikes I've seen, but still a lot less than the SSR 250.

I think I may actually order myself a Chinabike, maybe this week. I still have to settle the matter of, would I rather get a Honda CT70 clone, as barnone has, or a full sized dual sport motorcycle. If I get the latter, I have decided to spend a bit more and get a 250 (239cc!) rather than a 200. The tiny 29cc difference should help the bike on the 45-55mph highways here.

The CT clone, since barnone has done the homework, would be pretty straightforward. I even have the part number of the 17 tooth front sprocket, and can get it through Amazon.

Here is the bikes I have narrowed it down to:

http://www.powerrideoutlet.com/pro-s...50cc-bike.html

That bike is $1098.99 plus $239.95 shipping (according to the calculator on the web site), so a total of $1338.90.

Superior powersports.com is $1.00 more on the Hawk.

Here is the third bike:

http://www.motobuys.com/vento-hen-enduro-250cc.html

They call this one the Vento. They want $1349.00, but I have tried three times to get a shipping quote from them, and they are ignoring me.

And, here is the best price on the CT70 clone:

http://powersporthub.com/roketa-124c...cle-mc-34.html

So, $810.00, plus, these guys are charging $500 shipping for everything, so $1310.00.

BY the way, thay have the TRex at the lowest price I've seen, $1060.00 plus $500 freight. Some sellers have that balloon tired bike as high as $1850 plus freight. I rejected that interesting bike, when I had zero luck finding anyone that sells tires that size.

Think I will call Motobuys and give them one last shot at it.

I was going to drive 125 each way to Kona to look at a 2008 Yamaha V Star 650 with lots of goddies and under 10,000 miles. The owner started at $400.00, then went to $3800.00, now he's at $3000.00. Probably a nice street bike, but then I started researching that bike, and maintenance issues. A v twin with dual carburetors AND a fuel pump. To adjust valves, you must rip and tear, and those twin carbs must come off, so one must resyncronize. A gent that did the valve adjustment for his first time, said it took him 6 hours. I could probably beat that by quite a bit, but, geez. Do I really want to have to go through all that? Plus, the "maintenance-free" driveshaft, to prevent the splined sections from stripping out those splines, needs to be removed, cleaned up, and greased every year. Those parts are expensive should they get worn out.d have been nce to have one bike that could haul the two of us from Hilo to Kona and back.

So, I'm back to the plan of getting a dual sport, and then keeping the two scooters we also have, a 2009 Kymco People 150, and a 2008 SYM HD200. We have lots of dirt and gravel roads around here that sometimes are almost impassable in a car. Lots of gravel roads for me to explore. So, I have to decide between a full sized dual sport, or the CT clone that barnone seems to really like a lot. I'd like to do the order hopefully, this comung week.