So the choices that are decent seem to be......

[OneLeggedRider]

Murky waters here, but I'm glad to see folks are so passionate about their hobby lol. Me personally I'm biding my time till I find a DRZ 400 at a decent price, but I'm happy with the Hawk till then. ��

[Merlin]

Originally Posted by Megadan

That's pretty awesome. I honestly haven't added everything up on the bike, but I am probably right at 2k in large part due to the rear shock and YSS Fork valves, which together added up to about $230. They were worth every single penny though, I have to say. Alloy rims are a definite upgrade for me in the future. I am just holding out to find a good deal on a used set if I can.

I ended up buying new front and rear complete wheel sets with alloy rims and heavy gauge spokes. My stock wheels where pulling spokes because Bashan thought it would be a good way to save a few pennies by using thin spokes. I bought the wheels from TaoBao for about what a top end set of spokes here in the US would cost.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Merlin

I ended up buying new front and rear complete wheel sets with alloy rims and heavy gauge spokes. My stock wheels where pulling spokes because Bashan thought it would be a good way to save a few pennies by using thin spokes. I bought the wheels from TaoBao for about what a top end set of spokes here in the US would cost.

I was looking at something similar on Taobao for a bike that uses the same hubs as mine. I think they were about 97 for the pair plus whatever freight would cost.