Col wrote:Shootermick,
Ditto to what BLR says. I have 2 Honda CTX 200 ag bikes which are great, reliable and have a nice wide seat for us older gents. I also run Honda 4 wheelers which have been super reliable and strong. Everything else is Toyota or Polaris UTVs.
The Kawasaki Stockman is also a good bike, I borrowed one in 2010 at Cunnamulla which was a good reliable unit. We were mustering stock that we had on agistment up there, in some pretty rough country.
GQshayne wrote:If you are using it in rough country, then a bike with good suspension may be a step up from an "Ag" bike. My farmer mate in western Qld did not buy ag bikes for this reason, preferring bikes such as the DT200 and XR400.
TassieTiger wrote:The question for me would also be one of cooling - air cooling vs water cooling...
Air cooling can be a pain in summer when leaving to idle for a while, lower performance, more servicing, etc but - get unlucky and drop a water cooled bike puncturing radiator...hard one.
If you want a marginal step up to bike vs farm machine, The DR’s have a reliability reputation - and a lot of aftermarket parts for all manner of comforts.
Jakethefake wrote:I bought a CRF230 earlier in the year. I looked at the XR Ag - it seemed like a good deal, but they had a poor reputation from what I read about them. I'm not 100% sure but I think they're made in China now. They were also ridiculously heavy for what they are, which put me right off them.
I have an old Honda CT200AG that has the Honda reliability, but its a horrible thing to ride. Terrible handling, too heavy, and slow.
Jakethefake wrote:Do you need it to be road legal? The biggest downside of the 230 is that it isn't. The DRZ 250 is a nice bike, my uncle has one. Its also one of the few bikes you can buy now that has a kick starter and electric start and is air cooled.
The Kawasaki KLX230 might be worth checking out too. Simple air cooled machine like the CRF230, but its road legal.
Larry wrote:I have the Suzuki DR 650 not really an AG bike although that is what I use it for now. A bit high in the seat. The good Ag bikes have good breaking mechanismis like postie bikes. Brakes on both sides and park brake options nice and low seat good options for rear racks for carrying stuff, The suspension is not a huge issue you are not going out on rough trails fast ect. A small upgrade in Suspension to my 650 and it works great on the single track up against much lighter bikes. but that is its problem it is to heavy I have it way geared down so can tractor pull up a hill.
GQshayne wrote:If you want to use it for hunting, then I would stay small and as quiet as possible. My experience over the years is that larger 4 stroke single cylinder engines can be heard from quite a distance. Small 4 strokes with good mufflers and 2 stroke engines are much better in this regard. I have listened to a 4 stroke XR that I could hear in the distance, but could not even see, and had 2 strokes ride straight towards me and not hear them at all. Quite a big difference in the sounds and how they travel.
Larry wrote:I never bought the DR650 as a farm bike or a serious off roader. it has been around the world and on some serious single tracks and is ok around the paddocks too. but not what it was bought for. The 400 is a better off road bike but not as good for when you want to cruise on the bitumen. All the bikes have a purpose task that they were built to excel in or be moderately suitable for more than one