Having owned many.... I never liked my KTM. Adventurer. And I am a full foot taller and couldn’t reach the ground comfortable. I can rebuild a Honda in my sleep and have always loved the ones I owned. I vote for a Honda crf300 and you can have it lowered for your legs. If you aren’t going to be doing highway and heavy hauling a 300 will be fine and they are pretty low. Current bikes for me.., KLR650, Ducati SS1100. I have ridden dozens of bikes and all the Japanese brands will do anyone well. Again I will not recommend a KTM.
Kawasaki KLR 650.
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Everybody's got something to hide, 'cept for me and my Monkey.
Choose the bike that comes with a low deductible health insurance policy and funeral insurance.
Everyone I know who has a bike has wiped out or been hit at least once.
Good friend was just hit and killed.
Honda CRF300LS
Or
Yamaha TW200
I highly recommend taking a basic motorcycle class if you have little to no background with bikes. It’ll teach you a bunch, and get a good start on learning to ride. Also, many (all?) States require it to get the motorcycle endorsement on your license.
As to bike model, I like the older Yamaha VStars, but they’re not off-roaders at all. Can’t help you much there.
I second the Duke. I have a friend on the shorter side, like 5’3”-4” and he has one. It has a pretty close fender profile so you won’t be able to get knobby tires, but you can go on the highway. He kept up with us cruisers going 65-70 on tue highway no problem. It’s a light bike and you can do some minor off-roading with it if you choose.
Given you budget, requirements, and limitations, I think you should look at at a Royal Enfield 350. They are low to the ground and light, their single long-stroke piston develops huge torque to get you over anything, they handle beautifully, and it would match you budget. Yes, they have limitations, but so does any motorcycle because they are all compromises.
Think thrice before getting into any kind of serious traffic on a bike that will work for you in the woods. For one thing, a bike heavy enough to feel good in traffic might be pretty hard to bring back up on its feet after you dump it in thick undergrowth.
You can get a street legal trail bike. I suggest something of about 250 cc to top out at around 60 mph (but don’t go that fast). You can start cheap on Chinese bikes on Amazon (which actually get very good reviews) or do something a lot more expensive. That decision depends on how sure you are that you will want to keep doing this for very long.
So while you can get a street legal trail bike, I don’t think it’s going to feel good in four lane traffic or any traffic above about 40 mph.
The bike is going to be too lightweight to feel very safe at higher speeds, and tires that will do well in dirt are not going to be the safest for street use. But dual-use bikes exist and you’ll get a lot of thumbs up and appreciate remarks out around town because people don’t see many of these out on the street in most towns.
I am not an expert so y’all others lay off and only correct me where I’ve given downright dangerous advice.
Wow - thanks for all of the advice! I do have friends who ride, but they’re almost all Harley riders, and try to push me in that direction. Not what I’m looking for.
I’ll bookmark this thread and do some further research with what’s listed, and check out ItchyBoots’ channel. Being in Chicagoland means a lot of available bikes, and I’m bound to find something that suits me.
I really do appreciate the help. Thank you!
Get the Honda CRF300 Rally. You won’t regret it.
Harley 1200 XL Sportster.
I don’t understand why people feel the need to go on motorcycle threads and spew the same old tired jokes (that they seem to think are so original) and give oh so sage advice that motorcycles are dangerous. We already know this. Everyone knows this. Go to some thread for timid mice instead and reassure yourselves of your innate superiority and leave the rest of us alone.