Honda XR150L

[KYtrailfan]

A KLX230 is another option if you aren't looking to light the trails on fire.

Going in another direction, I have lusted after a Janus Gryffin 250 for a long time. They are quite expensive but very nice to look at. They show up for sale for $4500-ish somewhat frequently. They aren't incapable offroad but I certainly would feel better bashing one at a discounted price over their $10k MSRP. Any bike can offroad if you offroad it.

I have looked hard at the KLX230. If they painted it something besides lime green I might own one lol. Basically double the HP and throw in a few bonus gears for highway speed. Honda could use something in that class.

 

[oldskool]

A KLX230 is another option if you aren't looking to light the trails on fire.

Going in another direction, I have lusted after a Janus Gryffin 250 for a long time. They are quite expensive but very nice to look at. They show up for sale for $4500-ish somewhat frequently. They aren't incapable offroad but I certainly would feel better bashing one at a discounted price over their $10k MSRP. Any bike can offroad if you offroad it.

Conversed with them a few years back interesting but no thanks. For the money they expect to get they should and could put a nice real deal Honda motor in instead of the elcheapo Honda wanna be Chinese knock off they use.

 

[m in sc]

Conversed with them a few years back interesting but no thanks. For the money they expect to get they should and could put a nice real deal Honda motor in instead of the elcheapo Honda wanna be Chinese knock off they use.

agreed. I talked to one of the founders way back at a DGR in charlotte. TBH, the build quality really is pretty.. clunky. not great over all. Not my cup of tea,, and i love vintage bikes. this is something a 30-something waxed moustache barista lusts after in his tweed hat.

 

[BaldRider]

this is something a 30-something waxed moustache barista lusts after in his tweed hat.

Hey now. I'm in my 40s and a Janus would look great next to my Ural. Certainly for $4k. Maybe less so for $10k.


Anyway, a klx230 with a rattle-can spray job to change it from green or a vinyl kit sounds like the ticket here.

 

[m in sc]

id stuff a cr500 motor in one if i was forced to take one. or a ktm 300. oh, and dont think I wouldnt. that chinese clone motor would go straight in the rollout or given away.

 

[dmonkey]

You're really going down the niche rabbit hole there @BaldRider , Honda Trail, Ural, and a Janus? I think you'll need a Moto Guzzi soon to round off the collection Can't say you don't have great taste, I'm drawn to all those motorcycles.

I doubt the Gryffin 250 gets included in any serious dual sport line-ups, especially not low budget ones, but if you're looking for something that matches up with the vision of the moped nuts out of Goshen, Indiana then it's the perfect bike! What else is on the market like a Janus? The closest thing to them might be a much more modern retro classic bike that is "bloated", or an authentic vintage motorcycle that is less accessible in terms of availability, parts, price, knowledge and documentation, and specialty tools.

I think the closest thing to a "real deal Honda motor" option to fit Janus' needs at the time may have been a 125cc "CG125" motor made by the same Chinese Sundiro Honda that makes the XR150L motor. Instead they went with the larger displacement and more powerful Lifan copy that is a 229cc "CG250" derived from the CG125. The CSC TT250 that was mentioned in this thread also has a CG250 motor, just made by Zongshen instead of Lifan Group. Janus landed a small displacement motor that is mass produced, air-cooled, simple in design and easy to work on, carbureted, and they got it to pass both EPA and more recently CARB requirements to sell 50-state legal motorcycles. IMO, hats off to them for that. They don't need to have won my dollar for me to be impressed with the the motorcycles they've built and sold in the USA. Don't go thinking any of the other bigger "American" brands don't use a ton of globally sourced parts. The thing that irks me most about the Janus bikes though is the aesthetic of those Honda-derived motors in the British featherbed frame. Would love to see a modern Royal Enfield motor swapped into the Halcyon 450 to replace the Honda XR400-based SWM motor.

 

[BaldRider]

I think part of it is the direction dual sport bikes have gone. Pretty hardcore. When I think dual sport, I think klr650 or the other big thumpers. They will do everything just not particularly well. A KLX300 (or 230) or Honda 300 is much better off-road. A Janus, Zhongshen or other clone engine bikes aren't going to be high performance even in small displacement terms but they will do all the exploring I would want to do. A KTM 350 EXC-F would be wasted on me. I'd never need more than a TW and I'll probably get one.

Of course, I'm planning a saddlesore 1000 on the Trail so my opinions and activities are a little strange to begin with.

 

[m in sc]

if i was looking to spend 10k on a retro to fart around on & didn't have my cb, id seriously consider the kawasaki w800 or the z650, but the w800 is, by far, a better value than the Janus. 10k is absolutely laughable for that thing. 4-6k *maybe*.

My ex father in law Joe had a old CRF150. just a plain-jane aircooled trail bike, was like an 04? model or so? he also used to race when he was younger, so he knew how to ride, and even in his late 60s, he was very hard to catch on the trails on that bike, which was dead stock. this has a lot to do with my consideration for the xr150l.

 

[Kev250R]

It's funny the timing of this as I'm helping my neighbor shop for his first dual-sport (because he's stubborn and won't just borrow one of mine, but I digress). He likes my TW, but thinks he'd want something larger/faster sooner then later (he would). He thinks the Trail is a toy and too slow for the paved roads around us. He won't buy anything new so the XR is out. The short list for him seems to be a WR250, Rally 300 or the Yamaha which is the next size up from the TW (225? Not really sure).

As far as odd-ball bikes go, I've wanted a Moto-Guzzi since the first time I heard the Cake song 'Rock N' Roll Lifestyle'. Some things I just buy because they make me smile LOL!

I'm still on the fence about an XR. I may go check one out in-person and see what I think.

 

[oldskool]

if i was looking to spend 10k on a retro to fart around on & didn't have my cb, id seriously consider the kawasaki w800 or the z650, but the w800 is, by far, a better value than the Janus. 10k is absolutely laughable for that thing. 4-6k *maybe*.

My ex father in law Joe had a old CRF150. just a plain-jane aircooled trail bike, was like an 04? model or so? he also used to race when he was younger, so he knew how to ride, and even in his late 60s, he was very hard to catch on the trails on that bike, which was dead stock. this has a lot to do with my consideration for the xr150l.

I was thinking more like $3500 tops for a low tech bike with a Chinese engine. Those Kawa retro bikes out class the Janus in every way....well other than the steam punk look

 

[BaldRider]

It's funny the timing of this as I'm helping my neighbor shop for his first dual-sport (because he's stubborn and won't just borrow one of mine, but I digress). He likes my TW, but thinks he'd want something larger/faster sooner then later (he would). He thinks the Trail is a toy and too slow for the paved roads around us. He won't buy anything new so the XR is out. The short list for him seems to be a WR250, Rally 300 or the Yamaha which is the next size up from the TW (225? Not really sure).

As far as odd-ball bikes go, I've wanted a Moto-Guzzi since the first time I heard the Cake song 'Rock N' Roll Lifestyle'. Some things I just buy because they make me smile LOL!

I'm still on the fence about an XR. I may go check one out in-person and see what I think.

The WR250R is on another level from the other bikes mentioned for off-road use.

 

[Kev250R]

The WR250R is on another level from the other bikes mentioned for off-road use.

I agree, but it's on the list because there are a lot of them For Sale in my area plus someone else in our neighborhood has one and speaks highly of it. It would not be the bike I would choose for several reasons I won't get into here, however one of my riding buddies had one for three or four years. He did mostly trail riding on it and grew into it as a novice rider then later outgrew it as his skills improved. He now rides a 500 KTM.

A quick side-story: Most of our riding in the summer is in the San Bernardino mountains. When my friend was still riding his WR, on one of our rides, on a particularly warm day we were climbing Clarks Grade (a off-road, rutted, challenging hill climb). My friend was on his WR, I was leading on my TW. About half-way up the climb my friend starts blowing his horn. I stop, he rides up next to me and says "My bike is overheating and yours is too stupid to know that it is too!" I took that as a jab at my low-tech, three indicator light bike. We stopped, let our bikes cool-off then continued on. We still laugh about that, especially the first time I showed him my Trail and pointed-out it's lack of a radiator and thus a temperature light or gauge LOL!

 

[BaldRider]

I agree, but it's on the list because there are a lot of them For Sale in my area plus someone else in our neighborhood has one and speaks highly of it.

It was on my list for a while but it was never in the cards. I'm much more of a casual rider.

A quick side-story: Most of our riding in the summer is in the San Bernardino mountains. When my friend was still riding his WR, on one of our rides, on a particularly warm day we were climbing Clarks Grade (a off-road, rutted, challenging hill climb). My friend was on his WR, I was leading on my TW. About half-way up the climb my friend starts blowing his horn. I stop, he rides up next to me and says "My bike is overheating and yours is too stupid to know that it is too!" I took that as a jab at my low-tech, three indicator light bike. We stopped, let our bikes cool-off then continued on. We still laugh about that, especially the first time I showed him my Trail and pointed-out it's lack of a radiator and thus a temperature light or gauge LOL!

Since I live in the San Bernardino mountains, I imagine most of my riding on the Trail will be too.

 

[Kev250R]

It was on my list for a while but it was never in the cards. I'm much more of a casual rider.

I'm with you, I could have bought my friends WR for a song when he sold it, but opted to pass on it as I like traveling at a slower pace.

Since I live in the San Bernardino mountains, I imagine most of my riding on the Trail will be too.

I'm jealous! My home is in OC, however my family has a cabin in Big Bear City and in the summer I keep my Camper at a campground on Big Bear Lake. I've been riding and 4xing on trails up there for the past 20 years or so and never get tired of exploring! However I do get tired of riding on rocks LOL! I'm taking my Trail up there later this month for it's first ride off-road and am curious to see how it does in comparison to my TW.

 

[m in sc]

I test rode the one last week that the dealer brough in for me. few things soured me, none of which were the bike itself. I'll start w that.

1: its slow af but I knew that going in, def not as slow as the trail. it fit me really, really well and that's a big deal to me, very comfy. everything worked as well as expected and overall i really liked it

2: however, the sales manager at this dealership thought he 'had me' when i ordered it. so, they decided to go ahead and build it anyway, I was NOT happy about that. I was going to be present when it came out of the crate we agreed on that (me at the dealer general manager) and to make it worse, it was done by a tech that I really don't trust (imho). It wasn't part of the deal but I was willing to begrudgingly overlook it.

3: After I test rode it, then he tried to hit me with almost 4800 OTD. I literally told him to go pound sand and left the sales tower. they tried calling me back in as i was walking out, he lied to me saying his cost was more than listed msrp, etc. which is a complete load of shit and i knew it, and for some reason he thought i would be ok with it. As i was walking out, the general manager saw me coming out as he just got back on property and was like 'hey, how did you like it.. wait, where are you going?' when he realized i was leaving. I flat out told him he needed to get his sales boy in line and i was pissed and it was better for me to leave at this point (i would have lost my shit, i do not take well to being lied to).

2 other dealers in the area quoted me this OTD, in writing, both in NC but w dmv work done for sc, so taxes would be the same. (5% under 10k new vehicle purchases).

rockingham had 2 black ones at 3850 out the door taxed tagged and titled.

charlotte honda has a black one on hand, but can get a white one, 4283 otd tax title etc.

rock hill powersports hit me with 4765.

the -only- reason im going to go with charlotte honda vs rockingham is rockingham said they could not get a white one in, they sold their allocation already. also its a 3 hour round trip but i didnt mind that too much.

so, hopefully i can get a verification from charlotte honda (who i have not had good lock w in the past) to pick it up this weekend. we shall see. they do have decent techs though.


I told the general manager at rock hill, which is literally 1.2 miles from my house, I can't do business w their dales department anymore. And I won't until there is a changing of the guard. but a 32% difference of msrp for no good reason is just bullshit .

rant off.

 

[KYtrailfan]

I test rode the one last week that the dealer brough in for me. few things soured me, none of which were the bike itself. I'll start w that.

1: its slow af but I knew that going in, def not as slow as the trail. it fit me really, really well and that's a big deal to me, very comfy. everything worked as well as expected and overall i really liked it

2: however, the sales manager at this dealership thought he 'had me' when i ordered it. so, they decided to go ahead and build it anyway, I was NOT happy about that. I was going to be present when it came out of the crate we agreed on that (me at the dealer general manager) and to make it worse, it was done by a tech that I really don't trust (imho). It wasn't part of the deal but I was willing to begrudgingly overlook it.

3: After I test rode it, then he tried to hit me with almost 4800 OTD. I literally told him to go pound sand and left the sales tower. they tried calling me back in as i was walking out, he lied to me saying his cost was more than listed msrp, etc. which is a complete load of shit and i knew it, and for some reason he thought i would be ok with it. As i was walking out, the general manager saw me coming out as he just got back on property and was like 'hey, how did you like it.. wait, where are you going?' when he realized i was leaving. I flat out told him he needed to get his sales boy in line and i was pissed and it was better for me to leave at this point (i would have lost my shit, i do not take well to being lied to).

2 other dealers in the area quoted me this OTD, in writing, both in NC but w dmv work done for sc, so taxes would be the same. (5% under 10k new vehicle purchases).

rockingham had 2 black ones at 3850 out the door taxed tagged and titled.

charlotte honda has a black one on hand, but can get a white one, 4283 otd tax title etc.

rock hill powersports hit me with 4765.

the -only- reason im going to go with charlotte honda vs rockingham is rockingham said they could not get a white one in, they sold their allocation already. also its a 3 hour round trip but i didnt mind that too much.

so, hopefully i can get a verification from charlotte honda (who i have not had good lock w in the past) to pick it up this weekend. we shall see. they do have decent techs though.


I told the general manager at rock hill, which is literally 1.2 miles from my house, I can't do business w their dales department anymore. And I won't until there is a changing of the guard. but a 32% difference of msrp for no good reason is just bullshit .

rant off.

Anything over MSRP and actual tag and license costs is too much.

 

[m in sc]

Look, i don't mind them making a few hundred bucks, they have the dealership to pay for, etc, but ffs there's a reasonable limit.

 

[Kev250R]

Look, i don't mind them making a few hundred bucks, they have the dealership to pay for, etc, but ffs there's a reasonable limit.

I agree. I've told the story here before so I'll make it brief but a year ago my local Honda Dealer (3 miles from my house, not a mega Powersports store) wanted $6,500 for a brand-new Trail! Which is how I ended-up buying a year-old Trail a couple of weeks later.

Fair profit is fine, even expected but there is no excuse for gouging.

Enjoy your new bike! I've decided not to get one myself right now as I'm not riding the bikes I do have enough to justify a sixth one.

 

[m in sc]

second dealer is having a hard time tracking down a white one. not holding my breath, maybe next year unless they cut me a hell of a deal on a black one, then i can change the plastics later.

 

[m in sc]

by chance, i was getting a set of carbs vapor blasted, and telling my local buy about what a bag of dicks the local dealer was being (ive known this guy for over 20 yrs). he says 'hang a sec' ...shoots a text to his buddy and says he knows a dealer about 2 hours away, he grew up with the guys that now own it, says they have a white one in stock. I cold call the dealer the next day (yesterday) and they beat everyones price by hundreds. that's a great benefit, but they have one, and were absolutley easy to deal with . 7 min ph call and 2 emails and a text. (deal was done remotely, to the point I already have insurance on it) going to pick up Sat barring any unforseen issues. Will give report of experience and dealer name when I get back.


side note, the carbs. i had ultrasonically cleaned them but wanted a bit 'more' (for my 72 suzuki t500).