515 real life questions??

[Cruiser]

Anybody here have a 515 yet? That they race and ride? I'm looking to get a bike in august or so as my PT is going ok and hope to be back on 2 wheels this year still.. Anybody use a 515 for trails,, and get it out on the highway?? Can it hold 65-75mph and still be usable in the tight stuff? A few of my riding buddies have the big twin ktm's but have been getting smaller ds as well,, mostly ktm 530's and 510 husky's,, I would need to be able to do a good 20 miles of asphalt to get to the good trails,, or more likely hit the asphalt to get home when it gets late,,
Thanks,,
Steve

 

[JRDoz]

Gearing would be your only worry. As it is geared for enduro work.
Naturally if you gear it for comfortable transports at 65mph you will sacrifice low speed .. I don't own one but have ridden one. 515 gearing is the same as an FSR450.

 

[Cruiser]

How different geared are these say from a KTM 450 exc? I'm hoping to get a new 250ec and a 515 when the time comes..
Thanks,
Steve

 

[JRDoz]

From what people tell me , the KTM has a high internal ratio for 6th gear.
GasGas ratios are close together throughout the entire 6 gears..

 

[Cruiser]

It would be nice to see a wide ratio gearbox on a big bore machine.. at least if it was just 5th & 6th higher to give a little better legs to the bikes. I'll have to ride one to see how it compaires,, I've rode a drz that was set up for woods and it would only do 45 on the road,, 6th gear would have been nice,, or a better 1st so it wouldnt have needed to be geared down soo much.. Most likely I'll end up with new 08 250ec and maybe a bmw 650x or a 690e, but they both seem big and big $.. I just think I need to ride one to know for sure,, I'd rather stay on gasgas..

 

[GMP]

Steve,

What about '08 GasGas EC250 for the woods and Husky TE610 for the other stuff. You could even add a set of SM wheels for way less than what a Beemer costs. Matt was telling me his SM610 pulls 75 on the highway for miles with no issues, and is decent on dirt roads even with the SM wheels. The motor is solid, cheaper than a KTM, and its eaiser to get a deal on one. Big cat pipe is ugly but thats fixable. Remember that everything GasGas does to make the 4-stroke a better woods bike(and it is) will make it worse on the road. Its more race focused every year and thats a good thing. Try to compromise and you get just that. Get something more streetable and we can tear up some backroads later this summer!

 

[Cruiser]

I like the 07 and older 610's but the new 08's at $8k+ since the fi and now no comp adj. on the front zokes I'm not real happy about that one.. Also the 610 frame is the same frame design that was on my 86 wr250,, and being vertically challanged a little that frame is a little odd. If they would do the 610 in the 510 frame they would have a winner big time. I might end up with a used 610,, some have been coming up FS cheap if you go back a few years.. I was also looking at the wr250 that yamaha put out as a ds bike. Easy to shave weight off and looks promising.. be nicer if it was a 350 tho.. I know what I really want probably doesnt exist,, but why?? If they put a better spread in the gearbox on any of the current big 4strokers they could have great ds machines. I'm not asking to do 120 down the road,, just enough to keep up to traffic and have a little fun. Glenn,,When you picking up the duc!
Steve
Oh,, and its nuts here this weekend,, rv's loaded w/drunk rednecks that want to watch cars drive in little circles fast.. cant go anywhere without traffic issues! vent over!

Oh,, and the bmw x's have been showing up used with little to no off-road use lately- 6k area,, swap out an ohlins rear and your set..

 

[GMP]

I guess it depends on how much road, especially highway, you need to do or want to do. If your getting a new EC for the woods, then you can go with more of a road biased DS bike. Maybe something that you can swap some SM wheels (and taller gearing) on for some backroad fun. Then it would be almost like having three bikes. I sat on a new KTM 690 Duke last week, what a cool bike. Not sure if a 690 single would be enough though for a dedicated street bike used daily.

My plan is to get the bike after I get back from vacation in NC early next month if things play out OK. I found a dealer in PA willing to deal. Some bikes are having transmission issues that is apparently caused by some bad shift drum castings that Ducati knows about. I'm following this closely. I also have to come to an understanding with the dealer about me doing the maintanence not voiding the warranty. While Ducati is good about fixing things they seem to emphasize that dealers must do the services. Since the thing is ridiculous $$ to fix if it goes bang, and the services are stupid expensive as well especially considering the miles I will rack up, I'll just forget it if I can't come to an agreement.

 

[Cruiser]

just read the review in DR about the 690,, seems too street for me.. I'll probably keep an eye out for a low mile clean 610 husky -pre 08, or an bmw x-challange. If I was ready there was one for 6k w/1200 street miles on it.. I've seen some nice 640 adventures too, the $ will drop on them when the 690's hit. Might even still just do the 250ec and 515 w/3 sets of wheels, dirt, mix and sm.. That just looks like a fun bike.. If the 510 husky can hang at over 90 all day in sm trim why not the GG?? I need to ride one! Once I get the ok to ride I'll be looking to take one for a spin.. Oh,, and the 550 aprilla looks nice too,, just looks costly to fix and upkeep..

 

[GMP]

From what I've been reading, I'd stay away from the Ape 450s/550s, they seem to have a lot of issues in addition to the fact that they are hard core racers with associated maintanence requirements. Aprilia does not have the best reputation for parts supply either, at least up until now. The boards are full of major horror stories.

A 515 SM would be awesome. I just wonder how far/how often you could ride it at hwy speeds and have it survive. Vibration is a factor too. PM Matt, he has an '07 SM610 and loves it.

 

[JRDoz]

From what I've been reading, I'd stay away from the Ape 450s/550s, they seem to have a lot of issues in addition to the fact that they are hard core racers with associated maintanence requirements. Aprilia does not have the best reputation for parts supply either, at least up until now. The boards are full of major horror stories.

A 515 SM would be awesome. I just wonder how far/how often you could ride it at hwy speeds and have it survive. Vibration is a factor too. PM Matt, he has an '07 SM610 and loves it.

Well considering that the 450 comes in motard. I wouldn't see it as a concern..

 

[GMP]

Depends on the design and if its competition focused or dual sport focused. Also how long you expect it to last. Thats one of the problems with the Aprilia SXVs. They come street legal and people buy them with the wrong idea that they are daily riders like a Mille or Tuono. A few thousand miles later they go bang. A racer with lights is still a racer.

 

[Cruiser]

Well,, the aprilla is more dealer set-up than anything.. The dealers were to send techs to a special school on how to set those bikes up,, They only had one class as 6 dealers sent techs.. These bikes are sold as a DS(the aprilla) and came with a 1 year warranty.. The only dealer in our area that had a tech at that school was Martins,,

 

[GMP]

Steve,

Martins is where I plan to get my Hyper. Really nice people on the phone, would talk all day. They also have the new Aprilia 750 Shiver and Triumph Street Triple, which I may do if the Hyper doesn't fit the bill. I have to take a ride out there soon and talk a deal. How far from you are they?

Aprilia SXVs have many issues with assembly, wrong case sealant causing oil/coolant mixing, and lack of parts. In the course of researching the Shiver I ran into a lot of this info. Now the '08s have new cases and other fixes, but the bikes have a bad rep for reliability. Really good SM bikes though.

 

[MattR]

I like the 07 and older 610's but the new 08's at $8k+ since the fi and now no comp adj. on the front zokes I'm not real happy about that one.

I bought my '07 SM610 in March this year. It was a leftover that Hall's tracked down and got shipped to them. I bought the '07 for just those reasons. I have been loving it since day one and have no regrets. Highly recommended if you are considering a larger dualsport bike.

If you are looking at any freeway miles (65+ mph) then the 610 is the right choice. The 510 is more for around town and trail duty. I have rode my SM610 on dirt roads and small gravel and it is no problem... very comfortable cruising along at 45 mph. The medium/large gravel gets a bit nervous since it feels like marbles under the smoother SM tires. I plan to mount some Avon Distancias 17" tires when these stock Pirelli Diablos wear out. The Avon's are great dualsport tires for the 17" SM wheels.

 

[Cruiser]

Hey Matt,,
I was thinking of the 610,, just wont go to the 08's,, too many issues.. I dont like the non adj fork they went with for 08. I wasnt planning any large amount of highway but,, I'm real curious in how the 610 with regular wheels would like the trails I usually ride. I dont expect to go as fast as I do on my 250 but would like to still be able to get down them..
Thanks,,
Steve

 

[Cruiser]

Glenn,,
Martins is about 30 minutes from me,, I forgot I didn't post that last night,, I was in the middle of typing and we lost power.. That is the only duc dealer in our area that sent techs to the school. Apparently most of the issues the sxv's had were supposed to be fixed before they were sold. But many dealers didn't do any of the fix's that ducati told them to do.. Thus major issues down the road.. I've talked to guys who got them from Martins and had no issues and others that bought elsewhere and couldn't keep them out of the shops.. The 08 is supposed to be better and the 09 even better.. They just look too expensive to drop in the rocks,,

 

[MattR]

Hey Matt,,
I was thinking of the 610,, just wont go to the 08's,, too many issues.. I dont like the non adj fork they went with for 08. I wasnt planning any large amount of highway but,, I'm real curious in how the 610 with regular wheels would like the trails I usually ride. I dont expect to go as fast as I do on my 250 but would like to still be able to get down them..
Thanks,,
Steve

Since you are planning to do trail riding, then I would go with the TE610 and pickup up some SM wheels if you decide to commute a lot. Check out the ADV Rider forum regarding the trail-worthiness of the TE610. There are lots of happy folks. In my case, I will be 90% street riding so I chose the SM610. The only offroading will be doubletrack/jeep trails and the SM wheels will be fine on these.

 

[Cruiser]

I'm on adv rider alot,, lots of happy people with 07 and older 610's and the not so happy 08 owners.. I'd need to run one off road to tell if it be ok,, thats still a big bike.. I found one local to me a few years old with hardly any time on it for uder $3k.. If I find one like that when I'm ready I'll pick it up..
Thanks,

 

[GMP]

FWIW, all new road legal bikes that meet Euro 3 emmisions suck as far an low end fueling goes. None run at their potential. You can count on having to deal with this in one way or another if you want the bike to run right. Plus, the cats make stupid heat, especially if they are integrated in a high mounted can(s). A $250 Techlusion and an O2 eliminator fixes this if no software or non-compliant map is available for download by the dealer. The can you would probably do anyway so thats a wash. EFI is here to stay, might as well get started early on how to beat the system!

I wasn't aware that the '08s had non adjustable forks, whats up with that? Cost savings? How much shorter is the SM suspension vs the TE? If your worried about height that may be good, get the SM and a set of off road wheels.

From what I hear about the Aprillia is it makes crazy power thats too much off road but great on the SM track.