Afternoon all....

Andy here - just moved back to Wiltshire (just outside Avebury) - and new to the forum today!

I am interested in buying a CRM250. I wanted an AR years ago, after I saw one in a Japanese import place down in Bristol. Sadly I couldn't afford one at the time.

I currently have a Honda Deauville for longer distance stuff, but I really fancy a small to medium trail bike for general commuting and a bit of offroad fun. The XT350s are all getting a bit long in the tooth, and the DR350/400 series don't float my boat... I've had Tengais, Transalps and Teneres in the past, which whilst being excellent on road and mild off road, aren't really what I am looking for.

Budget is a bit undecided at the moment - was thinking of seeing what I could get for what money.

I'm a fussy old Hector, and I'm possibly looking for something that may not exist... one that hasn't been buggered about with/modified much. Probably a Mk2 or or a Mk 3 - would spending the extra on an AR be worth it?

If any of you have a CRM that might fit the bill (or know of one?) then please let me know. Alternatively, if you are in the Wiltshire area, and accept beer tokens for independent advice when I go and look at one - that would be very useful as well.

I haven't really done much offroading, so I am also looking for likeminded (i.e. slightly insane) people to go out and about on the Wiltshire trails with.... looks like the Wiltshire TRF is a good start. Are there any members on here?

Welcome to the site mate
As an AR owner I would recommend a MK3 I think , unless you get an experienced AR owner to give the bike a really good check out first, in particular the pv system. Mine is a fantastic bike now I have sorted all the problems (see elsewhere on the site for details...namely member scrubs' fault find PV problems thread)
There are some great condition bikes out there - for a really good condition AR you are looking at spending around £1400 I think but someone else on the forum can tell you abit more accuratly.
You should have no problems finding some slightly (or very) insane people on here to go riding with...
Regards,
Skidmark

Welcome to the forum mate,

Aint far from you in Bristol, so will have to meet up for a ride out when we both get our bikes.

All the best,
Jack

Hello Mate , and hearty welcome , That's some fine riding in your location mate.
There are generally a couple of bikes of various MKs available on here , and most have been looked after over and above your average eblag jobie .Also most of the sellers are far and away, er less' Jackanory , if you get my drift .
You can generally pick up some useful hints to repairs or upgrades , though i would add, make use of the search facility before posting up a query, you will leave yourself open to a verbal mauling if you fail to do so .
Regards Mike

Hi Tr4pper and welcome

Thanks for the welcome and advice :-)

I think I need to find a CRM quickly - one of my colleagues is trying to tempt me into four strokes by convincing me that an XR400 would cope with the commute element of my requirements better than a CRM250.

The bike will be subject to about 90% commute/10% offroad (I suspect). The commute will be about 10 miles each way down country roads (Avebury - Swindon if anyone knows the area)....

Gotta be the CRM then, all them lovely corners to gas her out of , plus once you have used it off road and found out what a capable bike it is ,your off road % may change.
I don't think there is any thing fundamentally wrong with the XR400, but it may feel somewhat pedestrian when drag raced against a CRM .
Regards Mike

Newly purchased Mk3 arrives later this week. The dark side of 2 strokes proved to be too strong for me!! :-D

Just need a couple of recommendations now - where do I get a decent set of mirrors that fit/give good rear visibility and what would be a good road biased tyre for it (still retaining some offroad potential) as it is shod with FIM regulation enduro tyres at the moment - which my 20 mile commute to and from work every day will doubtless soon get sh*gged up!!!

Never changed a motorbike tyre before - so anyone in the Wiltshire area is welcome to pull up a chair and have a good laugh as the kitchen spoons get bent........ beers in the fridge, nuts are... probably in the garage.....

Hi Tr4pper
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=4600" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This may prove of some use then , scroll down through thread to bit i penned about tyre changing , hope it helps .
I will refrain from the tyre recommendation advice for the reasons in the thread above .
Regards Mike

Thanks Mike :-)

I also had another thought which involves getting a spare set of wheels and putting some really road oriented tyres on them so I could do a quick swap - "a little something for the weekend, Sir!?"

O/K MR T , CRAZY FOOL, no actually , that's a good idea, and your first in the queue for a set of wheels , after ME
Good luck .
Regards Mike

You need some wheels like this ...
So, someone else to meet at Barbury Castle then ... I'm in Purton.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72429791@N ... t-1300331/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I use this to commute from Purton into Swindon - have done it on the Crossenga's - but it's a bit noisy ( and not as stable !

Cheers

Spokey

Holy cr*p - Spokey, that looks absolutely gorgeous :-)

Hmmm.....

Thinking....

Incidentally - Barbury Castle? Err - it's been a while since I've been down here! Is that a favourite meeting point?

Spokey wrote:You need some wheels like this ...
So, someone else to meet at Barbury Castle then ... I'm in Purton.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/72429791@N ... t-1300331/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I use this to commute from Purton into Swindon - have done it on the Crossenga's - but it's a bit noisy ( and not as stable !

Cheers

Spokey

Hey Spokey

Thats looks sweet! Whats the front mudguard off?

Skidmark