GG 515 vs KTM 520/525/530 for combo DS and ST
 

Heck, even throw in the KTM 505, if you want.

At some point down the road I'll have to decide on a new bike. I'm an Arizona desert single-track person. I don't do wide-open "desert" as most of you know it. Our single track is tight and rocky. As well, an Arizona dual sport ride is mostly trail. Get more than a couple hundred yards of pavement in the loop and people begin to whine. Some have taken to calling it "cruel sport." One more thing, in Arizona it is possible to dual sport just about anything. All we need is a light a horn, and insurance. My EC250 is street-licensed.

With those caveats in mind, if I were to start dual sporting for real, I have the usual option of keeping a 2T single track bike and buy something like a big XR for dual sport. But I don't have the room, the money, or the inclination to keep and maintain two bikes.

I am considering getting a big-bore 4T for the purpose of both a ST and a DS bike. I'm reasonably familiar with the differences in the KTM line of 5-series bikes. Their motors are quite different. How does the GG515 stack up in comparison?

I will let you try my 450 sometime when we cross paths. I'm in prescott. You dont need that big a bike.

I'm over-compensating for something. :p

I'm just looking to check out some 5-series bikes as well. Heck, a Yammie WR450 would probably suit me just as well.

May as well really confuse the issue and look at a Husky 510 and a Husaberg 570.

Hey AZrickD, I was looking into one of these too,, ended up with a used LC4 for now. I really like the gg line and keep looking back at them. Have you given any thought to the 450 rally bike?? And since you mentioned az cruel sport you wouldn't know my buddypal Terry Z with the KTM 950? I think he now has a Honda cr450x too.
Good luck.

Yeah. That would be Terry "Madman" Zechman. So named for his penchant to take his unusually large KTM where only DRZs and XRs would normally go. Terry is a member of Arizona Trail Riders.

I rode a member's Reklused Husa570 last spring. I wouldn't mind one of those either.

The typical dualsport bike DRZ, XR, 690 are pushing or are over 300 pounds. I tried to pick up a 690 as a test and I nearly stuffed a good length of intestine through my scrotum.

Ultimate would be I think....Reiju Marathon 450....gasser frame....yamaha engine...made by Gas Gas? Available in europe and presumably going to replace the FSE/FSR 450 with GG decals at some point:
http://www.rieju.es/en/interface.html

Today I spent a too-short amount of time on a friend's 2010 KTM450SX with Rekluse EXP. He is a top A-rider here and still had the CDI set to the wenie mode. Not enough time to sort out the suspension, but I was testing that Rekluse EXP and putting it through its paces. The dang EXP is seamless.

Anyway, the KTM450 is just so big (wide) and even though it has a claimed 230 dry weight, it is heavy to lean over and tough to pick up. The owner allowed me to lay it down and pick it up. Gawd !! I'm a two-stroke pansy.

Terry is a good guy,, one of these days I'm gonna bring my 625 outwest to visit. The big husy is alway an interesting choice as the engine gets bigger the frame stays the same. A friend has an older husy 550 that he uses for ds and tight trails,, not a 2stroke weight by any stretch but is good.

The new FSRs are getting great reviews. Never rode one so I can't comment. I have time on the Husky TE450. Good DS bike, very stable and an excellent rock bike, just a bigger feel than I like in the woods.