I was in a similar boat.
Turned 60 this year. Hadn't ridden dirt bikes much in the past 4 years despite living in Montana. Thought maybe a new bike would be a good thing. Not much inventory, but a TM dealer in Idaho Falls had some bikes. Looked at the TM 300 2-stroke fuel injected bike.
Nice, but I thought to myself that I'll just drop it in the rocks and wreck a nice piece of art.
Instead of buying that, I "invested" in my 2002 EC 300. Cylinder plated, new piston, etc., brake rotors, brake pads, brake lines, clutch line, tires, rear brake lever (had to fab my own mount), and re-did a footpeg mount repair which was beginning to fail after 10 years.
(Two years prior, i did the "Transformation kit" which adds 2010 plastic to the 2002 bike, and fabbed my own mount for a Showa steering damper. (BTW, that damper is fantastic.))
I also bought #8 and #9 slides, needles, and other brass to address the jetting in higher altitudes in MT. (Lived in Minnesota previous to here.) (#8 slide made a huge difference.)
Overall, the bike was sweet. Ran great. I was still faster than my brother on his new KTM 300 TPI, so i was happy. Until the black hills.
I rode the black hills with my brother and two buddies. The jetting was just a bit lean on the first day (3K feet instead of 5K feet), and my bike just didn't want to start. I'd crash (being faster than my brother doesn't mean i am fast or a a good rider - just faster than my brother.), and kick my brains out trying to start that thing when everyone else would push a button and be going.
I completely exhausted myself kicking that thing, and it was misery the rest of the week.
Tried to buy a Reiju, but no dealers had any.
the TM dealer in Idaho falls had a new 300 with the ohlins TTX shock, big tank, e-start, and six speed trans as a demo (5 hours) for $10K. Bought it.
Bike prices are nuts here, so i may sell the GG, but I also may keep it as a spare or "guest" bike. I've had the bike 15 years, and have a TON of spares, so i won't sell unless i can sell it for $3K.
Disclaimer: bought the TM in August, haven't ridden it. MT was in "exceptional drought" which meant no off-road riding, and then classes started, and i've been busier than ever. Maybe next spring i can report on the bike. It really is beautiful.
TM is sort of like legacy GG in tht i can call the distributor for info, order parts, etc. the only issue i had was finding a spark arrestor exhaust. TM in the US had Pro Circuit design and build a SA. NIce piece of kit, but it's LOUD. Damn. I took it apart thinking that it didn't' have packing, but it did. The packing was sparse, so I may ride it once, and if it's too loud, repack it.
I tried to have Pro Circuit sell me a longer housing for the SA so i could fit more packing and quiet it down, but they wouldn't. So, i am sort of stuck there. Other than that, when I took the bike apart to lube all the bearings, check fastener tightness, install the GPR damper, etc., it was all really well engineered.
That being said, if i cold have retrofit e-start on my GG, i would have not purchased the TM. Had I been able to buy a Reiju, i probably would have done that. But, my options were limited, i was sick of being the only guy with a kick starter, so i took the plunge.
We'll see.
Anyone looking for a 2002 EC 300 with all the tricks?
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