New member, first post... Trying to become a first time GG owner!

[Kyle01]

Thanks in advance for any assistance you might give me. I've been riding big heavy dual sports for a while now and my primary goal has been a bike that I can ride 300 miles on Friday fully loaded for camping, 2 track all day Saturday and haul my tired bones home on Sunday. For the past 2 years my trusty Husky TR has done just that- but I made the fortunate mistake of riding someone's KTM 300 on the trails.... Love. So I took a look at my stable and offered up my DRZ supermoto for trade and I've got 2 bikes that I'm trying to choose between. That being said, I'm not expecting these to carry much gear or cover 300 highway miles. I will however need it to be able to cover some highway (the places I ride require some on-road) so street legality is necessary

My choices:
2005 Gas Gas fsr450. It's low hour and has an FMF slip on, Scott's dampener and some spare parts. Brand new fuel pump.

2009 Gas Gas ec250. 119hrs, never ridden on the street. Looks new

Any recommendations?? Apples to oranges, I know. Both would be fun.

[JP4]

Cheers, and welcome to the forum.

Straight up ... I have no knowledge of the GG FSR 4-ts. Dunno what engine the 05 FSR 450 is derived from (maybe Yamaha). The 4-t GG's are a somewhat rare beast from my experience - never seen one in person.

The 09 2-t 250 is a known commodity. Lots of info and parts availability. The engine is pretty similar through to current models. I have a 2010 300 which is not that much different. My bike is road plated for convenience - legallly riding from trail to trail - but it's not much fun on pavement. These are full on off-road rides and not really dual-sport bikes.

Maybe this helps ...

Jason

[Fred1956]

My opinion......You'll be happier long term with the 2t.

The 4t models while still a GasGas have been plagued with ECM and fuel injection issues and there isn't a huge amount of knowledge that is wide spread on them. There are 2-3 guys on here that do have experience and very good knowledge of them (Big China is one I think). However, when they are right, they are indeed a good machine.

The 2t may be an issue for titling & plating as I'm under the impression some/most of them have some kind of code on the title the 'tags' them as off-road only. I have no experience with this but I also know many have been able to tag & title their bikes, seems to depend on the state and even the individual DMV office involved.

There is far more info for the 2t models here than the 4t. Do some homework on the tag/title thing and then choose.

Again, I have not owned a 4t model, just observed the replies or lack there of with those seeking info. I also have no experience trying to get a 2t street legal. Just my observations.

[Jakobi]

As above.

I'd consider the 4T a risk - not that they are unreliable - but they don't have the knowledge base or info availability that the 2T range has. Plus, if looking at purchasing a 4 stroke there are more brands with more offerings, and its easy to find a better bike for the coin. Just my opinion.

[1RobAusdemore]

I have a EC 250 that is street legal in Minnesota. Where do you live? I think in some states it can be almost impossible, and in others it's much easier than you would expect.

[Kyle01]

Thanks for the input- I picked up the 250. I'm in Wisconsin and I've plated a KTM 450smr here before- and the title I got is a clean Michigan street title- so shouldn't be a problem. I'll let ya know as soon as I try.