BMW F 650 GS And Suzuki DR Z400 S - Sliding Scale

The DR, on the other hand, spends every freeway mile looking for the next exit. What amounts to nimble steering in the curves translates to a fair amount of head-shaking nervousness at higher speeds, and the revvy DR suddenly feels tiny and distinctly out of place, especially when it comes time to merge with high-speed traffic. Hairy-chested sorts will lean into the wind and see 80 mph and above, but we wouldn't recommend it.

So there it is. But what of the dirt, you say? Not surprisingly, we'd prefer to keep the GS on the street; but if you must, the baby Beemer will perform fairly admirably on fire roads and slightly rougher terrain-obviously let down by its street-biased tires. The DR, however, will take to terra firma like the proverbial fish to water-especially fitted with knobbier rubber. But that's no surprise.

As streetbikes, then, choosing the Suzuki or the BMW is all about compromise: For a paltry $5349, the DR-Z is cheap-also cheap to insure, and even cheaper to tip over. You get dirt-bike weight, dirt-bike suspension, and dirt-bike agility; you also have to deal with dirt-bike spartanism. At $8100, the F650GS is pricier and heavier all the way around, but counters with the various luxuries and long-distance abilities of a larger bike. So. Dirty steetbike or streety dirt bike? Excellent choices both, which one's best depends on what you wanna do.

BMW F650GS