Drz400.
Cheap
Parts everywhere
regear for trails
Have fun
Yes, had one for awhile. But might be a lil heavy and only having 5 gears can suck if your in-town duties may require a bit of fwy here and there. (Buzzin it and only achieveing like 75mph).
Also it's not fuel injected, so he may have to fuss with jetting for his elevation.
That having been said, they definitely can get with it if you've got the skills. But if ya have to pick her back up again after an oopsie, they're a lil chunky. To help that remove the buddy pegs and DEFINITELY replace the stock exhaust can with an aftermarket aluminum. That stock exhaust can is ReDONKulously heavy.
And do the 3x3 mod to the airbox lid.
Pirelli MT21's work well on it, but wear fast on street. Dunlop D606's also work pretty well, but the D606's DO NOT like snotty mud. I never got a chance to try Kenda TrakMasters on it, but they looked like a good tread design for desert-y offroad.
In terms of regearing, yeah, I think I went one tooth down on the counter-shaft sprocket.
Depending on your weight and level of aggression, you may have to re-spring the rear. I'm 220Lbs so needed a stiffer after-market.
No matter which bike you go far it's IMPERATIVE that you properly setup rear shock sag when you're seated upon it with all your riding gear on, so it's same weight as it'll be out in the field. NIGHT and DAY difference in handling.. no matter which bike we're talking about.. when the sag isn't set right.
For adjusting the front forks clickers.. what you can do is stand beside it and shove down hard on a footpeg and observe how the suspension plunges downward. Keenly observe whether or not it seems to be uniformly dipping down in terms of front vs back. You want them BOTH to dip down EQUALLY.
Do some internet research in terms of how to fine tune your clickers (front or rear) in terms of how to correct little annoyances you observe in the handling when riding at speed.
And definitely go for a FatBar (think Renthal) type of setup for the handlebars. They have a little bit of flex in them to provide some "give" on harsh landings.
Whichever bike you end up getting, I'd also recommend getting a Gel Seat too. You'll appreciate that one. Trust me.
If I was to go out and buy a new one today? It'd most likely be the Honda CRF450L. They also have done a few little clever things to help with vibration when on long drones on a hwy.
EDIT: One thing that just came to mind... since you said you currently have a KTM.. If it has a Hydraulic clutch line... then I'd just try to stick with that KTM man. If you're feeling like the motors power characteristics come on a little strong/hyper for your skill level.... then what you could do is get a slightly heavier flywheel installed to tame that down a little bit and it'll also help prevent you from stalling out in slower going. ALSO.. for weight reduction, if you have a bike with eStart.. definitely look into replacing the stock AGM type battery with a Lithium one.
