New guy and question

[osufrdave]

New to the Black Hills region thank you to the United States Air Force!  Absolutely love the area!
I have a 1200GS which has been a blast to ride having never lived by so many interesting roads and trails.

Question: I'm looking at the winter that is in front of us and would like to have a lighter, more nimble off road bike.
Realistically, do you all get out to the trails much between Oct-March?  Considering a XR650L or a CRF450X.   

[Hank]

Welcome!
Where are you from originally?   

[plumber mike]

I guess it depends where exactly you are at. A trail in the badlands could be sweet in febuary, while they are still snowmobiling on the trails in the northern hills. You just never know. I mostly stick to the street or maintained gravel in the winter.

BTW welcome, and thank you for your service.

[loingrader]

welcome dave!

lighter is almost always better when off road on trails. 

add some snow into the mix, and lighter is certainly better.  i'd get the 450 or something even smaller.  you rarely are looking for more power when riding on the trails out in the hills.  often you are wishing the bike wasn't so darn heavy to be picking up all the time!

i think 200-250's are almost perfect for the black hills trails (tw200, XR200R, dr200, xt225, klx250,klr250,wr250)

a nice xr200r is around $800 (right mike!)
a nice klx250 is around $1800
a nice wr250 is around $3000

the 40th time it falls over on a big rock you will be wishing that maybe you spent less money on your trail bike.