Dang Dan, you sure dont like the zuks for some reason, from what I have heard, from several people the ktms are not quick at all, but have great suspension. the ds450 I heard had no bottom end but great top end. yamaha is a great bike no doubt, but i like the wider bike and with the 40 cherry bomb the lt is faster. as far as riding at pismo, as long as you wash your bike when you get back real good, rust should not be a problem. soap it up and some wd40 works great. another + for the lt, ds, kawi, ktm is the efi= no jetting, I thing yamaha and honda are behind here, I believe the 09 hondas will be efi