yeah, i was looking at 450s and 510s but the maitenance like you said was horrendous.

Like I said before, I am very interested in the balls out supermotos. It is just hard to wrap my mind around changing the oil more often than I put gas in the sportbike.

yeah, but the don't cost as much as my Busa, like the Husky and KTM.

Plus there are tons of mods out there for DRZs

true

I like the DRZ as well. Nothing too exotic just bulletproof as hell.

I haven't ridden a 610, but I've tried out a couple 690sm's. If I wanted a sumo, I'd get the 690 no question. You won't be wishing for more power, that's for sure, and it handles like a dirt bike.

610 is more of a real sumo with real dirt roots, the 690 is more of a street bike. Don't know if it'd be any good offroad. 610s can be had stupid cheap late in the year when shops like Malcom Smith start discounting, I've seen 'em listed for $6100. The 690 is probably more reliable--the 610 has some issues, throttle cable among them. The DRZ is a bulletproof tank but it's pretty slow.

How does the 510 compare for you performance wise? Is the maintenance as bad as I have heard?

Compare to what?

The 510 is a MX bike, not a street bike, so you have to treat it as such. The 06+ ones added a little oil capacity and some ignition changes but you still have to change the oil every 8 hrs of operation or so. Compared to other MX bikes and MX-based sumo conversions, it's easier, but compared to a street bike that weighs 200+ lbs more, it's a pain. As a weekend / trackday toy it's no big deal. Changing the oil is a 10 minute job, there are no panels to remove. Once the valves take a set they tend to stay that way. A Husky will last 4-5x as long as a Honda if broken in correctly.

Concerning performance I was talking about compared to the 610 or 690, the more street oriented sumos. I have read that the MX based bikes are a night and day difference compared to the street biased bikes.

The information you gave about maintenance is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.