Dual Sport Adventure riding

[Toecutter]

Wow! Great post chock-full of info, BlueStreak-1!

Gotta save that one.

Unfortunately, it may end up costing me bigtime $$$

 

[donaldb]

dirt is a lot of fun............but I got all that out of my system during the teen years. I got all the dirt and gravel and tree bark out of my skin finally and I do not want any more thank you! Did the motocross thing for a few years, nothing big, just local stuff and race for pride and a dime store trophy. I will say however that I have riden the vstrom 1000 and the BMW 650GS and both do very well on the black top, though the 650 runs out of juice at about 90 and there is no real acceleration to speak of after about 70. But, for local runs short distances to available dirt the 650 would be my choice, it is light and has more than enough pony's for any adventure riding you could possibly want. My neighbor has one

 

[gr8eyes]

The KTM would be an excellent choice.

Its my understanding that dual-sport and adventure touring bikes are a bit different. The DS bike are bikes that you can ride to and from your favorite off road area. The Adventure Touring bikes are ones that you can ride over longer distances on paved or unpaved roads and even a bit off-road. The advet/Tour bikes are generally larger and heavier and provide a nicer on road ride whereas the lighter D/S bikes work a bit better in the dirt.

In this vein the KTM workd beautifully. Another option would be the BMW GS1200 perhaps. Also the Triumph Tiger would probably fit in here .

I didn't know all this till yesterday morning when a friend e-mailed this info to me.

Glenn

 

[FJR919]

Most people here in the replies have been talking about large displacement dual sports. If you are a large and heavy person, a small displacement dual sport may not be your best choice. I ride in tight woods, rarely able to get into third gear. I have large friends who ride 650s in the woods, and they get pretty tired muscling all that weight around. I am short and fairly light, and found my XT350 a little too tall and a little heavy for tight woods work. I still needed a bike with a plate to get to the woods. I got tired of picking 300 pounds off me and kicking and kicking to get it started again after wiping out. The solution? I bought an XT225. I performed a few tweaks including dropping the countershaft sprocket a tooth, different carb and pipe and sreet legal knobbies (Pirelli MT21).

The end result is more fun in the woods and my lap times on our little motocross track in the woods are faster. With the "magic button" starting is a new experience; particularly on a steep rocky hill where you can't kick it and stay up. On the street of course the 225 doesn't have the top end charge of the 350, but the torque and low end of the bike is impressive. Two guys I ride with have DRZ400 and an older XR650L.

We were on the highway and I decided to see what the 225 would do. I saw an "indicated" 82 mph, and both guys on the larger bikes behind me saw over 80 as well. They said if they hadn't seen it for themselves, they never would have believed the bike could have done that. The bike was modified as mentioned, but this was before the knobbies were put on. Its quite clear the rolling resistance of the knobbies has knocked a few miles per hour off the top end.

Frankly my ego doesn't require that I ride a large motorcycle in the woods. I've seen too many people buy a large dual sport and are then too afraid to do some real off road riding with it. And if they do try it, it was too much work and/or too nerveracking. You're going to fall from time to time in the woods, and with good gear and a light bike it's no big deal. It's all about having fun. I started dirt riding 35 years ago, and at 48 I still enjoy it. Just my 2 cents.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Most people here in the replies have been talking about large displacement dual sports. If you are a large and heavy person, a small displacement dual sport may not be your best choice. I ride in tight woods, rarely able to get into third gear. I have large friends who ride 650s in the woods, and they get pretty tired muscling all that weight around. I am short and fairly light, and found my XT350 a little too tall and a little heavy for tight woods work. I still needed a bike with a plate to get to the woods. I got tired of picking 300 pounds off me and kicking and kicking to get it started again after wiping out. The solution? I bought an XT225. I performed a few tweaks including dropping the countershaft sprocket a tooth, different carb and pipe and sreet legal knobbies (Pirelli MT21).
The end result is more fun in the woods and my lap times on our little motocross track in the woods are faster. With the "magic button" starting is a new experience; particularly on a steep rocky hill where you can't kick it and stay up. On the street of course the 225 doesn't have the top end charge of the 350, but the torque and low end of the bike is impressive. Two guys I ride with have DRZ400 and an older XR650L.

We were on the highway and I decided to see what the 225 would do. I saw an "indicated" 82 mph, and both guys on the larger bikes behind me saw over 80 as well. They said if they hadn't seen it for themselves, they never would have believed the bike could have done that. The bike was modified as mentioned, but this was before the knobbies were put on. Its quite clear the rolling resistance of the knobbies has knocked a few miles per hour off the top end.

Frankly my ego doesn't require that I ride a large motorcycle in the woods. I've seen too many people buy a large dual sport and are then too afraid to do some real off road riding with it. And if they do try it, it was too much work and/or too nerveracking. You're going to fall from time to time in the woods, and with good gear and a light bike it's no big deal. It's all about having fun. I started dirt riding 35 years ago, and at 48 I still enjoy it. Just my 2 cents.

Nice write up! I have seen a LOT of very favorable write ups about the XT225. On one particular write up, a guy was "stuck" with the XT while his buddies rented all the 400's and 650's. Since they all got gobbled up, he got stuck with the 225. Well, at the end of the day of technical riding, not only did he go further an in more challenging areas, he was less fatigued that his studly buddies. There is good argument for taking a smaller bike with lower center of gravity and less throttle punishment. I think weight is less issue than size (wheelbase length and height), center of gravity and abuse via acceleration.

What's funny is that the XT 225 is 8 pounds lighter than a WR450. If only Yamaha would make the WR450 street legal in California!!! They would sell a bunch wtih the power in that motor...it blows away the DRZ400 that I have.

The WR250F is lighter than the XT by 3.2 pounds and if you are riding technical in the trees, you'll appreciate that the rear wheel doesn't slide out from under you every time you get on the throttle (like the WR450). The 450 is great in the dessert where you can let it rip, but if you are riding technical stuff, I'd take the WR250F anyday. Great machine.

 

[Oldwin1]

I just sold my FJR and bought a 950 Adventure. I bought it in Flagstaf Arizona and rode it home to my home in the mountains above Boulder Co. 830 miles in 15 hours. High temperature for the day was 55. Low was 31. I am completely impressed with this bike. The previous owner had cut down the windshield but it still offered good protection and none of the nasty buffeting I had on the FJR. I was having to make time so rode mostly interstate. I ran a 300 mile stretch at 100 plus. The bike had no problem with this at all. I took one nice curvy road from Santa Fe to Raton and found the 950 to be a good canyon carver. It is running the Continental TKCs which are more dirt orinented but they held good on the pavement.

I was seriously considering the 1000Vstrom but found that a new one with bags was 11k and still needed upgrades. The alloy wheels also worried me. I met several people with the Strom who loved them but would have traded in a second for the KTM.

I looked at the KLR mostly because I know a great dealer I could work with but it just did not have the ponies for the road and is pretty close to as heavy as the KTM. I met a couple of guys who had new ones and said they had $8K in them by time they bought bags and crash guards and other things they felt were nessesary.

I did not want to spend the money on the BMW. Had them in the past and don't think they are worth the money.

The KTM is real tall.

Did I mention it is tall.

I am 5'10" and the height is intimidating. One of the first things I noticed when I got it home was that even though it was so tall it was much easier to move around than the FJR.

I enjoyed the FJRs ability to eat up road when you needed it to. I could almost always count on getting 300 miles out of a tank of gas even at high speeds. When you can go 900 miles and only half to stop twice you can cover a lot of ground.

I think I will miss the feeling that I can be anywhere in Wyoming and make it home in half a day to my place in Colorado if I have to.

The KTMs where bringing almost new price used. Most of that is because people add a lot of stuff to them.

Oil changes are unbelievably complicated.

If you are not attracted to the orange KTM you don't really want it.

Ron

 

[evil_henchman]

I just sold my FJR and bought a 950 Adventure. I bought it in Flagstaf Arizona and rode it home to my home in the mountains above Boulder Co. 830 miles in 15 hours. High temperature for the day was 55. Low was 31. I am completely impressed with this bike. The previous owner had cut down the windshield but it still offered good protection and none of the nasty buffeting I had on the FJR. I was having to make time so rode mostly interstate. I ran a 300 mile stretch at 100 plus. The bike had no problem with this at all. I took one nice curvy road from Santa Fe to Raton and found the 950 to be a good canyon carver. It is running the Continental TKCs which are more dirt orinented but they held good on the pavement.
I was seriously considering the 1000Vstrom but found that a new one with bags was 11k and still needed upgrades. The alloy wheels also worried me. I met several people with the Strom who loved them but would have traded in a second for the KTM.

I looked at the KLR mostly because I know a great dealer I could work with but it just did not have the ponies for the road and is pretty close to as heavy as the KTM. I met a couple of guys who had new ones and said they had $8K in them by time they bought bags and crash guards and other things they felt were nessesary.

I did not want to spend the money on the BMW. Had them in the past and don't think they are worth the money.

The KTM is real tall.

Did I mention it is tall.

I am 5'10" and the height is intimidating. One of the first things I noticed when I got it home was that even though it was so tall it was much easier to move around than the FJR.

I enjoyed the FJRs ability to eat up road when you needed it to. I could almost always count on getting 300 miles out of a tank of gas even at high speeds. When you can go 900 miles and only half to stop twice you can cover a lot of ground.

I think I will miss the feeling that I can be anywhere in Wyoming and make it home in half a day to my place in Colorado if I have to.

The KTMs where bringing almost new price used. Most of that is because people add a lot of stuff to them.

Oil changes are unbelievably complicated.

If you are not attracted to the orange KTM you don't really want it.

Ron

Every time I see one of those ugly orange monstrosities I want one. Thanks for the great report and don't buy into the nonsense that any dual sport tire is dirt oriented. Get knobbies or don't leave the hard pack. You'll find that with some practice and willingness to leaaaan you can smoke the best of the sport bikes in the twisties on that orange beastie.

 

[kindofblue]

I just sold my FJR and bought a 950 Adventure. I bought it in Flagstaf Arizona and rode it home to my home in the mountains above Boulder Co. 830 miles in 15 hours. High temperature for the day was 55. Low was 31. I am completely impressed with this bike. The previous owner had cut down the windshield but it still offered good protection and none of the nasty buffeting I had on the FJR. I was having to make time so rode mostly interstate. I ran a 300 mile stretch at 100 plus. The bike had no problem with this at all. I took one nice curvy road from Santa Fe to Raton and found the 950 to be a good canyon carver. It is running the Continental TKCs which are more dirt orinented but they held good on the pavement.
I was seriously considering the 1000Vstrom but found that a new one with bags was 11k and still needed upgrades. The alloy wheels also worried me. I met several people with the Strom who loved them but would have traded in a second for the KTM.

I looked at the KLR mostly because I know a great dealer I could work with but it just did not have the ponies for the road and is pretty close to as heavy as the KTM. I met a couple of guys who had new ones and said they had $8K in them by time they bought bags and crash guards and other things they felt were nessesary.

I did not want to spend the money on the BMW. Had them in the past and don't think they are worth the money.

The KTM is real tall.

Did I mention it is tall.

I am 5'10" and the height is intimidating. One of the first things I noticed when I got it home was that even though it was so tall it was much easier to move around than the FJR.

I enjoyed the FJRs ability to eat up road when you needed it to. I could almost always count on getting 300 miles out of a tank of gas even at high speeds. When you can go 900 miles and only half to stop twice you can cover a lot of ground.

I think I will miss the feeling that I can be anywhere in Wyoming and make it home in half a day to my place in Colorado if I have to.

The KTMs where bringing almost new price used. Most of that is because people add a lot of stuff to them.

Oil changes are unbelievably complicated.

If you are not attracted to the orange KTM you don't really want it.

Ron

Hi Ron,

I'm reviving this thread because I too am considering a dual sport. Are there KTM dealers in your neck of the woods?