best dual-sport

I bought a 2004 Honda XR650L in May and I love it. I don't do any dirt
bike riding mostly street, dirt roads, and some trails. I say it's more
of a %75 dirt %25 street. The only thing I dislike about the XR it has
a small gas tank, so you have to stop often. It runs way to lean from
the factory and I don't like the stock gearing.

If money was not a problem I would look into the KTM 950 Adventure. Its
like a %20 dirt %80 street and has the detachable hard cases option that
would be great for carrying camping gear.
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

100 mile feeway ride? 80/20 street/dirt? Suzuki V-Strom. 1000 or 650.
Take your pick. You can get 1 of each for the price of that Beemer GS.
Just be sure to weld up a bash plate for the low slung pipes.
GP

Craig Faison <cfaison RemoveThis @magpage.com> wrote in message news:<Pine.BSF.4.33.0407142337340.17251-100000 RemoveThis @alaska.magpage.com>...
 > On 15 Jul 2004, JJNeet1 wrote:
 >
  > > Whats your opinion on the best dual sport bike for, say, 20%dirt and 80%
  > > street?One that could take you on, maybe, a 100 mile freeway ride without
  > > sending you to the chiropractor.One capable of taking camping gear, and a
  > > back-road camping trip.This would be one-up riding.
 >
 > Best is subjective. My XR650L works for me, and my buddy's DR650 works
 > equally well for him. Here's a long, boring story about a trip we took on
<font color=purple> > them: <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://userweb.magpage.com/cfaison/septtrip.html</font" target="_blank">http://userweb.magpage.com/cfaison/septtrip.html</font</a>>
 >
 > Craig<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

BMW R100GS
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

JJNeet1 wrote:
 > Whats your opinion on the best dual sport bike for, say, 20%dirt and 80%
 > street?One that could take you on, maybe, a 100 mile freeway ride without
 > sending you to the chiropractor.One capable of taking camping gear, and a
 > back-road camping trip.This would be one-up riding.
 >
 > Jon Neet

If you ask this question to 20 dual sport riders, you'll probably get 20
different answers...

I love my DR350 dual sport, sure it's heavy, but that just makes it more
stable on the freeway I've done several northern california enduros
with it and never finished very good but I had a blast doing them. I
trail ride with mine all the time and I have fun. I ride it to work
almost everyday and it gets the job done quite nicely. I haven't had to
do any serious mods, nor any repair work and it's now over 6 years old.
I'm still on the stock battery and it's never let me down. The bike
gets about 70 mpg and I have no problem cruising on the freeway all day
at 65 mph. The longest trip I've done is about 300 miles each way with
some dirt riding at the destination on an over nighter. I was pretty
beat at the end.

The bike actually starts so good that one time while sitting parked on
the side of a street with the bike pointing out into the road, I had
left it in first gear and I hit the starter button without pulling in
the clutch (I disabled the clutch switch). The bike actually started
and since I have this habit of blipping the throttle when I start a
bike, it launched forward and the front wheel came off the ground.
Imagine my surprise when I realized I was moving and I only had a grasp
on the throttle. I must have looked like one of those guys on the
mechanical bull at a cowboy bar. I backed off on the throttle as quick
as I could and pulled in the clutch and came to a stop after just a few
feet. I was riding with my dad that day, he has a sportster 883, and he
just looked at me and laughed and said, "been riding much?".

I've ridden my wifes XT225 and that bike is a hoot. It actually cruises
on the freeway smoother than my DR, and has good pick up, but I'll take
my DR over it. The XT is a bit too small for me and I like the power of
my DR.

Just my opinions...

--
Scott A
'02 Yamaha XT225
'98 Suzuki DR350SE
'85 Honda CR125R
'74 Yamaha DT125<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

BMW F650, you will pay a little more, but it's a BMW! If you don't have the
$$ get the other end with the KLR650.

"JJNeet1" <jjneet1.TakeThisOut@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040714223002.19503.00001472@mb-m17.aol.com...
 > Whats your opinion on the best dual sport bike for, say, 20%dirt and
80%
 > street?One that could take you on, maybe, a 100 mile freeway ride without
 > sending you to the chiropractor.One capable of taking camping gear, and a
 > back-road camping trip.This would be one-up riding.
 >
 > Jon Neet<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

BMW F650, you will pay a little more, but it's a BMW! If you don't have the
$$ get the other end with the KLR650.

"JJNeet1" <jjneet1.DeleteThis@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040714223002.19503.00001472@mb-m17.aol.com...
 > Whats your opinion on the best dual sport bike for, say, 20%dirt and
80%
 > street?One that could take you on, maybe, a 100 mile freeway ride without
 > sending you to the chiropractor.One capable of taking camping gear, and a
 > back-road camping trip.This would be one-up riding.
 >
 > Jon Neet<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

jjneet1 DeleteThis @aol.com (JJNeet1) writes:

 > Whats your opinion on the best dual sport bike for, say,
 > 20%dirt and 80% street?One that could take you on, maybe, a 100 mile
 > freeway ride without sending you to the chiropractor.One capable of
 > taking camping gear, and a back-road camping trip.This would be
 > one-up riding.

There are many dual sport bikes which can be very comfortable, but
they are generally heavy. They can take you on dirt, but, unless it's
just a dirt road or you are a very good rider, it's not pleasant to
pick them up when you fall. If you're serious about the dirt part, I
would suggest you choose a relatively light bike. These will also be
less comfortable, but not impossible to ride on street.

I've just returned from a 5-day trip with my TT-RE, 1175 miles, almost
all of them on street (ranging from narrow alpine pass to highways),
with heavy load (well, judge for yourself:
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://community.webshots.com/photo/162206555/162208568FIhYKE" target="_blank">http://community.webshots.com/photo/162206555/162208568FIhYKE</a> ,
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://community.webshots.com/photo/162840872/162847455BzcfXk" target="_blank">http://community.webshots.com/photo/162840872/162847455BzcfXk</a> and
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://community.webshots.com/photo/162840872/162848667kTafMz" target="_blank">http://community.webshots.com/photo/162840872/162848667kTafMz</a> ). Not
really comfortable, but I survived . I have no other direct
experience.

Ciao
--
Carlo Vittoli & Yamaha TT 600 RE
Assemini, Sardinia, Italy<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

"GP" <gplassmann.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:f6bc7b29.0407150334.4a0445fe@posting.google.com...
 > 100 mile feeway ride? 80/20 street/dirt? Suzuki V-Strom. 1000 or 650.
 > Take your pick. You can get 1 of each for the price of that Beemer GS.
 > Just be sure to weld up a bash plate for the low slung pipes.

The XR650L is a good 50/50 bike. The DR & KLR are leaning more
toward street. I'd lable the BMWs as a 90/10 street/trail.

I just installed my velco-attached sheepskin seat cover with 1.5" of
egg-crate foam on top of my XRL seat last night. The seat grows
fangs after 100 miles. The last time I used this padding was on my
old XT. It made a huge difference on a 2-day 500 mile DP ride we did.
I'm planning a ~150mile DP ride this weekend. Leaving town at
5:30am, hope to be back by lunch.

-Jeffrey Deeney- DoD#0498 NCTR UTMA BRC COHVCO AMA
'99 ATK 260LQ-Stink Wheels '94 XR650L-DreamSickle
We don't stop riding because we get old, we get old because we stop riding.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

KTM had a few of their 950 adventure bikes (not the s model) at a recent
event and were letting people take demo rides on them, WOW! Those things
were awesome, on pavement and dirt. Everything was top notch, but the motor
was really the star of that show. As far as the chiropractor thing, the
funny part was they all had Corbin seats on them (I don't think that's
stock). As soon as I have a spare $12k I'm buying one!

Walt



"JJNeet1" <jjneet1 RemoveThis @aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040714223002.19503.00001472@mb-m17.aol.com...
 > Whats your opinion on the best dual sport bike for, say, 20%dirt and
80%
 > street?One that could take you on, maybe, a 100 mile freeway ride without
 > sending you to the chiropractor.One capable of taking camping gear, and a
 > back-road camping trip.This would be one-up riding.
 >
 > Jon Neet<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

 >I've just returned from a 5-day trip with my TT-RE, 1175 miles, almost
 >all of them on street (ranging from narrow alpine pass to highways),
 >with heavy load (well, judge for yourself:
 >http://community.webshots.com/photo/162206555/162208568FIhYKE ,
 >http://community.webshots.com/photo/162840872/162847455BzcfXk and
 >http://community.webshots.com/photo/162840872/162848667kTafMz ). Not
 >really comfortable, but I survived . I have no other direct
 >experience.
 >
 >Ciao
 >--
 >Carlo Vittoli & Yamaha TT 600 RE
 >Assemini, Sardinia, Italy

Oh man, that's my kind of trip, Paso Del Stilvio, Paso Gavia, I've
been there! Oh man, the Dolomites... <sigh>
I think we even took "031_Ipe, il polveroso" down from the top of Paso
Del Stilvio, but I'd have to re-check the map. There's the regular
pass-road that is paved, and another road that is just gravel.

-k
'97 ktm300mxc,'99 Beta Techno<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

DirtCrashr <Dirt.DeleteThis@Crashr.org> writes:

 > Oh man, that's my kind of trip, Paso Del Stilvio, Paso Gavia, I've
 > been there! Oh man, the Dolomites... <sigh>

It was my first time there. Absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately I had
only five days, and four of them needed to reach the place and come
back. I hope you stayed there longer

 > I think we even took "031_Ipe, il polveroso" down from the top of
 > Paso Del Stilvio, but I'd have to re-check the map. There's the
 > regular pass-road that is paved, and another road that is just
 > gravel.

Uhm, no, that photo was taken on the dirt road from Passo Crocedomini
to Passo Maniva, south of Passo dello Stelvio. Panoramas are even
better than from Stelvio.

Ciao
--
Carlo Vittoli & Yamaha TT 600 RE
Assemini, Sardinia, Italy<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

Carlo Vittoli <carlo.TakeThisOut@despammed.com> wrote:

 >It was my first time there. Absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately I had
 >only five days, and four of them needed to reach the place and come
 >back. I hope you stayed there longer

We were on a one-week rush from Munich around through Switzerland and
Northern Italy and back.
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.edelweissbiketravel.com/4DCGI/LoadSubNav?Nav=High%20Alpine%20Adventure&Random=27849" target="_blank">http://www.edelweissbiketravel.com/4DCGI/LoadSubNav?Nav=High%20Alpine%...dventur</a>
That day we went from Pontresina in Switzerland, to Merano.

  >> I think we even took "031_Ipe, il polveroso" down from the top of
  >> Paso Del Stilvio, but I'd have to re-check the map. There's the
  >> regular pass-road that is paved, and another road that is just
  >> gravel.
 >
 >Uhm, no, that photo was taken on the dirt road from Passo Crocedomini
 >to Passo Maniva, south of Passo dello Stelvio. Panoramas are even
 >better than from Stelvio.

We went over the Paso de Fuorn to Mustair and Glurns (Glorenza), and
then up Passo dello Stelvio. Since we were running late, we took the
gravel-road shortcut back down to Mustair then the Highway to Merano.

One guy hit a curbing rock and split open cover on his oil-head BMW,,,
spitz~-spitz~-spitz~ He had to park it and wait in a bar in Taufers
for the repair-van to come along...

 >Ciao
 >--
 >Carlo Vittoli & Yamaha TT 600 RE
 >Assemini, Sardinia, Italy

-keith
'97 ktm300mxc,'99 Beta Techno<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport 

Dirtcrasher wrote>We were on a one-week rush from Munich around through
Switzerland and
 >Northern Italy and back.

I think you should be able to go little 'ol Idaho!<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
 >> Stay informed about: best dual-sport