Topic: What Motorcycle Have You Been Obsessing About Today?

[Jaeger]

This would be my word wide touring bike..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gIvyHUyibU

Touring for me is riding down to Pennsylvania for 4 or 5 days.    World touring is not in the cards.

[WP v3.32]

TransALp is fine.   Don't know why KTM525 compare these to a DR650.  I've driven some and also owned DR400z, not the same.    These bikes are nice IMO  they are more all around bike than anything. 

This would be my word wide touring bike..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gIvyHUyibU

Touring for me is riding down to Pennsylvania for 4 or 5 days.    World touring is not in the cards.

Yup.  touring = Goldwing, BMW RT or K,  Chromed out scooters  aka  Harleys.

[WP v3.32]

There's lots of choices now in this market and it all depend on what you're looking for. I think they all have their "space" in the category.

-KTM 790
-Triumph Tiger 900
-Aprilia Tuareg
-Suzuki P-strom 800D
-Honda Trans Alp
-Yamaha Tenere 700
-BMW F800
-Moto guzzi TT
-Ducati desert

[PJungnitsch]

There's lots of choices now in this market and it all depend on what you're looking for. I think they all have their "space" in the category.

-KTM 790
-Triumph Tiger 900
-Aprilia Tuareg
-Suzuki P-strom 800D
-Honda Trans Alp
-Yamaha Tenere 700
-BMW F800
-Moto guzzi TT
-Ducati desert

They are the new 'standard' basically. When I got my Vstrom I thought it would be as good as my old dirtbike on gravel, but it was just as bad as my old streetbike, with the added benefit of all kinds of things getting dented or broken if it went over unless farkled up with various guards

[Jaeger]

There's lots of choices now in this market and it all depend on what you're looking for. I think they all have their "space" in the category.

-KTM 790
-Triumph Tiger 900
-Aprilia Tuareg
-Suzuki P-strom 800D
-Honda Trans Alp
-Yamaha Tenere 700
-BMW F800
-Moto guzzi TT
-Ducati desert

Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello would be VERY high on my list.

[rrocket]

The DR is 100 lbs lighter and that can be dropped another 20-30 lbs easily. A completely different world when it's lying on it's side.

The problem with all l these adventure bikes is how they are marketed. Check the advertising or the even the story piece that was linked. They show pros in the dirt having a great adventure, talking about sliding it around in the gravel... In reality these bikes are fine off road if you are Chris Birch but middle age Joe cannot lift a 550 lb machine lying in a muddy puddle.  Drop it once off road and it is up on facebook marketplace while the owner tries to source a DRZ400. I will say the price is nice for what it is, but it should never venture too far off road and manufacturers are not being honest. Then again they have to sell them and there is a big market right now.


I would never take this setup far from civilization in the rough:

If I cared about weight, and it was a real concern, there are many bikes lighter than a DR.

The only reason to build a DR is for its simplicity.

But if you're not gong to be miles away from civilization...I don't see the point of a DR build when pretty much every other "off the shelf" dual sport is a better starting point.

[WP v3.32]

There's lots of choices now in this market and it all depend on what you're looking for. I think they all have their "space" in the category.

-KTM 790
-Triumph Tiger 900
-Aprilia Tuareg
-Suzuki P-strom 800D
-Honda Trans Alp
-Yamaha Tenere 700
-BMW F800
-Moto guzzi TT
-Ducati desert

They are the new 'standard' basically. When I got my Vstrom I thought it would be as good as my old dirtbike on gravel, but it was just as bad as my old streetbike, with the added benefit of all kinds of things getting dented or broken if it went over unless farkled up with various guards

Having own  DR400z  it's basicly impossible to have an adventure bike with amazing offroad capabilities.  Number one reason is the tires,  they are either great on the road or great on dirt, can't have both.

There's lots of choices now in this market and it all depend on what you're looking for. I think they all have their "space" in the category.

-KTM 790
-Triumph Tiger 900
-Aprilia Tuareg
-Suzuki P-strom 800D
-Honda Trans Alp
-Yamaha Tenere 700
-BMW F800
-Moto guzzi TT
-Ducati desert

Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello would be VERY high on my list.

Ahhh yes,  their first liquid cooled engine.  that thing looks awesome with the flappy wings on the sides. 

[rrocket]

Having own  DR400z  it's basicly impossible to have an adventure bike with amazing offroad capabilities.  Number one reason is the tires,  they are either great on the road or great on dirt, can't have both.

There are some that are really, really good though.

And you can choose how much road/dirt capability you need.

I used Kenda Trakmaster. Great traction and wears like iron on the street.

[Jaeger]

Ahhh yes,  their first liquid cooled engine.  that thing looks awesome with the flappy wings on the sides. 

Flappy wings are a must for any real hardcore rider. 

[Bubba]

This would be my word wide touring bike..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gIvyHUyibU

Touring for me is riding down to Pennsylvania for 4 or 5 days.    World touring is not in the cards.

You have no plans to recreate "Long Way Round" with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman?   

[Jaeger]

This would be my word wide touring bike..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gIvyHUyibU

Touring for me is riding down to Pennsylvania for 4 or 5 days.    World touring is not in the cards.

You have no plans to recreate "Long Way Round" with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman?   

That's a solid nope! 

[rrocket]

This would be my word wide
You have no plans to recreate "Long Way Round" with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman?   

I have a feeling he'd take a stab at the Trans Canada Adventure Trail, which many people don't know about.

https://ridermagazine.com/2022/11/23/the-long-way-across-ontario-on-the-trans-canada-adventure-trail/

https://canadamotoguide.com/2017/03/19/how-to-do-the-trans-canada-adventure-trail/

[ktm525]

I should have mentioned I want comfort and simplicity with the a reasonable low weight for my adventure tourer. This also includes the requirement that if I dump the bike on the ground that I can pick it up in a reasonably nasty environment.  There are many nicer and newer bikes than a DR but not as many fixable trustworthy options.  It's a short list: Old KLR although liquid cooling gets complex  Honda XR650L although Honda pulled that from the Canadian market and the Suzuki DR650 bush pig..

Why a dinosaur bike? When you are in the middle of nowhere Baja and topping your tank with some of Mexico's finest barrel gasoline  you want something that can run just fine on dirty 85 octane fuel.

For even lighter candidates the Yamaha WR250 was awesome as well.

The ability to self extricate oneself from a bad situation should also not be overlooked. One my buddies in our riding group also owns a Norden 901 expedition. He is a 6' athletic guy and a A/B level offroad rider. He put his Norden wheel in a soft patch just off a gravel/dirt forestry road on the Norden while riding solo. He had to use his Garmin inreach to message us to come help him get out (we were 5 hours away) . He was no more than 5' off the road but pointing down. He was completely helpless. He basically just set up camp and hung out until we arrived the next morning to help get back on the road. It was simply too heavy to get back on the road solo. That is a dangerous adventure bike that is promoted as being off road capable. This situation was not extreme off road either. Just a semi deactivated forestry road that you could get down in a minivan.


Would you feel comfortable topping up you fine machinery with these? 

[ktm525]

Or even better..

This is why DR650

[rrocket]

I should have mentioned I want comfort and simplicity with the a reasonable low weight for my adventure tourer. This also includes the requirement that if I dump the bike on the ground that I can pick it up in a reasonably nasty environment.  There are many nicer and newer bikes than a DR but not as many fixable trustworthy options.  It's a short list: Old KLR although liquid cooling gets complex  Honda XR650L although Honda pulled that from the Canadian market and the Suzuki DR650 bush pig..

Why a dinosaur bike? When you are in the middle of nowhere Baja and topping your tank with some of Mexico's finest barrel gasoline  you want something that can run just fine on dirty 85 octane fuel.

For even lighter candidates the Yamaha WR250 was awesome as well.

The ability to self extricate oneself from a bad situation should also not be overlooked. One my buddies in our riding group also owns a Norden 901 expedition. He is a 6' athletic guy and a A/B level offroad rider. He put his Norden wheel in a soft patch just off a gravel/dirt forestry road on the Norden while riding solo. He had to use his Garmin inreach to message us to come help him get out (we were 5 hours away) . He was no more than 5' off the road but pointing down. He was completely helpless. He basically just set up camp and hung out until we arrived the next morning to help get back on the road. It was simply too heavy to get back on the road solo. That is a dangerous adventure bike that is promoted as being off road capable. This situation was not extreme off road either. Just a semi deactivated forestry road that you could get down in a minivan.


Would you feel comfortable topping up you fine machinery with these? 

So what I said originally then (A and B):



I see no point in building a DR650 unless you are A) Riding around the world. The hard way. B) You will literally always be hundreds of KMs from civilisation. C) You're just doing it for fun because you like builds!

[Bubba]

This would be my word wide touring bike..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gIvyHUyibU

Touring for me is riding down to Pennsylvania for 4 or 5 days.    World touring is not in the cards.

You have no plans to recreate "Long Way Round" with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman?   

That's a solid nope! 

Anytime I say "Road of Bones", I say it in Ewan's Scottish brogue. It doesn't come up too often in normal conversation, though.

[ktm525]

Isn't the whole point of adventure riding to ride 100s of kms from civilization? At least that is the romance the manufacturers promote and that is my point. Away in nothingness but yourself and your bike simplicity is king. The whole wrong way around set crazy expectations. These guys had a support crew and truck tagging along. 

I much preferred Ted Simon's approach the first time. A rebuild of the engine wasn't a big deal on that old Triumph.



False advertising! 

[ktm525]

Ted had it figured out.

[rrocket]

Isn't the whole point of adventure riding to ride 100s of kms from civilization? At least that is the romance the manufacturers promote and that is my point. Away in nothingness but yourself and your bike simplicity is king. The whole wrong way around set crazy expectations. These guys had a support crew and truck tagging along. 

I much preferred Ted Simon's approach the first time. A rebuild of the engine wasn't a big deal on that old Triumph.



False advertising! 

Adventure is different for everyone, no?

My adventure when I was 19 (solo Six Days of Michigan on KDX200) is much different than what my 50 year old adventure might be!!

Much in the spirit of your DR650 build, I think a TW200 would be an unstoppable, simple, adventurer. Only sourcing tires in the middle of nowhere might be problematic IMO.

[ktm525]

Isn't the whole point of adventure riding to ride 100s of kms from civilization? At least that is the romance the manufacturers promote and that is my point. Away in nothingness but yourself and your bike simplicity is king. The whole wrong way around set crazy expectations. These guys had a support crew and truck tagging along. 

I much preferred Ted Simon's approach the first time. A rebuild of the engine wasn't a big deal on that old Triumph.



False advertising! 

Adventure is different for everyone, no?

My adventure when I was 19 (solo Six Days of Michigan on KDX200) is much different than what my 50 year old adventure might be!!

Much in the spirit of your DR650 build, I think a S2000 would be an unstoppable, simple, adventurer. Only sourcing tires in the middle of nowhere might be problematic IMO.

Yeah fair enough I guess adventure for some is trying not to be run over on an interstate while pounding out miles or getting run over by a distracted mom in the the middle of the city.