Motorcylists... dual sport vs adventure bike ?

[doc holiday13]

I have a GS. It’s great on the highway, good in the twisties, and handles forest roads and two track reasonably well. Single track and rocky 4x4 roads would be more than I would mess with on it.

A buddy has a Ktm 690 that is very good in the dirt, and doesn’t give up much to mine in the twisties. I wouldn’t want to ride it 400 miles to get to the fun stuff though.

It’s all compromises, unless you fill the garage with bikes.

HA I think i know where that bridge is in your first pic there.

 

[Bluefish]

Here is my take, adv bikes are street bikes that can handle gravel and two track. Maybe single track if you are an expert rider. To illustrate, wife and I were mountain biking capt jacks (single track in cos) one night and ran across a friend (Neduro) on his 990 Ktm. Turns out he saw our van at the trail head and decided to ride up to meet us. He had no problem, but he is a A/AA rider who has finished the Dakar.

Dual sports can range from poor dirt bikes (Klr 650)to dirt bikes (500 exc) with lights. Really depends what you plan on riding. I would not want to do 500 miles of highway on a 500 exc, but it would easily handle any singletrack I ride and I know several people where it’s their primary dirt bike.

As I already have a plated dirt bike, I would get something a little more street oriented as a dual sport. Probably a 690 or something else in that size range so I can cover road miles more comfortably. I know it wouldn’t be a good choice for trails, but that’s not its purpose. What I really want is a xr650r, but they have been out of production along time.

 

[lhbackcountry]

Straight up MX bike is the way to go. I have a KTM 150SX and Yamaha YZ250F. Either stay all in ON ROAD or all in OFF ROAD.

Yup. I am headed in that direction. I did happen to test ride the new street bobber by HD and sheesh the twin 117 is humming.

 

[CoffeeGoat]

It's been mentioned a few times, but my riding crew has been trending towards DR650s. It, like all of these bikes, is a compromise, but it feels like the least worst. 350ish lbs, close to 50 hpish with minor mods, suspension is tolerable, parts are cheap and plentiful, and it's simple enough that you can actually work on it. It's the middle of the old school trinity of dual sports - XR650 => DR650 => KLR650. You can get lighter more dirt focused, you can get more powerful road bikes, but those three are a nice middle ground. I commute on it daily, it will go interstate speeds (it's not pleasant), it will easily do gravel and dirt, two track is doable, and light single track is feasible (though not as easy. )

 

[mtnbound]

glad i asked! Yall got me leaning towards keeping the ninja for street and snagging an older dual sport

Good plan. Get a 250-300 class bike they are plenty big to have fun on and won’t leave you exhausted like a big bike will.


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[TradArcher]

Used KLR650 that has had the upgrades yet hardly been off road yet...just add the milk crate and you are good to go.

 

[Matt5266]

There is no one bike that is going to do everything well. It's all trade offs. I ended up keeping 2 bikes though I've had many over the years. Currently have a 1999 Harley Davidson FXR3 for the street and a 2015 KTM 250 XWC for play. I love them both

 

[Trogon]

Honda CRF300 is a pretty good all-rounder if you must do it all with one bike. Not that fast, but easy to live with.

For more a technical focus on single track or more rugged exploration I would drop down in weight/size to a 500 exc.