Had a scary moment today

[Ian522]

I wish dual sports were more "short person" friendly, Sometimes I look at the dual sport 250s around here. But I guess if they were shorter, they wouldn't be so good at their dual sport purpose.

Shorts I think the yamaha tw200 and xt225 are on the shorter end of the dual sport spectrum. I hear the tw200 has a big cult following in Japan. They look like they would be really fun to ride but I dont know if they are highway capable. To get to any trails around here you have to jump on the highway for awile.

Japan spec TW:

[paul246]

Another good smaller dual sport is the Kawasaki Super Sherpa. You can find lots of young used examples, in Canada we can still get new ones for 2007, but unfortunately they are not be carried into 2008 . The Super Sherpa isn't an all out dirt capable bike but is still a ton of fun.

As far as seat height goes, it isn't as big an issue as it would at first seem. If you are really short in the inseam you can just slide your butt over to one side to get a foot down. I never can flat foot my 650, I just balance on the toe boxes of my boots. The bike is so easy to balance and hold up, I don't even think about it at stops. Actually, the most difficult part is swinging my leg over the bike. I found the easiest way is to leave the bike on the sidestand, grab the front brake lever to lock the bike into position, swing my leg up and over, pause for second to move my upper body over the bike and then finish the movement. Its all done quickly and looks seamless.

Again, these bikes are so easy to hold up, many times I don't even put my feet down at stops, unless of course its a red light.

I predict a gradual increase in the sales of DS's in the future, too bad North Americans have such a limited choice at this time.

[OreoGaborio]

That was pretty risky. Knowing that there was even a possibility the engine would suddenly cut out, I would not have taken it out in 70mph highway traffic before having it looked at or fixed.

You were lucky you didn't become a hood ornament.

Just my .02

No more dangerous than rolling off the throttle, IMO.

Ever have your bike cut out while racing? I have.... multiple times... and I kept going. The bike was low on gas & would sputter coming out of just about every turn. I kept going knowing what the problem was, hugged every apex & exited each corner tight & off the racing line... got the checkered flag, rolled through turn 1 and 2 and the bike died completely. Perfect timing

Ian, do you have a vaccume activated petcock? check to see if there are two hoses going to it. If so, one will be fuel, one will be vaccume. You may have a small air leak in the vaccume hose. If so you can either replace the vaccume hose or open up the petcock and remove the diaphram that shuts off fuel flow when there's no vaccume presure.

[Veda]

Japan spec TW:

Aw, that bike is adorable. I want one to cuddle with!