What should I get?

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brizad50 · #1 Unread post by **brizad50** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:00 am

Hey all, newbie here.

Quick question. I am a very big fan of road trips. Getting out, seeing new land, etc... However, one of the things I love the most about road trips, is finding a random, dirt road and taking it. You know, getting off the beaten path a bit. Here in lies my problem. If I'm going offroad, that means I must take the SUV rather than the Sedan. If you haven't figured it out yet, SUV's are painful with gas mileage and if there's one thing that goes along with road trips, it's mileage.

So I'm thinking about maybe getting a bike. I see the huge Harley groups coming through town often and thought maybe that would be the way to go. So that's my question. If I was going to get a bike that would be at least PRETTY comfortable on long rides but would still handle on dirt roads, WHAT WOULD IT BE? My father in law has a Road King, which is super comfy, but I can't imagine something that large loves to bounce around on dirt.

Anyways, let me know what you think.

I'm truly a novice so any technical responses will probably be lost on me.

Thanks in advance!!

Shiv · #2 Unread post by **Shiv** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:14 am

You want something that's called a 'Dual-Sport'.

It'll take the highways and the by-ways.

The only bike I know is in that class is the DL650 (V-Strom). I believe the KLR is as well and there's a lot more, I just don't know them.

Be sure to take the MSF though. And perhaps the off-road MSF too (not sure what it's called).

Nalian · #3 Unread post by **Nalian** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:24 am

There are a ton of bikes like this - I'm sure those with them will pipe up with specifics, but almost all major vendors make at least one. I've seen them called enduro, adventure, and dual-sport bikes. Some links:

BMW
Suzuki
Kawasaki
KTM

I'm sure there are tons of others I didn't list - those are who I remembered off the top of my head.

MotoF150 · #4 Unread post by **MotoF150** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:19 pm

KTM 950 Adventure, its only $12.900, or the Honda XL650R, or the Kawasaki KLR650 for less than half that price

BAJACRUISER · Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:33 pm

Welcome to the forum ¡

I think too that the Dual Sport is a good choice for you....

Kal · #6 Unread post by **Kal** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 2:19 pm

Kal · #7 Unread post by **Kal** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 4:59 pm

Sorry that was mean. Funny but mean. I blame the lack of sleep.

Most Harleys would have diffculty in the same way that most cars would - they are designed with road in mind.

The Dual sports would probably be the way to go. If you going what we call "green laning" rather than off roading then bikes like the SV become practical for purpose...

brizad50 · #8 Unread post by **brizad50** » Fri Sep 22, 2006 10:45 am

I didn't really get your joke anyway. A scooter for a newb? Anyways...

Thanks for the responses. I've looked at some of the dual sports... KTM and BMW seem to be way more expensive than the others. And the Honda's seemed more geared to dirt with the option for road.

I'm thinkg the Suzuki DL650 is looking pretty good at this point. I'm not interested in doing 100mph on the highway, so the engine size doesn't need to be huge. Would the 650 do ok on marathon trips? Like say 500-800 miles per day for a week?

What do you think.

Good idea or should I take the hit and buy a more spendy bike like the BMW?

jmillheiser · Fri Sep 22, 2006 11:45 am

+1 on the V-Strom 650.

the 650 will have no trouble with long highway trips, and will be a lot faster than you think it is. As for dirt, if you keep it to semi-decent roads and stay off the hardcore trails the DL650 (aka the V-Strom) will do just fine.