Starting an adventure, where to begin?

Hi, a long time ago I wanted to buy a dual sport motorcycle(are they even called that anymore) something like a kawasaki 650, used, and ride across America. I ended up going with a different plan, but I think it may be time to do it now.

Long story short, I bought a sailboat up in Washington this summer with the intention to cruise here and Canada and at the end of the summer sail down to California. Well, the short is, I hired a company to do some upgrades and they broke my boat, and insurance is in the process of fixing it. But, by then it will be too late to sail the rough North Pacific coast.

Not one to let my summer plans be ruined, I'm sitting on a lot of gear that can easily be transferred to motorcycle touring. It was a pretty small boat, so I outfitted it with basically "REI" stuff. Camping stoves, sleeping bag, outdoor wear. That, plus I've gotten into photography lately and really want to tour around by sea or land collecting pictures.

What are things in the adventure touring world looking like these days? Where would I start looking at bikes? I'm sure a lot has changed in 15 years. Can I get a good one for 5-6k? What are some names? Where are good places to buy and tour? It's going to be September before I can get started, but that is a great time here in the US, and logistically that would be the easiest place to buy a bike. Are there any beginners articles or websites you have links to that would kind of lay down the basics? I'm typing in motorcycle touring on google, but it's more like trikes and gold wings, harley's and whatnot. What are some good reads for what I want to do, which is on and off road tour on the cheap.

The good reads are on this forum..... I'll start with this....

get yourself a bike, perhaps another KLR
buy some riding gear
Put luggage capability on said bike
put REI camping gear and personal kit in said luggage
add a tire plug kit and compressor
get a credit card.

Find a direction to go, head out and return when you've had enough.

are the klr's still relevant? I did like the klr 650. That was the one I wanted at the time. The one I REALLY wanted was the BMW Dakar. Is that still sought after?

Aw, a credit card. Do I have to?

About how much gear can I plan to carry, I have gone kayak touring before, I'm thinking it will be similar to that, and of course nowhere near what a sailboat carries. would 150 pounds be too much? Plus me, I only weigh 160. So lets say the bike should carry 300-350.

I'll admit to stepping out of my level of expertise in some ways here-- but this is what I know:

150 lbs is a lot of gear. Ever do any backpacking? Think of it that way. Don't overpack. Don't overthink.

These forums are FILLED with info from many different mindsets that will tell you more than you need to know about what you absolutely need to bring and what you absolutely need to leave behind.

Me? I'm with Maggot. You need a bike and a method of payment to put gas in your bike. As long as you keep traveling in the direction AWAY from your home, you're on an adventure.

KLRs are still popular for just this sort of thing. As are Suzuki DR650s. Or Vstroms. Or BMWs. Or Hondas or Yamahas or Harley's for that matter. Heck, my little TW200 makes a great adventure touring bike-- as long as you have enough time.

If you don't like a credit card, how about a debit card? Or one of those pre-paid Visa gift cards? Plastic does come in handy, especially when you pull into a gas station where you can only pump after hours if you use a credit card.

Yup. 50lb would be a TON.

Do you know how to ride a motorcycle? If not, you'd better start with an MSF class. I'd dedicate several weeks to taking classes and practicing your riding.

I know, I was just kidding about the credit card thing.

Funnily enough, it's super rainy here so any boating fun is out, well, I've got a broken boat anyways, so it's a good day to be at Starbucks. A touring couple just came in. They said that it's not called dual sport anymore. It's adventure bikes. Makes sense, what with this forum being called adv.

He also said he has side boxes but no top bag and they only carry 22 pounds each, so I think I am thinking you can pack way more than is practical.

Tons of good info here on ADV or take a short cut and Google Big Dog Mark Sampson ride reports packing tips all on his web page.

Dual-sport still exists. It means loghweight bikes capable of off-road fun, not just survival. Adventure riding means some dirt, but mostly covering ground cross-country.

Ok, I want adventure. I'm not looking to jump sand dunes just yet. What are the opinions on the Kawasaki versys? It looks like Kawa makes two adventure bikes, the klr and the versys. The klr being more an off road bike that can go on the pavement, where the versys with the right tires can do some off roading, but is more geared towards pavement.

Yeah, no, someone stuck me on a dirt bike and made me go on a terrain park on the North Shore of Hawai'i once, and that's about it. I figure I would buy one and hang around home until I had some decent skills.

It's probably like sailing. You can take classes and rent boats, or you can just throw yourself into it and buy a sailboat and learn as you go.

Take a state riders course or others offered. Im learning as I go after 20 years with out riding. KLR great machine , but you can fing a nice 1000/1150 GS for 5-7000 , better choice. I do want a XR or KLR 650 soon. Pics of the boat please!!!

here you go. thanks for asking!

Thanks, and I should point out, after reading more posts here, I may be more prepared than some who are completely new. I have some tent camping experience. months alone on a boat at a time. and also a couple years being a long haul truck driver. I add that, because it may help my ability to to drive focused for long periods of time. Just didn't want everyone to think I was a complete noob to lifestyle changes.

Who cares what anybody else thinks about your or labels you? You asked some good questions, got some good feedback, and have some skills already. If anybody thinks your a noob, let them label you however you want. Probably 20% of the population on this forum are 12 years old or only dream of actually doing any adventure riding outside of their twice a year trip around the neighborhood

oh well, over on the sailboat forums they are often retired gentlemen that think if you don't subscribe to their particular(rich) way of doing things you are doing it wrong. So if you don't have $200,000 for a yacht and hire crew to take you where you want to go, and actually want to buy a smallish boat and do it yourself, you are unsafe and putting the lives of the coast guard(and more importantly) their taxes at risk.

I didn't want to get labelled here right off the bat as a fly by night dreamer that didn't act on his dreams. Not that the good people here are as judgmental as the sailors. Probably a different demographic too.

Who cares about your labels? Let's get back to the adventure.

Take the MSF class.
Get some riding gear.
Pack what you think you need, then take away half.
Buy some real paper maps and a highlighter.
Ride.
Report.


Repeat.

I had ridden less than 1K miles in the last 30 years when I took off for AK this June. My son had even less time in the saddle. It took a few days to get our sea legs but we chalked up 8500 miles over all the terrain that that trip has to offer without incident.
Not to say we were total neubs, I had ridden since I was 10 and he had quite a bit of time riding off road as well.
Buy the bike, outfit it well, and pick a direction. I wish I had started this 20 years ago.
I took way more than I needed but was rarely inconvenienced by the extra load.
Good luck

When I was young I wanted to sail the far seas. I wound up in Seattle, bought a small sailboat, threw it in the water, bought a book, learned to sail. Upshot...I got out on the Sound and scared myself to death. The Ocean is BIG. I went back to my Bultaco.

The Versys would be smoother for long distance. Either will haul 150 lbs of gear. You'll learn to pare it down with time. The first couple of weeks you'll repack every day.

Good protective clothing, heated jacket liner, your camping gear, extra key, point and click camera, and a dayminder with addresses. Head east a couple-three hundred miles, then ......

Wave if you see a roadrashed Transalp.

Gees guys we are all the same...
Just sold my boat after 20 plus years and getting my Masters Captains license with several endorsements. I have done many offshore races. In 2003 I read www.bigdogadventures.com website about a ride to Mexico. I reached out to him to get more info about the trip. Bought a used KLR, told some buddies that I was going and they thought I was crazy. They ended up buying new KLR's and came with me in 2004. It was a trip that we still talk about today. Now I ride instead of sail. Just got old on the lake in Texas.

It's time to ride!
I suggest MSF class for sure!
KLR Is a good Bike for the haul.

I might have missed this, but where does the OP want to go approximately on his adventure and for how long?

Riding a couple weeks on tarmac in North America and buying lodging can be a pretty spartan affair.

Longer rides with more off-road and camping would require more gear obviously - but nowhere near 150 pounds.

For a little reference:

Two weeks around the US west (with tent and bag):


One month from Nebraska up to Alaska and back (with tent and bag):


One month down from Nebraska through Mexico and Guatemala and back (no camping equip):