Worlds lightest adv bike

the boys down-under have created the first hybrid motorcycle/mountain bike with a dual sport/street legal model and it is truely amazing. at 125lb. and 125 mpg it is very well the best option for real hard core adventure riding...deep mud and goat trais in the mountains type stuff that a 1/2 ton GS would never be able to do...heck, even a regular 125cc dirt bike would never do what this bike shows it can do on the companie's videos page......http://www.fxbikes.com/

Cool bikes, but not an adventure bike.
Its more like a modified trials bike.
Does anyone even know if this is a legitimate company.They don't even have a address but want a down payment.

They have been in the development stage for some time.

As above, more a trials bike, but super fun.

Honestly - best use of this in my mind is hanging one off the back of a 4x4(tow bar mounted rack), nice rooftop tent, take the missus, kids, dog etc out for trips and be able to scoot off on the bike while they play.

Very cool... and tempting to put in a reservation for one. It seems like this new offering is approaching trials bike capability, but with a seat and a can be purchased in a street legal model.
I don't know enough about 2 strokes, but seems like this new 4 stroke bike would do anything a 2 stroke can do.

Oops, I'm the third guy to compare this to a trials bike. I should type faster.

The possible weakness I see is that skinny little frame. Looks like you could crack that thing... hopefully not.

yeah, but they are going to outfit some with an adventure package.....http://www.fxbikes.com/2011/11/26/fx-expedition-worlds-lightest-adventure-motorcycles/

and factory sponsership too for extreme adventure expiditions.....http://www.fxbikes.com/sponsorship/

That Aussie bike is a beauty ... perfect trials bike for screwing around close to camp. But Adventure bike? You ain't going anywhere on any of those bikes.

Here are a couple true top ten candidates for lightweight adventure bikes:



Nathan the Postman on his 100cc postie bike.


Honda 90 step through on the way to Tierra del Fuego. Crazy Irishman!

Hey guys, Mike here from FX Bikes...nice topic!

On FX vs Trials:

A surprising (to me) number of people compare these bikes to trials, I think because of the low weight.

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]You might be surprised at the amount of difference between the claimed "dry weight" of bikes and their actual ready to ride weight...it can be 20, 30, 40 lb!

If you get 2 bathroom scales with a wheel on each (or a more accurate setup!) your typical Gas Gas will be 165 lb, maybe more. Nothing against the Gas Gas...for what its designed for, competition trials, you couldn't get much better.

FX is 125 lb ready to ride, so 40 lb lighter than a ready to ride trials bike, which is a big difference in agility and portability.

But the main differences are in the geometry and layout, e.g.
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• [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Trials bikes have a very steep fork angle so they can be balanced on the front wheel. This becomes unstable and twitchy at higher speeds.[/FONT]
• [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]FX has a raked out fork angle, similar to an enduro bike, so it is very stable on steep terrain and is very comfortable on faster singletrack.[/FONT]
• [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Trials footpegs are positioned to the rear of the bike for easy balancing on the back wheel, which is fine when standing up but not for longer distance seated riding.[/FONT]
• [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]FX footpegs are central like an enduro, keeping both wheels firmly on the ground and comfortable for stand up or seated riding.[/FONT]
• [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]Trials fuel tanks are about 1 quart / 1 litre. New FX models have 2 gallon and 3 gallon options.
  [/FONT]
• [FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]For these reasons, any trials-type bikes that have tried using small seats have had to change their layout and end up more like enduro bikes with trials tires, with ready to ride weights over 190 lb.[/FONT]

From our experience, riders who enjoy FX the most are riders of enduro bikes AND trials bikes AND mountain bikes. If someone is a purist, only enjoying one type of 2-wheeler, they sometimes can't adjust to the unique riding experience of FX, which really is a crossover of all these.[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]
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New Zealand bike actually :)

With a 3 gallon tank, 8" Marzocchi / Fox suspension, Excel enduro rims, and the 125cc clone version of the Honda 90, there's no reason it can't go a heck of a lot further than the mighty Cub :)

We've ridden away from quadruple endos :)

Less mass to bend the bike...a bit like picking up a mountain bike and throwing it, compared to dropping a full size motorcycle off its side stand, which we all know can be enough to put it in the repair shop.

New Zealand is NOT Australia mate nor is it Austria. If you had even bothered to have a cursory read of the posts above yours you would have seen that the bike is from New Zealand.
You seem to have a habit if typing without knowing what you are typing about maybe it's time to think before you type.

Looks pretty cool to me. I know I've hucked my mountain bike off some shit that would've seriously fucked up the XR. Light weight (neither me or my bike have been accused of that in a long time) definitely makes it a lot easier on everthing, brakes, rims, knees........

Cool! When can we see your ADV RTW Proto type?

Have you toured anywhere outside NZ on a motorcycle? Riding with a little back pack is not going to cut it if we're talking about true long term adventure travel. Sure, you can go a long way ... as long as its in your neighborhood round in circles on New Zealand.

To travel with that bike the frame and sub frame would have to be seriously modified to accept panniers of some kind. The components look excellent ... But are they tough enough to handle tens of thousands of miles of wash board hammering with 40kg. of luggage on board?

Cubs have survived severe conditions all over the world since the 1950's.
Were you riding then? I was. I'd say it's well tested. It's not modern, it's ugly and primitive ... but some how able to keep going.

I owned a Honda 50 Step through in the early 60's. Indestructible would be the best word to describe it.

But I LOVE your effort ... you bike is a work of ART! To nice to mess up!

the very first sentence of the original post says : "The boys down under ...."
To me that means Australia. Sorry for the miss. I've seen this bike hawked here several times on other threads ... I should have known.

hey Kiwi, Maybe its time for you to lighten up and have some fun. There was no offense intended ... yet you seem intent on going after me and make a big deal out of nothing.

another stretch to call that an adventure bike... but sure looks super cooool....

same difference.......

I like it (seen these before), but if I am not mistaken these are not street legal in the USA unless you try and go for a moped registration and then you can't ride it on the highway (not that I would want to). I would be interested to see if they are street legal in NZ - I would like to winter there when I retire.

In general an "Adventure Bike" requires the bike be street legal, otherwise it is just a "dirt bike" - although I always say "adventure is where you find it" and that doesn't have to include long distances on foreign roads, it can just be in your backyard (now that my "backyard" is 20 forested acres, that is even more true).

For what they are intended I think they are probably great - yet another option for us. No one bike is perfect for all conditions and the light weight is a great benefit.

MikeFX:

Great looking machine. I hope we see it here in the states someday.

Do you heve a weight limitation in mind? In other words, can it haul my fat arse? I'm about 119kg. (I'm likin' the metric thing...it's a smaller number than pounds).

This looks like the latest version of a vaporware bike that has been sighted on the internet for 5+ years.

Those tires are garbage, and I wouldn't trust the 10yo technology mountain bike fork either. I think that fork was last produced in 2003 or something.

Cool idea will be a helluva lot cooler when it exists in the real world.

That engine design is a horizontal engine, the oil pump pick up is at the front. It will need twice the oil capacity to keep the sump submerged. That engine will not survive standing up like that. It also needs the crank to throw oil up under the piston.
wit twice the amount of oil in it, the crankcase pressure will pump the oil out the vent.