Best All Around Dual Sport Bike?

[Desert Skies]

Originally Posted by R85/8

If you're going to ride a bike to out of the way places on dirt, it should have 3 virtues:
Easy to pick up
No fragile bits to break when dropped
Not prone to catastrophic failure without warning.

I think I'd better buy another DR650 :)

And for those reasons, I too have a DR for dirtier days.

[polson]

any one think of the bmw f800gs?

[polson]

but then maybe this is the perfect bike for dual sport......



I think if you could drop 50 pounds off the 800gs you may have a perfect ride?


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[awcsptyltd]

I own this HP2 Enduro and have travelled thousands of kms on it through all kinds of tracks and tar work. There is no way i would even think about a KLR. I am 198 cm tall so don't fit the standard bikes. Not to say the KLR are bad, they would not be my first pick. I am racing this monster again this year in the Finke Desert Race. Alice Springs. Plenty of sand and long open streches to open the big girl up.

[awcsptyltd]

Originally Posted by mike cummins

A dual sport bike is a bike like the ,drz etc, it can ride to a trail an back home and still handle medium distance travelling. However,for an adventure bike the criteria are somewhat different as you need, parts availability, ability for engine to handle low grade fuel, gear carrying capacity and lots more,
the bmw hp2 with tank, screen and bags would be my choice.

I can't more with you. These are very unique bikes that will do anything and everything well. I own a HP2E for my dirt bike and adventure rides. K1600Gtl for the long tar rides with my wife. HP2 Sport for the fun spirts around town.

[NLS]

[mercury01]

"Best" is a tough one. I loved the KLR in Mexico. Spent three weeks on it; did full Copper Canyon. It was a predictable, solid trooper of a bike. Kind of heavy for its displacement/power. I also liked the new F650GS, twin I rented in Chile last fall. Surprisingly good bike (especially when compared to its single-lung predecessor, which I disliked). I almost wish I had it instead of t R1200GS (almost, but not quite!)

I owned a Multistrada for 6 years, heavily farkled for improved off road performance (see Strada-Avventurosa). On it, I travelled all over the Pacific Northwest - from Alaska to Las Vegas and everywhere in between. I think that for me, this was the "Best" dual sport. Light, powerful, surprisingly comfortable ... And it's a Ducati! (Cache, plus)

I now have an R1200GS. I wanted an HP2, but just couldn't find one at a good enough price. I really haven't got to know it very well. I only have added 4,000 kms to the odometer. But ... I like its handling, comfort and overall performance. It still feels massive, but its weights not bad. It seems easy to maintain (not so much the Ducati, which could be a bitch at times). I hope that I can call it the best, soon!

FWIW

[prince_ruben]

After the Death Valley ride this past weekend, I am of the humble opinion that it's not the bike but the rider.

I observed the range of 250's, 350's, 800's, and 990's, 1150's 1200's and others.

I further observed 990's hauling ass, 2 up on GS 1200's moving rapidly and aggressively, and 250's and 350's just buzzing along.

Get the bike you like, and learn how to ride it.

[Qaz]

After reading all the replies, I know this is kind of far into this but we really need a definition of dual sport. If we use the defition most on here use, then every street bike I have owned is a dual sport. I took my Yamaha Secca 750 places most would not take their GS's and put 100,000 miles on it to boot. Now I would not take it to places I would take a KLR, but I wouldn't take a GS there either and neither would you, because it would trash your bike (although some might be that dumb). Would I ride a KLR 1,000 miles on the road? yes, but I doubt I would enjoy it. Would i do it on a GS, yes! Would I enjoy it, more than likely! Is the GS as much a DS as the KLR, NO! The KLR is closer to the GS on the road than the GS is to the KLR off the road!
Come on guys lets agree on a definition because this thread is a very good discussion.

[2bold2getold]

Ok, I'll go first. To me a "Dual Sport" is a street legal bike that will easily run at least 60mph on the highway and be capable of most (not the hardest, worst passes possible) jeep trail passes and dirt roads in the hands of an "average" off road rider.

[Beemermcr]

Originally Posted by 2bold2getold

ok, i'll go first. To me a "dual sport" is a street legal bike that will easily run at least 60mph on the highway and be capable of most (not the hardest, worst passes possible) jeep trail passes and dirt roads in the hands of an "average" off road rider.

+1!

[Tonopah]

This bike has worked out pretty well. Ricor intiminators in the forks, Ricor shock, Scott's damper, TKC-80s, Wolfman bags. I am very very average off pavement but this bike does get me there.

[R.J.]

Originally Posted by 2bold2getold

Ok, I'll go first. To me a "Dual Sport" is a street legal bike that will easily run at least 60mph on the highway and be capable of most (not the hardest, worst passes possible) jeep trail passes and dirt roads in the hands of an "average" off road rider.

Yep, I agree. In my opinion a DS should be comfortable on a ten hour pavement ride and still take you down the dirtiest tails you want. I think the larger the bike the slower you be in the dirt but you can still get trough.

Last year I picked up a DR650 to compliment my 1200 for rides with my KTM dirt bike friends. I found the DR lighter and easier to pick up, easier to pull out of the muskeg but still no match for my buddies on the 250lb dirt bikes ripping down the single track. However, I rode the DR to the ride, not trailered. I have also rode the 1200 on most of the same single track just much slower.

DS to me means you can ride it across the country and still ride in the dirt. Dirt bikes excel in the dirt but you would never ride long on the road. I think most of the 600+ cc DS bikes are fantastic, it just depends on each rider preference and wallet. I would put the DR up against the 1200 any day and at a fraction of the price. I bought a sprocket for the DR, $12 bucks, I couldn't even get a sticker for the BMW for that But I will take the BMW on the long rides and love it.

[spagthorpe]

In my heart, I want the best all arounder to be the KTM 500EXC. Street legal without hassles, power for days, light enough to take on any single track, etc. Sure, it needs a new seat for longer riding, but what doesn't.

The brain though, knows that a DR650 or even the DRZ, while not something you'd be happy droning up the freeway all day on, will do it just fine (the DRZ needs another gear), and not as powerful as the KTM, and not as light, but also not as expensive both in dollars, but in upkeep. Check the valves at the beginning of the year, and check them again next season. Simple.

Problem is, every time I buy with my head and not my heart, I've been disappointed.

[TUCKERS]

You can dual sport ride about anything with a little modification in both bike and riding style.

I have a BMW R1200GS, but I rather like my Suzuki DR650 too, then again the Yamaha TW200 is a blast.

Two or three bikes fits the bill best