Which bike, how many bikes, what kind of bikes?

[Padmei]

As Woodman says we should start a new thread so Nutso's Gus thread stays pure & not tainted by the talk of mudblood bikes.

I tihnk it goes back to the age old question of "What is Adv riding?"

Nelson, being the adventureriding capital of the world (who would disagree whenthey saw the legendary riding, dropping & crying skills of the NADS) is seeing an interesting, if not original, concept - Owning 2 bikes.

Most of us have had bigger bikes for a while & over the last year have invested in smaller more off road orientated bikes.
Nordie has the DR650 &new TT350
Jatzhas the BIG & a few smaller bikes in differing states of health
Mrs Jatz the Ten & a noice DRZ350
Fluffy just has a collection the spoilt bastard
Now Woodman is looking for a potential weapon of mass destruction

I wonder if it is the natural terrain of our area that is prompting this.
For myself, I bought the DRZ as well as the BMW because the KLR wasso heavy I kept hurting my back trying to keep it upright in knarly situations.

Any thoughts? (& letsnot turn this into a bike slanging match)

[topo]

while i currently only have the one bike my progression to it has been a real learning curve.

1st ADV bike, BMW r100GSPD
2nd ADV bike, KTM 640e
current ADV bike, DRZ400e

But if i was alowed 2 bikes in the shed i'd have the PD back and a road reg exc/wrf/crf 450 for the perfect nelson tool kit

[Two Moto Kiwis]

I have the 990 SMR .. purdy but useless on shingle

DR650 covers the masses for me, still got some reasonable road mileage around central to link up the cool bits, an extendable, retractable, inflatable, deflatable bike would be perfect... I don't know that there is one.

37 bikes later I say the mid size ADV bikes are a better choice for ALL round.

[Box'a'bits]

I used to have a TT350. Started with an XR350, then a XR600 (which I swapped for a BMW), then to the pinacle that was the TT. The TT was fine as an adventure bike. Good seat, suspension was okay, the engine was torquey & simple to work on, and it'd sit comfrtably at 100-110k. But the 6v electrics were frightening at night. I was commuting on it into Wgtn at one time.

Sold the TT in 2006 for not-a-lot (financed 2x new glasses for me). Wish I hadn't . But it wasn't getting the usage, bacause the guys I was riding with had all moved on, & I'd moved job roles that didn't need a commute.

I can't really justify more than 2 bikes, currently occupied by Gus, & an R100RS that isn't getting used. I need at least one bike that can comfortably carry a pillion. The RS really needs to go, so I can put the money into Gus & maybe look at a cheap trailbike.



There's no minimum standard in the Gus thread....

[kiwipeet]

Mate that TT350 looks perfect..

I've had about 40 bikes over 20+ years of riding. In my younger years I had a few trail bikes The very first bike I bought (at 14) was an RM125 but that had a very short life with me, once I got my leaners licence, I wanted roadworthy wheels so I bought an XL125, and thats about when it began... a long trail of wheeling and dealing up, down and sideways throughout my highschool, polytech and uni years. I dabbled in the dirt and gravel on road and farms but could never afford to ride motocross.

I moved up to bigger and bigger road bikes which got bought an sold as I moved around and changed countries a few times. GSX750's, GSXR11's, RF900's VTR1000's, CBR1000's etc etc

I only really got into the offroad ADV things when I moved to Melbourne, and got thoroughly bitten by the bug. I started with a DR650 and then bought a KTM950 with the intention of riding around Oz. (didn't happen) and then started trail riding the 950 with the other Melbourne nutjobs.

IMO The bigger Adv bikes are better are longer distance travelling/touring type ADV riding and in the right hands are still capapble of doing ridiculous things.

The smaller mid sized singles are better for faster tighter more technical trail riding.

It's not rocket surgery: It's horses for courses. Either large or small bikes will do it all, but some are better at some things than others. whatever you spend more time doing (or wanting to do) will dictate what type of bike is better for you.

So the question is, what kind of riding do you spend more time doing? Short day trips and fun on the dirt or long trips away mile-munching on the road?

Now back to the 350. I'm trying to encourage Jess back into ADV riding again. and the challenge is to find the right balance/tradeoff/compromise. Small and light enough to be user freindly to a novice and build confidence, and yet big enough to be comfortable slabbing it on the open road. Something like a TT350/DR350 looks to me to be about the ideal tradeoff.

[Padmei]

The only thing with older bikes is the growing list of items needing repairing/ replacing.That's why I decded to part with my normal frugal ways & spend a whopping $4K on something a bit later. As the DRZs have had the rep of being bulletproof & that there'smillions of them, Iwent with that.

In hindsight a 125 2 stroke would have been lighter & more fun

I tend to think that what we do in Nelson is more trail riding than adv riding. In my mind adv riding is more about covering longer distances over a period of days hence a bigger bike to cover the miles. I can see the benefits of super Tens, 990s & 1200GS's over in ozor the States however on our tight twisty roads I reckon midsize are a more practical compromise. Big cubes do have the smile factor tho

We are very lucky tohave such amazing terrain soclose to where we live.

[Mark_S]

Originally Posted by Padmei

We are very lucky tohave such amazing terrain soclose to where we live.

Come up here for a weekend and you'll feel hard done by when you get back home...


owning three seems to mean at least 1 sits around getting little use.

two is a good balance if finances allow
1 bike capable of decent distance rides in comfort.
1 bike capable of short distance knarly stuff.

after 5 years of loading bikes on and off trailers I much prefer being able to ride from home to the start of the trail which is why I'm thinking of swapping frames between my WR's to keep the road legal status (rego on hold).

I'm making the most of this opportunity and doing all the things I should have done when I brought my first one and farkling the crap out of it - hour meter, bash plate, proper radiator braces (not the pathetic devol guards I pretzeled multiple times on the old bike), pivot pegs, wolfman tool bag & roll and I'll shift the rekluse over and put the road kit on and dig out the big tank I brought years ago. Could take a month or two to get all that sorted.

I have to confess that I have wondered (like everyone else) if something like a 690 or TE630 (or maybe a DR780) would be able to do it all but that would mean getting rid of the klr and that is simply not an option. I suspect (and hope - given my recent choices) that the single bike does all option would never quite work out.

[innathyzit]

Thinking out loud.

Good idea this thread

Analyzing the riding we do here (Nelson) and getting a bike to suit then a DRZ/450 enduro weapon is probarbly the best bike really. The 650 long range type bikes are probarbly the best compromise, but there are occaisions when they get a bit much in the places we go, but then again some of the situations we get ourselves in are bloody hilarious. Like I said on the other thread I plan on keeping the klr for a long time yet but more farkling to make it a dirt bike will stop as its never going to be one. I am very comfortable with its deficiencies and can ride around them so the crazy trail rides will not stop. Also the last two dustys on the rides home on seal back from Fairlie have been bloody enjoyable so I plan on doing more big day rides with excursions as well.

Been looking for a dirt bike lately, and have been offered a TT500 to ride in an old thumpers event so will have a go at that to see if that bug bites me first.

Mind you if i could afford a 690 or the husky 630 at the moment I would have one in a flash.

more to follow.

[Oscar]

I wrote several things in Kiwi Rider Mag and tested a lot of bikes (a dirty job, but someone has to do it), before coming to the conclusion that the perfect adventure is actually two bikes.

You need a big one for riding to places like the Rainbow from here, and a smaller one for riding to the 42nd Traverse from here (horses for courses).

My 950 is the best big adv bike I've ridden ( a pox on your fuel injection, KTM), although I could be tempted to a 950 SE. For a secomd bike (now that the 625 has gone), a DRZ400 or even an old XR400 would suffice, but a 400/450 EXC would tempt me mightly.

In the meantime, the R80g/s and the XT500 are a hoot.

[nz gravel man]

Have owned around 30 diferent bikes over about the same amount of years. Half of them have been road legal trail or ADV bikes, from xl\xr185 honda's to gsx1400's. My current 2008 990 makes me smile the most, digs trenches & throws rocks like nothing i've owned, but can be a handfull in tighter going. My 2010 dr650 is cheap & cheerfull reasonably easy to pick up if needed & will do most things.
ADV riding is all things to all people, doesn't matter what you ride as long as it does it for you.

Cheer GM.

[jafar]

I've tossed this one around a bit as well, I've tried different bikes & have come to the conclusion that 2 bikes is what is needed.

Current weapons are a CB1300F Honda for use when doing longer rides &/or the need to take a passenger.
The other toy is a DR650SE,it's not too bad considering what it is ment for.

[MrKiwi]

I'd have a Tiger 955i (or the new 800XC), or another Honda varadero and a Suzuki DR650. I'm not into touring only on tarmac. But the big bikes are a too difficult to manage in soft slippery stuff. The DR is a good price and pretty tough.

[NordieBoy]

I'd have Phreaky Phill's DR650 as my long range/2-up bike and a DR/TT350 as the little bike.

[Night Falcon]

i have 3 bikes: 1 for road, 1 for gravel and one for single track.....they all share the same fuel tank, frame, engine, seat, wiring, wheels, chain, suspension etc....oh and the same make and model name.

[NordieBoy]

Originally Posted by Speed Daddy

i have 3 bikes: 1 for road, 1 for gravel and one for single track.....they all share the same fuel tank, frame, engine, seat, wiring, wheels, chain, suspension etc....oh and the same make and model name.

3 KTM 690's!





Farrrrrrrk...