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Anyone here like motorcycles?
In the spirit of u/gdp's post on escooters, does anyone ride motorcycles or motor scooters (e.g. Vespas)?
Compared to cars, motorcycles can be far cheaper in purchase cost, gas, and insurance. Additionally, lane filtering or riding the shoulder in gridlock can prevent you from being part of the traffic holding everyone up. Going fast is also fun, if that's your thing.
Rode for about 24 years. Then we crashed.
Starting with my fathers Suzuki 750e, a very cool sport bike in the 80s and not something you'd think a somewhat frugal and conservative father would buy. Then he moved on to a big Yamaha XS1100, a big beast that I didnt like very much. Big, smoked a bit, and not really torquey considering the size of the engine in the 80s.
After that, I drove my father in law's Honda CB750 with my wife from Calgary to San Diego and back in 10 days. WAY too much riding for her and with the sorest butt she'd ever had, she never got on a bike again lol.
Then I got my own bike finally - a Honda VF1100C, better known as a Magna. Fastest bike built in 1983 and it was a torque monster and put out 116 hp. That would be middlin' power today with insane sportbikes that can best 300 km/h but it was plenty for a cruiser style machine in 1983. Even pulled a little trailer with it. Rode it til 2003. Super reliable machine.
But then came the bad part. On a normal Sunday afternoon, with my 13 year old daughter sitting behind me, we pulled off the shoulder onto a highway and were smashed from behind by a minivan doing 60 mph. It sent us both flying across the highway and fortunately oncoming traffic didnt run over either of us. I was out for half a day, but she was in a coma for 3 days and the docs weren't sure she would live. We were both wearing helmets, which saved us from certain death and gloves and leathers kept the road rash to a minimum but my left leg was broken and she had a major laceration on her leg that required surgery.
She was an A student before so we were very worried about brain damage. We were pretty pleased when she got 98% on her first test after the accident.
And now? She's a doctor. Part of the reason was the care she got when she was in the Children's Hospital. What goes around comes around.
And me? My wife (now ex wife) forbade me to ever ride again, which was extremely difficult to accept at the time. But she had lost her brother in a car accident just a few months before so I understood her deep seated fear and I never rode a street bike again.
I did however have a little Honda Ruckus for a time (after she was gone) and I currently have a little mini bike that I trail ride, but not sure I want to get on a big bike again. I used to physically wince with nostalgia and longing for years whenever a road bike would pass me on the highway, but I dont anymore. Time heals all wounds... and sometimes makes us change direction and hobbies.
How quick can a life change, and at the same time, how tough are we as humans to survive those changes (given we prepare for the worst, as in your case). I'm still waiting for my first major crash to happen (I mean, that's my motivation for ATGATT), but even knowing the possibility is there, to read your story hits hard. I guess because your daughter was with you, and I know very well how it feels to be responsible for the passengers. I'm glad you're both ok.
Thanks. Im glad we're both ok too.
And I really agree with all the gear all the time. Some days its freakin' hot to be wearing leathers and a helmet but being really hot beats being really injured or really dead any day. I tell new riders to make sure they can buy the best helmet they can find. They can go cheaper on other things but not a helmet.
Keep the rubber side down and ride safe my friend :)
I enjoy them for what they are, I would never personally own or drive one. I just feel in my opinion, That I wouldn’t be safe with one, Whether it be driving too fast, or being careless and making a simple mistake, bike wrecks are gnarly and I do not want to be involved in one. With that said, if I’m on the road and see a motorcycle I try to give them their space and I’m a little extra cautious around them, not for my safety but to make sure they are also comfortable on the road.
Respectable o7
I've been riding since 1962! Love bikes but I stopped a couple of years ago, as age catches up I'm not as safe. Started with a moped in '62, a Royal Enfield in '64, beemer in '68 .. last rode a Honda Nighthawk. Now I stick to a pedal bike lol.
ebike or regular pedal-only?
pedal only, i need the exercise
I love my first gen SV-650. I wouldn't mind having a hydraulic clutch, but can't justify it for the money. Currently my issue is a clogged up carb jet so the bike stalls while idling. Should be something I can fix at home but I don't have JIS tools and I live in an apartment building so there isn't a good workspace (and I can't seem to find any free time or motivation lately). I need to suck it up and have it towed to a shop but it stings not being able to do that kind of maintenance myself.
Man, I got one of those for free on Craigslist a couple years back that needed a lot of work, but the owner just couldn’t be bothered and wanted to get rid of it. I got it back on the road for about $600 (including my state’s expensive registration). Holy smokes that bike PULLS.
Edit to add: mine also was a bit of a rough idler when I got it, it didn’t fully stall but it was pretty sputtery. It cleared up after a couple of tanks worth of fresh gas with a healthy splash of Seafoam, may be worth a shot before paying for a mechanic? If it’s fully stalling then additives might not be enough, but for ~$5 a can it can’t hurt much to try!
Unfortunately it stalls right after/if you can get it started, otherwise I definitely would dump some seafoam in there. I probably still will after I get it fixed because the gas sitting in the tank while it's been out of commission is getting a little funky...
Also have an SV-650. A later gen that's fuel injected. Such an amazing bike. I hope you get yours fixed.
I have a 2007 GS500F and it was doing a weird stall on the highway, but only sometimes. I drained the float bowls of both carbs and haven't had an issue with it since. Might be something to try, it's easy enough and only really needs a screw driver to open the float bowl drain. I made a make shift funnel out of a 2L bottle to squeeze in there so I didn't have to take off the carbs.
I own a Honda Grom ~$3500 before fees, which despite requiring a motorcycle license to operate in my state, is more like a scooter. It cannot ride on the freeway; max speed is in the mid 60s mph, but more consistently rides in the mid 50s mph. It's rated for 165mpg, but I usually see 120mpg, due to me driving it hard on my daily commute. A couple of seconds at any gas station adds 100+ miles to my range for ~$3. The Grom was more an ebike alternative than a proper motorcycle option, but I think I'm seeing the attraction now.
I love the Grom, even though Im a tall old fart. But it reminds me of the Honda Ruckus I had for a few years. Small, manoeuvrable but a ton of fun to ride. And that was after riding a Honda VF1100C for 20 years! Even now, as a guy who's never likely to ride on a highway again (nearly died in a motorcycle accident) I still have a little minibike with a 5 hp engine that I use for trail riding and hill climbing. I changed sprockets and geared it WAY down so it'll barely do 15 mph, but it'll climb the steepest hill you can find and its a blast to ride up hills that even ATV's find difficult.
The Honda Grom is my first bike, and I love it. Calling it an ebike alternative is apt. I've often described it as feeling like riding a bicycle. It's so light and nimble!
Are you still riding it, or have you moved on to other bikes?
It's still my only bike. I'm still figuring out what to get next, but I'm seriously considering the Honda CRF300 Rally. I live in Australia where highway speeds are low (100-110 km/hr, or 65-70 mph) and there are a lot of unsealed or corrugated roads when you travel inland. I want to travel around, and the CRF300 should be able to tackle anything I can throw at it.
I'm also tempted to replace the Grom with a Vespa GTS 300. The luggage capacity looks super convenient, and I like the classic styling.
Just went on 700 kms motorcycle ride from Calgary to Golden and Radium Hot Springs. You know that feeling when you stick your arm out the car window, it's like that. You have a full view of the road and the sky and can just take it all in! I love it!
That sounds like quite the hike, what did you ride?
A 2007 Kawasaki Versys and I have determined it needs a more comfy seat! No highway pegs also made it a bit rough! But it was a beautiful ride and a great day! Plus we raised $4000 for charity!!
I was about to make a post asking about motorcycles! I'm pretty new to riding, only my fourth year, but I love it. Besides riding something that requires full attention and allowing time to just focus on a single task and think, I also love being able to learn the basics of auto mechanic stuff on a smaller system. Here's my steed! My 1980 GL1100 https://imgur.com/gallery/Fpsla7x
Holy cow, nice bike!
I've been riding only about 12 years now. Started with a used Honda 1982 CM450C, which I loved dearly (and miss terribly). The bike I've been on for most of that time has been a Suzuki Boulevard C50T, which I also love dearly. The Pacific Northwest is a great place for long winding back roads that are super fun to ride, all surrounded by gorgeous vistas of nature.
Out here in DFW Texas, everything is basically flat, straight, and long. Great for pulls, terrible (comparatively) for truly enjoying the ride.
As a former resident of the deep south US, I am pretty familiar with that kind of ride. Some days I even miss it - yeah the scenery out here is regularly breathtaking, as a cruiser rider I am equally happy just kicking up on the highway bars and enjoying a long straight-and-flat stretch of tarmac for a kind of soul-cleansing ride.
Welp, now I know what I'm spending the rest of my day doing!
I just learned to ride last summer. Bought a 2013 Suzuki TU250 and loved riding it for a couple months, until it got stolen out of my apartment's parking lot. I got it back a week later, but it was totaled due to frame damage. Luckily it was close to the end of the riding season where I live anyway.
Now I'm getting settled into a new apartment with a garage, and starting to look at FB Marketplace for a new bike. I've got my eye on a Honda CB500X for now. I like the idea of getting a dualsport, but I don't actually have many offroad trails nearby. But there are some gravel/dirt roads around state forest land and such, so I think I could have fun with that.
I have been riding on the road since 2008. Have owned so far a 2009 Rebel 250x 2001 Honda Shadow Spirit 1100, 1988 Yamaha FJ1200, and finally a 2022 Honda Rebel 500.
All my riding had been done in Canada. Starting off with the 250 was great to get my bearings and learn how to drive in traffic properly. Most of the time it’s not recommended to jump so quick to >1000 cc but I had tried a colleagues motorbike which was the same as I ended getting and it fit so well.
After that I had a bit of a craving to ride something with an 80s vintage which lead me to the FJ1200. A great machine, really fast.
Since then I have moved country and so had to leave them behind. In Vietnam little 125 cc scooters are insanely common and so I downsized my motorcycle to fit in a little better with the traffic dynamics. I do have my eye on some bigger displacements though :)
For anyone thinking of getting into the hobby… think well. Attention to the road and good road sense and awareness is literally a life or death skill. It can be intense and scary but when you’re on an open road the feeling is unmatched. If you are twitchy or anxious you might want to avoid riding. It is expensive. In many parts of the world the riding season is short. Bikes are pricy. Gear is pricy. Get the best helmet you can. If you can’t afford a good helmet you can’t afford to drive.
That's really interesting. What are you riding now? And what is the riding culture over there like?
The Rebel 500 is what I'm using now. It's big enough that it is a real motorcycle but small enough that it doesn't feel like trying to drive a boat through the sea of traffic. Though the 1100 tempts me since that's what I'm so used to.
Riding here is pretty wild. There are literally millions of scooters in Ho Chi Minh City - many of which driven by folks who haven't learned how to drive - and they outnumber cars by orders of magnitude. Most traffic devices (lights, lanes, lines, sidewalks, etc.) are suggestions... they work fine enough when traffic is light but in heavy traffic times anything goes. You can look up Vietnam traffic on Youtube and it should paint a good picture. It's really dangerous but despite all that I actually prefer to drive here over driving in North America.
I had a honda rebel 250 for a while - barely any power, I know, but I had a lot of fun. It's hard to justify having one for the amount of risk, but maybe I'll pick it up again one day...
I'm actually fixing up an old 1982 GS650G at the moment. I've done a ton of work to it slowly over the last couple of years, and now that I'm down to fork seals and replacing the front brake master cylinder I'm getting really excited to get it street legal.
I love that this bike is from the 80's but has things on it that I have not seen in some of the newer bikes I have owned. Working gear position indicator, fuel gauge, and is shaft driven. Comfortable, but sporty seating position.
I have been riding for about 10 years now, but haven't been riding much in the last two years or so since this has been my only bike in that time.
That's awesome, do you have any pictures of it?
I do but I don't seem to be able to use any image hosting sites on mobile at the moment.
It's the same paint and sticker kit as shown in this video below. I haven't gotten to restoring paint or frame because I can't find this gold sticker kit anywhere. I'm thinking I'm going to have to find someone who can do it custom.
https://youtu.be/bqHEDo3_9bo
Ooooh..
How are you liking the new bike?
I think my next ride is either a BMW F850GS, R1250GS or a Triumph Tiger.
You should look at taking a dirt bike riding course. Loads of fun. My wife and I were the only 40 year olds among a sea of 12 year olds :)
How'd it go?
Oh, you rode your BMW on their track?
Yeah, the little dirt bikes they provide are super fun.
Did they teach you to lean the bike while seated with a vertical body, while putting a leg out?
Oh man, you are going to have so much fun.
Edit: Show those vertically challenged whipper snappers what for!
I have a 2020 BMW F750GS that I bought at the start of COVID. This was after crashing my last (and first) bike (Yamaha FZ6R) in 2014.
I'm pretty selective about where and when I ride. I avoid highways, busy downtown areas and rush hour. People around here drive like maniacs so I do what I can to mitigate risk of an otherwise fun hobby
Those are some kick ass bikes you've had
Yeah, the GS has been more my style than the Yamaha. But it was a good relatively inexpensive first bike.
I've always wanted an R1200/1250GS but it's too big/tall for me
I'm struggling because my first bike has been a goldwing, so big and heavy. It's been a hard one to learn on
Oof! That's a lot of bike for a first bike. My dad had one of those, and it was massive. I definitely couldn't manage that. They're super comfortable bikes, though. Every single feature you could ever want on a motorcycle (and then some), including a reverse gear which is wild.
Mines a 1980 so unfortunately no reverse (I cannot back this thing up without someone helping me lol). Luckily I have a naked one so a little less heavy, probably like just under 700lbs? But the learning curve was steeeeeep. I use it to go about 4 hours away to my cabin frequently and the comfort is just insane. No vibration, super comfy seat, a few different ways to sit.
Nice! Yeah those bikes are definitely mean for hauling long distances. I put a different seat on mine (the stock one was terrible), but 4 hours would be a stretch for me. Enjoy, and be safe!
We have a scooter in the house and use it whenever we need to fetch something or just to go to work. It needs like 2.5l/100km which is only a third of what I can do with a car (1.6l engine, my right foot is kinda heavy). Once the scooter dies, we will replace it with electric one (still motorcycle-like, not those small Xiaomi scooters) as we can easily charge it at home and even at around 50km range it is still plenty for our usage.
I also have vintage 2-stroke Jawa motorcycle which I used to daily drive, but since corona I don't drive at work anymore and when I have to drive, I bring the family too, so no motorcycle ride... I don't enjoy riding just about, I use motorcycle as a means of transport, so no weekend rides.
I love riding! I spent most of my life in SoCal and was fortunate to get to ride in such a beautiful place every day. I've visited probably around 15 countries specifically to go ride through and as much beauty as other places have, riding Northern California to Vancouver, CA might be one of my favorite rides when in season. I can never get over the ocean smell or view of the wild flowers and trees (SoCal is a desert by comparison).
That all changed when I moved to Texas though. So flat and HOT. More trucks seem to want to run bikers off the road here here too but that's just my observation. Can't wait until I get back to more rider friendly parts of the US. The macho man packing a gun while you ride thing (I assume that's what it is) also seems odd but whatever, just don't shoot in traffic. Maybe it's because of the trucks? Either way, not a culture I want to be apart of in TX.
Texas rider here. We, objectively, have the worst drivers [0]. Texas is tied with Mississippi for the highest rate of motorcyclist death on public roads [1].
[0] https://www.forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/best-car-insurance-companies/#data-studies
[1] https://quotewizard.com/news/dangerous-states-for-motorcycles
My father taught me to ride at the age of 4 and gave me a Honda 50 for a 5th birthday present. Decades later, I barely ride, I guess I am just a fairweather rider and never leave if I am in a rush to get somewhere. It has always been a relaxing thing for me, but as my town has grown in my lifetime I just do not feel as comfortable especially since more drivers = more bad drivers. I used to use my V-Strom to commute to work every now and again, but had some dummies pull out in front of me and had my rear wheel lock up on me once to where I just ride for pleasure now, never to get anywhere. I sound like an old fart, but I really think since smartphones became the norm, people just do not pay as much attention on the road, and it makes for even more unsafe conditions for riders.
Love my 44k miles, bought new off the showroom floor, 2013 Suzuki Boulevard C90T, which I affectionately call my "scooter". Why? Because it sounds less menacing in a casual conversation. That way, people aren't like, "I can't believe you ride a murder-cycle." UGH. Live your own life, ok? ;)
Back when I was in high school car insurance would've been ~$6,000/year for me, so the only affordable option for me to get to school was a motorcycle. I wanted to get a $1,500 Chinese 249cc Enduro motorcycle, but my parents thought I'd end up losing a leg if I drove something you had to straddle, so they demanded I get a large-engine scooter instead. Ended up with a $500 Aprilia 250cc 2010-or-so piece of shit I got from some 70 year old in Florida. Real piece of shit, and the battery cable kept coming loose so it was super unreliable, but it lasted me until my school shut down for COVID, then the engine blew up. Got my $500 out of it in utility, at least.
I still want to get a $1,500 Chinese shitbike to have some cheap fun with, but I'm gonna wait on it until I'm out of college. There's a medium-size online community for "china bikes", but I wish there were more people interested in them IRL. Probably the cheapest real vehicle you can get.
I just started riding last year and I love it! I bought a used 2019 Honda Shadow Phantom with 1000 miles on it.
It's wild how many bikes with basically no miles on them can be found on cycletrader
Yeah, maybe the sellers didn't get permission from their wives before they bought them. I bought mine (with permission of course) from a local used motorsports dealership.
I think a lot of dudes buy way too much bike for their first bike and scare the shit out of themselves, then leave it in the garage a couple of years before finally selling them off. My last bike was a 2016 Yamaha XSR 900 that I bought a the end of the 2019 season with only 1500 miles on it.
Passed my motorbike test back in 2015 after riding scooters in Vietnam (near Sa Pa) with a couple of friends. One of my pals had just passed his test and pushed me into getting my license so he had someone to ride with, and it's the best thing I've ever done.
My first bike was an Aprilia Dorsoduro 750 which was, as expected, Italian as fuck (in the colder months you'd have to turn the lights on 10 minutes before you wanted to leave to warm the battery up, even with a brand new battery. Hasn't Piaggio heard of auto-decompression mechanisms?!). Anyway, that bike died a death when I got rear-ended by a lorry at about 15mph. I was lucky that I didn't get injured and had another bike (with the insurance money) within a month.
I bought a Husqvarna 701 Supermoto and one of my friends introduced me to green laning (here in the UK that means riding dirt trails that are classified as legal roads). Eventually I changed the supermoto wheels out for a 21" / 18" setup and that is how the bike has stayed up until now.
In 2021 I quit my job to go ride it around trails in the south west of Europe (the TET and ACT amongst others, for anyone familiar).
I beat on that poor bike for almost a year before getting flat out bored of riding 8 hours a day every single day (the first 3 months were entirely without a break). Brought the bike back to the south of the UK and spent the next 9 months doing a full engine rebuild and going through it with a fine tooth comb (first engine rebuild I've ever done myself).
There's still a couple of bits I'm not finished with yet, but currently in the process of putting my supermoto wheels back on so I can maybe do a trip to Scotland in a month or two.
Bikes are so good for my mental health, and from a social aspect bikers are some of the best, and most diverse people I've ever met.
I’ve got a 96 GPZ 1100 and I’m eager to ride it. I’ve never rode before, and that bike is probably a little too big to be a first bike, but it’s my dad’s old bike and I’ve been working on restoring it for over a year now. It sat for close to 11 or maybe even 12 years, and I had to do a lot to even get it roadworthy again. It’s been a nightmare trying to get the motor to run right (side note, I hate carburetors), but I’m pretty close to riding it.
Nice, how's the Indian Scout going now? I'm sad that Harley discontinued the classic Sportster line, but it looks like Indian is keeping the spirit of those bikes alive with the Scout.
I love motorcycles, but mostly like working on them. I started on a Kawasaki KL250 that I got running out of a barn. Have ridden some 1200 Harley Sportsters, a big ol' Yamaha Stratoliner 1300, and I rode a 750 Vulcan for a while. I have a 1L '91 BMW K1 that I keep around mostly as a collector piece, it runs great and I'll put around the neighborhood. Absolutely love that bike but riding in traffic just isn't for me anymore.
Love them! Currently have a CBR500 because I totaled my previous bike, but it is a bit too bland … time to go shopping in the near future …
Ouch! What happened to your previous bike? Sounds like there's a story there.
What bike are you thinking of getting next?
Just dropped it in gravel, frame had a scratch, so it was totaled. I regret it though, favorite bike I owned so far.
I’m eyeing a street triple 675 as my next bike
Hate to be the wet blanket at the party, but for the love of god don't do this.
In gridlock the only way emergency vehicles can reliably get through is on the shoulder.
While I'd wholeheartedly agree for regular cars, a motorcycle is going to have no trouble getting out of the way of an emergency vehicle. It's not legal in some states and I'm sure it can be a bad idea, depending on both road and traffic conditions
yeah, I'd maybe do it in an emergency to avoid getting hit or something but there's way too much debris and stuff in the shoulder to ride any distance there. Lane splitting is legal and normal here though and I once calculated I've racked up 25k miles actively splitting.
I wish lane splitting and/or filtering was legal where I am but it's not. I've though about filtering, as it's supposed to be safer, but haven't done it yet. Maybe soon as I start to ride more as the weather gets better and better.
I don't think a bike on the shoulder is going to be an issue for emergency vehicles. The bike can always get into the adjacent lane next to or between cars.
But I still wouldn't ride the shoulder. There is all kinds of debris and crud that accumulates there which can puncture a tire or affect traction and send you for an unpleasant trip. You're better off lane splitting between the two leftmost lanes and just taking it slow if cars are too close together to squeeze between.
IMO, riding the shoulder is a dick move, but lane splitting in gridlock isn't. But then I kind of wonder about that thought and if there is a big difference between the two. Personally so much debris and shit would be on the shoulder I wouldn't and haven't used it, but I also rarely lane split, either.
I had a Honda CB500X but it was stolen last year from my parking garage. Warranted, I was.tryong to sell it before I moved across the country, but I have days where I really miss being able to go for morning rides.
Probably won't get another motorcycle for awhile and if I do, it will be to run minor errands around town.
I love them in theory.
To be honest, the main reason why I haven't bought one for myself is a mixture of being unsure how to go about getting the license and fear of how bad cars treat cyclists of any sort - which can be fatal.
After falling in love with my EV, I wanted to get an electric motorcycle, but those appear to be really expensive. Now I just kind of don't want to deal with the noise and the smell. And yes, I know that I'll be smelling the exhaust from all the other cars still and most motorcycles not made by Harley Davidson aren't that noisy. Maybe I just want to reenact that one scene from Nope.
The kids loving Vespas in Luca was something of a joke at time, but I was totally on board for it.
I’ve got a Triumph Street Twin that was my daily driver back when I was commuting pre-COVID. I don’t ride as much as I’d like to these days, but it’s a really pleasant bike to ride.
I also have a Puch Maxi II moped that’s a blast for toodling around the neighborhood. It’s currently out of commission because the rear brake hub, like, exploded the last time I rode it and I don’t want to put a ton of money into it because it’s untitled. One day I’ll figure the title stuff out…
The street twin is a fine looking bike. Just looked up the moped and that seems like a blast for going out and getting snacks or drinks. What year is it?
‘79, and yeah it’s an absolute hoot! Plenty of smiles per miles. It’s a 50 CC two-speed and is pretty heavily restricted by default, but I’ve seen people online getting top speeds in the upper thirties just by swapping to an unrestricted exhaust with a proper expansion chamber.
Hard to justify throwing money at it without a title, though…
I love them. I have 3. A '85 Honda Magna VF500, a Yamaha V-Star 950, and a KLR650.
When I lived in San Antonio the V-Star was my only vehicle for like 2 years and I had a long commute. I got tired of that and I have a car now, but I still love to ride. Fortunately I don't live in a particularly large city with big-city traffic.
I got my first motorcycle 12 months ago - a Honda Grom. I've been having an absolute blast ever since. It's a great excuse to get out of the house and feels satisfying in a way that driving cars never did.
I'm thinking of buying a Honda CRF300 Rally next, so I can travel and go camping. The Grom is fun on the streets, but not practical on the highway.
I LOVE the Grom. I don't have one myself, but I've ridden my friend's and ye gods, it's a wicked little power house for such a small package.
When I moved to San Francisco I decided driving a car in this traffic was going to suck too much so I learned to ride and have been getting around pretty much only by motorcycle or on foot for 25 years.
I did some dirt riding as a teen, then moved to street in my 20s, riding a Honda Hawk 400 set up as a cafe racer. Career and family put a pause on that, then in my 50s one of my old riding buddies talked me into trying dualsport.
I was hooked on my first ride. Bought a DRZ400s and have put on nearly 20000km in 7 years, mostly off pavement, including the Continental Divide.
Dualsport is perfect for my area as I have 1000s of kms of backcountry within a half hour of my doorstep. Plus, dualsport is a friendly riding community.
I've not given much thought to a dual sport, mostly because I don't ride off-road, but now I'm tempted. I might need to rent a dirt bike for a weekend and see how I like it.
Unfortunately where I live is largely flat and boring, so there's less opportunities to have these beautiful off-road trips to sight-see
Dualsport isn't just about exploring great scenery (but that is a good perk), as much as being able to transition between pavement and dirt. With dualsport, I can leave my home, drive down the highway, pull off onto a forest service road or trail and travel cross-county until I pick up another paved road to take home. It's all about exploring with less limitations and being able to get to places you wouldn't go to otherwise. Depending on the location and accessibility, you can get that in a flat area too. If you check dualsport on IG and other platforms, you'll find a huge global community of riders from every type of terrain you can imagine. They all share the urge too explore.
I'm seriously considering a CRF300 Rally for my next bike. I'd love to travel Australia more, and I know a dual sport will be able to go anywhere, no worries. We have a lot of corrugated roads that I'd be reluctant to take a more street-oriented bike down.
Yep, been riding on and off since I was a 16 year old in the '90s. Started off on a 50cc 2-stroke scooter and am currently riding a BMW F800GT. I've had bigger and faster bikes, but the F800 fits my needs at this stage of life pretty well. Also, single-sided swingarms just look cool as shit.
After much consideration, I bought a Honda CRF300 Rally last month. It's my second bike (my first being a Honda Grom).
I wanted a lightweight, learner legal (in Australia) do-it-all bike, and the Rally fits the bill. I do most of my riding on the road, but I plan to explore the Outback, and this bike will tackle anything I can throw at it.
I've been trying to do more mechanical work myself to save money. So far, I've installed:
I'm going out on my first road trip tomorrow. Nothing too far, and mostly sticking to highways, but I'll take some camping gear with me and see how it goes.
So far I'm absolutely stoked with this bike. I decided to keep the Grom because I figured I'd still use that for commuting and fun rides, and use the Rally for weekend trips, but the Rally outshines the Grom in practically every way. Now my Grom is gathering dust.
I like looking at them, I think they’re cool, but I’ll never ride one. When I was younger I worked at an eye bank and all the techs morbidly called them ‘donorcycles’. That was enough to deter me.