Motorcycles BS Thread 2.0

One day im going to get out that way and ride the smokeys / blue ridge / dragon looks like some AMAZING riding.

 

It is amazing riding!

One road we were on Saturday that I'd never ridden before or heard about was TN-32. Not a super long road but I swear the longest straightaway was maybe 1/4 mile in length. Never got out of second gear and by the time we hit the end my arms were pumped.

 

...he said, as i continue to scour deals for a more breathable mesh/textile jacket

 

meanwhile my bikes in the garage and put away lol

 

Little face change for the z650. Still gotta clean up the cuts

 

As if I don't have enough motorcycle related hobbies already, now I'm tempted by the NorCal BDR and am looking at dual sports. I could take the Super Tenere but I'm scared of dropping it on myself and hurting myself (not as worried about dropping the bike since it's so well protected). I'm not that experienced on dirt and don't know how I'd do with a 600lb bike.

 

Grom.

 

I thought about it but riding to the BDR and back would not be fun...

 

As a person with 25yrs of experience of dirt riding.... not a chance id take the Super tenere on anything other than packed mildish fireroads. Having a lighter bike thats more oriented to offroad will make the experience SOOO much better and enjoyable (assuming its a significant amount of offroad)

 

Any small dual sport it isn't going to be a fun ride there and back, to be fair. Are you planning on doing the the route both ways? Driving to the top and slabbing back down?

 

There's also the "don't fuck around on the commuter" thing in the back of my mind as well. I think I'd be better off on a KLR650 or a DRZ400?

I was thinking of just doing the route one way, slab to the far end and then ride back home from the near end.

 

As a fellow life long rider off/on road since the age of 6. I’d definitely do some research and watch tons of videos of BDR, I have a short legged buddy that took a DR650 to Colorado Mt trails. He’s said next time a Drz400 would have been much better after dropping it several times. I’m pretty confident and comfortable on my Tenere 700 (450lb), but after watching a bunch of videos and off roading Co in my Tacoma, I’m not 100% sure I’d want to tackle a BDR alone on it.

 

Man... this is tough cus that is going to be LOTS of slab. the KLR650 will be better off in that aspect, though that is a freaking heavy bike too.

Tenere 700 gets my vote....

 

I'm pretty tall so I'm not worried about the seat height, but mostly the weight. DRZ400 would be ideal (it's what I have the most seat time on) but slabbing on a DRZ would not be fun to me.

 

I don't know what the CABDR is like, but the WABDR, ORBDR, and IDBDR are basically 95% fire roads, with a few obstacles thrown in. I'm guessing CABDR is more sandy, but if you really wanted to do it on a big bike I'm guessing you could. You'll just be picking up your heavier bike a few more times hah. It will definitely be easier on a smaller bike though.

@but why tho what's the budget for a bike? I got time to kill and am craigslist dream shopping for you lol

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcy/d/fairfield-2022-suzuki-drz400-excellent/7787348928.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/mcy/d/santa-cruz-2010-ktm-530-exc-factory/7787155669.html (this is my vote, I want it)
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcy/d/albany-2020-suzuki-dr650/7788090432.html

 

I don't have T7 kind of money to throw at this.

Hell I bought my Super Ten for less than used T7 money.

 

Honestly, I'd like to keep it under $4k I think.

The video here shows it's mostly fire roads but some of the outlooks and river crossing and climbs look challenging:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fawnoW_cvyQ&pp=ygUKbm9yY2FsIGJkcg==

 

If its anything.... I was camping out in lone pine in the alabama hills and a dude on a super tenere was doing the socal to norcal bdr the whole damn thing on a super tenere.... so its not impossible.

 

Under 4, gotcha.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/mcy/d/san-jose-suzuki-drz-400-and-kawi-klr-650/7786782681.html
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/mcy/d/hidden-valley-lake-1985-honda-xl-600/7786911638.html

KLRs are what, 450lbs fully kitted? That's still a heavy ass bike..
https://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/mcy/d/oakland-2007-klr650-gen/7786582808.html

Oh shit, found the winner:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/mcy/d/san-jose-bmw-g650-xc-dual-sport/7787187964.html

This things are freaking sweet, and this one is fully kitted out.

 

Think of all the old farts trundling along and doing it on their massive GS's loaded up with every farkle and modern convenience with their fake knees and hips. They're meant to be pretty approachable. And the obstacles usually have bypass roads.