Official Dual Sport BS Thread

Those are great shots MuffinMan, love to ride those western trails someday.

 

Any Utah riders wanna hook up for some rides sometime? Trying to find some people to go out to the west desert with.

 

On a street ride today she whispered "Get me dirty". Unable to resist the siren's call of the 950 I happily obliged.





Clearly dirt-riding gear...




Then I got a milkshake in Deckers, CO


Yours truly.


Braaaaaaap! Yeah I froze on the way home but it was worth it.


That's what I get for telling myself "Oh I don't need the hoodie tonight, it'll just be a short street ride"

Apparently the camera mount is jiggly/rattles. Oh well I'll fix that for next time.

Click for video since TW doesn't allow iframes.....

 

http://expeditionportal.com/bmw-releases-new-r1200gs-adventure/

 

Anyone looking for a 2 inch riser for their bike? Rox 7/8 to 7/8 pivot style.

 

Posting this here, because the paint job is pure BS.

Just picked this up on Saturday. 2008 KLR650 with 5600 miles on it. With the exception of a couple cracks in the right fairing/plastic that were half-ass fixed and the crap-tastic paint job it's in excellent shape.

Anyone got a right cowling and right lower engine/radiator shroud for an 08+ KLR they want to part with?

 

I would, but I'm saving for the HDB guards.

plasti dip, or perfect time to learn how to spray a paint job.

 

Yep, I started stipping parts yesterday. Luckily it is coming off easily. I'm going to have the tank powdercoated (steel), and I think I'll prime and paint the plastics. I haven't decided on color yet, but plastidip was an option for sure.

 

You could always consider an IMS gas tank. It's huge but durable and replaces the side shrouds, also makes it less to paint and makes you not need crashbars.

 

I had definitely considered it, but $550 is tough to choke down. I want to see how much it's going to cost for paint/PC and it may end up cheaper, espceially if I have to buy new OEM fairing pieces.

 

Yeah it's kind of a toss up. A friend put the 10 gal IMS tank on her bike and runs it half full when off-road; she loves the range on it though for long street trips.

 

Wow, a 10 gallon tank for a dirt bike I can't imagine having that thing full on a trail but the range has to be incredible!

 

The BMWs are nice, I would love to have one. However, I don't feel like I could ever take it on a dirt road. It is far too expensive of a machine, to purchase or fix when things break, to take it where you know it is going to get abused. The whole point of dual sport is that it should be utilitarian and go anywhere. I just don't see that in the BMW, or the majority of the people riding them.

And yes, it is a 10 gallon tank, but nothing says you have to fill it up completely. It replaces the OEM radiator covers to add extra capacity and a lot of the weight is quite low. It has an internal vacuum pump to allow full utilization of the volume. Someone did the calculation and the 10 gallon tank completely full was nearly equivalent to the stock tank weight when full. (plastic vs. steel)

 

I had a 650GS for about 6 months, hoping to get it back soon. It is a true dual-sport, but it isn't a dirt bike. You can't go abusing it and treating it like a dirt bike. It will go cross country without issues, dirt roads, trails, etc. You don't have to baby it, but like our tacos you have to know its limits. For where I want to go, it is more than enough.

Watch Long Way Round and Long Way Down to see what they are capable. KTM wouldn't let Long Way Round take their bikes, said they had no chance of making it, guess what, the BMWs did it.

Yes, they cost a little more to buy parts for, but BMW's higher prices are do to quality, not just the badge on it.

The 1200GSA is my dream bike, but I think that is a long way off.

 

I just want Yami to build or bring a XT 660 Z Ténéré to the States. Or for Honda to finish their new Africa Twin inspired bike.


(Or for Honda and Yami to get together, call me, and make the perfect amalgamation of both suited to my needs and preferences and then give me the first one for free...we can all dream can't we?)

 

KTM decided to play it safe, so you can't totally fault them ("hey, I have a crazy idea to ride a motorcycle where not many people have gone, the terrain is capable of killing me, and I'm not a professional. I think since I'm a hollywood star and I want to film it, you should give me a bike"). I can't really blame them.
I liked the show well enough, but it always chafed me - why the hell did the two of them need to have a bike donated for the trip? They have deep enough pockets to sponsor the whole thing, so it really angered me when they were having the hissy fit over not getting the KTMs.

 

More like 68 lbs, and clearly you have to ride around with it always full.

The KLR 650 isn't a dirt bike.

 

They weren't donated, the training and all the extras were. But to film it they had to have their permission or something like that. Some crazy BBC/UK rule/law... who knows, but they bought/leased them.

I bet those shows helped BMW's sales.

 

OK, that puts things in a different perspective. I kept thinking, "so what if they said no? Go buy them like a normal person!"
I didn't realize it was a permission issue!

Yeah, I browse ADVRider occasionally and they talk about how many new riders there are who think the first step in 'adventuring' is buying a 1200 GS

 

DS riding at 5K+ feet, thats about as high as you can get in the southeast.