History of the dual-sport(?)
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History of the dual-sport(?) Eigenvector 04-16-2008
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Posted by Eigenvector on April 16, 2008, 8:02 pm
I was watching James Bond, For Your Eyes Only last night and noticed the 2
dual sports in the movie. A couple of bad guys on a bikes fitted for snow
travel (well spiked tires anyway - this was in Cortina). Anyway, since the
movie was made in 1981, I figured, these must be pretty early versions of
dual sports. The bikes looked like XT500's to me, but it also got me
thinking. Who can claim to have made the first purpose build dual sport
bike - Yamaha? Their XT500 was something like '76, but I thought they had
something even earlier than that, XS-1(?) or something like that. It sure
wasn't the KLR250, which was 1984ish. I always thought dual sport was
something of a newcomer to the motorcycle world. For the sake of argument,
I'll discount military vehicles since they aren't indended for private sale.



Posted by on April 16, 2008, 8:28 pm
> I was watching James Bond, For Your Eyes Only last night and noticed the 2=

> dual sports in the movie. =A0A couple of bad guys on a bikes fitted for sn=
ow
> travel (well spiked tires anyway - this was in Cortina). =A0Anyway, since =
the
> movie was made in 1981, I figured, these must be pretty early versions of
> dual sports. =A0The bikes looked like XT500's to me, but it also got me
> thinking. =A0Who can claim to have made the first purpose build dual sport=

> bike - Yamaha? =A0Their XT500 was something like '76, but I thought they h=
ad
> something even earlier than that, XS-1(?) or something like that. =A0It su=
re
> wasn't the KLR250, which was 1984ish. =A0I always thought dual sport was
> something of a newcomer to the motorcycle world. =A0For the sake of argume=
nt,
> I'll discount military vehicles since they aren't indended for private sal=
e.

People have been racing bikes on Ice with steel studs in their tires
for years, usually just plain dirt bikes, so it wouldn't surprise me
if they were XT500's.
Bg

Posted by Ed Cregger on April 18, 2008, 4:54 pm

> I was watching James Bond, For Your Eyes Only last night and noticed the 2
> dual sports in the movie. A couple of bad guys on a bikes fitted for snow
> travel (well spiked tires anyway - this was in Cortina). Anyway, since the
> movie was made in 1981, I figured, these must be pretty early versions of
> dual sports. The bikes looked like XT500's to me, but it also got me
> thinking. Who can claim to have made the first purpose build dual sport
> bike - Yamaha? Their XT500 was something like '76, but I thought they had
> something even earlier than that, XS-1(?) or something like that. It sure
> wasn't the KLR250, which was 1984ish. I always thought dual sport was
> something of a newcomer to the motorcycle world. For the sake of argument,
> I'll discount military vehicles since they aren't indended for private
> sale.

-------------

The old name for dual-purpose bikes was enduro. Yamaha made a 360cc single
two-stroke powered enduro bike in 1972 that was tuned for low end grunt.

You really had to watch it while driving it on the street, or you would end
up doing wheelies unintentionally.

I loved that bike. It belonged to a good friend of mine that let me ride it
occasionally. Every time I road it, it made me sick that I had bought a
Honda twin cylinder street bike for commuting. His enduro was less
fatigueing to drive even on the street at freeway speeds. He still has it
tucked away somewhere, I'm sure. I should probably contact him and see if he
wants to sell it.

Ed Cregger



Posted by Rob Kleinschmidt on April 18, 2008, 5:01 pm
>
>
> > I was watching James Bond, For Your Eyes Only last night and noticed the 2
> > dual sports in the movie. A couple of bad guys on a bikes fitted for snow
> > travel (well spiked tires anyway - this was in Cortina). Anyway, since the
> > movie was made in 1981, I figured, these must be pretty early versions of
> > dual sports. The bikes looked like XT500's to me, but it also got me
> > thinking. Who can claim to have made the first purpose build dual sport
> > bike - Yamaha? Their XT500 was something like '76, but I thought they had
> > something even earlier than that, XS-1(?) or something like that. It sure
> > wasn't the KLR250, which was 1984ish. I always thought dual sport was
> > something of a newcomer to the motorcycle world. For the sake of argument,
> > I'll discount military vehicles since they aren't indended for private
> > sale.
>
> -------------
>
> The old name for dual-purpose bikes was enduro. Yamaha made a 360cc single
> two-stroke powered enduro bike in 1972 that was tuned for low end grunt.
>
> You really had to watch it while driving it on the street, or you would end
> up doing wheelies unintentionally.
>
> I loved that bike. It belonged to a good friend of mine that let me ride it
> occasionally. Every time I road it, it made me sick that I had bought a
> Honda twin cylinder street bike for commuting. His enduro was less
> fatigueing to drive even on the street at freeway speeds. He still has it
> tucked away somewhere, I'm sure. I should probably contact him and see if he
> wants to sell it.

IIRC, the one thing missing from enduros of that era
was a serious set of brakes. I had a 1975 DT400, the
followon to the 360 and recall what seemed like half
an hour or so with the brakes applied as hard as I could,
wondering if the thing was going to stop in time.


Posted by Ed Cregger on April 18, 2008, 5:08 pm

>>
>>
>> > I was watching James Bond, For Your Eyes Only last night and noticed
>> > the 2
>> > dual sports in the movie. A couple of bad guys on a bikes fitted for
>> > snow
>> > travel (well spiked tires anyway - this was in Cortina). Anyway, since
>> > the
>> > movie was made in 1981, I figured, these must be pretty early versions
>> > of
>> > dual sports. The bikes looked like XT500's to me, but it also got me
>> > thinking. Who can claim to have made the first purpose build dual sport
>> > bike - Yamaha? Their XT500 was something like '76, but I thought they
>> > had
>> > something even earlier than that, XS-1(?) or something like that. It
>> > sure
>> > wasn't the KLR250, which was 1984ish. I always thought dual sport was
>> > something of a newcomer to the motorcycle world. For the sake of
>> > argument,
>> > I'll discount military vehicles since they aren't indended for private
>> > sale.
>>
>> -------------
>>
>> The old name for dual-purpose bikes was enduro. Yamaha made a 360cc
>> single
>> two-stroke powered enduro bike in 1972 that was tuned for low end grunt.
>>
>> You really had to watch it while driving it on the street, or you would
>> end
>> up doing wheelies unintentionally.
>>
>> I loved that bike. It belonged to a good friend of mine that let me ride
>> it
>> occasionally. Every time I road it, it made me sick that I had bought a
>> Honda twin cylinder street bike for commuting. His enduro was less
>> fatigueing to drive even on the street at freeway speeds. He still has it
>> tucked away somewhere, I'm sure. I should probably contact him and see if
>> he
>> wants to sell it.
>
> IIRC, the one thing missing from enduros of that era
> was a serious set of brakes. I had a 1975 DT400, the
> followon to the 360 and recall what seemed like half
> an hour or so with the brakes applied as hard as I could,
> wondering if the thing was going to stop in time.
>

----------

I remember your 400. Just about bought one myself. Now I wish I had.

I don't remember the brakes being an issue on the 360, but it has been a lot
of years and I didn't drive it as much as you did your 400, I'm sure.

I miss the two-strokes big time.


Ed Cregger



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