advice buying a dual sport

 hello,

i'm looking to buy a dual sport bike, a first for me.  i've owned a
few bikes before, and want to get back into the saddle again.  most of
my riding will be in the city, but i have property in eastern
washington which requires our 4x4 to access.  i want to be able to
tour both here in the states and abroad, so i want a bike that will be
dependable, servicable, and easy to get parts for.  i assumed a dual
sport would be best due to the fact that i like to get as far off the
beaten path as possible.

i travel light, but at times i'll want to take a full size expedition
pack and occationally my bows.  will a dual sport allow for this?

any advice people have on what makes, models, years, mileage, etc
would be best, i'd appreciate reading what you have to say.

thanks a lot.

bowyer

 wrote:


What Jack said. I own a KLR 650. It's great in the city and I recently
did a 960 mile day on it. (I wouldn't recommend that, but it can be
done.)  KLR's are great if you don't need to do a lot of extreme dirt
stuff. They can handle most dirt very easily. They are also very tall
bikes. You can put a hard bags on them and carry a ton of gear.
They've been around forever, you can gets parts for them easily, and
there is a solid on-line owners group.

I think you could fit a bow on this:
http://tinyurl.com/2ga5fe
or
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2417895870058609453AURNxY

Taking a bike to  the 3rd world is something else. You'll find that
most bikes are small, less than 500ccs, meaning parts supply will be
limited on anything you would want to ride there.

There are a bunch of other makes, besides Kawasaki, Suzuki and Honda,
(whose XR is far better on the dirt than on the road, FWIW.) BMW,
Aprillia,  & KTM also make nice DP bikes, but they cost a heck of a
lot more than a KLR or DR.  Depending on how far you really want to go
in the dirt, you may want to get a Suzuki VStrom or Triumph Tiger,
which are really street bikes, with some dirt capability.

--
Turby the Turbosurfer

 Turby wrote:

The new Tiger has no dirt capability. Triumph doesn't even market it as
such. The previous version, the still available '06, has "some" dirt
capability.

 


Jeff, just about *every* bike has "some" dirt capability, whether advertised
or not.

For instance, I once took my Honda VFR over a ten mile fire-road detour to
get home when the paved highway had been closed due to a landslide.

Take it slow and cautious, watch your ground clearance, and you'll do just
fine; even on a sportbike.

 
For touring, you probaby want something in the
650-1000cc range. For bashing around in the woods,
a 650 single or smaller. KTM, BMW or KLR would
be near the top of my list. I'd probably look for
low milage used, as I'd expect to beat it up a little
and wouldn't want to pay for showroom good looks
that I was going to immediately destroy.

Pay attention to smoothness, tractability, seat comfort
and dealer availability.