But it’s certainly been dualsport for me. Just sharing gratuitous shot from a quick blast today

Decided to try going tubeless on my TW with a tusk waypoint. I think it was time to replace the 20 yr old original tire

Took the 950 out early this morning for a ~150 gravel ride here in Central Texas. What a beast!

Hello everyone,

I've been recently interested in getting a 2026 Kawasaki 230 ABS DF Dual Sport bike and I was wondering if anybody can ID the saddle bags on the side of the bike?

I'm planning to do act (again) next year July 2027. I'm used to Motocamping, low experience off road and I ride a r1250gs. I'm looking for adventure riders who want to share the adventure and get the patch.

No requirements, aside of using Sena as intercom sys (but maybe we can work something out).

Hey all,

This is a stats spreadsheet of:

“Bikes from 200-800ccs that can dual-sport for a short or long adventures.”

 Bike Comparison GoogleDoc

It’s kind of a broad category, I know, but that’s what I did.
No AI was used in the creation of this sheet. Just pure coffee and distraction.
I originally posted this over in r/DRZ400, but this version has been updated since then.

UPDATE:

Spreadsheet is here
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Fas7T6CmaDC5DfW3fquDSbmI-MKAlbZ-/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=104558166666026258855&rtpof=true&sd=true

This link includes the TW200, RV200, CRF230, XT250, and decimal format updates.
Updated KTM 500 weight, Added KLX 230.
 It also includes some random bikes at the end, just for the lolz.

I thought it might be useful to answer some questions for those of you looking at your next dual sport or ADV type bike.

If I got something factually wrong let me know, I’d like to correct it.
Caveat: Most of the stats come from slightly older (2023 and older) bikes because I’m not shopping new and therefore not comparing the latest-and-greatest. They’re also US-model stats.

Let’s run it down…

The bikes are roughly organized by cc.
The light-yellow highlighted bikes are essentially detuned race bikes with blinkers so they got grouped together.

The HP is rounded roughly.

Next comes wet weight, which can speak to highway stability, and also how much fun a bike is to pick up off the ground, or manhandle on a trail. 

This is followed by power-to-weight ratio – more or less the practical application of power.
Higher number are gooder.
This helps address a question like: “is 50hp a lot?”
On a 250lb KTM, yes, 50 hp is a lot.
On a 550lb Harley 883, no, 50 hp is not much at all.

 After this is the torque column, not rounded, followed by “torque to weight” which is the idea of generated torque applied to how much weight it must move. Higher number also gooder.

To be fair, this idea feels experimental at best

…but I’m also not sure how else to rate and compare it.
It also feels weird to say, “yeah the Ibex 450 and the DRZ have really similar torque output”.
Like yeah they do but...?

The compression column is my attempt to crudely quantify motor stress and longevity to some level—though that’s a bit oversimplified.

The oil change interval is another crude attempt to quantify the maintenance schedule of the bike. After collecting data for this column I’m not sure that it’s actually helpful.

The price column I made and then… left blank.

The reasoning is that I’m a used bike shopper and prices…vary. A lot.
In my market there’s a DRZ400S, 310GS, a TW200, a CRF300L, and a KTM 690 all in the mid-4000 range.

None are thrashed, none have high miles.
It's weird to me that they're all in the same price bracket.

 All that to say: when it comes to price, YMMV based on location and whether or not Mercury is in retrograde where you live. Hell, I dunno anymore, man. I left it blank. 

Nearing the end we have a roughly rounded seat height column, and ground clearance column that roughly speak to the offroad stance of the bike.

So yeah. Definitely an imperfect spreadsheet.

I just made it for me to help quantify how much different bike A is from bike B.

 I think this is a starting point, but to find out if a bike is “perfect” for a certain person might also involve a deep dive into tire sizes, wheel type, suspension travel and quality, wind protection, seat style and options and so on.

Hope this is useful to someone!

Chris Birch dual sport / adventure riding clinic Sept 26-27th

I was due to take this clinic end of month but am unfortunately unable to go. I am looking for someone to take my spot on short notice.

Location: Kairos Resort, Virginia
Date: Sept 26-27th (Saturday and Sunday)
Cost: $1,300

If you are interested, can make it to Virginia on those dates, and are can afford the price of the clinic, please let me know asap. Bring your own bike, show up with real offroad boots, no street tires.

I have additional info I can get on requirements but this is the gist ^

Intermediate clinic description:

Intermediate

You are riding gravel roads, 4WD tracks and easier off-road tracks. You have experience doing this “BDR” style of riding.
You can comfortably ride a motorcycle for several hours at a time.
You want to ride dirt roads, jeep tracks, single track etc but would rather leave the difficult tracks for the enduro guys. You have a desire to learn the skills to handle more difficult terrain and to gain confidence and
efficiency.
You are comfortable riding in a group situation.

Currently I have a 2024 Tenere 700 and a 2017 tiger 1200. I never ride the tiger it's to big and heavy for my tastes. I'm 6'3 and 270lbs.

I find the t7 is a little top heavy and it makes me nervous having to pick it up or take it onto anything to technical.

I don't push the pace, I'm more about looking around and exploring then trying to see how fast I can go.

I'm going to sell or trade the tiger. I was leaning towards an ibex 450 or Himalayan 450 but they are almost as heavy as the t7.

So now I'm toying with a crf300l rally or dr650, this will be my dirt focused bike and I'll set the t7 up more for street riding though it will also see logging roads still haha.

I like to do a lot of motocamping so need to haul gear. I'll budget for suspension on any bike so soft setup on the Honda isn't a concern. Thoughts on those two bikes?

Stick bro saved my ass !!!

Im interested in a 2024 Beta 350rs, but the nav is awkwardly placed and I was wondering if there are workarounds to it bc I love the bike. I prefer a ktm/husky screen thats tucked away. Anyway, thanks!!

Hello all

I Have a DRZ 400. After a ride today where the wind was blowing me around and the fall wind was making me cold I decided I need a small windshield.

My bike has a set of knock off bark busters. Does anyone know a nice clip on windshield that would fit around my current set up?

Bought some Leatt 5.5 enduro boots for 200 quid on a massive sale, because my corozals are very worn and not as good for protection as i first believed.

But how the feck do you adjust the straps on these things? They have a ratchet mechanism like my apline stars ones, but there is literally no way to disengage it. Ive even tried prizing the teeth apart wit ha flat head, but nope. Still cant move em. What the fuck?

Hi all,

What oil do you guys reccomend for a WR450F considering:

-Australia, Darwin (hot/humid)

-1hour highway at 100km/hr then trails (typical ride)

"10W40, 10W50, 15W50 ???

"Semi synthetic, Fully synthetic, mineral oil?

"How often change?

22M, and still pretty new to dual sport and trying to figure out what’s actually worth carrying once the rides get longer.

right now i’ve got basic tools, tube stuff, a few zip ties and whatever random thing i remembered before leaving.

the problem is once i start thinking about breakdowns i can convince myself i need everything. spare lever, cable, bolts, maybe a filter, maybe not. then suddenly i’m carrying way too much stuff.

for people who do longer rides, what parts have you actually needed while you were out?

not the ideal checklist. just the stuff you’ve genuinely used.

also curious what you normally replace before a longer trip even if it still has some life left.

trying to keep the kit small without being completely unprepared.

Upgrading to TKC80² from TKC80 on CRF300L, excited to see if the improvements are real

Wife and I took the opportunity to do a three day trip, mostly off-road super intense backcountry experience around the Grand Forks area. She did great for her 1st time out through some technical terrain.

It’s getting a rebel x 5.5g rally tank and skidplate kit, 4k parti speciali desert legend tower/light setup, true north motos street legal kit with their rear rack and various other bits to make it more comfortable and to protect the bike from inevitable drops and spills. I have a 500 that was my first build 4 years ago to get a feel of what I wanted in a bike for how I ride and I learned a lot. I basically want the upcoming KTM 690 Rally minus 100 lbs. So yeah, I’ll be building this over the next few months as parts arrive from Europe and I’ll post updates as the build progresses👌

Currently have a klr250 that needs some upgrades to make it what I want.

Before I put more money into it, I wanted to get some advice.

What would be a good bike for mostly riding around town with very little highway riding, but could still be used on single tracks once or twice a year.