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Thinking of getting in to Adventure Riding... - North of Dallas

Sorry to lite the discussion fuse and bail! That was a funny comment but totally not my intention!

We provide first class entertainment around here at no charge :sun:


I already have a 14 KTM 250 XCW that I ride trails and race the occasional enduro on. So I was thinking something more pavement oriented. I don't see myself trying to get on any gnarly trails on a d/s bike. If I want to go ride hard trails I already have a bike for that.

That bike is not suited for leisurely travel though and the only reason I would ever consider plating it is if I was headed somewhere that required a plate to get from Trail A to trail B.

Mark Sampson, a.k.a. Big Dog, rode over 7K to Alaska and back on a Yamaha WR250. You should read his ride story here.

If you scroll around his web page, you'll see the story of the build of that bike as well as other adventure bikes Mark has built up and taken adventures on. No doubt it will give you ideas. My main point here is if a big dude like Mark can outfit and enjoy a 250 and use it as his bike-of-choice, you might get the idea that bigger isn't necessarily better. Or more comfortable.

Lots of variables. Many of them are based upon perception and paradigms that we all have in one form or the other.

Good luck.
 
:tab Having met Mark several times, I don't know that the adjective of "Big" really applies to him :-P He's maybe 5'10" and 175-185 lbs. When I saw him this past July in Montana, I am pretty sure he was riding a 690/701? I can't recall for sure because there were so many people riding that bike out of the group of 50-60 riders. When I first met him, he had just retired back in 2012. We were out in the middle of nowhere in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina taking a break near a cool waterfall. He came cruising up from behind on that WR250. We spent a good 15-20 minutes just checking out all the various mods he had done to the bike to make it adventure worthy. It was quite impressive! He does a good job of paying attention to detail!
 
Start minimal, move up over time as interest and budget allows.

I ride my KTM450 XCRW when I want to ride hard and fast.

For my dual sport, it's my trusty CRF230F.

I ride dual sports 3 to 4 times a year. Big Bend, Mexico, another Mexico, and an occasional a day ride from the house. That's all I really need to be happy. The experience on a dual sport I like to think is more like exploring, with riding thrown in to satisfy the adrenaline.

Best bet is a newer, lower mile bike with good and reliable resale value. Think XT225, CRF250L (Fuel injected!), KLX250S, DRZ400. Factory dual sport, just enough speed for highways, lighter in weight to make up for lack of power. $2000 gets you in the door.
 
There is also some dirt riding up by Lake Murray in Oklahoma in addition to the red river place mentioned another response. My experience after having tried 400 pound plus dual sportsSuch as BMW and Kawasaki KLR Was that they were too heavy for the type of dirt riding I would’ve wanted to do. I then bought a Harley for the highway and now a 500 KTM after trying a Yamaha WR 250. I also like to spend the summers in northern New Mexico where I ride the forest roads and love it. I can ride pretty remote and high for half a day and then get on the highway and go into Taos for lunch then back home to Eagle nest. I’m tentatively planning a ride up to Taos plateau and Highway to Lake CityColorado. Then up and over either engineer or cinnamon pass into Silverton Colorado. All ride require some highway and Offroad too . If you have a way to trailer or like I do put it in a pick up sometime, it helps.



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Thanks for pointing me towards Mark's website. I am working my way through his pages currently and there's a ton of good stuff in there.

Looks like there are a fair amount of DRZ 400s floating around out there on craigslist. That could be a good place to start.
 
I’m tentatively planning a ride up to Taos plateau and Highway to Lake City Colorado. Then up and over either engineer or cinnamon pass into Silverton Colorado. All ride require some highway and Offroad too . If you have a way to trailer or like I do put it in a pick up sometime, it helps.

If you're interested, PM me about your plan if you're interested in feedback off this thread. I rode that area (COBDR) in September on my KTM 500. I can suggest a great place to camp south of Lake City on Lake San Cristobal. Of your two routes above I'll tell you which one I'd pick. The experience was epic.
 
I've done both passes on 4 wheels. When I go, this 68 year old body will be in a motel (Creede or Lake City) at night. FYI, I will take Taos Plateau(all dirt) into Colorado, then west from Antonito, CO on hwy 17 to the pass that follows the Conejos river through Platoro and down to Southfork, CO. This will be where I will take the slab to, probably, Lake City and spend the night.

I'm entertaining a thought about staying in Creede and maybe taking Stony pass to Silverton. Gas will be available in Antonito, Southfork, Creede, & Lake City, which is a consideration for my 2 gallon tank!

Another thing a lot of folks don't know is that the Taos Plateau ride is about 30 miles of dirt road amongst extinct volcanoes. I sometime do that ride, have lunch in Antonito, and head back to Eagle Nest for my RV bed that night!
 
I too come from sport bikes and wanted to get into ADV riding, so I bought a KTM 690 and rode it for two years to advance my skill set, which turned out to be a great decision. I now have a GS, but need to get a smaller bike for hardcore off-roading. For my riding interests, I need two bikes. Keeping my GS for things like COBDR, and getting a smaller KTM (500EXC)for single track and hardcore stuff. Many of the KTM/Huskys are much lighter than the Japanese counterparts.
 
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