Barnwell or Similar? Letting GF try Adventure Style Riding

[peteronabike]

Background: Last year I bought my gf a KTM 250, had it lowered for her height, had some big upgrades put on it suspension-wise, and she has had some fun on trails around DFW. However, she has discovered she doesn't like anything the least bit technical. She likes dirt roads, fields, and scenery. She decided she isn't super into her dirt bike since she hates falling and the bike, even lowered, is still a bit big for her. I have an 890 Adventure R that I've made her jealous of in terms of the rides I do. She loves the idea of dirt roads and backcountry stuff. We're thinking of getting rid of her 250 and getting her an adventure bike like a GS, and having her get her riders course and license.

Question: I want to let her try an adventure-style trail on her 250 this weekend to see what she thinks. I have not been to Barnwell yet (I have a 350xcf I would ride there), and I see it has an "adventure/beginner" trail. Is this a good choice? Can you suggest a better offroad place that she could ride easy? I don't want to turn her off with something super difficult but still want to give her a feel for it. She's tried Trophy, Twin Hills, and Hidden Falls.

The only other trail I can think of is Hidden Falls (the atv-style stuff) but that is quite a trek from here. She's tried the more technical stuff in HF and had a terrible time.

Thanks in advance for all your answers and advice.

 

[Flipit]

I see all those places you mentioned geared towards TRAIL riding, not ADVENTURE riding. Is that 250 plated? Sounds like you guys just need to take a trip up to SE Oklahoma and hit some forest service roads, like up around the Talehina Scenic Byway. Lots of cool dirt roads, scenery, and an occasional field, just like she's looking for. Just stay off the Choctaw National Trail, and the K Trail and you guys will be golden!

 

[gixxerjasen]

Barnwell has a nice road that circles the whole place that's pretty nice, but get off that road and it gets more difficult. Guy who works there told me that it's easy to make hard trails at Barnwell, but hard to make easy trails. Lots of elevation changes and rocks contribute to that.

While it won't get her into a full adventure, this is a good place to try different things out, work on different skills and is close to you, and also a sponsor here.

Bull's Adventure Bike Park

www.twtex.com

He's got some skill areas, and a nice little adventure trail that goes around the property, plus plenty of fields to play in and some newer stuff I haven't seen yet. It's cheap and close, might be worth checking out.

 

[DFW_Warrior]

Man, Trophy Club is about as easy as it gets if you stay away from the sand section down by the river.

We have gone back and forth in a situation similar to yours several times and there isn't an easy answer. In my little ol' off road opinion, if you don't have the skills to ride something off pavement, and you are afraid of falling, then a larger bike on a gravel road is just asking for misery. My Wife loves the thought of riding off road, or off pavement in places like Big Bend, but her mindset just isn't there now, or may not be in the future. Without the right mindset, it will just be a long list of trying different bikes all to arrive at the same place. Trust me, we are a ways down that list of bikes and none of them have been any better or different than the last.

With the adventure bikes, they are either small and light, but then getting anywhere on them is terrible. Or they are larger and heavier which makes them much easier to ride longer distances that ADV type riding requires, but they are way harder to deal with as soon as they are off pavement. And I'm even speaking to bikes like the WR250R, and whatnot. That bike is 75+lbs heavier than that KTM 250.

 

[gixxerjasen]

I see all those places you mentioned geared towards TRAIL riding, not ADVENTURE riding. Is that 250 plated? Sounds like you guys just need to take a trip up to SE Oklahoma and hit some forest service roads, like up around the Talehina Scenic Byway. Lots of cool dirt roads, scenery, and an occasional field, just like she's looking for. Just stay off the Choctaw National Trail, and the K Trail and you guys will be golden!

This is good advice here. Oklahoma or Arkansas are good places to go. Trailer up there and spend a few days wandering around and see what she thinks.

Here's my video to give you a glimpse of running dual sports in Arkansas. My buddy Josh is running on a KLX250 in the video. That 250 did everything we could throw at it. He was at the time discussing upgrading to the 300. He took a spin on my DRZ and realized he'd not be happy with the 300 and ended up going overboard with a CRF450 a year later. Still, the little 250's will have some fun in the right area and she can try it out and decide if it's really for her.

 

[_RG_]

Barnwell has a blue trail (easy) and a red trail (technical). Stay away from the red trail or any single tracks randomly cut into the woods. Sounds like dfw has been down this road before. Fwiw, ya'll might do well to make sure moto is really something your gf is ever going to dig. I've been riding off road stuff for a while now and still drop the bike regularly. She probably will too. If that's a no go for her then I can't imagine it ever being fun. Find another sport ya'll can share and both enjoy. Just from my very limited perspective...

 

[peteronabike]

Man, Trophy Club is about as easy as it gets if you stay away from the sand section down by the river.

We have gone back and forth in a situation similar to yours several times and there isn't an easy answer. In my little ol' off road opinion, if you don't have the skills to ride something off pavement, and you are afraid of falling, then a larger bike on a gravel road is just asking for misery. My Wife loves the thought of riding off road, or off pavement in places like Big Bend, but her mindset just isn't there now, or may not be in the future. Without the right mindset, it will just be a long list of trying different bikes all to arrive at the same place. Trust me, we are a ways down that list of bikes and none of them have been any better or different than the last.

With the adventure bikes, they are either small and light, but then getting anywhere on them is terrible. Or they are larger and heavier which makes them much easier to ride longer distances that ADV type riding requires, but they are way harder to deal with as soon as they are off pavement. And I'm even speaking to bikes like the WR250R, and whatnot. That bike is 75+lbs heavier than that KTM 250.

Thank you for your responses! I wanted to note that she has done just fine at TC many times, even in the sand, but also had some bad experiences when it has been so muddy she could not stay upright. This has hurt her confidence a bit. Like you said, she doesn't have the mindset to go practice the technical stuff, even though she's great at the hard terrain on her mountain bike. I give her all the positive energy I can around how well she does, but I think she ended up discouraged. Her latest spark comes from just seeing where I've been on the 890 and wanting to do it with me.

Unfortunately her 250 is not plated. I'm not sure how road worthy it would be for her if converted as it is still tall for her. Her issue is mainly one of height. Her 250 is lowered, she has taller boots, a low seat, and it's still several inches too high. At TC, Twin Hills, or Hidden Falls she'll hit an uneven section, need to put her foot down and she then falls over.

She's incredibly fit and strong, so I'm not too concerned about the weight of a bike itself. If we were going towards an adventure bike , I'm thinking something like a GS 750, or 850 where the seat height, unladen can be configured at 30inches or a bit less with some progressive springs, some E07+ tires, and a skid plate. Also looking at the Triumph Tiger Low. I'm not sure I would get her an 890, 690, or 390 just because from experience I've had so many finicky issues with my KTMs that I think would annoy her.

On the dual sport side- yeah, if she was going to join me on ride down to Hill Country or out to AK on a lightweight bike, she isn't going to do well on the highway. I'm wondering about the proposed idea of a 3rd option where I trailer my 890 and perhaps some short dual sport bike that fits her better (not sure what this would be) out to someplace like this for her to join me. This would eliminate the highway concern of a lightweight dual sport, but also limit her a bit. It makes it a bit harder for her to join me in any quick local ride, since to get out of town in any practical way requires some highway time. Another concern is that a lot of the back roads I've been to end up having to hit 70mph highway-like roads.

We are going to big bend in the future, but not sure if we're going to take bikes or not.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Hmmm, hate to say it, but would she enjoy a Jeep? Enjoy going to a lot of the same places, take the top off (of the Jeep!) and enjoy being out in nature, without all the height and balance issues. Just another way to have the same fun, and do it together, while spending a WHOLE LOT more money.

 

[peteronabike]

Hmmm, hate to say it, but would she enjoy a Jeep? Enjoy going to a lot of the same places, take the top off (of the Jeep!) and enjoy being out in nature, without all the height and balance issues. Just another way to have the same fun, and do it together, while spending a WHOLE LOT more money.

LOL! But actually an interesting idea. I drive an older GX that could potentially be set up for offroad, minus the topless bit. Or, yeah, getting her a Jeep perhaps when car prices come down (30k for a 2018 Wangler with 50k miles, oof!)

 

[Flipit]

TW200 and a trailer. Bob is your uncle.

 

[gixxerjasen]

GX will do amazingly well, and let you try it out without spending ANY money. We took a stock (Aside from tires) Ford Expedition on a bunch of fun and scenic easy trails in Utah and loved it. The GX would do better.