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Jarrett said:
Original Post:

So I've got my Africa Twin and its a fun bike, but big. I've been wondering what it would be like to have a smaller dirt bike that I can throw around and
really run off road with it.

I have a 5 acre pasture at my place and took the Africa Twin in there and it was... not really that fun. Seems like a light, more torquey bike might be more fun there. And on trails that are too tight for the Africa Twin.

I'm a big guy. 260 lbs before putting on all the gear. Over 6 foot tall. Decently strong. So wondering IF (and that's a big if) I wanted to get a "dirt" bike, what should I be looking at? 250? 450? 650?

=========================================
Summary of Thread as of 10/31/2018:

This is here in case you don't want to read it all. I started out looking for a "dirt bike" but I figured out pretty quickly that trying to start being joe dirt bike at age 47 isn't all its cracked up to be.

Changed directions and started looking at mid size dual sport bikes and changed the title of the thread per request to keep the story going.

Highlights:

Post 133 - Bought 2014 CRF250L

Post 222 - Lost interest in CRF250L (after a month and a half of ownership)

Post 388 - Sold CRF250L

Post 420 - Bought 2018 KLR650

Post 544 - Lost interest in the KLR650 (again, bout a month and a half)

Post 584 - Bought a 2016 VFR1200X (on 10/30/2018 - NOT a dual sport bike :))

Post 630 - The KLR sold and the Dual Sport Experiment is officially over

Post 645 - I'm back, kinda... Bought a Zero FX (electric dual sport) on 2/20/19
Click to expand...
I had a DRZ 400 and it did everything I needed. Was incredible. You can see YouTube, franks ride on, and watch it keep up with RMZ 450. Yet can go on the road.
 
Tourmeister said:
It amazes me that they don't recognize this and just create the necessary electronics to take care of leaving it plugged in after it is charged.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I thought. It's already loaded with computing power how difficult would it be to just monitor charge and input, top it off to optimum and then trickle charge it to keep it there???
 
Is the suspension decent for little higher speeds?
 
A KTM 500 can be a full on race bike/woods weapon/dual sport and it comes plated. I can ride it in tight woods or on the highway.
In the tight woods it's not comparable to a 250/300 XCW but it's fairly close. The 1290 (Tank) is just plain scary in tight woods and rocks.
Having all 3 is just about perfect.......
 
Possible the jarring is being too heavy for stock springs and blowing through travel or riding too low in stroke. For us bigger guys hard to get right without proper springs to start with.
 
All I know is you have me officially star eyed. In a few years I'm going to have to find one of those. It would be a blast for commuting to work.
 
Jarrett said:
I'm too new to really know much about suspension stuff. On the road, the bike feels fine to me. Off pavement, it soaks up little bumps, but jars me a just little bit on faster, bigger hits. Not sure if that's good or bad.

I prefer this bike's suspension to the CFR250L I had. Not as good feeling to me as my Africa Twin with upgraded springs in it. I think it reminds me most of my daughter's NC700X suspension, but with more travel.

Here's what it has on it:

Front suspension: Showa 41 mm inverted cartridge forks, with adjustable spring preload, compression and rebound damping
Rear suspension: Showa 40 mm piston, piggy-back reservoir shock with adjustable spring preload, compression and rebound damping
Front suspension travel: 8.60 in (218 mm)
Rear suspension travel: 8.94 in (227 mm)

I don't know if that's good or bad equipment.
Click to expand...
That is decent equipment and should be easy to have ser up for you
 
Jarrett said:
I'm too new to really know much about suspension stuff. On the road, the bike feels fine to me. Off pavement, it soaks up little bumps, but jars me a just little bit on faster, bigger hits. Not sure if that's good or bad.

I prefer this bike's suspension to the CFR250L I had. Not as good feeling to me as my Africa Twin with upgraded springs in it. I think it reminds me most of my daughter's NC700X suspension, but with more travel.

Here's what it has on it:

Front suspension: Showa 41 mm inverted cartridge forks, with adjustable spring preload, compression and rebound damping
Rear suspension: Showa 40 mm piston, piggy-back reservoir shock with adjustable spring preload, compression and rebound damping
Front suspension travel: 8.60 in (218 mm)
Rear suspension travel: 8.94 in (227 mm)

I don't know if that's good or bad equipment.
Click to expand...
Jarrett....Showa is a good supplier. They are OEM for most Honda stuff and several other brands.

However....stock suspension is typically sprung and valved assuming a 160 to 180 pound rider. I'm heavier than that as I believe you are as well. I typically have all my bikes re-sprung and possibly re-valved to my weight. (sometimes you can just put in heavier fork oil and it will allow the stock valving to dampen the heavier spring) Regardless....it doesn't cost that much and it makes the bike work as it was designed, but for a rider of your weight instead of the generic weight.

The biggest reason your AT probably feels so much better after you had suspension work done was that they probably asked you your weight and put the correct springs and valving in place for you.

Having said all of that..... it matters more when you go faster or demand more out of it. It makes a difference at any speed, just like you've already noticed on your AT, but it really matters if you end up going a bit faster or harder as the bumps impact the bike harder, requiring the suspension to do more.

Bottom line....not sure you need to update it....but you'd notice the improvement if you did.
 
Last edited:
Jarrett said:
Update on this six day old bike:

"Your battery shows some signs of a bad internal crimp connection. This connection issue can cause some of the battery’s energy on high current events to be converted to heat, which can lead to reduced range, power, and increased battery temperatures. We are replacing your battery as a precaution and because it could have an internal defect."
Click to expand...

New tech always has growing pains... Thanks for being a beta tester :-P
 
I've read of Tesla cars doing something similar. It seems that once these batteries ignite, they burn with an extreme intensity!!
 
Here's a video showing off road capability - towards the the end, it notes that the bike is programmed to lower its output & performance if it gets too hot, appears that once it cools down its good to go full out again
 
Jarrett said:
Maybe if I go abuse it on a hot, summer day I'll find it again. It would probably be hard to do offroad.
Click to expand...
Looked like they had a combination of hot day & difficult / steep terrain that pushed the limit
 
T-Cat said:
Here's a video showing off road capability - towards the the end, it notes that the bike is programmed to lower its output & performance if it gets too hot, appears that once it cools down its good to go full out again
Click to expand...

the other video with the rider on Rampart Range Road in CO was neat also.

In this video many of the benefits they speak about I already have:

No sloppy shifts going into corners
Cant' stall
Don't have to worry or think about what gear you are in...

hmmm, what was that thing called again.......oh yea......D C T LOL
 
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