Adventurebike Suggestions.

I was hung up in both of my worlds of what to do last year. I like street bikes and off road units, and it end up being that I had to do 2 units. The wee started off as my all rounder, with the idea of 90% hyw and 10% off road, but I found out that the off road thing was for hard dry gravel roads with stock tires on the wee. A few bad spots that told me a-lot about the bike and my self. This is where my second bike came from. I have had a XL 600, then a KLR 650, and a DR 650 just before the wee-v. So something lighter was needed to replace the 650cc catagory, and it ended up being a DRZ 400. It's not a power house until I meet Eddie Oh'Dell. I'm on a stage 1 power kit with the opition to move up to more power if I need it, but the stage 1 kit got me up to speed.

My dream bike is 500cc 200 lbs, and a 6 speed trany with a nice seat. I hope that the bike engineers get this under way before I get to old to ride. Ha

From Jeathrow Bowdean

... the mythic WR450R...

NFE

Jan 30/ 2013. It's -29 c with a wind chill factor of -37 and it is time to take V-Pig to tune up guy since I won't be riding for a few days, " " " More like a few Months that is !!! " " " I rolled her out into the snow for loading into the back of the pick up truck, and the 600 lbs pig did not like going up the ramp, so I desided to use the out side dirt mound.

I drove the V Pig up to the dirt / ice mound, and over it went. I guess the V Pig didn't want to go for a tune up, but if is going to happen, it has to happen. The cheap hand guard is not rated for -37 c if you folks are woundering. Ha Ha.

The V Pig was laying 10 degrees past center, with wheels higher then the handle bars, and I will say one thing that I know for sure. This V Pig is heavy, and I'm sure that many bikes out there are. I one maned V Piggy back onto her feet, and the tune-up dude is happy to have something to work on.

For some strange reason, I can see that my lighter custom DRZ project is now going forward after fighting with V-Pig. At least if I go down, I won't need to use my super powers to get it off the ground !!!

From Jeathrow Bowdean. PS: At my middle age bracket. Lighter is better !!!

They don't. You are comparing apples and tangerines.

Go to a reliable source that actually weighs the bikes they test (say, MCN) and see what they list as wet weight for the different bikes you are interested in. They don't have all the tests online, but just as an example here are some of what you can find on their website:

2004 V-Strom 650 - 471.5 lbs (5 gal of fuel included)
2008 Versys 650 - 452.5 lbs (5 gal of fuel included)
2006 XB12s - 470.5 lbs (4.4 gal of fuel included)

The XT has a claimed dry weight 25 lbs higher than the Lightning (XB12s) so it's not likely that it is actually lighter than a V-Strom, let alone a Versys despite carrying less fuel. The wet weight of a Uly is closer to 500 lbs than 400. Regardless, there is no doubt that a Uly is not a "boring" bike. Whether that makes it the bike you are looking for is up for you to decide after you ride one. Spec sheets (whether based on apples or tangerines ) are meaningless until you see if it actually works in the real world.


Gustavo

2004 V-Strom 650 - 471.5 lbs (5 gal of fuel included)
2008 Versys 650 - 452.5 lbs (5 gal of fuel included)
2006 XB12s - 470.5 lbs (4.4 gal of fuel included)

So the 1200cc Ulysses and the (highly recommended) 650cc V Strom are nearly identical in weight. No one else thinks that's at least odd or unexpected? At least the 650 Versys is 18# (not so much, really) lighter than the 1200 Uly.

The only wet weight for the 620 Multistrada I could find was 437# which is moving away from the goal of 400# but it's still the lightest of our group.

The Multistrada 620 is aircooled. It helps making it the lightest of this bunch.

I, um, knew that. Aircooled (old school) w/ fuel injection and 6 speed box (new school). I had a Duc SportClassic 1000 for a short time - it has a bigger version of the same motor - I thought it was very nice (the rest of the bike was not my cup of tea).

For a note of closure to this thread - I just made a deal on a near new (4k mi.) '06 620 Multistrada for <$5500. It's really a nicer bike than I needed, but I'd say the goals were met plus some. Can't wait - this is gonna be fun.

awesome, congratulations.