This is likely a good question for klaviator. I have been riding every day for 2 months now on a scooter, including freeway from time to time. I took the motorycle safety class and passed although I was the worst shifter in the class because 1. I have never shifted before 2. I am older and my 'muscle memory' isnt all that good because I have spent most of my life using my head not my body. So with all that, I might want to go adventure motorcycling! but clearly I need a plan to gradually get into it. Should I start by buying a dirt bike and practice for a year or could I just roll my dice a bit and buy the adventure touring bike I would really want. Understand my motovation for adventure cycling is not so much about the challenge of the ride itself (no stunts for me) but rather just to be able to get out there, everywhere.
Get whatever you want, although, a light bike will be more enjoyable to learn on. If it is to heavy you won't ride where it's rough often.
well if you are rich and money means nothing they go buy a bike, and put the latest on it! if that is not you then do research, ask your self what do you want to do with the bike? Road? road + a little unmaintain roads? or a full on dirt adventure? they make a budget, here you will have to say, new or used? What is the size of your scooter? maybe a small 250-500 cc bike, I can't tell you what to buy since I do not know you, so how tall, heavy are you? There are some great bikes out there, read a lot, and ask what you want and in the mean time put some miles on the scooter, maybe you will fall in love with it NOW because it is summer, but when it gets cold maybe it will not be that cool to ride and you end up storing the bike for fall/winter... do you want to do that to a new bike that costs $20-30 K that you rode 500 miles? if you must have an answer without me knowing you, I would get a DP 250 bike, Honda has a new soon to come to the usa 250 and it will be nice for around $4500 or the Yamaha XT250 / TW200 these would be my DP bikes. Damasovi
A dirt bike is normally not street legal and needs to be trailered to an OHV riding area. I would recommend a small dual sport bike instead. I bought an R1100GS back in 94. Great bike and I put 87,000 miles on it. I did not ride it off road that much until I bought my first dual sport, an XT350, and learned how to ride in the dirt. Most adventure bikes are just too big and heavy to be good off road learner bikes. On to of that, the XT350 has been one of the most fun to ride bikes I have owned. It's not real fast off road but it is light and will take me anywhere that I have enough skill to ride. On a tight twisty paved road it really rocks. I Have passed guys on 150 HP sport bikes on twisty roads. The only real drawback to smaller dual sport bikes is they are not all that comfortable on a longer ride. I have seldom ridden over 150 miles in a day on my XT. Get a small dual sport, something around a 250, ride it until you are comfortable off road, then get an adventure bike if you want one.
I would recommend a smaller bike to start. Shifting gets easier the more you practice. But the feel of a motorcycle is completely different. You want something light enough that allows you to get your chops up without all the extra weight. The motorcycle safety courses in my area is a great place to start but only gets you into 3rd gear at most. I would look on craigslist for a beater that you won't be sad to drop. The Ninja 400 usually keeps its value and is easily resold once you become comfortable. Also some of the lower end Honda's are easy to resell. If you go all out on a cruiser and find its not for you, the higher price tag and limited amount of people looking for them makes reselling more difficult. I started on motorcycles and then went to scooters. But I know plenty of people who did the reverse and were happy they didn't get the big cruiser of their dreams. Some of them loved it and upgraded and others decided to get a maxi when all was said and done. Good luck. Hope this helps Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
You're getting good advice here. Get a small dualsport, and figure out if you like it and can become adept at controlling it. My suggestion would be to limit your entry cost and go for a used Kawasaki KLX250s, or similar. What you will find with dualsport bikes is that they sit very high up. If you are tall, this is not an issue, but it's a challenge for many of us. I have a 2006 BMW R1200GS. DO NOT run out and buy something similar now! They are wonderful motorcycles, but they are BIG and they are fairly heavy. I had a little Kawasaki 2 stroke that was a ton of fun bopping through the woods, and a fall off now and then was not a big deal. You don't want to be under a big adventure bike if/when they get dropped. Now, when you're ready to graduate to something big, look me up, and you can upgrade to my GS- I'm going to have to sell it eventually because of arthritis in my shoulder.. For now I ride it to/from work when not on my vespa... Just looked on Craigslist- here's an example of what I suggest- You could ride this a season or two and get back most of your money if you don't trash it- or just hang on to it for fun! http://atlanta.craigslist.org/eat/mcy/3185141650.html
You mentioned that you are "older". Will you be able to take the falls that can occur when riding off road? Now I'm OLD! and as much as I would like to ride off road, the falls alone would probably kill me!
Thanks for all the advice its pretty much inline with what I assumed. I used the word 'dirt bike' loosely but basically a 250cc 'endro' type bike to get good a shifting and light off road, then if I want more sell it and move on to larger. This was also my reasoning behind getting a 250cc scooter instead of my orginal plan for a 400+ cc scooter. However on the scooter I am keeping it :)
I agree with the above. A 250 Dual Sport is a blast, hell I would love to have one. In the future I probably will. Yea the big ass adventure type bikes ain't that fun on tough mountain trails and such. They can do it, but they's heavy and simply don't quite compare. Now for riding around the world, all over the place, with all types of terrain, adventure bikes are great. Just saying on strictly offroad riding a 650 will be ok, but a 250 is just more fun, lower to the ground, and easier to ride. You'll just feel more "comfortable" on the 250. I would start with a smaller 200-250 cc Dual Sport, perferbly used, and then an Adventure type bike.
I'm older (73) and ride a 2012 Suzuki Vstrom 650. I've had all kinds of scooters and motorcycles, so I've tried most kinds. That said, if you want to go "adventure riding" in earnest, I'd recommend what I ride, a Vstrom 650. I went big, Harley Street Glide, and I went small- Honda CBR250. The Vstrom is about the slickest, easiest, shifting bike you'll find. It's tall, but very manageable (you can lower it--I lowered mine 3/4"). It's a true adventure bike, but you'll mostly want to use it on the road. I'd recommend a Yamaha Tmax if you want to stay with a scooter. It will do the "adventure" part without shifting. I ran my Tmax down dirt and gravel roads, and it worked great. It's fast and will haul lots of gear, as will the Vstrom. You can start small, if you want, and waste the time and money to work your way up to what you really want. Or, you can do like I did, and find the bike of your dreams right away. Being older, we only have so much time. And, there's so many bikes! :)
X2 on this. Before I went "back" to scooters, I had a big, big bike - a BMW R1200GS. And a little chick-ride...a TU 250X. Know what I went for when my trip was just around town? That's right, the little bike. The big one was a burden to get out; a burden to get on; ponderous at in-town speeds. Learn the fundamentals on a light, responsive ride. Then move upward until you find your sweet spot.
While I agree that the V strom 650 is one of the best bikes out there, It would be a poor choice for what the OP asked for. Do you really think the Wee is a good bike for a new motorcycle rider to learn to ride off road on??? As for an Adventure scooter, the Op already has a very good one. The sport City 250 works pretty good off the pavement because of it's relatively light weight and upright seating position. The T max, while certainly capable of going off the pavement, is still pretty heavy and the cruiser riding position is not conducive to off road riding. i don't consider buying a small bike a waste of money. I have owned a lot of bikes, from 150cc to 1200cc. Non of my small bikes were a waste of money but they were all a blast to ride
Have you tried getting onto a dp? I thought I might want one till I looked at a Yamaha 250. I was amazed at just how high the seat was on that thing. I could just see pulling into a gas station after a couple hour ride and knocking it over trying to get on or off. For the record, I am 6' and not unathletic, so this may be something you should check out.
What kind of scooter? Some big scooters are really motorcycles in disguise. Shifting is no big deal, just a matter of practice. Spend half an hour in a parking lot. The doubt goes away after the first few minutes. You gain quite a bit of control over your speed with a manual transmission. A V-Strom is a very nice bike, either the DL650 or DL1000. I have considered one myself, but I don't think I would gain much over what I have, which are cruisers and Burgmans. I like to tour on pavement, camp where there is cable TV and only rarely have the urge to venture into the woods. Motorcycles come and go. In your case, "might want to go adventure riding" is a red flag. Don't get too invested in a bike until you know you want to go adventure riding. It is very different than touring on the highways or driving around town. A V-Strom can be a handful --- it is very powerful, torquey, tall and heavy, and takes skill to ride. Check into used bikes on craigslist or whatever local site you may have. Find a smaller bike to learn on and sell it when you've outgrown it. If you start out on one that has already been dropped, you won't feel as badly when you drop it. You will --- everybody drops their bike in the first 2000 miles. It's normal. If you shop well, you can sell it without losing much on the transaction and buy the bike you want. It may be a V-Strom or it may be a V-Star. That will also give you time to find exactly the bike you want, too. Either way, ride within your limits. Starting out on a bike that is too big for you is a recipe for disaster. Ride safe Scott Fraser Calgary
Seat hieghts on DP bikes vary greatly. The Yamaha WR250 has one of the tallest seats out there. The Yamaha XT250, XT225, Honda CRF230, and Suzuki Dr200 on the other hand, are designed with beginners in mind and have much lower seats. The KLR250 also has a reasonably low seat. The Kaw KLX250 has a somewhat higher seat, but much lower than the WR250. Seat heights on DP bikes are also somewhat misleading since most of the bikes sag quite a bit when you sit on them. Also, the seats are narrow making them seem even lower. I got into DP/off road riding after abouut 20 years of mostly street riding. It really is a lot of fun. For the OP, just to whet your appetite, this was my first ride report and shows what Dual Purpose riding has to offer: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=512682
