myth of the light weight adventure bike for dirt and adv riding?

in terms of a light weight adventure bike that you could also use for some dirt riding (with the inevitable compromises), we are getting closer to seeing the latest model from AJP being released, the PR7.

personally i can't wait to see if this is the perfect light weight adventure bike for me. from early reports it sounds as though it would need luggage racks and off you go. :)

first early test ride and review here

Adventure? Guess it depends on your definition of adventure. I wouldn't take it to the Sibersky offroad trail, but it does do well for my use. Very curvy roads and some dirt and gravel. Lightweight? It qualifies. 220 lbs dry.

Untitled by jspringator, on Flickr

2006 Xt225 with a cam and high compression piston. Clarke tank for range, Russell daylong seat for comfort, as well as vibranators for the newly found top end. 18 inch wheel laced to the front. Street radials all around. Headlight switch and LED headlight for heated gear. Madstad windshield. Airbox and exhaust mods. I bought it 4 years ago for a little over $2,000 with 200 miles.

It does 70 actual without trouble and can hold 65 up most hills. I does real well in the NC mountains. I like to think of as a poor mans WR.

Before the cam it would slow to 45 on a good sized hill. It really couldn't be used on the highway.

What is this "cush drive problem" you speak of?

I have just added a cush drive hub rear wheel on my Husaberg to avoid premature spline wear. Hoping I don't have to split the cases again, but it was likely caused as much by high speed as it was a loose sprocket bolt and new chain being too tight. Possibly even the older chain having siezed links...must keep an eye on the drivetrain after every ride. I was, but not enough!

Oh and B1, I put the AJP PR7 on my Top 10 list

The cush is in the rear hub. There are tons of post on adv. You can check out. But the short of it is the cush absorbs driveline torque to the rear wheel during acceleration and reduces torque to the clutch and transmission on deceleration. Thus reducing wear on drive components. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying don't drive a motocycle without a cush. I've owned and driven a dualsport for the better part of thirty years (no cush drive). My first bike developed transmission issues at 7000 miles. This was my first experience and it was 100 percent due to a 17 year boy with a heavy throttle hand (fast starts on pavement, skid stops on pavement and wheelies) this was very premature. I've learned a lot since then and can and have achieved up to 40000 miles with no issues /no cush. With that said I also don't do long distances at high speeds, something a true adventure bike will be doing.

huge amount of debate about cush drive hubs, that will never be answered definitively without some sort of longitudinal study... can't see that happening! i wrote an article about it years ago if anyone wants to read more.

this was more in connection with motarding dirt bikes for road use but has some application for adventure riding them as well.

DO I REALLY NEED A CUSH DRIVE HUB?

Makes me think of the days back in the 70s when we'd be out blasting around on our MX bikes, wasting trails like those in the video, blowing through like child's play. Total caution to the wind. (Fact is seeing what I saw there, where they apparently contemplated their moves, was pretty common place stuff for dual sporting on the 650 dual sport and child's play on the 250.) Made me remember coming across guys riding these on the trails, putt putting along in first gear:



I guess the adventure bike or should I say "rally raid" bike has been around longer than we really think... and still as inferior for actual off road as ever. When it comes to real single track riding, sure you can do it, but why punish yourself.

Gee - a girl just rode the TAT on it and did some serious off trail excursions. Must be about skill level - Oh, yeah - she's a Dakar racer who helped develop the bike.

So, ... what you're saying is to ride the CB500X on any serious off trail excursions (Does that mean just lightin' off into the woods off the trails or are you actually saying real single track?) you should have had experience like a Dakar racer?

I figure someone out there can ride a Honda VLX 600 Shadow up a trail, but that doesn't make them a good light adventure bike.

Don't ride a KTM then. Or be ready to pony up the eleven grand to get one.


Oh, and CBR500X or whatever it is - just junk. One of them rode with us this weekend, and that and two Sertao's and a KLR were at about half the speed we usually ride. I mean butt-slow. And they had spent all the money for the kit upgrade thingy too. That thing would get to swapping ends if the dirt got bumpy. Foggedaboudit...total junk.

The XT225 is a gutless wonder. Same for the DR200. Those are kid's and girls bikes. All find and good for a new rider or someone really small. For real riding they're not real bikes. Sorry.

there was a thread last year where for some reason a guy wanted to define 'adventure riding'. it just degenerated into a slanging match about which bikes were great, which were crap, and why each person had the correct definition of adventure riding and everyone else had it wrong.

and in any case it's usually far more about rider skill that the bike you are on. our coach chris birch enduro races his 1190cc adventure bike, guys here in australia ride across the country on 90cc postie bikes.

Here is the perfect machine, and it's mine :)

I read a post from the cb500x rider, he was a noobie noob.
Waddya mean "girl's bikes" ! I resemble that remark!

I'm not sure what of my post this is directed at. I have nothing against KTMs. I have a grand total, not counting consumables, of about $4500 in my bike, including the purchase price, the BB351 kit, and paying someone much more mechanically inclined than I am to install it. I'm sure there is a KTM that is better than my bike in every way, I just can't afford one at the moment. My KLX has taken me in multi day road trips, week long back country trips, commuting daily, and trails and single track. For the amount I have in it, I'm thrilled with where it takes me.

I know plenty of people who like small simple bikes. I bought my wife a TW200, and can't wait to put it on some trails. Not everyone has a an ego that requires they be seen on a "real bike". I sure don't care what I'm riding, as long as I'm having fun, and I find small simple bikes to be a ton of fun.

Totaly agree. Far to many will spend big money to give themselves the illusion that they are big bad ass adventure riders and defend their choice to the bitter end. Blasting any who make what they believe is the wrong choice. This my friends are the true posers in the adventure world. Fuck them...ride and adventure true on anything you want. We all know the old saying ..His bark is bigger then his bite.

Looks like somebody may have a bit of a complex issue. Huh...sexist also. Don't ever worry about stupid ass remarks like that. Those aren't real riders. It's all about the image for them.

My light weight adventure setup

2002 570 (originally 400 but new kws, crank, etc) RFS

Oil cooler
Cush hub
Steering damper
Baja squadron xl headlight and aux lights
2005 subframe
3.2 gallon tank/ 1 gallon reserve in 2 (2) liter containers
Mojave saddlebags
40 liter dry bag

Runs like the devil

Orange snobbery. Right up there with the Harley crap. Not everyone wants to or can ride at your level or blow the money you did on their bikes. Why insult them?

It's one thing to point out weaknesses of a bike, another to say sweeping bush league statements about them. Take that KTM on a 3000 mile cross country run on I-70 against that CB500X and see how much junk it is. The bike isn't a KTM... or a WR or a KLX. It is just an adventure bike for some guy who might go on some dirt/gravel roads, but will mostly be on pavement. There's a guy riding a KLX250 with a big bore that has something like 300,000 km on it, riding it for transportation in Malaysia, I think. He did ride a KTM at one time - it couldn't hold up like the KLX under the riding he did. He didn't say it was junk, just that it took more attention, cost more for upkeep... not that it was junk.

Don't like riding with them on their slower lesser suspended bikes? - Don't ride with them. But if you ride with them, don't bitch about them.

I've ridden with a lot of slower riders than me and didn't insult them or their equipment, and I've ridden a few times with riders better than me and they didn't insult me or my equipment. It's called class.

No, he's a good guy and rider. I know him, I was just giving him shit about the girl remark.

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