Help me plan a solo motorcycle ride ~1000 miles round trip

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Thu Sep 01, 2011 7:27 pm

Cash Davidson wrote:

Jason, Sadly, right after you settle on what you believe to be the perfect bike for you, you'll come to realize that just one won't do. You'll need a touring bike for those long hwy rides, an adventure that can go offroad and still carry gear, and a woods bike for when you decide to basecamp and just tear up the trails. You gotta have the right tool for the job - or at least that is what I'm telling my wife as I'm debating adding a touring bike to our collection.

Agreed.

Quote:

The adventure bike - is there anything cooler than a 904cc Ducati V-twin with knobbies?

Yes. The Multistrada. But it's also like $25,000. :shock:

Jason, the other problem with the KLR to *me* was the vibration. It was fine up to 30 minutes or so, then got terrible after that on my hands.

Honestly, if you want a bike that's good on-road but *can* go off-road fairly capably, a BMW F650GS or F800GS is what you seek, IMHO. If you lean a little more dirt but still decent on the highway, my BMW G650X is awesome. But the G650X has one HUGE drawback, and that's the 2.4 gallon tank. That's right, you've basically got a 100 mile range.

You can put bigger tanks on it a couple ways, but none are very good. Me, I think it's easiest to live with it and find a good way to carry more fuel for the times I *can't* live with it. Note that there's also a G450X, which is probably *really* awesome off-road, but less stellar on it. All the BMW offerings are FI, which is really cool in a 450, that's for sure.

--Donnie

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

now my wife hates you too cash.

i keep reading good stuff about the ktm - great motor w/ much less vibes than most thumpers (balance shaft), high quality fully adjustable (preload, rebound, compression) suspension right out of the box, 70hp and brembo brakes mean you can have either wheel in the air anytime you want, barely over 300#, 60+ mpg so range is pretty good, beautiful finish and high quality switchgear across the board, fuel injection w/ multiple maps, and looks like pure sex. submitted an offer to triangle cycles two minutes ago. they can't possibly want a brand new 2009 bike sitting around the showroom floor forever right?

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:42 pm

Yeah, you probably can't go wrong with the KTM. I think they're a little on the Ducati end of the spectrum with wanting a little more regular maintenance love, but not quite as bad as the Ducs, anyway. But not quite a Honda or BMW, either.

As for Triangle Cycles, well, don't assume anything with those bastards. They can be insane to deal with.

--Donnie

Cash Davidson · **Posted:** Thu Sep 01, 2011 8:45 pm

Jason Tower wrote:

now my wife hates you too cash.

Yeah, I think that is the major reason I have a hard time finding guys to go on these long trips with me. A close friend's wife once told me: "You know I love you and I love my husband, I just hate the two of you together." :mrgreen:

Donnie Barnes wrote:

but not quite as bad as the Ducs, anyway.

I always say, don't own a Ducati unless you plan to (and like to) work on it yourself. The valve adjustment is much easier with the engine on the bench. :lol:

Kevin Harvey · **Posted:** Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:18 pm

Last weekend I rode my 91 Kawasaki Zephyr 750 to Bristol, TN and back (Mooresville, NC). Six hours on the bike was more than I have put on it in the last two years combined. You cannot go wrong if you run any portion of Hwy 421 through Shady Valley (the Snake).

Here is another route to consider. Dawn and I drove this in our convertible a couple of years ago in a charity drive. 500 miles in one day. The majority of these roads are true back roads. All tar and gravel, but low traffic and lots of character.

-Kevin

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:20 pm

Oh yeah, I've done pretty much all of those roads at one point or another. All awesome.

--Donnie

Kevin Harvey · **Posted:** Thu Sep 01, 2011 9:22 pm

Anything over an hour straight on my bike starts to hurt. My house to Bristol is three hours each way. I woke up Monday morning and had to roll out of the bed one leg at a time. And only a smidgeon of chicken strips. My boots were scrubbing when I got that low.

-Kevin

clinehall · **Posted:** Fri Sep 02, 2011 7:30 pm

Jason Tower wrote:

now my wife hates you too cash.

i keep reading good stuff about the ktm - great motor w/ much less vibes than most thumpers (balance shaft), high quality fully adjustable (preload, rebound, compression) suspension right out of the box, 70hp and brembo brakes mean you can have either wheel in the air anytime you want, barely over 300#, 60+ mpg so range is pretty good, beautiful finish and high quality switchgear across the board, fuel injection w/ multiple maps, and looks like pure sex. submitted an offer to triangle cycles two minutes ago. they can't possibly want a brand new 2009 bike sitting around the showroom floor forever right?

are we to surmise you did not get the KTM? How about vstroms?

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

clinehall wrote:

Jason Tower wrote:

now my wife hates you too cash.

i keep reading good stuff about the ktm - great motor w/ much less vibes than most thumpers (balance shaft), high quality fully adjustable (preload, rebound, compression) suspension right out of the box, 70hp and brembo brakes mean you can have either wheel in the air anytime you want, barely over 300#, 60+ mpg so range is pretty good, beautiful finish and high quality switchgear across the board, fuel injection w/ multiple maps, and looks like pure sex. submitted an offer to triangle cycles two minutes ago. they can't possibly want a brand new 2009 bike sitting around the showroom floor forever right?

are we to surmise you did not get the KTM? How about vstroms?

i made an offer on it, they countered, blah blah. but then the guy from 2x2 cycles said his bike rack wouldn't work on that particular model for some reason so i called it off. so now i'm leaning towards either a sv650 or a drz400sm. the sv is an awesome street bike but not really suitable for anything off road, while the drz can handle anything but isn't well suited towards hour+ highway stints. the search continues!

JasonWatts · **Posted:** Fri Sep 02, 2011 10:39 pm

Jason,

Before I went with the SM, I would do some more research to decide if it will handle the type of off road you are looking for. I believe that bike has a sport bike inspired suspension and might not have the travel to do anything but extremely light off road stuff. Same with the KTM you were looking at.

anything you get, im sure you will be glad to be back on 2 wheels.

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

JasonWatts wrote:

Jason,

Before I went with the SM, I would do some more research to decide if it will handle the type of off road you are looking for. I believe that bike has a sport bike inspired suspension and might not have the travel to do anything but extremely light off road stuff. Same with the KTM you were looking at.

anything you get, im sure you will be glad to be back on 2 wheels.

extremely light off road is all i'll be doing, and even that might not happen. lack of off-road capability isn't a deal breaker, just something that'd be nice to have once in a while. i'm really digging small, light, narrow bikes right now and supermotos like the drz400sm and wr250x (and the ktm) tickle my fancy, along with the sv650. my concern is that the small thumpers won't work very well on any sort of road trip but that's also a fairly rare occurrence. and it's a motorcycle - everything except the ktm is cheap enough that if i change my mind in six months it's almost a non-issue.

clinehall · **Posted:** Sat Sep 03, 2011 5:01 pm

have you checked this website out? http://www.advrider.com/ lots of info

clinehall · **Posted:** Sat Sep 03, 2011 5:13 pm

jason, I just saw this and would like to check it out myself but my schedule is not going to let me do it so I thought I would show it to you and if you get it I want first right of refusal (remember the great deal I gave you on your seats).

http://eastnc.craigslist.org/mcy/2580644222.html

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

clinehall wrote:

jason, I just saw this and would like to check it out myself but my schedule is not going to let me do it so I thought I would show it to you and if you get it I want first right of refusal (remember the great deal I gave you on your seats).

http://eastnc.craigslist.org/mcy/2580644222.html

there's a similar one for sale here too http://raleigh.craigslist.org/mcy/2580202574.html
interesting, although i really don't want a bike with abs. still...........

Jason Tower · **Joined:** Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:31 pm **Posts:** 1173

clinehall wrote:

have you checked this website out? http://www.advrider.com/ lots of info

yup. and http://www.thumpertalk.com ...
and http://www.supermotojunkie.com ...
and http://forum.svrider.com ...
and at least a dozen misc road test sites. no wonder i'm getting to sleep at 0400 every night for the past week!

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