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Thread: From super sports tourer to adventure

  1. #1
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    18th October 2005 - 20:19
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    From super sports tourer to adventure

    Just wondering if anyone here has gone from a super sports tourer to an adventure bike, good move? Bad move? Why did I wait so long to do it move, or is it just a plain stupid move?

    Your experiences please.

  2. #2
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    13th March 2006 - 20:49
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    You'll miss warp factor 9.

    Mind you, pushing quarter of a ton around gets tiresome sometimes, like up the twisties with the boys on the thou's. Yep, I've been dreaming about shedding 50/60 kilo's myself.

  3. #3
    Depends on what you want out of a bike....and only you can answer that.I've never owned a super anything,but have ridden plenty - I've never been into the speed thing,to me bikes are for going around corners,and you don't really need lots of speed or horsepower for that.I've spent my life on bikes on and off road,varying amounts of each.....sometimes only road,sometimes only dirt,sometimes both.I've found I'm really comfortable with a dirt bike set up,I feel more in control on a bike sitting upright with only a little weight on wide bars,I like my feet under me and to be able to move around.I prefer my roads quiet,challenging and remote - adventure bike it is.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by MAXIMUSDEMERITUS
    You'll miss warp factor 9.

    Mind you, pushing quarter of a ton around gets tiresome sometimes, like up the twisties with the boys on the thou's. Yep, I've been dreaming about shedding 50/60 kilo's myself.
    Well yes, maybe, well on reflection - absofuckenlutely, and you're right the weight is tiresome. But only 50 or 60 kg? What I'm thinking of is a huge 85kg lighter and also a 100hp less

    Quote Originally Posted by Motu
    Depends on what you want out of a bike....and only you can answer that.I've never owned a super anything,but have ridden plenty - I've never been into the speed thing,to me bikes are for going around corners,and you don't really need lots of speed or horsepower for that.I've spent my life on bikes on and off road,varying amounts of each.....sometimes only road,sometimes only dirt,sometimes both.I've found I'm really comfortable with a dirt bike set up,I feel more in control on a bike sitting upright with only a little weight on wide bars,I like my feet under me and to be able to move around.I prefer my roads quiet,challenging and remote - adventure bike it is.
    You're right - only I can decide.

    I think what it is, is that I'm getting tired, and no longer enjoying the type of riding that I do - I need a change. There is a desire to explore side roads, beaches, rivers, tracks, having a bike that is happy being a commuter; which is where the adventure bike comes in. After all it is all things, abeit a master of none, but i can live with that. The idea of getting off the beaten path sounds good. Trips like Molesworth Station, exploring the single roads and bays of Banks Peninsula, Danseys Pass, etc sound great.

  5. #5
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    I will soon be changing from sports/tourer to adventure bike.

    No change in HP, no change in weight, but a V-twin instead of in-line four, and a more upright seating position for the dirt roads.
    Time to ride

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by ZZR
    . After all it is all things, abeit a master of none, but i can live with that. The idea of getting off the beaten path sounds good.
    I think that's it,they are a huge compromise - but if you are mature enough to accept ''not too good at this'' as a challenge,then you'll really enjoy one.You can't really do high speed cornering(depends on bike and tyres) but you can do low speed cornering really well,better than a sports/tourer,and a shit load more fun....those things on the road that you avoided,now become things to aim at.Finding out just where you want to compromise is the difficult part - I have 2,and would like 3.One dirt bike with lights...one bigger (600 single) for easy trails and gravel roads...and one bigger one for touring that will get you away from the tourist trail.

    Use us as a sounding board...take no recomendations,but use others experiance.

  7. #7
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    9th June 2005 - 13:22
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    ST to venture!

    I have gone from consecutive Honda ST1100's to a Honda 650T/A and while it feels good to ride and does most of what I want to do I still have moments of feeling "less than".
    I have been drooling over a new Honda ST1300 lately and when I added up my pennies I found I could buy one but it would mean loosing too much on my T/A as well as the return on the current investment on my money.
    I have too much respect for my T/A to toss it aside so I have waived the new ST1300 bye bye for now at least.
    Mrs O/R is very pleased. She loves the T/A even goes to sleep on the back sometimes. She even likes venture riding around all the little back roads that we haven't been on before.
    We had a great ride around the Catlins area a wee while ago.
    Had a look up all the little roads and blatted along on the sealed stuff at quite a nice clip (100km of course)
    It is a big change but its worth it especially with todays conditions.(IMHO) Cheers John.

  8. #8
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    25th February 2004 - 07:36
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    That's not an adventure...

    For some reason I was picturing a set of knobbly tyres and extended forks on the ZX11... Now that's and adventure... Heh heh

    I read a story in Aussie perf bike about a guy who 'adventured' and old GSXR 1100 and rode to the Nth most point of Aus... It kicked arse !

    Hmmm... Maybe my warthog ZXR could be motarded, it's already half way there... Ah, I can just hear the Mrs now... "What ? You want to make it MORE ugly ?"

    Sedge.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by sedge
    That's not an adventure...

    For some reason I was picturing a set of knobbly tyres and extended forks on the ZX11... Now that's and adventure... Heh heh

    I read a story in Aussie perf bike about a guy who 'adventured' and old GSXR 1100 and rode to the Nth most point of Aus... It kicked arse !

    Hmmm... Maybe my warthog ZXR could be motarded, it's already half way there... Ah, I can just hear the Mrs now... "What ? You want to make it MORE ugly ?"

    Sedge.
    Been there done that, that's "off road", too old for that now but "venture" is a style of bike, you do what you like with it.
    I just do little ventures on my little bike according to my little budget. Cheers John.

  10. #10
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    I went from a VFR750 to the XT600. Sometimes I want more.... But on the backroads and gravel roads it is the bees knees. I also had tired of the high speed main road riding where you are continually watching your mirrors and scanning for cops.... There are a lot of cool place to see on a venture bike. You can only do the coro loop so many times on a sportsbike before it loses it's appeal. The best thing would be to keep your ZZR and get an adventure bike if you can justify it. Lots of cheap XT's DR's KLR's etc out there. In hindsight for a do it all venture bike that's not going to be used for trailriding I'd look for a KLR650. mainly for the 23 litre tank as standard. There's alot of distance between gas stations in the back blocks.
    Andy.

  11. #11
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    18th October 2005 - 20:19
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    Thanks for the comments.

    Quote Originally Posted by XTC
    ...I also had tired of the high speed main road riding where you are continually watching your mirrors and scanning for cops.... There are a lot of cool place to see on a venture bike. You can only do the coro loop so many times on a sportsbike before it loses it's appeal.
    Exactly.

    Quote Originally Posted by XTC
    The best thing would be to keep your ZZR and get an adventure bike if you can justify it. Lots of cheap XT's DR's KLR's etc out there. In hindsight for a do it all venture bike that's not going to be used for trailriding I'd look for a KLR650. mainly for the 23 litre tank as standard. There's alot of distance between gas stations in the back blocks.
    Andy.
    Keeping the ZZR is not an option - need to sell to buy another plus I don't really think I would use it. As it is now I haven't ridden the ZZR since Easter.

    Funny you should mention the KLR as that's exactly what I was thinking of! When and looked at a brand new one yesterday, looks like the bees knees. Actually it was quite funny yesterday the wife went over to a new ZX10R and wow, this nice why don't you get this one? (This from a women who thinks all bikes look exactly the same) I said no I mean this one (points to KLR), yuck, she says, you want a tractor? Yes indeed.

  12. #12
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    Pfft women..... Can't please them can ya?. So are you getting the KLR?

  13. #13
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    The KLR is tempting, very tempting. A couple of bikes to sell first, well actually just the ZZR (soon but not just yet) but both will be going.

  14. #14
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    Having ridden a number of different configurations of bike and given them all a good chance to demonstrate their strengths and weaknesses, I have to go with the adventure bike as first choice. I prefer the upright riding posture and wider handlebars. I find them more manoeuvrable than most bikes I've ridden. I've never been into travelling and cornering at warp speed so the fact that they're slower than the Sprot Boiks doesn't bother me.

    I've tried sport bikes and I don't like the riding posture (and I don't ride fast enough to get the full benefits out of the design); I've tried the old style Tourers - naked bike, bench seat, upright or slightly forward posture, feet below me - and they're good, I'd have one of those strictly for open road long distance rides (BMW R100CS would be nice); I've tried Cruisers and I found that sitting back on my tail bone with my legs out in front of me is OK for a short distance but is a literal pain in the arse on longer rides and being so low is a hinderance when riding in traffic.

    For me, a road/trail bike is ideal for my preferred posture and style of riding, I'd take it over a super sports tourer any day.

    But we're all different, I know people who view anything other than a sports bike as "yeah, fine, so long as you don't mind being a wind sock", while to me their bikes are "bloody tank-huggers".

    I don't mind being a "wind sock" - anyone who cannot cope with an upright posture at 100km/h is a pussy. Personally I've been faster than that (and been ticketted for it) on an upright bike without undue discomfort. I do not have the need to travel at 160km/h, I certainly have no need to corner at that speed.

    My wish list:

    Small, light road-legal Enduro with 50/50 tyres for commuting to and from work and taking out on easy to medium trails.

    Something like the BMW F650GS Dakar with luggage carrying capability for longer tours on less than perfect roads (but nowhere near as rugged as what I'd take the lighter, more nimble off-roader over). Around 192kg without optional extras.
    Motorbike Camping for the win!

  15. #15
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    I went from a GSX750F to a DR650. I had the GSX for 5 years and it was great for the 1st couple - I loved the speed and the handling, and it took me to rallies all over the South Island, but then 2 things happened. The cops started getting tougher on speed, which took a lot of the fun out of it and I'd covered all the roads and was getting bored with it. In the end the bike came out of the garage less and less, and I was doing less and less k's per year, so the plan was to trade it on a big dirt bike that could take me to the back country that I hadn't seen before, and still take me to the rallies.

    Adventure bikes are a compromise between dirt and road, you need to decide how much of each you are likely to ride on. The DR650 was/is the right mix for me. I won't keep up with a road bike, ridden well, on the road and I wont keep up with a dirt bike, ridden well, off road but I can do both reasonably well.

    On the GSX I used to cruise at 140k and regularly hop up to 160-180 for a bit. On the DR I sit at around 110k on the road and it's great. It's comfortable, I don't care about the cops, and there's plenty of time to look around at the scenery. The top speed is 160k so it's no bother passing the cages when you want to. Going to rallies used to a big race on the Saturday, now it's either take our time via the back roads on the Saturday or more often go straight there after work on Friday and then go out exploring the local back country all day Saturday. Plus it's used as an occasional commuter, and a weekend plaything, whether that be a day long adventure ride somewhere or a quick blat down to the local riverbed (the Waimak) for a play. I've seen a lot more of the country in the 3 years since I've had it too. Also, maintenance is cheaper and easier to do.

    As for the KLR, I thorouhly recommend it if it provides the mix that you're looking for. My mate that does most of these rides with me has one, and I've seen it in some pretty grotty places without too much bother, plus that big 23 litre tank is real bonus compared to my 13 litre.
    The views expressed above may not match yours - But that's the reason my Dad went to war - wasn't it?
    Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, .... but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out,... shouting "man, what a ride"!!!

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