Sport-Touring.Net - Sport tourer finally tries Dual sporting...

Being a long time ADVrider.com addict, despite never having an adventure-tourer or dual-sport bike, I’ve wanted to try dual-sporting for a long time. I’ve dreamed for years of making a Baja or Alaska trip but have had to live vicariously through the amazing ride reports on the ADVrider forum. The combination of an upcoming, great looking ride near me and the availability of a ’96 DR650SE from a trusted seller for a great price was too good an opportunity to pass up. This would be an easy way to get my feet wet (literally) and see if I would really enjoy doing this kind of riding coming from a sport riding/touring background.

I went to pick the bike up in a borrowed truck two days before the ride, I get one ride around the block, and we lift the bike into the truck because I have no ramp. I called my insurance agent the next day to add insurance (wow, cheap). I’m swamped that day with work and family commitments, so I never get to fiddle with the bike. I started to get a little apprehensive about taking on a huge 225 mile dual sport ride on a bike I’ve never ridden, not having any experience in the dirt, not knowing what kind of terrain it would be on, not knowing the other riders, not knowing my own tank range, and not having spare tubes or tools. I went anyway because I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t.

Turns out ADVrider people are just like STN people, they were very helpful when I got to Parsons, WV (starting point of the ride) and help me lift the bike out of the truck, not a red neck among them. They are chomping at the bit to hit the roads. So we are off as soon as we gas up and air down. I take a guess at 20lbs front and rear on the non-DOT knobbies on the DR.

I was instantly at home on the bike, very light controls, lots of leverage on the wide bars. Even the seat was really comfortable. The quality of the “roads” varied all day. Some were bad enough that you couldn’t get through with a Jeep, there were some knee deep water crossings, even some single track but we had to turn back. One rider was on a V-Strom with full knobbies, I was amazed he could get where he got, the rest were on thumpers (Honda XR, KTMs, Husqvarnas, KLRs, BMW F650GS). There were lots of elevation changes and roads along ridges at ~4k feet, fantastic scenery. As we got further into the forest I started to worry more about fuel range and having a flat. I never knew how many miles of fire roads were out there to explore. We fueled up twice, the longest dirt stretch without gas was right at 100 miles but I never had to switch to reserve getting 60mpg. I found out that I was not too slow on the dirt after all, there is a lot of crossover of road riding skills and off road. I was able to keep up just fine although I was probably riding at a couple tenths higher than they were at the same speeds. I was pleasantly surprised at the quick pace, I had images in my mind of 2nd gear plodding but we were often at 50 mph on single lane dirt roads and faster on good gravel. Basically, the thrill of speed was there just like sport riding. I felt the pleasant challenge of getting close to limits just like sport riding, leaving braking to the last moment before turning in. The speeds are lower but the feel of pushing those limits are the same for me. To connect fire roads we did a few paved roads but they were great twisties over the mountains. It was “interesting” getting leaned way over on knobbies but very fun. I was wishing for more power but corner speed was surprising good. I made an outside pass on a paved hairpin that had me laughing in my helmet (probably 30 mph slower than on my GPZ).

There was at least four crashes but they were at low speeds and caused no injuries. The V-Strom did suffer a broken shifter, badly bent brake lever and plenty of rash. The more dirt oriented bikes got by with no real damage. One of the things that’s prevented me from trying off road riding in the past is the worry that something could go wrong, a crash or breakdown, and I would be out in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. After this ride I can definitely see how that could happen. I don’t think it would be wise to do a whole lot of this kind of thing solo, in a group…no problem. But, I usually ride alone on the road so that’s something to keep in mind, for me.

I think my final apprehension about dual sporting in WV was the “Deliverance” factor. The fire roads were almost all in uninhabited forests and I never felt like I was going to accidentally roll into Bubba’s Camp Militia.

I have to say I really had a blast. I don't think I could ever go exclusively to dual sporting but it's really nice to have the variety. Now I have a whole new category of gear to shop for and a Baja trip to plan, lol.

What few pics I took...was way to busy for pics..
http://picasaweb.google.com/jkeefover/ParsonSRideJune30th2007

James

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