Adventure Bikes

Carol and I just got back from an overnight ride up the West Coast ( Tas )  600 kls sealed road ,50 kls dirt .Fj1200 and Bandit 600 .
Warm and sunny to cold ,wet ,misty conditions . In the 650kls we saw 0ne other motorbike ( triumph T120 ) 
All these adventure bikes I see in town , where are you ? 
One big adventure from the shed to the lounge i'm thinking .

I rushed out and bought an old 96 KLX 650 kick start only a few long months ago to give me the option to take a off road route when ever the feeling arose.
Alas - It's still sitting in the shed and I'm still trying to start it.
Once I get it registered again, I'll be keen to get it out and amongst it though.

We are out there, just hiding 

Half of the GS owners don't like to get them dirty. The rest don't want to get them damaged

Personally, I don't see the attraction.

I've often thought about what I'd swap the Bandit over for when it's time,

Another low km Bandit 
- swap all of my luggage, pipe, eat cover etc to the newer one, if I find one at the right price, a cheap option

V Strom 
- 1000/1050 - great comfy touring bike with oodles of grunt and the option to do a bit of dirt, too heavy for really rough stuff or soft sand
- 600/650 - great comfy touring bike, not sure if I'm ready to drop hp by that much yet, light enough to tackle a bit more than just dirt roads

A different touring bike
- There are plenty of awesome options from other marks but none offer both of the value for money or reliability that the Suzukis' do, plenty of very reliable bikes but expensive in comparison.

I'm leaning towards either a lower km Bandit or a 1000 V Strom

What a Coincidence. I just took my old 96 KLX 650 (My 2nd adv bike, my 1st adv bike is my 02 bandit  ) out for it's first ride on the weekend - no stacks - all good.

madmax wrote:Half of the GS owners don't like to get them dirty. The rest don't want to get them damaged

Not sure where i fit into your assumption, mathematically you're saying 100% don't use them for what they are designed. 45,000km in 2 years, more on dirt than not and a few laydowns too. She not pretty but getting away from people is a bliss for some.

Nico wrote:

madmax wrote:Half of the GS owners don't like to get them dirty. The rest don't want to get them damaged

Not sure where i fit into your assumption, mathematically you're saying 100% don't use them for what they are designed. 45,000km in 2 years, more on dirt than not and a few laydowns too. She not pretty but getting away from people is a bliss for some.

I'm just teasing Nico. 
However most of the owners buy them for touringon bitumen and maybe the occasional gravel road. They buy them because of how comfortable they are as a tourer.
Good to see yours out and about in its natural habitat 

Ok then ,thats one .lol   And thats definitely NOT Tasmania .lol
For some strange reason ,local Tasmanians dont like to travel . If your born in the south ,thats where you stay . FOREEEEEVVVVEEEERRRR.

gus wrote:Ok then ,thats one .lol   And thats definitely NOT Tasmania .lol
For some strange reason ,local Tasmanians dont like to travel . If your born in the south ,thats where you stay . FOREEEEEVVVVEEEERRRR.

Unless you're like my mate and his partner who escaped to SA in their early 20's, they both tell the same story though 

Adventure bikes - I've thought about them a lot in recent times.  

Dreamed the dream, remember how it used to be with the Xt550.  Loved it, had it a long time. Mostly commuted, but did a lot of dirt roads and trails, travelled to the city (3 hours away).  It was a great bike in the city. Got out and went a few distant places.  I don't recall any problem with "packing." I had nothing special in the way of racks. Occy straps and soft bags was enough for my light way of going.  I never lost anything anyway. This was almost the perfect all rounder.  I'd draw the line at touring interstate where one wants to carry more.  The XT would, and did carry stuff all the way up to 40kg bags of chook pellets. This did wonders for my talent at wheel stands.  Oops, was pretty much the way it went.  The bike would loft the front easily without the weight and overenthusiastic application of the throttle going into second was not so uncommon without any load at all.  In the end, it had to go.  Nothing to do with wheel stands.  

The Bandit K7 is a completely different thing.  I love the effortless ability to soak up distance and negotiate busy roads, subject to how lucky I feel. I can carry way more than anyone should be entitled to in trips away.  This can and has been an advantage when it is very very wet.  It's not a bad bike just to get around on round the town (s) either.  I've never regarded myself as much of a recreational rider so the COVID thing didn't affect any pull that the Hilly swervery might have.  Hey, don't get me wrong, I like it when its there, but I'm not going to ride hours just to reach it.  I've been off the bitumen a few times, sampled coastal sandy roads and steep rocky stuff and lots of variety in unsurfaced roads.  3 things daunt the bejesus out of me: mud, deep dry sand, and gravel resembling marbles.  

Now any of these things would present no kind of problem at all for the trail bike, with the exception of maybe the mud - the black clingy stuff.  So at certain times, I sorely wish I was on the back of the thumper, and wish I never had parted with it, think, maybe I could buy it back. It's a candidate for club plates. Yeah, all of that.  So my thoughts turn to what is next. 

Could be an adventure bike.  Any one of them would get up the road better than the XT AND be a lot more comfortable.  The Wee Strom looks good.  I don't see much point in big power in a trail bike, unless the smaller version is clearly too "buzzy" Coming from a thumper, I can't see that being a problem.  The weight might be.  "real" trail bike?  While a DR might be attractive, I can't see riding halfway across the country on one.  Maybe I'm just getting soft.  

Food for thought.