Most riders on TT are weekend riders or maybe do the odd two week vacation.
But for those who are lucky enough to have more time ... or for those who just want to get the heck out of Dodge for a while, what bike would be your choice and why?

I'm talking about literally living off your bike for maybe 6 months or a year.
Would a Thumper even be your first choice? Why? Would you go with a 650, a 400/450? Or a 250cc bike? All have been used to do RTW rides.

If you've done long rides on a Thumper, please post your pics of your weapon of choice set up for serious travel.

Here is my current Thumper travel bike.


Baja ride, following the 1000 course

good choice, 54321.. solid, great oil cooler, capable in everything, though not excelling at anything.. just what you need for an adventure ride!

I usually do several 3-4 day rides a year, & a longer, 2-4 week ride every couple of years. And of course i try to do a weekly local trail ride, but not loaded with traveling gear. I also try to stay on the dirt.. even longer rides i try to take dirt roads & stay off the beaten path.

Once i got a decent seat on my drz, it has been a great adventure bike. I've got over 200 miles range with the 4.25g acerbis tank, i can carry everything i need, i can go places a lot of bigger bikes can't go, yet still cruise on the highway. It is stone cold reliable. Except for things broken in crashes (& really very few things, there) i've only changed the oil, cleaned the filter, & replaced sprockets, chains, & tires. I've put about 25000 miles on it over 3 years, & it has been a trusty steed. Shame on me for even thinking about getting another bike!:naughty:

I've never had any problems with the water cooling & never had to bump start it (no kick lever). It starts in all weather conditions & elevations.. better than me, actually. It has plenty of power for any conditions i meet (sand, mud, hills..) yet is reasonably light for tighter conditions or when i have to pick it up. Decent suspension & a good balance of power & weight.



Like your dr650, it does everything ok, but excels at nothing. ..my kind of bike.

My problem now is there is nothing on the horizon to replace it as the old girl needs to be set out to pasture & relegated to easy day rides. I like the huskies & ktms, but they are a bit pricey, & might not take the neglect i give my bikes. The wr250r is nice, but might be a little underpowered for longer adventure rides. But the way i travel (ultralight) it might work for me.

Anyway, nice thread.. i'm looking forward to hearing what kinds of bikes others have used for longer adventure rides.

scotty:cool:

Hey, good to hear from some other Long distance riders! :ride:

The DRZ is a great and somewhat undiscovered bike for long distance touring. If you look over on Horizon's Unlimited, you will see several of the mostly young UK based riders doing rides on the DRZ-S.

The seat was the thing that worried me, but I only ever rode a stock DRZ400E. Only took it on one Baja ride and it did great. (it was my main dirt bike for three years)

I ride with a few guys that have the DRZ-S. In a drag race, the DRZ-S is nearly equal to the DR650 right up to about 80 mph, where the DR finally pulls just a bit ahead. The torque of the DR makes it a bit stronger in the mountains, but off road the DRZ kicks butt. Easier and safer off road. :thumbsup:

A well set up DR650 can do OK in the dirt but will never match the DRZ in anything technical.

But on long, rough dirt roads or highway, the DR is the better bike. It's also easier to pack up. But if you are good at going light, then no problem on the DRZ if set up right. Your bike looks very tidy. The perfect set up, IMO.:worthy:

My pic above shows my DR650 with hard GIVI bags. This ride was the one and only time I did any long rides with them. Now I use only soft bags. When overloaded the dodgy off road handling of my DR gets even worse. But with soft bags and a load limit of around 65 lbs., the DR is not bad. Really surprised me. With the hard bags on that Baja ride, I had over 100 lbs. on board. :busted:

I know what you're saying about the DRZ reliability having owned the E and not one of my three buddies have had problems with their S models. The valves on my DRZ never even needed adjustment. I checked them once a year ... they never moved! :applause:

The tough young Brit guys are really getting around on the DRZ-S. Russia, Mongolia, Africa and Latin America. Most are running the stock seat. Kids!
Tough buggers. The DRZ means you really have to pack light. A good thing.

I am NOT GOOD at packing light but am learning. My next Baja trip will be on my WR250F, but only about a ten day ride. But still, we have no chase truck so you have to bring it all with you, including tubes and tools. I've got a system worked out, hope it works. I have the Acerbis tank which should give me 150 plus miles on the little 250F. I'm using tank panniers and a back
back. NO sub frame on the WR250F. Problem with that bike is very low gearing. On the road it sucks. The good news is, on this Baja ride it will be about 85% dirt. I can only go about 45 mph comfortably without over revving. The bike will not pull taller gearing.

But for S. America (in a year or two) I would prefer my DR650. Lots of highway. I won't be exploring the Alti Plano for any single track, just trying to make it out to some more remote villages and sites. Buses and trucks usually make it to most places there, so the DR650 should make it too.

Mud seems to be the show stopper on my DR650. Around Moab a couple years ago, Mud got tough. I suck at riding mud on a heavy bike. Here, once again, the DRZ would have the advantage.

Cheers!


Day Tripping in Death Valley


Baja north of Alphonsina's

Fighting the deep sand in Baja, near Catavina

My new BMW X Challenge (with a modified seat!) is a great longrange touring bike. I'd take it on any trip I've done on my V Strom, including Alaska.

My DRZ400s would not be my choice. The lack of a 6th gear, or wider spaced gearbox cancels it for a long distance bike. I know it can be done, but.............. I kinow it is a very reliable fun bike and all that. I love mine, but hate it ON the road. Yes I have done some 200 mile days. however on my WeeStrom I have done 500+ mille days and felt better than the 200 on the DRZ. No the Strom won't do the dirt like the DRZ, but most long distance rides involve a much higher mix of slab that single track or even bad dirt. So my pick would be a more slab freindly, and dirtable bike, rather than a dirt bike that is streetable. Lots of very good choices out there too.

I use my DR, with the stock seat:moon: . I've tried the wally world atv seat and it was useless, besides I'm limited by fuel and that gives my ass time to get the feeling back. These are my usual setups, I have a tail bag now so I won't be using the backpack anymore.

Here,s mine! This sucky economy is keeping me from getting out!:foul: :foul:

Here's mine...



Haven't done 6 months on it yet, but I spend as much time on it as I can. The photo above was taken on a week-long trip through NV and OR in May.




WoodsChick

Great bike, Woodschick. The te610 is on my short list of dual sport bikes i might be shopping for in '10.

That is one gnarly looking front tire! what is it?

I also like your minimalist style.. less is more.. If you don't need it, don't take it. It makes riding much more fun, the bike easier to pick up :eek:, & getting through tough terrain easier. I think it's also what motorcycle adventure riding is about.. the ride.. getting away from it all.. simplicity.. solitude & time for deep philosophical reflection.. :rolleyes: ok, 'when do i eat next?' is maybe the deepest thoughts i have.. :)

scotty:cool:

rydnseek said:

My front tire looks gnarly because it's a knobby on my 17" SM rims :lol:
It's a rear 120/90-17 Pirelli MT21.

Yeah, I didn't have a ton of gear on my bike on this trip. It does make it easier to pick up, that's for sure:busted: I usually have more stuff on it, like I did last weekend while camping up on the Eel River, but I forgot the camp chairs and didn't have to carry gas, though...



This was up at Middle Creek a few weeks ago for a camping trip. I really enjoy camping off the bike, as it allows me to find more remote campspots...




WoodsChick

Living in Missouri on blue collar wages, I don't get out west as much as I would like. Here in Missouri it's normally just weekend trips down to the ozarks. Personally I like motorcycles but I don't think I would want to live off one for 6months. Maybe it's just because I've driven trucks and done tree work off and on for years. Being in a truck traveling all over the country gets old after a couple years, especially in some of the none heated and none A/C trucks I've been stuck with for several years in a row. It gets old sleeping in single digit tempatures, waking up out of the warm sleeping bag to take a piss at night, sleeping with water bottles so you can actually drink something in the morning that's not frozen. Boots hurt your feet for the first hour because they are so damn cold. The flip side is heat. Sweating away buck naked in a bunk trying to sleep so you can drive later sucks. The asphaults hot, dozens of other trucks parked next to you with hot engines idleing away. Misqiutos eating you alive. Waking up in a pool sweat. The whole things get very old after awhile. As I said I enjoy motorcycles and enjoy exploring, but to be honest I'd rather explore in my 4x4 p/u with extended cab, so I don't have to set a tent up all the time or sleep on the ground. I have heat and A/C in my pick up which is nice. Don't have to worry about the daily rain storms like you get in Colorado, N.Arizona, N. New Mexico during the summer, nor do you have to worry about icy or snowy roads in the winter. I have plenty of room for extra gas, food, tools, tires, etc, etc, without have to cram it in little saddlebags or strap down everywhere. Having said all that, I can't get the P/U in tight trails like I can a motorcycle and I can't afford the fuel cost of driving the P/U out west so when given the chance I ride the motorcycles and still have a good time. If traveling to explore remote places I take a dual sport. This pic is of a DR350 I took to Nevada.


On weekend trips where I'm gonna be hitting the nightlife I used to take this 900rr. No longer have this sportbike, but may be in the market for a newer one, just depends. That's my little boy. He now has a PW50 and loves it. He's one of the reason I may not go back to sportbikes.

oldmanb777 said:

Far as road conditions, kind of depends where in the world you end up riding, and how far afield you go. For Latin America for example, if you stay on main roads (Pan Am highway) it IS mostly paved. But you can do tons of dirt roads too in the interiors of all the Andean countries.

I owned two Vstroms, put over 70K on them. Great bikes and many are using the Stroms for RTW trips. Either way is good. :thumbsup:

2000 XR628, JE forged 10.5:1 piston in all new motor. Neil Hores suspension.
275 mile range w/ Acerbis 5.8 tank. Woody's Wheel Works... BD dualsport kit, Fuzeblocks FZ-1 powers Symtec grip heaters, GPS, accessory lighting, etc.







The build
http://www.advrider....ad.php?t=342595

KTMBlake, I love that instrument cluster, that's awesome. All my bikes have always been equiped with Vista Cruise throttle locks, 12V outlet, and voltage gauage. On my sportbike I used to keep a radar detector mounted on the windscreen. Because you can't hear the radar detector, I disconnected the speaker and soldered in a bright red light and mounted that on the very top of the windscreen, then took a small piece of rubber hose and glued it on top of the light to act as a sunscreen (kinda like the shades on a traffic light) so you could see the light during the day. It worked really good. If I ride trails at night on a dual sport, I put a Petzl headlamp on my helmet. It doesn't work good if your moving fast because the light is not bright enough, but for slow stuff it works great because the light shines where your looking. Like looking down at ruts, rocks, to the side, etc. One of these days I might have to put extra light up front that aim down and slighty to the side.

WoodsChick said:

I ride Middle Creek quite a bit.
Very cool set up. I hope you get the chance to go traveling on your bike for an extended period. How does the bike handle with the 17" knobbie up front?
Your pic looks like the Lost Coast ... ? :smirk: I been there!
Lost Coast Dual Sport Ride 2008.

KTMBlake said:

Nice set up BLake:banana: Hope you get a chance to test out that motor on a long ride somewhere! With a 275 mile range, you'll need a really good seat! Take care the pinging on barrel gas with that high compression motor! :prof:


Black Rock Desert, NV.

54321 said:

It's been all over the place...Big Bend Nat'l Park, Moab (used < 1/2 gas on the White Rim Trail), San Juans in CO, etc.
The compression is not an issue at elevation, it runs great on premium here, and I haven't heard a ping out of it down to 2,000' ASL.
One of the pictures is on 12,200' Kingston Peak, looking at 14,264' Mt. Evans in the clouds beyond. The current jetting works like a charm from 4,000' (Moab) up to over 13,000' (Imogene Pass)

The seat foam is a bit firm....but I've done many 250-350 mile days on the bike in fairly gnarly terrain combined with jeep roads and smooth dirt. Not too bad on a geezer.

Black Rock Desert is cool. I used to live in Las Vegas for 8 yrs, and love desert riding.

54321 said:

Thanks, 54321. Yeah, Middle Creek was fun on the 610. We camped out in no-man's-land between Stony and MC. Trail 37 was great fun, especially on the way to the creek crossing! It's pretty incredible how nimble and capable the 610 is on trails. Not only is it lower than my other dirt bikes, it also has a shorter wheelbase making it way more flickable than one would think. The tight turning radius is second only to my GasGas, too :thumbsup:

The 17" knobby does slow the handling down, but it's not like I'm riding a regular dirtbike, ya know? It gives superb traction and it keeps me moving forward in mud and nasty crap, and that was the main objective. I run MT60's sometimes, too, but they do provide a bit of drama if the dirt is wet. They work really well in wet pavement and rocks, though :ride: I have them on in the Usal Road photo above. I love the Lost Coast. I camped at Mattole Beach for Thanksgiving for a few years in a row. We camped at Leggett, rode the tasty pavement to Usal, had lunch in Shelter Cove and then headed east to Alderpoint and Dyerville Loop, then on to the river. Speaking of wet rocks, this was our camp site:smirk:



And yeah, I'm hoping to do some extended traveling at some point, but the months-long trips might have to wait a few years. I'm planning on riding from Tecate to Cabo on dirt in December, but it might be on a more dirt-oriented bike as the SM can be a handful in Baja...




I like the Black Rock photo! I was riding at the extreme northern edge of it in May and I had a blast. Stunning scenery and not a soul to be seen. I did a 200-mile ride over the course of 13 hours and never saw another human being all day. My kind of place :ride:

WoodsChick

Love the northern California pics, Woodschick - I'm a norCal native, grew up in Monterey, Chico/Redding and I am back somewhere in CA at least twice a year to ride with old friends. (street)
Great stuff...

I can't believe the XR650R hasn't been mentioned yet. The only downside is that they can't be made street legal in all 50 states. Well, and maybe the lack of an electric starter.