This was a blog I wrote for CSC about 6 years ago, and it’s still relevant. Earlier this year I posted a photo showing my Harley in Baja and Gresh made a good comment: Any motorcycle you take a trip on is an adventure motorcycle. I agree with that. The earlier blogs on my Harley Softail had me thinking about this question again: What is the perfect motorcycle?
Cruisers. Standards. Sports bikes. Dirt bikes. Dual sports. Big bikes. Small bikes. Whoa, I’m getting dizzy just listing these.
The Good Old Days
In the old days, it was simple. There were motorcycles. Just plain motorcycles. You wanted to ride, you bought a motorcycle. And they were small, mostly. I started on a 90cc Honda (that’s me in that photo to the right). We’d call it a standard today, if such a thing still existed.
Then it got confusing. Bikes got bigger. Stupidly so, in my opinion. In my youth, a 650 was a huge motorcycle, and the streets were ruled by bikes like the Triumph Bonneville and the BSA Lightning. Today, a 650 would be considered small. The biggest Triumph today has a 2300cc engine. I don’t follow the Harley thing anymore, but I think their engines are nearly that big, too. The bikes weigh close to half a ton. Half a ton!
I’ve gone through an evolution of sorts on this topic. Started on standards, migrated into cruisers after a long lapse, went to the rice rockets, then morphed into dual sports.
Cruisers and Adventure Bikes
The ADV bug hit me hard about 15 years ago. I’d been riding in Baja a lot and my forays occasionally took me off road. Like many folks who drifted back into motorcycles in the early 1990s, the uptick in Harley quality bit me. As many of us did, I bought my obligatory yuppie bike (the Heritage Softail) and the accompanying zillion t-shirts (one from every Harley dealer along the path of every trip I ever took). I had everything that went along with this kind of riding except the tattoo (my wife and a modicum of clear thinking on my part drew the line there). Leather fringe, the beanie helmet, complimentary HOG membership, and the pot belly. I was fully engaged.
Unlike a lot of yuppie riders of that era, though, I wasn’t content to squander my bucks on chrome, leather fringe, and the “ride to live, live to ride” schlock. I wanted to ride, and ride I did. All over the southwestern US and deep into Mexico. Those rides were what convinced me that maybe an 800+ lb cruiser was not the best bike in the world for serious riding…
The Harley had a low center of gravity, and I liked that. It was low to the ground, and I didn’t like that. And it was heavy. When that puppy started to drift in the sand, I just hung on and hoped for the best. Someone was looking out for me, because in all of that offroading down there in Baja, I never once dropped it. As I sit here typing this, enjoying a nice hot cup of coffee that Susie just made for me, I realize that’s kind of amazing.
The other thing I didn’t like about the Harley was that I couldn’t carry too much stuff on it without converting that bike into a sort of rolling bungee cord advertisement. The bike’s leather bags didn’t hold very much, the Harley’s vibration required that I constantly watch and tighten their mounting hardware, and the whole arrangement really wasn’t a good setup for what I was doing. The leather bags looked cool, but that was it. It was bungee cords and spare bags to the rescue on those trips…
Sports Bikes
The next phase for me involved sports bikes. They were all the rage in the early 90s and beyond, but to me they basically represent the triumph of marketing hoopla over common sense. I bought a Suzuki TL1000S (fastest bike I ever owned), and I toured Baja with it. It would be hard to find a worse bike for that kind of riding. The whole sports bike thing, in my opinion, was and is stupid. You sit in this ridiculous crouched over, head down position, and if you do any kind of riding at all, by the end of the day your wrists, shoulders, and neck are on fire. My luggage carrying capacity was restricted to a small tankbag and a ridiculous-looking tailbag.
I was pretty hooked on the look, though, and I went through a succession of sports bikes, including the TL1000S, a really racy Triumph Daytona 1200 (rode that one from Mexico to Canada), and a Triumph Speed Triple. Fast, but really dumb as touring solutions, and even dumber for any kind of off road excursion.
Phase III for me, after going through the Harley “ride to live” hoopla and the Ricky Racer phases, was ADV riding and dual sport bikes. The idea here is that the bike is equally at home on the street or in the dirt. Dual purpose…dual sport. I liked the idea, and I thought it would be a winner for my kind of riding.
A BMW GS versus Triumph’s Tiger
The flavor of the month back then was the BMW GS. I could never see myself on a Beemer, but I liked the concept. I was a Triumph man back in those days, and the Triumph Tiger really had my attention. A couple of my friends were riding the big BMW GS, but I knew I didn’t want a Beemer. In my opinion, those bikes are overpriced. The Beemers are heavy (over 600 lbs on the road), they have a terrible reputation for reliability, and I think they looked goofy. The Tiger seemed to be a better deal than the Beemer, and it sure had the right offroad look. Tall, an upright seating position (I had enough of that sports bike nonsense), and integrated luggage. So, I bit the bullet and shelled out something north of $10K back in ’06 for this beauty…
The Triumph had a few things going for it…I liked the detachable luggage, it was fast, it got good gas mileage (I could go 200+ miles between gas stations), and did I mention it was fast?
The Tiger’s Shortfalls
Looks can be deceiving, though, and that Tiger was anything but an off-road bike. It was still well over 600 lbs on the road with a full tank of gas, and in the soft stuff, it was terrifying. I never dropped the Triumph, but I sure came close one time. On a ride out to the Old Mill in Baja (a really cool old hotel right on the coast a couple hundred miles south of the border), the soft sand was bad. Really bad. Getting to the Old Mill involved riding through about 5 miles of soft sand, and it scared the stuffing out of me. I literally tossed and turned all night worrying about the ride out the next morning. It’s not supposed to be like that, folks.
And the Tiger was tall. Too tall, in my opinion. I think all of the current dual sport bikes are too tall. I guess the manufacturers do that because their marketing studies show a lot of basketball players buy dual sports. Me? I don’t play basketball and I never cared for a seat that high. Just getting on the Tiger was scary. After throwing my leg over the seat, I’d fight to lean the bike upright, and not being able to touch the ground on the right side until I had the thing upright was downright unnerving. I never got over that initial “getting on the bike” uneasiness. What were those engineers thinking?
The other thing that surprised me about the Tiger was that it was uncomfortable. The seat was hard (not comfortably hard, like a well designed seat should be, but more like sitting on small beer keg), and the foot pegs were way too high. I think they did that foot peg thing to make the bike lean over more, but all it did for me was make me feel like I was squatting all day. Not a good idea.
Kawasaki’s KLR 650
I rode the Tiger for a few years and then sold it. Even before I sold it, though, I had bought a new KLR 650 Kawasaki. It was a big step down in the power department (I think it has something like 34 or 38 horsepower), but I had been looking at the KLR for years. It seemed to be right…something that was smaller, had a comfortable riding position, and was reasonably priced (back then, anyway).
I had wanted a KLR for a long time, but nobody was willing to let me ride one. That’s a common problem with Japanese motorcycle dealers. And folks, this boy ain’t shelling out anything without a test ride first. I understand why they do it (they probably see 10,000 squids who want a test ride for every serious buyer who walks into a showroom), but I’m old fashioned and crotchety. I won’t buy anything without a test ride. This no-test-ride thing kept me from pulling the trigger on a KLR for years. When I finally found a dealer who was willing to let me ride one (thank you, Art Wood), I wrote the check and got on the road…and the off road…
My buddy John and I have covered a lot of miles on our KLRs through Baja and elsewhere. I still have my KLR, but truth be told, I only fire it up three or four times a year. It’s a big bike. Kawi says the KLR is under 400 lbs, but with a full tank of gas on a certified scale, that thing is actually north of 500 lbs. I was shocked when I saw that on the digital readout. And, like all of the dual sports, the KLR is tall. It still gives me the same tip-over anxiety as the Tiger did when I get on it. And I know if I ever dropped it, I’d need a crew to get it back on its feet.
That thing about dropping a bike is a real consideration. I’ve been lucky and I haven’t dropped a bike very often. But it can happen, and when it does, it would be nice to just be able to pick the bike up.
Muddy Baja
On one of our Baja trips, we had to ride through a puddle that looked more like a small version of Lake Michigan. I got through it, but it was luck, not talent. My buddy Dave was not so lucky…he dropped his pristine Yamaha mid-puddle…
The fall broke the windshield and was probably a bit humiliating for Dave, but the worst part was trying to lift the Yamaha after it went down. Slippery, muddy, wet…knee deep in a Mexican mudbath. Yecchh! It took three of us to get the thing upright and we fell down several times while doing so. Thinking back on it now, we probably looked pretty funny. If we had made a video of it, it probably would have gone viral.
The Perfect Bike: A Specification
So, where is this going…and what would my definition of the perfect touring/dual sport/ADV bike be?
Here’s what I’d like to see:
Something with a 250cc to 500cc single-cylinder engine. My experience with small bikes as a teenager and my more recent experience has convinced me that this is probably the perfect engine size. Big engines mean big bikes, and that kind of gets away from what a motorcycle should be all about. Water cooled would be even better. The Kawi KLR is water cooled, and I like that.
A dual sport style, with a comfortable riding position. No more silly road racing stuff. I’m a grown man, and when I ride, I like to ride hundreds of miles a day. I want my bike to have a riding position that will let me do that.
A windshield. It doesn’t have to be big…just something that will flip the wind over my helmet. The Kawi and the Triumph got it right in that department.
Integrated luggage. The Triumph Tiger got that part right. The KLR, not so much.
Light weight. Folks, it’s a motorcycle…not half a car. Something under 400 lbs works for me. If it gets stuck, I want to be able to pull it out of a puddle. If it drops, I want to be able to pick it up without a hoist or a road crew. None of the current crop of big road bikes meets this requirement.
Something that looks right and is comfortable. I liked the Triumph’s looks. But I want it to be comfortable.
Something under $5K. Again, it’s a motorcycle, not a car. My days of dropping $10K or so on a motorcycle are over. I’ve got the money, but I’ve also got the life experiences that tell me I don’t need to spend stupidly to have fun.
It was maybe a year after that blog that the RX3 came on the scene, and it answered the mail nicely. A year or two after the RX3 hit the scene, BMW, Kawasaki, and one or two others introduced smaller ADV motorcycles. I commented that these guys were copying Zongshen. One snotty newspaper writer told me I was delusional if I thought BMW, Kawi, and others copied Zongshen. I think that’s exactly what happened, but I don’t think they did as good a job as Zongshen did.
If you’ve got an opinion, please leave a comment. We’d love to hear from you!
Never miss an ExhaustNotes blog! Sign up here…
How often do you ride two-up? Is that a consideration in the bikes you select?
I almost never ride two-up, Larry.
I’m not sure who said it but there is an old saying that goes something like this: “I’m not sure what the key to success is, but I am sure the key to failure is trying to please everyone.”
As a maturing teen in the early 70’s, nearly everything that I learned about riding happened on a 1969 Yamaha enduro 125cc (AT1E). Back then, it wasn’t about features, it was about price.
My mom, sister , grandmother, great-grandmother and some cousins all lived in a $50 per month, two bedroom house in Orlando, Florida. I remember mom shopping for a car at Johnny Bolton Ford in 1967. There was a brand new 1967 Shelby GT500 on the showroom floor…. $4700. Mom said: “who would buy a car that costs as much as a house?” I’m guessing the wage for a Southern Bell telephone operator wasn’t very high in 1967.
The 125 Yamaha Enduro was my dirt bike, my street bike, adventure, cruiser…. everything all rolled up in one. The bike had its limits, but I didn’t.
Nowadays, we seem to be looking for the Swiss Army knife of bikes. Those knives have a lot of options, but every option is a compromise. Yea, it’s got a saw blade on it, but I wouldn’t want to try cutting a tree down with it.
It’s 2019 and I can afford any bike I want. In the stable is a 2009 Suzuki 650 vstrom (probably my favorite street bike), a 2017 Honda Africa Twin (bought because of the hype) and a 1971 Yamaha 360 enduro… the bike I would trust my life with.
The 360 is the perfect physical size, has the grunt of a tractor, and will do about 65 mph. The power is totally predictable and controllable. No need to row through the gearbox, just keep on twisting the throttle. It will keep on shoveling out the torque without bogging down.
So….. if I could have my wish…
I would like a new bike exactly like that 360, with a few upgrades:
1. Fuel injection (who wants to mess with rejetting as the altitude changes?)
2. 80mph cruising speed
Things NOT to change….
1. Weight (ok to be lighter, just not heavier)
2. Low end Torque (ok to have more)
3. Physical size.
4. Two stroke (instant power)
I’ll end it here. I got to get to my real job that pays the bills. After all, who could make a living as a writer??!
Awesome. Thanks for your insights. Or should I say incites? Well done.
I agree with DEET on the old DT’s and what they offered. The modern version might be a WR250 – I had a 2017 for a couple years until I ran out of room in the garage.
The garage only has room for one and my bike of choice is the bike I’ve shared more adventures on than any other – my 2007 Caspian Blue Tiger 1050. It’s the perfect machine for me. Over 76,000 miles of trouble-free riding from Nova Scotia to Florida to Arkansas and everywhere in between – highway cruising over 90 on selected interstates, minimum maintenance dirt/rut “Roads” in rural Rhode Island, curvy fast trips down The Snake and The Tail, etc., etc. etc. Perfectly comfortable for me on 800 mile days, powerful, fast, and plenty of cargo space for extra Yoo-Hoo.
I have told the kids I want to be buried ON that bike.
Great inputs, and Fred, we have not forgotten about the Yoo-Hoo product review. It’s in the queue.
Regarding burial instructions, I’ve left mine with the family, too. I want to be stuffed by a competent taxidermist. With bullshit. And I want a motor put on my mouth. That way I can keep on writing the blog and posting stuff on Facebook.
I’m a big fat guy. I do have a 02 Goldwing for two up. But i’ll admit it’s nice for solo camping, as long as I ride on nothing worse than some gravel.
I don’t like super tall bikes. That leaves out the CRF250L I really like. The XT250, but I think they are kind of pricy for what they are. I can buy a new CRF250l for less than a XT250.
That all said, my next bike may be a TT250 or the San Gabriel with some kind of dual sport tires on it.
Thanks, Ron. The guys at CSC will be happy to hear that.
After being on street bikes for over 40 years I totally get this. I have never found and doubt if I ever will find a perfect bike. They are all a compromise of some sort. But the closest I have ever come is a — drum roll please— Yamaha XS650 twin!. I used to be a motorcycle messenger here in Los Angeles and bought one to replace a CB 350 Four that I had ridden the wheels off of. I found myself very pleased with the balance of power , weight and handling. And in spite of the vibration, it was comfortable to ride 200 to 250 miles a day through LA traffic. Less wide than the four cylinders common at that time, it was a great lane splitter and got very good gas mileage. I took it on a highway trip to Monterey and found that the engine had a sweet spot vibration wise at about 65-75 mph and that it made a fairly good tourer. Much to my surprise, that bike did everything well except go off road but I did take through some soft sand up in Lancaster going to a camping site and it did much better than I thought it would. Rock solid reliable , it wasn’t great at anything, just real competent at almost everything.
I had one of those, too, Bob. Loved it.
Hard to beat an RT360. It’s the bugout bike. And it smokes!
Your stories and the responses have made my day it brings back a lot of memories with one of my favorite bikes was a 76 Suzuki TS 400 two-stroke I bought for $490 some of my other favorite thousand Kawasaki‘s I also had a 1200 Suzuki bandit which was a fast sport bIke As the world turns I currently have a 2011 650 Suzuki V Strom and 14 Harley ultra because my wife still likes to ride kudos fellows have a great day
Lol. I don’t want to be stuck in the desert with a rock causing be to be leaking violent miles from the closest abandoned mining town . Otherwise I pretty much understand and agree with everything you wrote. I have fond memories of a KR? 175 I once owned . I don’t ride far anymore . By back doesn’t allow it and I get bored with long rides anyway . But I still love to rip thru the gears now and then on bikes that have a vintage sound. I am starting the process of thinning the heard. But one machine I may keep. 1972 triumph Daytona . A 500cc bike of pure class and ride ability . At the moment I still have a fat boy . And a shovel head . And others . But the , what I call dressers , the baggers, are gone. What I want at 67yo is light fun vintage grunt I can get a leg over . And is visually appealing .
Hey, if you ever want to sell that Daytona, let me know. I, too, owned a ’68 500cc Daytona (the baby Bonneville). One of the best bikes ever. Loved it.
That “yo” thing…we just watched all five seasons of Breaking Bad. Some of it stuck. Yo.
Sorry for the typos . Leaking coolent. Ridability .
Yo, it’s a blog. Don’t worry about typos. Gresh and I don’t.
Easy to understand the choices and missteps made on bikes. $$ influences decisions, always that balance of Me/Family and utility. Along the way, I’ve learned that keeping older Great bikes takes time, money, and a garage. No garage and it gets worse. I’ve had some of the bikes listed above, Miss my 1200s Bandit with Givi bags. Fastest bike I’ve owned, great steady power delivery. My beater XS650 with throwover bags took me anywhere, without real power. Got into shaft drive Yamahas for awhile. Maxim, XS1100, Virago (3) and then hit a sweet spot with a neglected XS750. All used the throwover bags. Some had a back rack. The XS750 was light enough, got mileage (1100 low mpg) and made my aging back and knees enjoy the ride. Ugly, rusty, and in need of much work. Haven’t found anything that matched that for me since. Now have a CSC RX3, Honda CTX700n and a BMW R1150rs. My body won’t let me ride the beemer (want one?) so it has to go. Other two, I need to just pick one and make it work for me. Both have good points, including astounding mpg and reliability. I’m in NY, season is over, salt comes soon.
Good inputs, Steve, and thanks for throwing your thoughts and experience into the mix.
Right now, singles and twins are my preference. Liquid cooling and fuel injection has really changed things for the better. Bikes with lower weight and easier to mount. There is a bike out there for everyone, or a modification to help. Whatever gets you in the seat and in the wind more is the best bike
I’ve a neglected Yammie SR500 in the garage. Put on plenty of 400-500 mile days on it although 2 to 300 is a sweet spot. Set of throwover bags and a duffle on the back turned the trick.
Had a 69 Daytona 500, took it through Europe 200 miles a day, but after a bunch of miles it became very unreliable.
Two bikes come to mind, the CSC and the Himalayan, both would be perfect for dual sporting it and some highway miles, either should be no problem hanging off the back of the motorhome till I got to base camp.
But so might the SR I’ve got!
And then I just saw a story of two guys with Zero dual sports, doing those 200 mile days through Europe. Hmmm.
I always wanted an SR500. Never rode one. Might destroy the fantasy if I did.