Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Small dual sport motorcycle

Jim, if riding there is like riding here deer happen, (I had one jump over my front fender) other hot shoe ATV and bikers happen coming the other way, logs at an angle to the trail or hidden in the grass throw you off the bike, bear hunters in pickups who think they own the road take up the whole road, slippery leaves or gravel gets exciting. You don't want to be going like that idiot in the video, but they are out there and don't stay on their side of the trail. A kick starter is a real comfort to have when the battery fails like when you drop the bike and it floods. You just want to explore maybe scouting for deer or fishing spots, not kill the environment or yourself in the process. I figure that if I did something stupid out on the trails it was all on me. I had too many close calls on street bikes when someone in a car did something stupid for me to ever want any part of riding a motorcycle in traffic again.

Those little bikes aren't just for kids either. My old Honda SL125 went 55mph or so, but I like to gear them down for better lower end. I haven't gone shopping lately, but what I didn't like was how tall the newer dirt bikes were getting. Sure good suspension matters, but you don't need 9" of travel if you go slower and can't reach the ground. Lots of guys here have those older Honda Trail 90's or CT110's with that big rack on the back, automatic clutch four speed and dual speed high and low range transmission. I was elk hunting out in Colorado once and a guy had a whole cow elk hanging on the meat pole. I asked him how he got that thing out whole and he told me to go look behind his camper. There sat a Honda Trail 90. Nuff said.