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

Hold everything. Having had about a dozen of these things, what has worked the best for me is an aluminum flat bed trailer and a street legal CT110 Honda with lower gearing and full knobby tires. First off a single cylinder is not nearly as smooth as a twin and it will be screaming out on the highway. Highways are not fun with a light weight dirt bike with dirt tires. Then what are you doing going 55 mph through the woods? Faster bikes go faster and crashes happen. Been there with a Husqvarna CR360 two stroke. The Honda XR350R or 250 Bultaco Matador had the best power band for the woods, but they weren't street legal and too heavy. Choose a four stroke that you can reach the ground from with good suspension. I'm just replacing walking these days communing with nature with a smaller trail bike, not out to see how fast I can get down a dirt road. Highways are for cars, trucks and the bigger bikes and not so much the bikes either. Did that too and never again.

Hold on! What are Jim's trails?

Most important question..........

Go on a scouting trip and define the speeds that you will need to maintain on the paved roads to avoid becoming a smear..
Factor that in your decision.

Main requirements are:
- Total noob at any kind of off road riding so it has to be easy to ride, emphasis on easy.
- Getting older so don't need or want to go fast or long distances off road and don't want to go on long camping trips, just putt putt at---> ''''''' 10-25 mph on logging roads and trails for a few hours''''''-----. I quit being immortal 15 years ago so not gonna do anything crazy.
- I'm only 5' 9" so a lower seat height is better.
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No such thing as 'running out of suspension' cruising logging roads ,, 'getting bounced off of the trail?' = adjust your rebound setting - slower .

The quiet reliable 80MPG , low seat height TW200 with a rear rack made right in your neck of the woods would be a great bike .
I'm 6' 3'' and wouldn't choose anything over the tw from what you say you want.need .

I sold my TW to my brother last week, an '012 with 168 miles, had a bunch of strokes, no riding. Not good for hiways , too slow.

Get a Beta 300 x-trainer and skip the rest of those bikes...trust me on this. I have ridden them all and the some...for a living at one point as a Trail Ranger for IDPR fwtw.

Dave

Or maybe a CR500R or KX500R

Perfect bike for cruising logging roads .

This is definitely the way to go. Fast and fugging furious! Make a statement on your way to the Pearly Gates! Get some!

I love that video.

Note to the peanut gallery. "Logging roads" is a highly variable term... Forest singletrack or high desert two-tracks? Come on Jim, buy something already!

Tanks for watching our wideo.

I think I'm going to buy a 250L and drive out to tikka land this fall.

There’s a schit ton of cool little play bikes on the market.

If your mostly riding dirt a little TTr or CRF 230 size bike would be fun with a DS kit. Assuming Idaho is easy to DS a bike?

Idaho must be a free state. Washington was following California, no DS kits! Submit!

Suzuki DRZ 400 Supermoto.

It’s stupid easy in WA.

https://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/offroadmotorcycles.html


Put lights, horn, and dot tires on your 2 stroke YZ250 and have at it.

That's a good question, they'd be the same kind I used to ride my little ATV on.

Hundreds of miles of this available:


Combined with a fair bit of this:


And this:


But not this::


And absolutely not this:

Was out working on the range this morning and as I was driving back I followed a small pickup with one of those motorcycle hitch carriers and some kind of dirt bike on it. Seemed like a good setup.

That seems like it might be the best way of all to go. Combine a light, easy riding motorcycle like the TW200 with a single bike hitch carrier. That takes the highway driving completely out of the picture since I could drive my CRV anywhere, even a couple of hours away to get to a trail head and go from there. A smaller bike and the hitch still wouldn't exceed a 350 tongue weight which is what my little Honda is rated for.

It also opens the door to full blown off road bikes but those all tend to be pretty high except the smallest models made for kids.

Thanks again for all the replies so far, lots to think about. Half the fun in buying something new is doing the research like this.