Winter Riding

[matts1050]

This has been a good winter to be riding. I was out today-did 100 miles on my DR650. I've put on about 800 miles since December. Heated gear makes it very pleasant. The trees are bare, feels desolate sometimes but I'm happy to be out in it! Here's a pic of River Rd in West Cornwall.

[sevy]

Looks great - I'm jealous! A little farther north we have bare ground, but the frost heaves and the sand and salt on the road don't make for very good riding. I also do not have heated gear, although I have ridden into the 30's and survived. While I have really enjoyed only running the snowblower one time this winter, I hope this does not mean a drought ahead during the summer months. Another month to 6 weeks, and we should be good to go here. Watch out for black ice!

[mark]

I got out for 120 miles on the Tiger yesterday. Felt great. Can't wait to be able to ride every weekend again, or better yet, daily.

--mark

[matts1050]

It's good to hear you're back on your feet(literally), Mark. It's been great getting out. My kind of winter. How has VT been doing fixing up the roads?

[sevy]

Mark - I was sorry to read about your two accidents; first the wrists and now the leg - you must be one tough SOB! Also sorry to hear about your father's bike getting trashed. I see your posts now and again while I am passing the hours reading over on ADV, and you always seem to have some excellent comments and early info regarding the new Triumph models. Have any of your sources mentioned the possibility of a smaller output Tiger Cub? I remember some speculation that the new 800 Tiger might head in that direction early in the rumor stage, but of course it ended up being a midsize.
I am really on the fence with just what I want to do in terms of a new bike in a few years. My 99 Legend has been great for long trips and even some gravel and dirt roads, and I do all my own wrenching on it, so I get a great deal of pleasure out of it as is. Still, when I read the offroad ride reports and start dreaming about the translab and all the great dirt stuff out west, I start thinking about something that is dirt oriented. Since I am 53 and have no dirt experience, I am leaning toward a smaller bike than the 800XC, although I would dearly love to stay with a Triumph. Since you have so much experience, can you offer any advice?

[mark]

It's good to hear you're back on your feet(literally), Mark. It's been great getting out. My kind of winter. How has VT been doing fixing up the roads?

Apparently they've done a great job rebuilding the roads that got washed out by Irene last year, but they've clearly been focusing all their efforts there, because some of the roads up in my current neck of the woods (Georgia/Fairfax/Westford area) are fucking appalling.

Mark - I was sorry to read about your two accidents; first the wrists and now the leg - you must be one tough SOB! Also sorry to hear about your father's bike getting trashed.

We were trying to get rid of that bike anyway. It was just a cheap old bike I'd picked up for my dad to get back into riding, and in the meantime he'd bought my Wee-Strom off me, so the Kawi needed to go. Reason I was riding it that day was because I'd taken it to work to show my boss, who was interested in picking up a cheap beginner bike.

As for the accidents... thankfully modern orthopedics have made bones much easier to fix! The wrist is totally fine now, and the femur is all healed up and my leg is regaining strength. I won't be running any marathons anytime soon, but I can walk normally.

I see your posts now and again while I am passing the hours reading over on ADV, and you always seem to have some excellent comments and early info regarding the new Triumph models. Have any of your sources mentioned the possibility of a smaller output Tiger Cub? I remember some speculation that the new 800 Tiger might head in that direction early in the rumor stage, but of course it ended up being a midsize.

I think whatever speculation existed in that regard was pure wishful thinking. I would be very surprised if it happened. It's just not Triumph's market. They would have to develop a chassis and engine from scratch, and there's no reason to. Triumph has built its reputation on its twins and triples, and there's really no good way to build a smaller/lighter dual-sport bike with a multi-cylinder engine. You either end up with a big, heavy beast like the KTM 950 Super Enduro or the Tiger 800 XC or the F800GS so you may as well give it better street manners and position it as an ADV bike, or you end up with a seriously maintenance-intensive, highly-strung race bike like the Aprilia RXV. That's one of the reasons nearly all true dual-sport bikes have single-cylinder motors. And I just don't see Triumph getting into singles, and certainly not dirtbikes.

I am really on the fence with just what I want to do in terms of a new bike in a few years. My 99 Legend has been great for long trips and even some gravel and dirt roads, and I do all my own wrenching on it, so I get a great deal of pleasure out of it as is. Still, when I read the offroad ride reports and start dreaming about the translab and all the great dirt stuff out west, I start thinking about something that is dirt oriented. Since I am 53 and have no dirt experience, I am leaning toward a smaller bike than the 800XC, although I would dearly love to stay with a Triumph. Since you have so much experience, can you offer any advice?

I would recommend picking up a used dual-sport for the time being. Just keep an eye on Craigslist -- they come up constantly. Keep an eye out for something like a Suzuki DR350 or DR-Z400, Yamaha XT350, Kawasaki KLR250, and so on. You'd even do fine with a Suzuki DR650 or Honda XR650L -- just don't get a Kawi KLR650 as it's a heavy pig. The beauty of those used dual-sports is that if you keep an eye out, you can pick one up for around $2000 or less, spend some time riding it and getting used to being offroad, then resell it for about the same price you paid. Or if it's one of the smaller, lighter bikes like the DR-Z400, just keep it for dirt riding.

Then once you've got a little experience off pavement, buy the Tiger 800 XC and ride it with confidence. Just remember it's not a true dirtbike, so you won't want to go ride any gnarly single-track trails on it! But for long dirt road rides and more wide-open stuff, it's an awesome bike that's actually quite confidence-inspiring.

--mark

[sevy]

Mark,

Thanks for the feedback. I am pretty handy with a wrench, and maybe a DR350 would be a cheap and easy way to go. I love the Mondo Enduro approach - these guys could have grown up in the Adirondacks and been right at home with their recycled ammo can luggage and their seat-of-the-pants engineering. I have also read about the Yamaha WR250R, and that looks like another good choice in a slightly more modern design.

Here are two threads which you have probably read yourself that are good examples of what I have in mind for my future:

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=530858

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=647968

Can you see yourself doing these on your Tiger, or is one of the smaller bikes a more realistic choice?

Thanks so much for letting me pick your brain!

[mark]

Thanks for the feedback. I am pretty handy with a wrench, and maybe a DR350 would be a cheap and easy way to go. I love the Mondo Enduro approach - these guys could have grown up in the Adirondacks and been right at home with their recycled ammo can luggage and their seat-of-the-pants engineering. I have also read about the Yamaha WR250R, and that looks like another good choice in a slightly more modern design.

Yeah, the WR250R is a terrific bike. I'd actually love to pick one of those up. Only problem is it's a fairly new model and has only been out for maybe three years or so now; thus used ones are still commanding a fairly high price.

Here are two threads which you have probably read yourself that are good examples of what I have in mind for my future:

Yeah, Frank (DockingPilot) has put together some awesome trips. I got the route for that New England/New Brunswick one from him and would definitely like to check out parts of it at some point.

Can you see yourself doing these on your Tiger, or is one of the smaller bikes a more realistic choice?

I think the XC could definitely handle those. Obviously you'd want some experience dual-sport riding on an easier bike first, but the XC can do anything an F800GS can.

Thanks so much for letting me pick your brain!

Hey, it's a good thing we're chatting here because if you asked me in person, you'd never be able to get me to shut up.

--mark

[AtticaTiger]

Had the Silver Wing out a few times. Great bike for bopping around especially in cold weather. I'm thinking about an enduro or Scrambler myself. We have so may sweet dirt road and paths down in Allegany County that I pass up on the 1050.