DAMN Riders - No rules, Just ride!

Hello!

I'm out in Leesburg, VA (35 miles west of DC), and brand new to everything that has two wheels and no motor/pedals. I've been a lightweight backpacker for 20+ years with dreams of one day doing a multi-week trip, and a friend recently told me about the Trans-America Trail and showed me Ewan McGregor's "Long Way 'Round" series. Going a long distance off-road on a motorcycle packed with camping gear just seems to speak to me.

So how do I get started? I will need to learn how to ride and figure out what dual sport bike would be best for me. Are there any schools around the area where I can learn? What resources are out there that I should be looking into? Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!

-Brian

you found the right place to help! I suggest you start with a smaller dual-sport bike and learn how to handle offroad on a light bike before you commit to a larger adventure style bike. Handling a big pig offroad is challenging. learn on something smaller (and cheaper).

second there are a lot of dual-sport rides around such as the Shenandoah 500. Riding that is a great learning experience too.

I'm sure a lot of others will weigh in too!

Kyler's spot on.

For a beginner getting into dualsport / adventure riding, I would go with either a DRZ400S or KLR650. Both can do roads, highways, trails, and carry luggage, and you can find good samples of both for under $3k. How you plan on dividing up your time between these activities would lean your choice toward one or the other, which if you read this thread does a better job than I could at helping make that choice --

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=33023

But really, if you're just starting out, you can't go wrong with either. (Unless you are doing tight single track on a KLR or long desert highway runs on a DRZ.)


Thanks,

~Patrick

First place to start is a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Beginning Rider Course. They usually do them in the community colleges. They provide a bike and basically provide you with enough instruction to be reasonably safe operating on the road.

After that, it's time to shop bikes and gear. In my opinion, the gear is more important than the bike, don't forget to budget for it. For the bike, I'd look at an older DRZ400S, DR650SE, or KLR, with my preference being for the DRZ. (And I own a KLR and a DR650.) The DRZ is an amazingly competent bike at nearly everything except long highway stretches. In reality, there are a lot of good bikes out there that would work for you.

Ok, so it sounds like even for an absolute beginner, something in the 250cc class such as a Honda CRF250L would not be the place to start. If it helps, I'm 5'10" and 170 lbs with 32" inseam. I have no desire to be out mingling with cars on the highways, so I'd say this would be 90/10 off-road, with the 10% being a necessity of refueling/resupplying and then right back on the dirt ASAP (it may have to be more than 10%, but I really want to stay away from cars, and I think that might be the only way I get buy-in from the Mrs. Plus, being 42 years old, my "need for speed" has long been eclipsed by my need to keep my skin right where it belongs).

Thanks for the lead about community colleges having a riding course. I see that NOVA CC in my area indeed has a class, and I'll be looking into that. It has also been suggested that I think about buying something like a Yamaha TTR125 and learning to ride that, and then selling it and moving up to a dual sport. I'm not sure what you guys think of that idea.

What do I need to know in terms of gear, and how can I start learning about it and making proper selections? I see tons of stuff out there in terms of helmets, gloves, pants, boots, jackets, etc., but I don't know a $150 pair of boots from a $500 pair, and same with helmets and so on...

As for desert road vs. single track, vs. the Road of Bones... What all is out there? And how do I avoid limiting myself by buying the "wrong" bike? I'll look into the Shenandoah 500--that sounds interesting! Is there much in the way of off-road trails around our area, or am I going to also have to trailer the bike halfway across the country to fully be able to use it on awesome long-distance trails (although that also has some appeal...)?

Again, being brand new to all this, I appreciate anything I can learn here!

I have to jump back in. Start on a 450 or 400 then move up. I had a KLR650 and is SUCKS to learn offroad riding on it.

a DRZ400 would be a good choice.

If you're 90/10 dirt something like a KTM like the one trailsrider has for sale is WAY lighter than any of the bikes mentioned but may be a little tall unless you find a pre 2008 model. Also a WR250R is IMO better than a DRZ BUT a DRZ isn't a bad bike - just a little porkey.

I don't know what you're working with for budget, and having to clear things with a significant other introduces additional hurdles.

I suggested DRZ because they've been out for a long time, so you can get one for not a lot of money, and they're brick outhouse reliable. It's a small enough bike to do some serious off-road in the right hands (we had a guy ride the Green Marble on a brand new one still on the stock tires.) It's a big enough bike to put luggage on without it dramatically affecting the rideability. If you were to buy just one bike and learn to ride, then proceed to ride it XC, it would be my top choice.

Now, if your budget allows, buy a trials bike, learn to ride it well. After that, any off-road oriented bike will be much easier to master.

You mentioned the TAT and talked about multiday rides. Unless you are hauling it out west, the best you can hope for would be closer to 50/50 street/trail. (Gravel roads are still streets.)

No hate on the 250 bikes here, just that most that are capable of doing what you are talking about are newer, hence, more expensive. If you have the budget, knock yourself out, they're pretty much all good bikes.

thetable wrote:I don't know what you're working with for budget, and having to clear things with a significant other introduces additional hurdles.

That's pretty much spot on. I want to be sure that this is something where the "dream" is going to match reality, and I am indeed going to enjoy it before I jump all the way in with my checkbook in hand. For that reason, I think your logic is right on track. The 250cc bikes such as the Honda CRF250L and the Yamaha WR250R are newer and in the WR's case, a lot more money--at least compared to a $3200 used DRZ.

That's one of the reasons I like the suggestion of taking the NOVA CC motorcycle class, because it gives me a place to start getting a taste of reality on a bike without a large investment and lets me be a bit more certain that this is what I want to do.

Of course, if reality is that 50% of my riding is going to have to be on the streets... that's not quite the dream I was having at the outset. I realize the TAT would be something I'd only get to do once (the kids are still young and can't have dad gone for a month at a time), so I really have to consider what regular riding opportunities I'd have closer to home and then ask myself whether that would be enough to justify the financial investment. I'd hate to spend thousands only to have the bike and gear sit in the garage and be used just once or twice a year.

If you want to have more of a street legal dirt bike (90/10), then I agree with Sam. Go smaller and lighter. 250's are fine. Honda's new CRF250L is nice and Yamaha's WR250 dual sport is even better.
However both of those are still heavier then a true off-road only bike. It kinda depends on what you want to do. Even with a small street legal bike you probably still end up hauling it a few hours to ride dirt somewhere.
If you are on more of a budget then a cheap used DRZ400 might be the way to go but don't go any heavier than that.
Some off-road only bikes can be a bit cheaper too but you won't have a tag. Some people don't care about the tag but others at least like the option of being street legal.


Someone else mentioned it but the KTM200 in the flea market section is a really nice bike set up for trail riding AND has a tag. The recluse clutch might really help out a noob too.

Learn to ride on these smaller bike and later buy a big heavy adventure touring bike and go on grand adventures...