Why did you buy a dual-sport?

[pterry]

No, No marketing schemes or data mining, it is for a research proposal paper. I'm really amazed the response time and information. It is a small start, but I am partial to dual sporters because I ride one, so I started here first.

Thank you again for your responses.

[bin]

Did you buy it for gas economy? No mines just a spare time toy.

Do you commute with it? I Have but not normally, don't like people to see my bike parked

Did you buy it only to ride to off road areas? no, to ride everywhere all seasons

Do you consider yourself an experienced rider? How many years? I have been riding 13 years owned 7 bikes and still learn new tricks in different situations ever ride.

Do you consider it safer than a full street bike? IMO Yes, lower speeds.

[54321]

No, No marketing schemes or data mining, it is for a research proposal paper. I'm really amazed the response time and information. It is a small start, but I am partial to dual sporters because I ride one, so I started here first.

Thank you again for your responses.

I guess it's the newsman in me ... but I have to ask why you won't answer my question? "a research proposal paper" is what you said in your first post.

Tells me exactly N O T H I N G!

Did you go to the Dick Cheney school of answering questions .. or what?? (AKA: Bold Face Lies) "A small start .." To what? What's the plan here bub.

I'll be more specific?

A research paper for WHAT? and for WHOM?

Are you being paid to gather this information? Do you plan to sell it?

There ... that should cover it.

[3inthedirt]

Had a dual sport first - 2002 Honda XR and sold it when I got a Sportster. Now I don't want that heavy beast and am looking for another XR. So much easier to toss around the road since I ride more back roads then long highway drives.

[davek18]

Therapy

[Windblown]

Did you buy it for gas economy? No.

Do you commute with it? No.

Did you buy it only to ride to off road areas? No.

Do you consider yourself an experienced rider? Yes.

How many years? More than I care to admit.

Do you consider it safer than a full street bike? On the street, no. Offroad, yes.

More info: I initially wanted one so I could ride to and then explore remote off-road areas. What I quickly learned was that there is no suitable compromise (for my wants) in the way of a decent long distance street bike and ALSO a decent bike to take deep off-road. These days I have two D/S bikes, they are plated mostly just to let me ride on the occasional gravel road or short piece of blacktop to connect off-road areas. I may get more of an "adventure" (don't care for the term much) bike and see how I get along with it. It won't be great off-road but at least most of them crash fairly well. That to me is their main benefit over taking a street bike off-road.

[pterry]

I guess it's the newsman in me ... but I have to ask why you won't answer my question? "a research proposal paper" is what you said in your first post.

Tells me exactly N O T H I N G!

Did you go to the Dick Cheney school of answering questions .. or what?? (AKA: Bold Face Lies) "A small start .." To what? What's the plan here bub.

I'll be more specific?

A research paper for WHAT? and for WHOM?

Are you being paid to gather this information? Do you plan to sell it?

There ... that should cover it.

Wow! Paranoid much? ?

I didn't ask anyone's social security #'s, income, name or occupation.

But for those who may have the same question...

I am only using this info for an assignment on a research proposal paper. If, at some time, I may be able to do a full research paper on this subject. I am not selling any information nor do I think this information would be relevant to any type of marketing. I was given the opportunity to go back to college at a good university for little money (due to a family connection to the college, not anyone's taxes) and I am now in upper division writing classes.

I thought this would be an exiting topic to write about, give me the motivation to write it and the information can be used at a later date in a full research paper. Further, I was hoping some fellow dualsporters would want to share their experiences and thoughts and help me out with my paper.

I did not want to make anyone uncomfortable about answering these questions.

I hope this thread can continue and I look forward to reading the responses.

Thank you.

[mikegigabyte]

I find dual sports to be the most comfortable for there size

sure you can get a cruiser that pretty comfortable but suspension forget about it

weight, too heavy to manuve at slow speeds

and flying off curbs, nope

maybe my dual sports seat is a touch uncomfortable but I can street ride it all day

and this newest one I have no plans to go offroad

suspension is like floating on air, I Love that

seating position is great

its for street and not offraod

mileage who cares I drive a work truck for work, bikes when im at home

so that is not a concern

safer who knows ive only been down on one of the bikes I owned twice

so I got rid of it, and it was way larger

is larger safer not sure

I think any bike is more dangerous then a car

for me its all about in town driving and hardly any freeway

my klx250 is perfect for that

[150ron]

So i could play in the mud, and hit 90 mph on the way home.

I strongly doubt i will every want a motorcycle that is not a dual sport, at least in the next 20+years.

[brraaapperdoodle]

My first bike was a Honda MT250.

Any mountain road, any desert trail...as long as the gate isn't locked, I can go through it....(and sometimes when the gate is locked). I can ride on public roads to connect trails, and I can just use it to run to the store instead of taking my truck. ?

Awesome! +1 to that

[hadfield4wd]

Did you buy it for gas economy? No

Do you commute with it? No I have a company car

Did you buy it only to ride to off road areas? Pretty much

Do you consider yourself an experienced rider? How many years? Yes. I'm going to call it 10 years. I took 13 years off in the middle.

Do you consider it safer than a full street bike? No, unless you consider I wear more gear because I'm headed ot an offroad place to ride. But if a car hit me it'll hurt jut as much if I'm on a street bike. I do have the confidence that I can run up over a curb or into a ditch without wrecking though.

[yyz79flh]

Did you buy it for gas economy? No my 79flh gets better mileage ;-) now i do take it fishing as it does get much better mileage then the truck.

Do you commute with it? once in awhile

Did you buy it only to ride to off road areas? mostly i have a couple of bikes for different purposes . as was already stated here in mich/wis haveing a plated dirt bike opens up many more riding places. also i have a many miles of trails with in a couple of miles of the house.

Do you consider yourself an experienced rider? How many years? yes, about 32 years.

Do you consider it safer than a full street? on dirt yep, on the street nope.

[DragonNester]

I got my wr250r to enjoy off road ridng without the competition and the ability to ride the woods where a tag is required... at 65 years of age, that's it.

[mike337]

I wanted a toy i could ride right out of my garage without trailering.

[i4bikes]

I bought the first one, KTM RXC, so I wouldn't have problems riding forest roads. All the bikes after that I modified to be able to plate them. I ride dual sport events, enduros once in a while, and to be able to go down roads to connect ST stuff. In Ohio all trails are short sections conected by roads, some of the roads are not maintained ? .

[youngztr]

Did you buy it for gas economy? no

Do you commute with it? no

Did you buy it only to ride to off road areas? yes

Do you consider yourself an experienced rider? How many years? Yes 41 years

]Do you consider it safer than a full street bike? No

Here in CA a dual sport bike is becoming a must have item if one wishes to ride OHV on public lands. Husqvarna, KTM, and Beta have the right idea. The Japanese do not.

Edited December 27, 2012 by youngztr

[Kurt-Suzuki-Honda-Yamaha]

I did not "BUY" a dual-sport. I was given one. Now after 4 years my 1982 XL500R is almost perfect after cleaning and painting. It's old but still will perform with the best of them today. I also have a 2006 GSXR1000R as my true love riding. Fast and furious. But I ride the Dual Sport for the casual beach rides. Since I live at the beach in Florida, I named my Honda "The Beach Cruiser" and my graphics on the side says "Cruisin' for Beaches". It's not fast like my Gixer but it sure beats the hell out of my bicycle beach cruiser.

[telejojo]

A friend and riding buddy talked me into it and I have not looked back LOVE IT................

[brraaapperdoodle]

A friend and riding buddy talked me into it and I have not looked back LOVE IT................

Funny you should say that, Two of the people I work with (one of them being my boss) Had sport bikes. One of them already sold their ZX-10 and is now anxiously searching for a dual-sport ride! The other guy has his SV-1000 on craigslist waiting for it to be gone so he can get one too. We service all the police DRZ-400S in Charlotte so we get to ride them frequently, everybody loves "playing" with them after they are serviced. I guess a few rides on one will turn you to the dirt chomping sickness we all share!

[Signman606]

I got my wr250r to enjoy off road ridng without the competition and the ability to ride the woods where a tag is required... at 65 years of age, that's it.

Different bike, but same thought.