A challenge to the "lead sled" ADV bikes offered today

[jkam]

The Kawasaki KL250 Super Sherpa is a little simple 250 with great attributes for an adventure world traveler.
With a few easy to do mods it can be made into a fantastic easy to work on bike that will carry you and your gear
for years to come for pretty cheap.

It doesn't matter what you ride, it matters that you ride.

 

[Scott Brady]

We are thinking of a Yamaha WR250 as a project and training bike for the team. It has quite a bit of power for the displacement and a great suspension. It will outrun a KLR in most situations and gets 70+mpg!

 

[Cole]

I've got 2 KLR650s sitting in NJ that I would love to trade for a pair of WRs or 4 stroke exe

 

[zelatore]

Heck, I just 'inherited' an '11 KLR in CA with all of 50 miles on it that I'd gladly trade for a WR or similar.

Oh heck, I'd probably trade consider trading it for anything. It's a fine bike, just not quite right for me.

 

[jkam]

The simplicity of the Sherpa with it's air cooled engine and less hassles maintenance wise are something to consider
when going off the beaten path.

I'd take mine anywhere I went on any of my other bigger bikes, just take my time doing it.
Which is a good thing.

 

[mhiscox]

We are thinking of a Yamaha WR250 as a project and training bike for the team. It has quite a bit of power for the displacement and a great suspension. It will outrun a KLR in most situations and gets 70+mpg!

I doth protest.

The WR is a fine bike with many advantages, but if you would really like to contribute, you might consider doing a project bike that can be comfortably ridden by inseam-challenged people, people with trick knees, women, and so on. Whether modified personally, bought off the ADVRider Flea Market, or purchased straight off the showroom floor. there's zero difficulty finding highly-capable bikes that people with height, expertise and/or flexibility can roost around on. What you can't find are minimally-compromised performance off-roaders that don't have towering seat heights. There should be some alternative to sending the less-manly of us off to the world of Super Sherpas, TW200s, DR200s and the like.

I used to run enduros on Pentons, Ossas, and other bikes that had reasonable seat heights only because they had just a few inches of fork and (dual) shock travel, so I fully understand that current crop of off-road performance bikes have 36+ inch seat heights so they can have awesome suspension travel. But life is not all, or even principally, about crashing around the woods at warp speed, and for running fire roads, desert trails and pavement, we could get by with less.

As Dirt Rider wrote about the WR250: "Immediately, the tall seat height of the bike is apparent when you get on, putting anyone shorter than six feet in tippy-toe land at stoplights." Why do yet another project bike for tall people? These bikes are everywhere. Rather, perhaps contribute to the general good by mashing up a capable, decent-performance off-road moto that can be ridden comfortably by the short, old, and unlimber.

 

[Scott Brady]

Good suggestion Mike. We will look into that too. I also believe the WR can be lowered quite a bit.

 

[MarcFJ60]

I'd pay money for video of Scott riding a XT250 for more than an hour. I think his knees would be up by his ears!

I do think there is a fine line a rider needs to straddle with regard to seat height. I'm only 5'8" and my first two bikes had seat heights of almost 37". When I finally got around to replacing the shock on my X-Challenge I thought long and hard about whether to lower it. I ended up getting a shock that was 1/2" shorter, which probably lowered my seat height an inch and a half. I still can't get both balls of my feet down, but it is low enough now that I know I can get one foot down solidly if I'm on uneven terrain. As a result, I ride a lot more confidently in tougher terrain because I know a "dab" won't result in a "down."

Many people say having your feet touch the ground is over-rated and I agree in principal. But what some of those taller folks don't realize is that when your under a certain height/inseam, you just can't slide your butt over enough to compensate on a off camber trail and putting your foot down means the bike is going down because it will be so far over by the time your toe touches terra firma that there is no way to keep the bike up. This is especially true when the bike starts going well north of three and four hundred pounds.

 

[Cole]

I at an event a few years ago where a cute little couple was giving a class on how to pack light for two up riding.

I listened with genuine interest for about 5 minutes until I realized that their whole experience and plans were based on their physical size! They said things like " you can fit all the clothes you need in these little bags, no need for those big ones these companies sell"

One of my t-shirts takes up more room than both of theirs!!

I see the same thing with some of the comments about "smaller bikes". This along with assumptions of the same riding needs.

 

[haven]

Aaah, Penton! Haven't read that name for many moons. I can still smell the 2 stroke oil. (Maybe I should wash that pair of overalls.)

 

[mhiscox]

Aaah, Penton! Haven't read that name for many moons. I can still smell the 2 stroke oil. (Maybe I should wash that pair of overalls.)

At least my Penton Six Day enduro had telescopic forks. I've been waiting many a decade for leading link front ends like on my Sachs motocrosser to make a comeback.

For all you kiddies out there, this was what the world 125 champion rode, circa 1969. Really.

 

[Scott Brady]

I see the same thing with some of the comments about "smaller bikes". This along with assumptions of the same riding needs.

I believe that is a critical point. I view a 500 as a really small bike for me. I rode a KLX250S for a day and it just never felt right. My 630 is my small bike and it feels like I am riding a mountain bike

I feel really at home on a 1200GS.

 

[Cole]

I've got some cooler moving shots, but this one of me just sitting on the KTM 950 Adv (somewhere in Idaho) is a good example of size of the bike vs the size of th rider. This is considered a "big adv" bike and doesn't look at that big here under me. Notice that my legs are even bent to flat foot it!

 

[mhiscox]

I feel really at home on a 1200GS.

This is considered a "big adv" bike and doesn't look at that big here under me. Notice that my legs are even bent to flat foot it!

This is great news guys, and congratulations to your genes, but some of us are too wimpy/smart to ride a five- or six- hundred pound adventure bike with our feet dangling nowhere near the ground. I'll clamber on to a 300 pound KTM and live with tilting it to one side to get a foot down when necessary, but that's not gonna work well with one of the taller giant trailies.

I was pondering it briefly, and I couldn't think of many other product classifications where about three-quarters of the population is, for all practical purposes, eliminated from purchasing the expensive, high-performance stuff because of being too frikkin' small. (Then again, I suppose being comfortable on a GSA1200 pretty much means a career as a jockey isn't readily available to you. )

 

[Herbie]

I was pondering it briefly, and I couldn't think of many other product classifications where about three-quarters of the population is, for all practical purposes, eliminated from purchasing the expensive, high-performance stuff because of being too frikkin' small. (Then again, I suppose being comfortable on a GSA1200 pretty much means a career as a jockey isn't readily available to you. )

It's the unfortunate balance to the universal equation that lets us shorter guys drive any tiny little sports and race cars that we want! ;-) Put a six+ footer into a Miata and he'd likely be "uncomfortable", but try to squeeze him into my little Euro Swift Formula Ford and he'd either be a sausage in a casing, or more outside than inside!