My Alaskan ride

[tbln930]

The Honda is a babe in the wilderness.

[you you]

Not much of a comparison I'm afraid two entirely different bikes.

Yup

[tbln930]

I test rode a Suzuki V Strom 1000 and a Kawasaki KLR 650 today. I liked the V Strom quite a bit. 503 lbs. I will post some pictures in another thread.

[AKforza]

Nice bike the V is a favorite of mine and a very capable tourer. I ride with a buddy that has the 650 and he can't say enough about it. The KLR is very common up here and you see a lot of them on long remote dirt trips. More from the fact that they are inexpensive and get the job done. Check out the Versey nice looking Kawasaki.

[tbln930]

Honda did come out with an adventure-touring bike of sorts but has not put it in the US yet.

2015 Honda Crossrunner 800

http://www.cycleworld.com/2014/10/02/20 ... ew-photos/

[tbln930]

After all of my complaining about the NC700 not being enough bike for adventure touring that is exactly what I ran into in southern Missouri today. Alaska or the Yukon we are not I guess. I met two guys with outfitted NC700s. Both were the manual only w/o ABS on purpose. They said they are common because they function well and are lower cost but have plenty of power. They said it is unusual to see anything above a 650 on the back roads. They said had never seen a Triumph on the but there are some KLR's and a few 650 V Stroms among many bikes that really don't belong on gravel and dirt roads. A lot of folks are using a lot less bike it sounds like. An interesting day.

[DAB]

Not many bad bikes around these days, but for this kind of riding you should choose one that you can pick up off the ground, by yourself.

[AKforza]

Some new farkles for this season:
20mm risers, GPS mount, Denali power hub and Barkbuster Storms. Heading for D2D in june.

[tbln930]

Great stuff. I mount and use my LG G3 as the GPS and it works great. One guy with the NC700X added a half a dozen guards. The radiator is like a rock catcher on those things. The power curve on those bikes is really for the street even though they are converting them to adventure down here. When I test rode it I never got used to the low red line and early shifting. They both switched the tires and added engine, radiator, and grip guards among other stuff but they still a bit doggy IMO.

I have looked at or test rode now seven different adventure bikes (plus the NC700X which is really a street bike) in my quest and I am going to have to find a Tiger somewhere to study. My wife says I might have to sell one bike to get the next.

[AKforza]

If your going to just ride trail then get a bike that's designed for that application . If you want to be able to tour the country or the world and ride in all conditions including the dirt and gravel you have to be aware of a bikes reliability and it's power to weight ratio. This is how I settled on my bike. Lots of good choices out there without paying a premium. Like I've said I see KLRs all the time I just don't want to do long distance on one. It's not that I don't like the bike I've rode several thousand miles on one it's just I don't find its comfortable. Love BMW adventure 1200 boxer and think it's the most comfortable long distance bike on the market. Rode one several hundred miles just don't want to slug one up a muddy road. You get the picture right? It's all about what's right for you.

[tbln930]

Thanks - most of the other riders here are telling me the same thing. If I want to ride down to the scenic riding areas and then hit the gravel/dirt roads but avoid the off-road stuff then stick with something like the V Strom and not a KLR. Basically, 85-15 or 70-30 tires on a primarily street bike since you will be on pavement and highways often. I like the V Strom the best so far. It is also very comfortable for riding around the Ozark foothills on pavement where I ride the Forza now. It is also stable for the occasionally gravel or dirt roads but not really for truly off-road which I plan on avoiding anyway. I think it fits my riding pattern. There are a lot of considerations as I get into it like the power curve, weight, tire type and diameters, ground clearance, suspension travel, range, ABS and traction options, etc..

This article covers most of the under $10k bikes
http://www.advpulse.com/adv-bikes/top-1 ... re-riders/

[tbln930]

On StromTrooper they are recommending the Eastern Beaver PC8 power hub. They come with a choice of a 30A relay kit for about $100. Have you ever heard of them?

http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Wirin ... /pc-8.html

Some new farkles for this season:
20mm risers, GPS mount, Denali power hub and Barkbuster Storms. Heading for D2D in june.

[tbln930]

I was rereading your post and the road conditions and tires you switched to. We don't have anything like that down here thank goodness. I just went on a 150 mile trek of which 50 miles was a fire road (gravel/chat) and it was two days after some heavy rains and it was still in relatively good condition. No problem for the Strom and the Bridgestone Trail Ways. They are only rated at about 80-20.

[AKforza]

It's hard to find any tire that's really good in mud unless it's an aggressive nobbie and they are going to be noisy on the blacktop. Vibration could also be an issue. The heids are a 50/50 tire. I like them for several reasons, tread life, tread design rear tire, sidewall construction. The sidewall is so stiff on the rear tire I've run them with a flat for several miles. They are a major pain to change but the tire can get you out of a jam. I've looked at reviews that claimed they can break in the wet but I've always experienced good grip. We have 400 -500 mile remote dirt roads with limited services so tire choice needs to be a thoughtful consideration. 70/30s are good for blacktop and hard packed gravel and not much else. My OEMs were useless up here and didn't even see 500 miles before I pulled them. Lots of good choices do some reading and evaluate your needs. Stormtroopers would be a good start. Have you put a repair kit together yet?

[tbln930]

Thanks. I am putting some Heids on my PCX for the gravel since they have the right sizes available at the first change. Yes - I just started buying for the repair/tool kit. I am also shopping for a power dist box like your Denali and side lights (and Denali has some good ones like the D4's) as well.

[AKforza]

Promotion makes a good multi tool and good selection of tire irons and spoons. I found a really good compact 12v compressor on Amazon and used it several times. Have fun farkeling your new ride but I'm warning you it's a disease that's hard to get rid of.[FACE WITH MEDICAL MASK]

[wei2go]

Wow. Nice tiger. Please give some more detail of you luggage setup.

If I did even 90/10 tar vs gravel, I'd get myself a tiger. Or the gs800 adventure. But I've had my NC750x for a few months now, and I've done 99,99/0,01 so realistically, the NC is the better choice.

It would be nice to have a switchable ABS, even though they say the ABS wont work below 10km/hr, I still don't fully trust it on gravel

[tbln930]

I just Farkled some Denali DR1's today after demoing them on a Honda NC700X at my Honda dealership ( I had a Farkle budget of $1300 and am nearing $1000). I have about half a dozen projects now just to install stuff. I never dreamed of actually trying to change a tire in the field. My motorcycle tow service will go just about anywhere near me down in the Ozarks if I can't fix a flat including the gravel fire, lumber, and park roads if they are legal for autos.

On the power box they [TT and Revzilla - tech help] are telling me for just my phone (gps), camera, and DR1's I don't really need a power box until I think about heated grips or jacket, etc. or something that draws a lot more current. What else do you guys plan on powering? Down here much of the time we need an air conditioner more than heat. I rode all winter long pretty much w/o anything heated on my scooters.

My Suzuki knuckle guards that came with the bike are not Barkbusters by any stretch but they seem pretty well built for basic wind, rain, bug, and a thrown rock protection. They won't help much on a spill.

[AKforza]

I power a GPS navigator, a heated vest, my helmet communications and running an extra aux plug powering my tablet and phone.These are typically run on 15 amp. If I have a need for more power (30 amp) I run it straight to the battery on a fused line. With the box you can decide if you want the circuit to the battery or switched (on off from the key) this keeps you from draining your battery with aux equipment when the bike is off. The Box gives you options and organizes your wiring into a neat labeled centralized bundle. I try not to let techs who don't ride my bike or give a rats ass about how they wire something or attempt to organize my bikes wiring much notion. Seen to many snake pits so when I want to wire something it gets done the right way and if its my bike that would be my way!
my 2 cents
AK

[AKforza]

The hard bags are from Jesse Luggage they are 10" bags. Jesse mounting system is bike specific and the bags mount to the frame on a cam lock so its an easy on off. the mounting is very secure and I'm sure will protect the bike in a fall.

The frames are not hoops and can hold soft luggage also no issues with the exhaust.

The folks at Jesse are great to deal with and very knowledgeable . I also mounted an Altrider luggage rack for dry bags or a top box