Klr650 yay or nay?

I always knew I couldn't hold a candle to a fart from the likes of the guys on the interwebs. Unfortunately I met this cat named the ripper some years ago at a loudon track day. When he told me he was selling his woods 350 and knocking the stable down to just the 790 and that it was the droid I was looking for, I believed him. What I've since (re?) learned is that he is-of course-a better rider than I.

ADVs are still the killer app for New England MAINTAINED roads though. Potholes? No biggie. Inter slab? Got it. Shit pavement? Fine. Ran out of time and have to get back to the wife and kids ASAP. Sure.

All that said, I hated parking my ~200 lbs 200cc 2-stroke enduro in mud too. Just ride around that crap. Berms are where it is at anyway.

These stories are why I always run damn near the most aggressive tires that will fit on my bike. Tread life sucks, cornering grip on pavement is merely alright, and 98% of the time they are way overkill, but there's always that 2% where you get yourself into something unexpected that makes you really appreciate the extra traction. Of course I guess it also helps that I have a No-Mar in my garage.

As for lightweight ADV bikes, the 390 Adventure R and Enduro are coming soon...

July 2018. Back when I had the Multistrada 1000, I ran dual sport tires for a while thinking I'd ride some easy town roads. Do I have much dirt experience? No. I had ridden past Old Stage Road in Barre MA many times, so i checked google maps and decided to take it west to MA-122, not very far, looked easy. It started paved, then broken pavement, houses thinned out til there were none, then all dirt and rocks, uphill in a narrow gully, I stalled and the bike gently laid down on the right side, siting at a 45* angle thanks to the hard cases and the gully sides. Easy enough to pick the bike up, put the side stand down, tied the front brake, and lifted. After that I walked up hill scouting a line til I arrived at a good place to stop and park, then rode the bike to that spot. Did that about three times til I got to the top. Then it was down toward 122, came to a big puddle in the trail, more like a small lake, I managed to go around it through the trees, then got to nice groomed roads ... that had fresh gravel, like riding on marbles, but made it without disasters. I could have walked all the way out if needed, but luck was with me if not common sense. The next day I ordered fresh road tires.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by whynot

July 2018. Back when I had the Multistrada 1000, I ran dual sport tires for a while thinking I'd ride some easy town roads. Do I have much dirt experience? No. I had ridden past Old Stage Road in Barre MA many times, so i checked google maps and decided to take it west to MA-122, not very far, looked easy. It started paved, then broken pavement, houses thinned out til there were none, then all dirt and rocks, uphill in a narrow gully, I stalled and the bike gently laid down on the right side, siting at a 45* angle thanks to the hard cases and the gully sides. Easy enough to pick the bike up, put the side stand down, tied the front brake, and lifted. After that I walked up hill scouting a line til I arrived at a good place to stop and park, then rode the bike to that spot. Did that about three times til I got to the top. Then it was down toward 122, came to a big puddle in the trail, more like a small lake, I managed to go around it through the trees, then got to nice groomed roads ... that had fresh gravel, like riding on marbles, but made it without disasters. I could have walked all the way out if needed, but luck was with me if not common sense. The next day I ordered fresh road tires.

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If you're talking about Loring Hill Rd, I actually put that into Tomato Trail this last year. Don't mean to rub salt in the wound but it's a pretty easy class 6 road lol.

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Originally Posted by SRTie4k

If you're talking about Loring Hill Rd, I actually put that into Tomato Trail this last year. Don't mean to rub salt in the wound but it's a pretty easy class 6 road lol.

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Ouch. That hurts. But remember that this has turned into the biggish bike confessional thread.

Maybe I'll try it again but on my DR350. Unless someone here buys it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by whynot

Ouch. That hurts. But remember that this has turned into the biggish bike confessional thread.

Maybe I'll try it again but on my DR350. Unless someone here buys it.

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Well to be fair the first time I rode it was last year, and a lot can change on an unmaintained road in 6 years. But you definitely don't need a DR350 to get through there as of late last year. I've ridden it twice on my 890R in both directions, and assuming you're comfortable with a bit of rockiness and a bit of wetness, it's easily doable on any bike with decent tires.

I only put easy to shorter moderate roads in Tomato Trail. It's meant to be big-bike-noob friendly.

Link if you're interested (Tomato Trail Long is the one that goes through there):

https://advrider.com/f/threads/tomat...pster.1258683/

^^ Thanks. I think my next trail bike will be a TW200.

In my experience, power line roads are the last place I would take an ADV bike. They are ungraded, so when they go up, it STEEP, and when it's flat, it's WET, and when it's wet, it's DEEP. Definitely don't try them alone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Paul_E_D

In my experience, power line roads are the last place I would take an ADV bike. They are ungraded, so when they go up, it STEEP, and when it's flat, it's WET, and when it's wet, it's DEEP. Definitely don't try them alone.

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Most powerline roads in MA, VT and NH are privately owned anyways, with the exception of a select few here and there. It's best not to ride them for that reason alone, unless you specifically know for a fact they are public (or you know someone who owns the land).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SRTie4k

Most powerline roads in MA, VT and NH are privately owned anyways, with the exception of a select few here and there. It's best not to ride them for that reason alone, unless you specifically know for a fact they are public (or you know someone who owns the land).

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True, but many private but tolerated trail systems are old roads the criscross the powerline cuts making them very tempting to try out. Easy to go down something that you cannot get back up around here.

For those looking for routes aka tracks in Mass and surrounding states, check out the Piccadilly Pineapple Adventure Trail map. Lots of fun routes all public accessible roads.

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/p...trail.1673441/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ducatirdr

For those looking for routes aka tracks in Mass and surrounding states, check out the Piccadilly Pineapple Adventure Trail map. Lots of fun routes all public accessible roads.

https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/p...trail.1673441/

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Thanks for sharing this. I probably won't do it all at once, but it seems awesome for doing bits and pieces on the way to/from VT/NY rides.

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With Blord Blessure pills, no less. :lolup: