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29 Oct 2024
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It's the old story, "horses for courses". A big bike will be better and more capable on the road, a smaller one vice versa. You *can* tour on anything, as I'm sure we have all seen, but if you tailor your ride to the style of journey you want to do, you'll probably have a more enjoyable experience.
For me, 650-900cc has always been the sweet spot. Most of my travel is on blacktop but it's important to me to have a bike that isn't quickly overwhelmed by a bit of rough going, or impossible to pick up unaided. OTOH, I don't want something I have to cane flat out to get between cities at more than pony pace. Upper-middleweight bikes are also better for carrying luggage long distances. I don't carry the kitchen sink but for a long trip you need a reasonable amount of clothes, tools, spares and camping gear.
Where I think we can agree is *nobody* needs 1300cc and a 30 litre tank. There's no place anywhere in the world where that's necessary.
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29 Oct 2024
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Location: Back into the hamster wheel again, in Oslo - Norway. Did a 5 year RTW trip/250 k kms, 2014-2019
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Its great that we now have more alternatives in the middle and smaller segment of travelbikes. However for example both the CF Moto 450 and the new Himalayan 450 are around 195 kilos wet weight. Thats a lot more than old school bikes such as the Dr650, XT600 etc. The NX500 also weighs almost 200 kilos.
The Crf300 Rally is the only option that I can remember with a weight around 150 kilos.
Of course we have the KTM/Husky/GasGas 700 line - but that it will need bigger petrol tank to be a decent travel bike.
A new KTM 390 Adv is coming - weight is not known yet but probably around 170-180 kilos wet. A brand new Aprilia Tuareg 450 twin cylindred is also rumoured - and that is great. But I dont belive it will be less than 175 kilos wet.
So yes - several new smaller/midle bikes available nowadays so thats great. But the weight of these new alternative small/middle weight bikes is much like the weight of much bigger bikes some 20-30 years ago.
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20 Nov 2024
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Snakeboy
The Crf300 Rally is the only option that I can remember with a weight around 150 kilos.
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What with ABS and other bits, the KTM 690 Enduro R has gradually been putting on weight since my 2013 model, the 2024 model now has a dry weight of 149 kg and a fully fuelled weight of 160 kg.
When touring in interesting places I tend to be bumbling along at 60-80 kph most of the time, but I wouldn't feel confident on a bike that wasn't able to reach motorway speeds of 120 kph when needed. However I don't need to 68 BHP of the 690cc KTM and I reckon a bike with 400-500cc would be ideal.
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Last edited by Tim Cullis; 20 Nov 2024 at 16:29.
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30 Oct 2024
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tomkat
... OTOH, I don't want something I have to cane flat out to get between cities at more than pony pace. ...
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That sounds fair, when I'm off on a trip the last place I want to be is around a city so I prefer the "pony pace"
Quote:
Originally Posted by Snakeboy
...
The Crf300 Rally is the only option that I can remember with a weight around 150 kilos. ...
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Voge Rally 300 is the only other one I know of, or for short people the Voge 300ACX is alright for trails apparently and weighs about 170kg.
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30 Oct 2024
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Forgot the Voge 300 Rally yes….
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30 Oct 2024
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arrr........ Honda is always your best bet !
love to buy a new xr650 from usa in whie !!! wow
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