1 big ADV bike or 2 lesser (dual sport + street)

DECIMIS

DECIMIS

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What would you do, and why?

You have a budget between $15,000 and $20,000. You enjoy exploring back roads and rural Ontario (gravel, dirt & fire). You enjoy local rides and, and also tarmac rides to Muskoka/Haliburton with standard/naked/ss/sport touring buddies. You also enjoy using your bike for commuting and other 'useful' trips.

Would you buy:

1. Yamaha Super Tenere

or

2. Suzuki DR650 & Triumph Street Triple/Honda VFR

Why?

(This isn't about the bikes listed, but about owning 1 do-it-all, or two 'lesser' more niche bikes).

Thank you very much to everyone who takes the time to answer the question within context!
 
"Lesser" is a bit insulting to the DR, Street Triple and VFR.

I would go #2 (tee hee), way more versatile.
 
If you live in Bowmanville, getting to the Muskokas on a DR650 will be more taxing than doing it on a Tenere.

Not sure what your idea of back roads are, but big dualies are quite capable of most trails other than tight single-track with mud and sand and hill climbs.

And then there's the ride back to Bowmanville...

And also the 507 is much more fun on a Tenere than a DR.
 
Matt Rain said:
"Lesser" is a bit insulting to the DR, Street Triple and VFR.

I would go #2 (tee hee), way more versatile.
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Sorry, I meant lesser as in costs. I understand those bikes are superior in their own ways! #2 for versatility - that's exactly what draws me to this!
 
Lightcycle said:
If you live in Bowmanville, getting to the Muskokas on a DR650 will be more taxing than doing it on a Tenere.

Not sure what your idea of back roads are, but big dualies are quite capable of most trails other than tight single-track with mud and sand and hill climbs.

And then there's the ride back to Bowmanville...

And also the 507 is much more fun on a Tenere than a DR.
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Back roads would be vehicle accessible roads. I wouldn't have the offroad confidence to take a S10 truly offroad.

You bring up a good point about the ride home. I'm always exhausted and suffer during this portion.

I think you're suggesting the Tenere, as it does everything I am looking for - and will keep me the most happy doing it. Good suggestion and choice! :)
 
DECIMIS said:
I think you're suggesting the Tenere, as it does everything I am looking for - and will keep me the most happy doing it. Good suggestion and choice! :)
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Yep. If you plan on doing back roads regularly, just armor up the plastics (crash bars, etc), air down the tires (bring a compressor with you), and slap on some 50/50 rubber (Heidenau K60s are a good bet).
 
I would do two bikes if you can. There is no such thing as 1 bike that does it all, there is a 1 bike that can almost do it all with compromise though.

If insurance is cheap, getting to and from the trails is easy. Buy 2 bikes. However, with 2 different types of bikes you may need to factor in cost for 2 different sets of gear if you don't have it.

I live in Scarborough so I opted for 1 adventure styled street bike and 1 track bike, for now. ☺
 
I went with two bikes: best scenario for me at least. Klr 650 was my daily ride, but after riding it out east it was pretty obvious that a highway bike would be a nice option for those kind of trips, so I got a triumph trophy 1200. Plenty sporty too considering the size
 
I'd just spend money on the tenere....one insurance more space in your garage...save on maintenance plus the tenere can do just about anything you throw at it and at the same being a very comfortable ride

Spend the extra money on doing upgrades on the tenere

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
 
While it certainly can be done, I didn't find that riding a big bike off road was actually very much fun, and that was just with a VStrom 650. Granted, there are much better choices off road than the Strom, but something even heavier and a lot more expensive wouldn't be my first choice. To me, a DR650 might be a good upper limit for that kind of thing, both in weight and cost.

After getting an actual dirt bike the desire to take a bigger bike off road completely disappeared. It's just so much more fun on a lightweight bike. Maybe it would be different if I lived in northern Ontario and had a lot of gravel roads to play on, but street and dirt are now completely separate for me. So I'd definitely vote for #2, but don't even worry about making the second bike street legal. Assuming that you've got room for two bikes and a trailer.
 
DECIMIS said:
You enjoy exploring back roads and rural Ontario (gravel, dirt & fire). You enjoy local rides and, and also tarmac rides to Muskoka/Haliburton with standard/naked/ss/sport touring buddies. You also enjoy using your bike for commuting and other 'useful' trips.
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I'd go with the ADV bike. Maybe not quite as big as 1200 if you want better off road handling.
 
I went with 2 bikes ktm1190 for highway, fire and dirt roads and a Honda Crf250x for real off-road and single track. For all the riding you are doing a Ktm 1190 would be ideal and is much lighter than a S10 and more capable everywhere.

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Supernam said:
I would do two bikes if you can.There is no such thing as 1 bike that does it all, there is a 1 bike that canalmost do it all with compromise though.

If insurance is cheap, getting to and from the trails is easy. Buy 2 bikes.However, with 2 different types of bikes you may need to factor in cost for 2different sets of gear if you don't have it.

I live in Scarborough so I opted for 1 adventure styled street bike and 1 trackbike, for now.
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happycrappy said:
I went with two bikes: bestscenario for me at least. Klr 650 was my daily ride, but after riding it outeast it was pretty obvious that a highway bike would be a nice option for thosekind of trips, so I got a triumph trophy 1200. Plenty sporty too consideringthe size
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Thanks for the replies guys! You’ve gone through the same sort of dilemma and are happy with the two bike approach! Although it sounds like two bikes maybe isn’t even enough for Supernam!
 
abkdt41 said:
I'd just spend money on the tenere....one insurance more space in your garage...save on maintenance plus the tenere can do just about anything you throw at it and at the same being a very comfortable ride

Spend the extra money on doing upgrades on the tenere

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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This is exactly how I feel 2 out of every 3 days. I get myself convinced this is the way to go, then find some other reason to consider the two smaller bikes. It wasn't mentioned in the OP, but the Super Tenere would also allow 2-up riding for real distance, which I wouldn't want to do on a DR or striple/vfr.
 
Ash said:
While it certainly can be done, I didn't find that riding a big bike off road was actually very much fun, and that was just with a VStrom 650. Granted, there are much better choices off road than the Strom, but something even heavier and a lot more expensive wouldn't be my first choice. To me, a DR650 might be a good upper limit for that kind of thing, both in weight and cost.

After getting an actual dirt bike the desire to take a bigger bike off road completely disappeared. It's just so much more fun on a lightweight bike. Maybe it would be different if I lived in northern Ontario and had a lot of gravel roads to play on, but street and dirt are now completely separate for me. So I'd definitely vote for #2, but don't even worry about making the second bike street legal. Assuming that you've got room for two bikes and a trailer.
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Great reply, thank you. I appreciate you sharing your personal experience and expertise. Ganaraska is very close to me, so some real offroad is available if I desire. If I go the two bike route, maybe I'll downsize the dual sport to a 250 or 400.
 
I82l8 said:
I'd go with the ADV bike. Maybe not quite as big as 1200 if you want better off road handling.
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Nice avatar! It's no wonder where your recommendation comes from. I like the S10 because of it`s proven platform and shaft drive. Maybe we`ll save the rest of that conversation for my next thread "Part 2 - What bike to buy and why" :)
 
Scuba Steve said:
I went with 2 bikes ktm1190 for highway, fire and dirt roads and a Honda Crf250x for real off-road and single track. For all the riding you are doing a Ktm 1190 would be ideal and is much lighter than a S10 and more capable everywhere.

Sent from a device using a program
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Another happy two-bike owner. Seems the majority feel this way - but everyone sounds happy regardless. Can I come over for the weekend and play with you on your bikes?! (only half joking!)
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