Wanting to try trail riding, any suggestions on bike? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Wanting to try trail riding, any suggestions on bike?

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Thanks everyone.

Ok, so what I am gathering is that there is not really a good bike to travel to and from downtown Toronto to the trails and back, and my idea all together of the commute is probably not ideal.

Due to lack of space the idea of having an off road only vehicle is never going to happen for the foreseeable future, so maybe I have to look for something different entirely.

Aside from trails as mentioned (thanks @xrljoel I dident realize that there is public trials in bobcaygeon), is there any
dirt roads, offroad roads that are a lot less technical in or around southern Ontario that is more "doable" on heavy dual sport with knobbies?. Sorry I have always lived/worked in the city, so I am super oblivious of locations, riding spots and hobbies outside of it. And if there any suggestions, would any of the bikes listed in my initial post be suitable?

Thanks again; I am going to take everyone's suggestion to do one of the trails courses in the summer.

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sundin4prez said:
Aside from trails as mentioned (thanks @xrljoel I dident realize that there is public trials in bobcaygeon), is there any
dirt roads, offroad roads that are a lot less technical in or around southern Ontario that is more "doable" on heavy dual sport with knobbies?. Sorry I have always lived/worked in the city, so I am super oblivious of locations, riding spots and hobbies outside of it. And if there any suggestions, would any of the bikes listed in my initial post be suitable?

Thanks again; I am going to take everyone's suggestion to do one of the trails courses in the summer.
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There are still gravel roads just north of Pickering if you need a quick/local fix, but they're straight and flat and won't keep you entertained for long. Nothing special required - you could ride them on a sportbike if you wanted, as long as they're dry (most of them don't have much gravel on them anymore, so they turn into mud when it rains). There are lots of similar flat/straight gravel roads further north and east.

Things only start getting more interesting once you get out into cottage country. Zoom way in on Google Maps and look for any of the "Fire Access Roads" around Kawartha Highlands Park, for instance, or any of the same thin/light road lines around Bancroft. Part of the fun is the discovery process. Fire access road conditions vary greatly, but they're a good next step after you get comfortable with regular gravel roads.

Also check out RallyConnex (Rally Connex GPS Guided Dualsport Motorcycle Events & Training). They run GPS-guided events, including routes suitable for dual-sport and adventure bikes. eg: the Iron or Bronze classes of the Rock Hound Rally, or the Dual Sport / ADV tour of the Corduroy Trail ride.
 
Another option is Observed Trials. Develop your mc skills on a bike that is affordable, super light weight, easy to maintain and tons of fun. The club i belong to has events that are cheap to enter, and a free school in the spring.
www.sovt.website

SOVT

A club to support classic moto trials in Southwestern Ontario
www.sovt.website www.sovt.website
 
A street legal WR450F or XR650R may suit you if you can find one. A lot lighter than even the 250/300 factory dual sports but having legs to handle a stretch of high speed road. Trade off is the power can be a bit much on dirt, but have heard a g2 throttle tamer can fix that.

I have a street legal WR450F setup for dual sport use (Seat Concepts seat, larger tank, etc.) and it works great.
 
mdeg said:
A street legal WR450F or XR650R may suit you if you can find one.
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You could ride a XR650R in the Ganny. It would be far from ideal. They were purpose built to run flat out in the desert, and get cranky in slow, low speed terrain.

Cool Supermoto bikes, though.
 
Early on you mentioned the KLR650. It will do 120kph all day long and then still let you have fun on fire roads and double track. It excels on gravel roads. ( 100+kph on gravel YumYum )
I've done a couple ODSC runs on it. Doable but in both cases a smaller bike would have been better.
 
You've gotten mostly great advice so far. My riding experience started on a DRZ400 because I thought it was a great inbetween bike. After the first year doing the Bethany ride and some other ODSC rides, I realized I really preferred single track. And after riding from Brampton to the Ganny twice, I realized a dirt bike on the highway, especially after a day of riding single track, really really sucked. I ended up on a true dirt bike the second year, and never looked back.

If you don't know what type of offroad you want to ride, I would stick with something like the DRZ400. From that, you'll figure out if you want to go full offroad (ie. single track), or if you want to go more gravel roads. Don't get too hung up finding the perfect bike right now.

And I will definitely recommend a hitch carrier if your vehicle can do it.
 
Thanks again for all the insights guys, I really appreciate it!

At the moment I am leaning DRZ (note sure on S vs SM with knobbies) or potentiality going off the board with a Husqvarna Svartpilen, and just mess about finding roads on the weekend with zero expectations of them being a great and or good on "real" trails.

In terms of transport, I drive a 16 dodge charger and apparently these can have a class 3 hitch installed. I don't know if it safe/advisable to have a bike as heavy as a DRZ on a hitch carrier on a sedan. Any opinions on this?

If anyone know's of any riding groups that are open to newbies into the world of dirt/offroad, I would love to hear about it and would be super interested to join/be apart!
 
sundin4prez said:
If anyone know's of any riding groups that are open to newbies into the world of dirt/offroad, I would love to hear about it and would be super interested to join/be apart!
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If you take a course like TrailTours, chances are you'll meet a fellow newbie there who's also looking for people to ride with who's at the same skill level.

I see this all the time at the courses I teach at - all the students exchange contact info and start WhatsApp groups. Then a year later they're posting pictures of all of their group rides on the local Facebook groups. Lol!
 
sundin4prez said:
Thanks again for all the insights guys, I really appreciate it!

At the moment I am leaning DRZ (note sure on S vs SM with knobbies) or potentiality going off the board with a Husqvarna Svartpilen, and just mess about finding roads on the weekend with zero expectations of them being a great and or good on "real" trails.

In terms of transport, I drive a 16 dodge charger and apparently these can have a class 3 hitch installed. I don't know if it safe/advisable to have a bike as heavy as a DRZ on a hitch carrier on a sedan. Any opinions on this?

If anyone know's of any riding groups that are open to newbies into the world of dirt/offroad, I would love to hear about it and would be super interested to join/be apart!
Click to expand...
My understanding from friends who own DRZs is that the SM is a slighter lower seat height, and much better suspension (inverted vs non) and bigger brakes from factory on the OEM wheel setup. There’s plenty of SMs that come with two wheel setups (on-road and off-road) so that would be my choice
 
I wouldn't get too hung up on the S or SM for the DRZ. Just get whichever is the better deal for you. I can almost guarantee this won't be your forever or only bike. I believe you'll learn from it and then get a better bike for what you end up enjoying more.
 
Dakath said:
My understanding from friends who own DRZs is that the SM is a slighter lower seat height, and much better suspension (inverted vs non) and bigger brakes from factory on the OEM wheel setup. There’s plenty of SMs that come with two wheel setups (on-road and off-road) so that would be my choice
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I agree with Robp about not getting too hung up as it likely won't be a bike you own for a long time.

Having said that, if your intention is to primarily ride on loose surfaces like trails and gravel I'd go with the S model with the 21" front wheel. Tire selection is much better for off road use and traction and control is critical off road especially if you're just beginning.

Even if you have to cover more miles on pavement to get to the desired riding it's the part you'll judge your success on. The 21" front wheel is just better off road and since that's what you're looking to do it's less a compromise overall towards your primary area of interest.
 
Bikes mounted on a trailer hitch are almost never a good idea. Max tongue is weight is way more than what you can have a foot or two out from it.
 
xrljoel said:
I agree with Robp about not getting too hung up as it likely won't be a bike you own for a long time.

Having said that, if your intention is to primarily ride on loose surfaces like trails and gravel I'd go with the S model with the 21" front wheel. Tire selection is much better for off road use and traction and control is critical off road especially if you're just beginning.

Even if you have to cover more miles on pavement to get to the desired riding it's the part you'll judge your success on. The 21" front wheel is just better off road and since that's what you're looking to do it's less a compromise overall towards your primary area of interest.
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Great point! I didn't even occur to me that one might try to ride offroad on something other than a 21" wheel. In my mind it was a given that even if it was an SM, it would have proper size rims and tires for offroad.
 
Dakath said:
My understanding from friends who own DRZs is that the SM is a slighter lower seat height, and much better suspension (inverted vs non) and bigger brakes from factory on the OEM wheel setup. There’s plenty of SMs that come with two wheel setups (on-road and off-road) so that would be my choice
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The DRZ is tall. I'm not. I could have put links in I suppose instead I raised the forks in the triples, unwound preload in the back and pulled the seat cover and shaved and inch of foam.
 
timtune said:
The DRZ is tall. I'm not. I could have put links in I suppose instead I raised the forks in the triples, unwound preload in the back and pulled the seat cover and shaved and inch of foam.
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You raise a good point for the OP, it seems to me that everything with any off road pretense is exceptionally tall nowadays. Part of building/maintaining confidence off road is being able to get your feet comfortably on the ground. My 530EXC-R had me on my toes unlike my 1999 300EXC and my current Husky 250. I am more comfortable and confident on the 250 (and a bit faster in single track) than I was on the 530. I was 24 years younger on the 300 so the comparison is off. (HOLY CRAP!!!!! those years went TOO fast!)
 
All depends on what the o.p. plans on doing with it.

My suggestion would be to start small and cheap.

Street legal dual sport.
Honda Crf230
Yamaha xt250, or 225
Suzuki dr200se
Yamaha tw200 (if he can find one...)


All of these are low seat height, and less than 300lbs.
Your first offroad capable bike won't be your last.

All of these are "farm bikes". Air cooled. Simple little battle-axes.

Put on 90/10 offroad tires. Kenda trackmaster 2, dunlop d606, pirelli mt21; something of that type.

Drz400 is a great do it all, but it is tall, and weighs in around 320lbs. Every little bit of weight savings helps.

My dr200 is going to be a wife/buddy bike to try and hook some friends into getting their own offroad bikes. My dr200 weighed in around 261lbs, with the street lighting removed (except the headlight), and a full tank of gas. Its more capable than I expected, although its no hillclimb bike.

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