Will it do the ton on the dirt? I don't know, but at full bore it sure feels like it.
Chapter One: The Pig
I caught the dual sport bug after a trip to spring thaw a few years ago (2017 iirc) and saw the "dirt bike" gang come back to the cabin tired, sore, muddy... and grinning from ear to ear. I was riding a 1984 VF1000F interceptor which excluded me from such a dirt laden loop with those guys. Missing out, I knew i just HAD to find a dual sport bike. It came in the form of a bone stock 2006 Suzuki DR650se. I must say I lucked out on finding that bike, as I knew nothing other than that it had showed up on Facebook marketplace after typing in "dual sport" and it was under my $2k budget. That machine was my entry into my now-favorite type of riding; dual sports.
After wallowing the ever capable and constantly farked, if not heavy dr650 through some miles of dirt, red Georgia clay and asphalt, (about 6,000 combined over the last 2.5 years) I decided that I wanted to go a bit of a different direction in my dual sport machine. This was a multi-factor decision, based on the current stable and my riding needs. I gained a DL1000 V-Strom over the winter, which will take much of the "long distance highway" needs away from a dual sport that I own. The DR650 did that well, and now it doesn't need to. The next factor was weight. At 365 lbs at the curb, the DR650 wasn't a light bike, by dirt standards. If i kept it upright, it would tractor through what felt like anything. If I didn't keep it upright, it used up most of whatever energy I had left in order to pick it up and keep moving. So, after several years of great adventures, memories and rides, it went to its new home.
Chapter Two: The Stars Align
The timeline is fuzzy.
For the sake of the story, and due to the fact that its not completely pertinent to telling tales of Adventure, I will omit some of why part of this particular bike made it to me, and perhaps talk a bit more about "how". After a 4 hour round trip to Kiser lake, I ended up with a $150 "chunk" of 1998 Honda XR400R in my garage. It was a frame, swingarm, engine and oversize Clarke Tank. It was purchased to use the power plant for another project, but luckily, I am slow, and another piece of the light weight dual sport puzzle presented itself before I could complete said project.
The worlds foremost Honda "XR" enthusiast, long time DTT member and a close friend of mine @Mr.E sent me a Facebook marketplace listing for a well farkled, Tennesse street titled 1998 Honda XR400R with what another friend of ours @Kanticoy would describe as a "pre-exploded motor". The XR400R was not a street legal bike from the factory, so the fact that someone had gone through the street titling process was a tick in the "pro" column for me.
Ephraim knew that I had the frame and motor moth balled away, and we had even talked about how unlikely the prospect of finding an XR400 with a blown motor would be just a few weeks earlier, as they are known for reliability. Usually even a clapped out specimen yields a badly worn chassis with still running motor. I am glad he found this one though. He was even kind enough to collect me the bike and bring it to me in Knoxville TN, where I was passing thought to visit family in Georgia. I purchased it for $450.
Chapter One: The Pig
I caught the dual sport bug after a trip to spring thaw a few years ago (2017 iirc) and saw the "dirt bike" gang come back to the cabin tired, sore, muddy... and grinning from ear to ear. I was riding a 1984 VF1000F interceptor which excluded me from such a dirt laden loop with those guys. Missing out, I knew i just HAD to find a dual sport bike. It came in the form of a bone stock 2006 Suzuki DR650se. I must say I lucked out on finding that bike, as I knew nothing other than that it had showed up on Facebook marketplace after typing in "dual sport" and it was under my $2k budget. That machine was my entry into my now-favorite type of riding; dual sports.
After wallowing the ever capable and constantly farked, if not heavy dr650 through some miles of dirt, red Georgia clay and asphalt, (about 6,000 combined over the last 2.5 years) I decided that I wanted to go a bit of a different direction in my dual sport machine. This was a multi-factor decision, based on the current stable and my riding needs. I gained a DL1000 V-Strom over the winter, which will take much of the "long distance highway" needs away from a dual sport that I own. The DR650 did that well, and now it doesn't need to. The next factor was weight. At 365 lbs at the curb, the DR650 wasn't a light bike, by dirt standards. If i kept it upright, it would tractor through what felt like anything. If I didn't keep it upright, it used up most of whatever energy I had left in order to pick it up and keep moving. So, after several years of great adventures, memories and rides, it went to its new home.
Chapter Two: The Stars Align
The timeline is fuzzy.
For the sake of the story, and due to the fact that its not completely pertinent to telling tales of Adventure, I will omit some of why part of this particular bike made it to me, and perhaps talk a bit more about "how". After a 4 hour round trip to Kiser lake, I ended up with a $150 "chunk" of 1998 Honda XR400R in my garage. It was a frame, swingarm, engine and oversize Clarke Tank. It was purchased to use the power plant for another project, but luckily, I am slow, and another piece of the light weight dual sport puzzle presented itself before I could complete said project.
The worlds foremost Honda "XR" enthusiast, long time DTT member and a close friend of mine @Mr.E sent me a Facebook marketplace listing for a well farkled, Tennesse street titled 1998 Honda XR400R with what another friend of ours @Kanticoy would describe as a "pre-exploded motor". The XR400R was not a street legal bike from the factory, so the fact that someone had gone through the street titling process was a tick in the "pro" column for me.
Ephraim knew that I had the frame and motor moth balled away, and we had even talked about how unlikely the prospect of finding an XR400 with a blown motor would be just a few weeks earlier, as they are known for reliability. Usually even a clapped out specimen yields a badly worn chassis with still running motor. I am glad he found this one though. He was even kind enough to collect me the bike and bring it to me in Knoxville TN, where I was passing thought to visit family in Georgia. I purchased it for $450.
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