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Reepicheep
| | Posted on Friday, September 24, 2010 - 08:23 am: | 
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+1! In an emergency, I can probably make my Uly go... well... anywhere except through a swamp. That makes it a great "go explore anywhere" bike.
But "dirt" isn't a dirt road, it's a track through the woods that you literally couldn't even successfully walk without significant slipping and sliding and maybe some crawling. That's dirt. And I might be able to get the Uly through it if my life depended on it, but it doesn't, and I've seen enough pictures of my own torn tendons.
So I have a KDX-200 for "dirt". About 215 pounds, and about 30 HP, and you can buy them all day long for $1000 to $1500, and rebuild them every season (which you won't need to do unless you are riding every weekend) for $200.
With the KDX, if you are climbing up or down a hill and it all starts going pear shaped, just pitch the bike one way, yourself the other way, and get a good laugh out of it.
And enjoy the Uly for streets and dirt / gravel roads. |
Sharkguy
| | Posted on Friday, September 24, 2010 - 08:50 pm: |
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You could always wait for one of these.
http://hellforleathermagazine.com/2010/09/this-is- the-face-of-triumph%E2%80%99s-new-tiger/?gal=1#/1 |
Motorfish
| | Posted on Friday, September 24, 2010 - 09:23 pm: |
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+1 Reepi, I`ve crashed enough in the woods and just can`t get into the Uly crushing me. Dirt bikes are just the right tool for the right job. And, wheelies, slides, and a little air just makes it all the better. The KDX is a great bike, two stroke, light, cheap to rebuild. I have a DRZ400E. I like it, but do miss the 2 stroke lightness. If your camping off of a fire road, the Uly should do fine, as a pack mule. But for real dirty fun, I`ll stick to dirt bikes. |
Jaybirdxb12x
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2010 - 01:02 am: |
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in my humble opinion the uly can hold its own and would fell comfortably taking it any whee I would take a KLR granted I am not a huge fan of that bike to heavy and under sprung and powered for me. I do have an old xl600 and will ride it like the dirt bike it is. I have taken the uly through some nasty touraine up hills I didn't think it would clime and trails that looked to rocky but Tootal was write keep the speed up and she does fine as long as it doesn't get to wet.
I did a track day 3 weeks ago on a hawk 650 with a mock race at the end. and it was a tootle herbie the love bug moment gridded against a 600 750 and 1000cc sport bike and one 1098R duc. I started in third and with all 55 ear wheel hp I finished there after running out of gas and being passed by 4 bikes and having to switch to reserve and restart the bike. point being its not what you ride its how you do it.
ps. the duc got dropped on 1st lap while fighting for 12 place with 12 riders |
Reepicheep
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2010 - 09:46 am: |
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The KLR at least has rim sizes such that it can get *serious* knobbies, and the tires can make all the difference offroad.
But you would then discover that those same fantastic knobbies get worn out after maybe 1000 miles on pavement (once they loose the sharp edge on the knob, they loose the ability to really stick). So you are stuck making the bike dirt only (which it is a lousy dirt bike), or making it "dual sport" and you then replace a rear tire every 1000 miles. Or you just ride it on the road with road tires, and get a dedicated dirt bike.
The Uly got it right. Make it a fantastic road bike that can go on things that aren't necessarily nice roads. The KLR-650 is arguably just as useless in serious woods riding as the Uly, but compromised the road aspects too much (where the bike will spend 99.9% of it's life).
It was really fun to spend a year on a KLR-250 commuting though. Just a hassle to wear out or constantly change rubber based on what I wanted to do that weekend. |
Jaybirdxb12x
| | Posted on Sunday, September 26, 2010 - 10:56 am: |
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I agree with Reepicheep you about rubbers and dual sports. I found that on my XL600 you either run full dot knobbies or 90/10 and any thing else is just a waste of time and money. and that full knobbies cornered just as well as anything short of a 90/10. also the 90/10 sis a pretty good job off road as long as it was mostly dry and not to technical. 
note I'm not trying to run any body's bike down. We all have different needs and desires for our bikes. that which you find to be as a pleasant breeze up the skirt I mite find an annoying draft. If you ride a Buell you defiantly don't fall in the norm of selecting motorcycles. |
Buewulf
| | Posted on Monday, September 27, 2010 - 01:13 pm: |
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I agree that the Uly is no dirt bike. I made enough impact craters in the ground with it this past year to drive that home. If things get tight or slow, you WILL lose the front end in even marginally deep/loose terrain. Quickly.
If the O.P.'s question was really how the Uly compares to other big GS-style bikes off-road, then I'd say it is comparable to any other with street tires, though the steering lock on my '06 is a huge handicap and can necessitate a change of underwear at times. You can get through some pretty rough stuff as long as it is fairly well packed and dry. 1st gear is a bit tall. Some peeps use the XB9 primary which I bet helps tremendously. I've been debating the swap myself, but 90% of my usage is road miles.
Just keep in mind that only qualities that make a Ulysses (or any big GS-style bike with street biased rubber) more capable off-road than say a Lightning or Speed Triple are essentially more ground clearance and a taller suspension so you are not banging up expensive parts underneath. |
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