Quote:
Originally Posted by ebonho
I don't buy into pigeon holing or categorisation if bikes at all. A bike will happily do what its rider can make her do. |
Absolutely. Any bike can handle almost any of the terrain a "normal" rider is likely to encounter, within reason. Pretty sure none of us are really riding routes that require trials riding skill and machine.
On my Bhutan trip, my friend and I had rented motorcycles in Gwahati. A Karizma in unbelievably bad condition and an Avenger 220, as they were the only ones available at the time. The Karizma would make no power at all below 5000 RPM. I don't mean lack of torque, it was like revving it in neutral. The Avenger is of course a feet-forward cruiser.
On that trip we did plenty of off-roading, including multiple days where we were riding for hours in calf deep, soft, greasy mud. Not a pleasant experience, but we managed it.
But there is something to be said for having the right tool for the job. Sure you can ride off-road on a feet-forward cruiser. Sure you can take the Activa to Ladakh (which people have done). Sure you can long distance tour on a supersport with full committed racing position. Sure you can solo ride a 250kg GS on tough technical trails, buuuuutttt... do you want to?
Unless one is trying to unlock a specific "bike/location/event" achievement, it's best to at least try to fit bike and purpose. Going outside the area of competence for a machine is fine on occasion, and inevitable, but doing it over and over will not be a pleasant experience.
That's why I went for a sports-tourer in ADV format. My aim is touring/twisties carving. Something that will let me ride 16 hours non-stop if I wanted, without vibrating me to bits. Something roomy and fully upright. Something that's very good at cornering too. Since I live in Uttarakhand, most of my riding is mountain twisties.
This is Versys's forte. Engine is smooth and calm at low RPM or as rowdy as you want it to be when you rev it out. Its short wheelbase and steep rake makes it very agile in corners, quick to change direction, and carrying lean angles beyond what I can even attempt on public mountain roads. But this (along with the weight) make it a mediocre off-roader, which I am fine with, since that's not my intended purpose. The average off-road section I am likely to encounter on occasion, I and the bike will just have to handle.
The 390 vibrations were the breaking point for me. It would have been ok for shorter rides, but they were getting very, very tiring over long rides. As a point of comparison, I did a 11+ hours ride in the mountains, then another 10+ ride just 1 month later, but this time after buying the Versys. The difference was night and day. In the former trip (as on my earlier long trips), I was exhausted by the end, had a headache, upper back pain, hands were numb and tingling, and arms were aching. The latter, which I was riding as hard as the previous one, had me just very mildly tired at the end of the day.
I guess the point of this rambling post is; best to buy the bike that fits your purpose to the extent possible, and then deal with the outliers as they come.