The Best of Both Worlds

© Ken Bingenheimer / RumBum.com

Travel this country on a touring motorcycle and you’ll see fabulous views, ride some incredible places, and create memories you’ll cherish for a lifetime. You’ll also miss out on about one-third of the really good stuff.

That’s the percentage of U.S. roads that are unpaved, according to the Federal Highway Administration, and highway bikes are simply not well suited for these routes. While the best motorcycles for these roads are purpose-built dirt bikes, there are major limitations with them as well. Many dirt bikes lack lights and turn signals and are not street-legal, so you need to haul them to where you want to ride and then you can have fun.

Midway between these extremes are the dual-sport motorcycles. Not as good on the dirt as dirt bikes, not as good on the road as touring bikes, dual-sport bikes are nevertheless quite good on both. Our experience recently on a Suzuki DL650 V-Strom confirmed that you can have it both ways, and if you don’t you’re missing a lot.

The V-Strom has a higher seating position than your basic cruiser, and thus can be a problem for those with shorter legs. That height is needed to allow the added suspension necessary for soaking up big bumps that would quickly do serious damage to another bike. Still, the seat height is only about an inch higher than a sport-touring bike like a Kawasaki Concours, and not nearly as extreme as on other dirt-oriented bikes.

Taking off from Boulder, CO, the three V-Stroms in our party made a quiet “put-put” sound that is characteristic of V-twins but lacked the raucous roar you commonly associate with a Harley. They ran smoothly through town and out onto CO 119 headed up Boulder Canyon. This is a very civilized bike with a broad power band, making frequent gearshifts unnecessary.

We turned up Fourmile Canyon Drive and the numerous twists and turns of the paved canyon road offered an excellent opportunity to test the agility and lightness of these bikes. They didn’t disappoint.

We left the pavement as we headed toward the tiny communities of Wallstreet and Sunshine, and now the dirt DNA took over. Where a street bike would have been squirrelly on the gravel, the V-Stroms ate up the bumps and felt very sure-footed. That road ended at Sunshine and we turned onto the Switzerland trail, where the old Switzerland Trail Railway used to run. From here the going was considerably rougher.

Mostly standing on our pegs now to absorb the shock, we plunged through streams, bounced our way over rocks and through washes, and rode through gorgeous mountain terrain that you’ll never see on a Gold Wing. Through it all the V-Stroms were solid and stable and easy for dirt-riding beginners to handle. Riding mostly in first and second gears, they never seemed close to stalling out, even at minimum throttle, and always responded with ready power when it was requested.

So if the pavement isn’t enough for you, a dual-sport bike may be just the thing. And the V-Strom would be a great choice, although, if you have the disposable income, the KTM 990 is really the ride, say those who know. You have to be willing to learn the needed skills to make it worth the money though. If you just want to plow through, the BMW GS is another good one to consider.

Then be prepared to be amazed at how much you’ve been missing.