Is motorcycling allowed?

[WrightJnr]

Amazing . And before Wakefield sees this.... one finger on that clutch

 

Man I hope my little one takes to bikes like this too.

I had those dreams for my two boys. I had bought them bikes when they turned 4. Tried to get them racing karts at 8. Unfortunately they do not share my passion for Motorsport and while it took some time for me to accept that I’m so grateful I did and did not push them down a path I wanted them to follow. I’ve seen some interest of late in performance cars, F1 and Rossi of course but I’ve had to accept they are carving their own passions.

 

I got my love and passion for Motorsport from my dad so assumed my kids would follow. I blame the boring world of F1 they were born into!

[IceCreamMan]

Just on the Honda CRF250L, I did two overnight adventure rides on a mate's wife's one. I don't get much change from 100kg and for the most part we didn't stick to the beaten track. A full days riding from tar to goat paths with some rock gardens thrown in for fun and the two fiddy held its own.

 

The only thing that let it down was the suspension, power and smallish tank. Suspension was not progressive enough and a I had a few bottom outs. No adjustment except if you change springs as far as I know. Little bit under powered (a hill climb caught me out. Usually hit it in 2nd on the bigger bike. 1st on the Honda would have worked better...) To be fair, I was asking a lot though.

 

For easy cruising and a bit of fun off road tech it is more than capable. Not as hard as a KTM but the people that buy them probably have no Dakar aspirations and don't like the taste of Koolaid... Quite a few people on the Choob that use them for adventure type trips. Cheapish, light and Honda reliable and it will do 155 with a tailwind and enough negative gradient [emoji41]

Mate had the rally very sweet Moto I just felt it lacked a lil punch. Honda now brought out the 286 motor which I think would help a bit.

 

Great bikes.

[patches]

Good choice. There's a guy locally here who travel sa lot on a KTM 500 and swears by it. I think though that  she had 2 limiting factors which perhaps you haven''t considered: 

 

Availability.

Price.

 

It seems she did some research and decided which suppliers to use and from then it was a  matter of finding something in their stock.

 

As a matter of interest, what is the local cost of a (used) Husky 501?

 

Oh indeed, totally agree!

 

Price and availability would be critical factors to consider.

 

The KTM 500 or Husky 501 will be significantly more expensive than the Honda she went with.

 

A brand new KTM 500 EXC Six Days (only option I could find available in SA) will set one back around R156k

 

A brand new Husky 501 will make your wallet about R151k lighter

 

And a used 2018 hand Husky 501 with low hours (47) will see you shelling out about R99k

 

So yeah, even that 2nd hand Husky is about R25k more costly than a brand new CRF250L.

 

As for availability, SA isn't as big on the 500cc Austrians as Aus and NZ are.

 

I'd guess because the SA "off-road" scene is so polarised between the 2 extremes... namely 100kg 2 stroke enduro bikes or hippo-sized BMW GS pavement parkers.

 

The lightweight and mid-size adventure following is small (but growing). The addition of bikes like the 790 & 890 KTM Adventures and the 700 Tenere, has been helping this growth in the mid-size adventure market.

 

As for lightweight-adventure/dual sports and the 500s... I'd hazard a guess that most 500's sold in SA are to riders using them for rally racing as a cost effective alternative to 450 Rally replicas. Demand is low so stock will be low. They are out there though.

 

But yeah, if one could come up with the extra R30-40k odd (for the used Husky and some aftermarket kit), it would be an amazing machine to do this sort of adventure on and still significantly cheaper and more capable than a midsize adventure (like a 790 or Tenere).

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Just on the Honda CRF250L, I did two overnight adventure rides on a mate's wife's one. I don't get much change from 100kg and for the most part we didn't stick to the beaten track. A full days riding from tar to goat paths with some rock gardens thrown in for fun and the two fiddy held its own.

 

The only thing that let it down was the suspension, power and smallish tank. Suspension was not progressive enough and a I had a few bottom outs. No adjustment except if you change springs as far as I know. Little bit under powered (a hill climb caught me out. Usually hit it in 2nd on the bigger bike. 1st on the Honda would have worked better...) To be fair, I was asking a lot though.

 

For easy cruising and a bit of fun off road tech it is more than capable. Not as hard as a KTM but the people that buy them probably have no Dakar aspirations and don't like the taste of Koolaid... Quite a few people on the Choob that use them for adventure type trips. Cheapish, light and Honda reliable and it will do 155 with a tailwind and enough negative gradient [emoji41]

 

That is pretty much the whole bike!!!

[sawystertrance]

Patches, is this a good time for me to post a photo of my GS?

 

Haha

[Grebel]

That is pretty much the whole bike!!!

Yes based on the day's riding we did and the fact thay I'm used to a 28lt tank that delivers 450km+... I definitely took it outside it's comfort zone. For a person under 75kg doing a tar and gravel tour you can't really do much better than the Honda. At the end of the day every bike is an adventure bike.

[mazambaan]

Yes based on the day's riding we did and the fact thay I'm used to a 28lt tank that delivers 450km+... I definitely took it outside it's comfort zone. For a person under 75kg doing a tar and gravel tour you can't really do much better than the Honda. At the end of the day every bike is an adventure bike.

 

Ja well no fine; I have a 2018 Husky 501 (R80k) and that thing is a looong way off the ground, even compared to my 640 and 525. Not for the short legged unless you lower it - I am challenged.

 

While you can drone on the asphalt it is boring, hard seated, noisy and eats tyres. Aside from the vibrasies the 640 is a pleasure on asphalt by comparison.  The 501 is a lovely light bike though and that is a big factor, particularly if you ride alone and are not a beast - for me, you have to be able to pick the thing up!

 

With its full 28 litres and a little luggage the 160kg 640 is a challenge, more so if it is wet and slippery  .

[patches]

Patches, is this a good time for me to post a photo of my GS?

 

Haha

 

hahahaha go for it!

 

As much as I poke fun at GS's for being engineered as offroad bikes (or Harleys being engineered....  at all  )

 

You're gonna arrive a lot more comfortable an refreshed after hours on the bike than I will on my Husky petrol-to-noise-and-vibration converter 

Edited March 9, 2021 by patches

[BSG]

This is living life to the fullest.

[Hairy]

hahahaha go for it!

 

As much as I poke fun at GS's for being engineered as offroad bikes (or Harleys being engineered....  at all  )

 

You're gonna arrive a lot more comfortable an refreshed after hours on the bike than I will on my Husky petrol-to-noise-and-vibration converter 

So you are a closet HD rider .... just more dirt orientated then!

[Kranswurm]

This is more like it...

 

[Hairy]

This is more like it...

Went to look at the slightly older T100 version at the Triumph CT branch the other day ... 70K, low mileage and rather good looking bike.

 

Do any of you here have experience on the 2013/16 T100 models at all ........ the T120 is great, but a little pricey for what I am looking at, maybe.

 

In all honestly Triumph would/have been the only other bike that has gotten me interested vs HD.

 

There is also a nice 900 scrambler for sale right now in my area for 78K, the pricing is a little off, but the bike looks great.

 

Taking my bike price study a lot more seriously now as I am getting closer to having all the cash in hand to buy when I see the right bike .... so the po po is getting real now vs all the window shopping I have been doing for who knows how long.

[Hairy]

This is the Thruxton I took a look at .. the exhaust is a custom jobbie that is just about "ok"

https://www.gumtree.co.za/a-motorcycles-scooters/city-centre/2015-triumph-thruxton/1008989055500910924980209

 

 

 

 

[Hairy]

And this is the scrambler 

 

https://www.gumtree.co.za/a-motorcycles-scooters/west-beach/triumph-scrambler/1008976703360910018208009

 

 

[Hairy]

so she is in Tzaneen ... never been there myself, but the landscape looks awesome.

 

[Kranswurm]

so she is in Tzaneen ... never been there myself, but the landscape looks awesome.

 

https://youtu.be/w_wiTdhI47A

The lowveld