Dirt_Dad
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Over the 7 years Dirt_Mom (DM) has been riding a gen 1 and gen 2 Super Tenere she's accomplished quite a bit. She has ridden to the lighthouse at Cape Spear in Newfoundland, done the Top of the World Highway, the Arctic Circle on the Dalton Highway in Alaska, ridden the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, and multiple rides on the Blueridge Parkway. DM knows how to handle a big bike. But over the years she's also had a couple of spinal surgeries and has had to lay off riding for extended periods of time as a result.
The other day as she was getting on a gravel road for the first time in over a year it was challenging for her to get her confidence back. It did gradually come back, but it got me thinking...she would be so much better off on a bike more appropriately sized for her 5'6" frame. As we get older, it's getting harder and harder to justify why she's on such a big bike. Sure, I've lowered her bike a little more than 2 inches, but there are still a number of basic maneuvers (like turning around, or turning sharply) that require her to have more room to feel comfortable. It's kind of amazing to think in all those years and miles she's dropped it less than 5 times. She is a damn good rider.
Normally when I bring up getting a more appropriately sized bike the first thing she asks me is, "will it have all the safety features of the Tenrere?" In the past I've always said , no. That would be the end of the conversation for her. This time, I extended my thinking into European bikes, and I said, they would have move features. Now she's open to it.
I've always been a "reliability first" kind of guy. Which has had me rule out BMW from the start. KTM never had anything in that size, and I didn't even know about the Multistrada 950.
BMW's new F 750 GS, with a wet weight of less than 500lbs, the lowest seat height and several of the features she can get excited about makes it hard to ignore. However, I've seen so many people around here because they were fed-up with dealing with BMW issues that it makes me gun shy to say the least. It's also the one DM is most interested in due to the lower seat height.
The new KTM 790 Adventure is interesting because of the super low fuel tank that, in theory, should give it a very low center of gravity. That low COG is very appealing. Seat height isn't as low, but depending on the COG, that may or may not be as much of an issue. Plus, it may be capable of being lowered...maybe. At a claimed dry weight of 417, that's sounding ideal. KTM reliability...open question in my mind.
I never knew that much about Ducati. But Checkwrecks told me how reliable his old one was and that holds a lot of weight in my mind. I've always loved the looks of the Multistrada, and I only recently discovered they have a Multistrada 950. At a claimed dry weight of 450 it's clearly in the running.
Yes, all of these would mean going back to a chain drive. I'm not excited about that part, but I figure I can reduce that pain with adding an auto oiler. The one thing I'll not compromise on is tubless tires. I'm not patching tubes under an circumstance.
So, anyone have thoughts on any of these three bikes for this application. I'm pretty sure DM likes the BMW idea the best, but she's not willing to be broken down on the side of the road. Good thing, because neither am I.
The other day as she was getting on a gravel road for the first time in over a year it was challenging for her to get her confidence back. It did gradually come back, but it got me thinking...she would be so much better off on a bike more appropriately sized for her 5'6" frame. As we get older, it's getting harder and harder to justify why she's on such a big bike. Sure, I've lowered her bike a little more than 2 inches, but there are still a number of basic maneuvers (like turning around, or turning sharply) that require her to have more room to feel comfortable. It's kind of amazing to think in all those years and miles she's dropped it less than 5 times. She is a damn good rider.
Normally when I bring up getting a more appropriately sized bike the first thing she asks me is, "will it have all the safety features of the Tenrere?" In the past I've always said , no. That would be the end of the conversation for her. This time, I extended my thinking into European bikes, and I said, they would have move features. Now she's open to it.
I've always been a "reliability first" kind of guy. Which has had me rule out BMW from the start. KTM never had anything in that size, and I didn't even know about the Multistrada 950.
BMW's new F 750 GS, with a wet weight of less than 500lbs, the lowest seat height and several of the features she can get excited about makes it hard to ignore. However, I've seen so many people around here because they were fed-up with dealing with BMW issues that it makes me gun shy to say the least. It's also the one DM is most interested in due to the lower seat height.
The new KTM 790 Adventure is interesting because of the super low fuel tank that, in theory, should give it a very low center of gravity. That low COG is very appealing. Seat height isn't as low, but depending on the COG, that may or may not be as much of an issue. Plus, it may be capable of being lowered...maybe. At a claimed dry weight of 417, that's sounding ideal. KTM reliability...open question in my mind.
I never knew that much about Ducati. But Checkwrecks told me how reliable his old one was and that holds a lot of weight in my mind. I've always loved the looks of the Multistrada, and I only recently discovered they have a Multistrada 950. At a claimed dry weight of 450 it's clearly in the running.
Yes, all of these would mean going back to a chain drive. I'm not excited about that part, but I figure I can reduce that pain with adding an auto oiler. The one thing I'll not compromise on is tubless tires. I'm not patching tubes under an circumstance.
So, anyone have thoughts on any of these three bikes for this application. I'm pretty sure DM likes the BMW idea the best, but she's not willing to be broken down on the side of the road. Good thing, because neither am I.