The Stelvio NTX

[Warren]

I have rebuilt both bicycle and motorcyle spoked wheels. Not really much different. Spoked wheels for off road use give a better ride since they flex and absorb shock. The NT is my first motorcycle with cast wheels. I like them a lot and willl probably never leave the pavement anyway.

This thread makes me wonder why I keep seeing comparisons of the adventure bikes to the NT. Honda sells the NT as a sport touring bike and I think its a commuter touring bike but it is sure not an adventure bike unless your idea of adventure is a two lane back country road.

 

[Mellow]

This thread makes me wonder why I keep seeing comparisons of the adventure bikes to the NT.

I don't think it's really a comparison of the two bikes from an apples-to-apples point of view but more about the features of one vs the other and if those would be desirable features on the other bike.

 

[elizilla]

This thread makes me wonder why I keep seeing comparisons of the adventure bikes to the NT. Honda sells the NT as a sport touring bike and I think its a commuter touring bike but it is sure not an adventure bike unless your idea of adventure is a two lane back country road.

I think it is because the NT and the adventure touring bikes are in the same weight class. People who want to tour on something with a shaft drive, but which is still relatively (relatively!) light, end up comparing the NT to an adventure bike.

 

[Lorien]

That really is the reason I bring up these occasional bikes. You try to stay in the sub 600 lbs. range and see what you can come up with. I look at some of these adventure bikes and see that if you really want to go offroad the first thing that goes are the tires. Which kinda tells me that the manufactors are thinking something else despite the adventure moniker. I think that if you really want to go offroad you buy the appropriate BMW and save yourself a lot of time.

 

[Chucksklrst]

That really is the reason I bring up these occasional bikes. You try to stay in the sub 600 lbs. range and see what you can come up with. I look at some of these adventure bikes and see that if you really want to go offroad the first thing that goes are the tires. Which kinda tells me that the manufactors are thinking something else despite the adventure moniker. I think that if you really want to go offroad you buy the appropriate BMW and save yourself a lot of time.

If one really wants to do real dual sport then an old KLR is the way to go. Don't have to worry about dropping it, easy to fix, Light weight in comparisons, does not break, lots of after market stuff, Cheap to own and acquire, very dependable, Most of these over weight, liter +, so-called dual sports will never see off road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M62y6BgvO-0

 

[Warren]

If one really wants to do real dual sport then an old KLR is the way to go. Don't have to worry about dropping it, easy to fix, Light weight in comparisons, does not break, lots of after market stuff, Cheap to own and acquire, very dependable, Most of these over weight, liter +, so-called dual sports will never see off road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M62y6BgvO-0

Chuck, before the NT came out I thought the KLR might be a good all round bike even though I doubted if it would see much off road use . I went to the dealer to look at one and it seemed like the seat was chest high so I started to look at V-Stroms instead. I was about a week away from purchasing a V-Strom when I saw the press release for the NT and knew it was the ideal bike for my purposes. No regrets.

 

[Chucksklrst]

Chuck, before the NT came out I thought the KLR might be a good all round bike even though I doubted if it would see much off road use . I went to the dealer to look at one and it seemed like the seat was chest high so I started to look at V-Stroms instead. I was about a week away from purchasing a V-Strom when I saw the press release for the NT and knew it was the ideal bike for my purposes. No regrets.

The seat height might look too high but one needs to sit on the KLR. the suspension will squash down alot. But then again, I am 5'10" with a 31" inseam and 225lbs. (working on less poundage):rolleyes1:

 

[Phil Tarman]

Chuck, if you're really brave, you'll let me sit on your KLR sometime when I'm at your place. We'll see if: 1) I can get a leg up over the seat when the bike is unladen, and 2) if my 250# compresses the suspension enough to let me touch the ground when I'm sitting on it.

I have a good friend who loved his BMW R100GS until the final drive died in Montana as he and some friends were riding the TransAmerica Trail. There were no R100GS final drives in the US and it took 6 weeks to get one from Germany. He only had 38,000 miles on the bike. He bought a KLR and loved it except for one trivial detail:

His riding buddies are all rich guys and they kept "upgrading" their BMWs. They do take them off road but they put on a lot of slab miles getting to the off-road areas they want to ride. Ken says that his KLR was comfortable on the highway at up to 70 or so, but the other guys were riding 80+ most of the time and that didn't feel good on the KLR. He's riding a Wee-Strom now, but does most of his offroad stuff on a KLX250.

 

[RedBird]

Hey Phil, I had a KLR - 2009 model. I lowered it by replacing the rear suspension links with ones that are a bit longer.
This drops the rear. Then I slid the front forks up in the tree by a bit over an inch to compensate. Worked great! I could get my feet down, and the KLR did not bottom the rear wheel against the fender. The links cost $50 to $100 for the pair, depending on whose you buy. I installed them myself. I'd still have that bike, but I found that I was riding it on the pavement - hardly at all on the dirt so it and the Valkyrie made way for the NT.

 

[Phil Tarman]

Ken, if I hadn't had so many knees (5 -- 3 right, 2 left), I'd definitelyl do that. But I figure since I drop bikes when I'm on pavement barely moving, I'd almost surely drop a bike on dirt, sand, or gravel, and I'd probaby try to catch it and blow one of my $30,000 knees. So, I'll stay on road bikes.

 

[Chucksklrst]

Sure Phil no problem. You can ride it if you want. I might even put it up for sale next winter.

 

[RedBird]

Know what you mean Phil, I have a similair $$$$$ right shoulder. Total shoulder replacement. I asked my doc if there was anything I should avoid doing and he immediately replied "off road motorcycle riding".