Duals In The Sun

[TA6B]

Dual sports are the SUVs of motorcycles. We test four of the hottest to see how well they perform on- and off-road.

BY RICH TAYLOR & Photos by Kevin Wing

The enchanting concept of a dual-sport motorcycle is that you can cruise down the highway till the pavement turns to dirt, then just keep on riding to the ends of the Earth, no matter how far away or how rough the terrain. "Go anywhere! Do anything!" The whole idea is irresistible.

Happily, there's a small group of dual-sport 650s that craftily combines enough power for highway cruising with a long-travel suspension, lots of ground clearance, a narrow engine with a broad powerband, and as little weight as possible. These light, nimble, easy-to-ride machines are extremely economical, which makes one an excellent choice for a beginning motorcyclist. They're also diabolically fast on a curvy paved road, which makes one a cheap thrill even for an expert.

To sample the 2004 dual-sport market, we rode the four most popular models on the freeway from Los Angeles to San Bernardino, then up California's twisting and scenic Route 18 to Crestline, Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear City. Then we spent two days alternately blitzing paved mountain roads, unpaved fire roads and off-road riding areas.

Honda XR650L



Don't confuse Honda's dual-sport XR650L with the XR650R enduro racer--the L is much more civilized. Civilized or not, the Honda is by far the most accomplished of these dual sports off-road. If offers nearly a foot of travel from its motocross-style Showa suspensions, 13 in. of ground clearance and a dry weight only 50 pounds more than the kick-start 650R. The 650L is a great off-road playbike and you can legally ride it to where the dirt begins.

On the street, the beautifully finished XR650L feels like a dirt bike. Freeway cruising at 70 mph is a buzzy chore. The air-cooled Single is noisier than its water-cooled brethren, and everything from the bar ends to the skidplate vibrates in cadence. An hour in the saddle is enough for most riders. Speaking of which, the Honda's motocross seat, 37 in. off the ground, is a real handicap for the vertically challenged.


BMW F650 GS



Small and inexpensive by BMW standards, the F650 weighs almost 70 pounds more and costs $3200 over the segment-leading Kawasaki KLR650. The F650 feels absolutely unbreakable, delivers over 50 mpg and requires a minimum of maintenance. That makes it perfect for across-the-continent trips. In fact, F650 riders routinely rack up 100,000 miles commuting from Nome to Tierra del Fuego or some such spot.

BMW caters to the adventure-touring market, offering such options as antilock brakes ($500), indestructible hard luggage ($1000) and heated handgrips ($200). The Dakar model costs an extra $500 and adds a longer-travel suspension and a 21-in. front wheel. The Dakar also adds 7 pounds and raises the seat height to a moderate 34.3 in. from the accommodating 30.7 in. of the GS.

An optioned-up F650GS Dakar can easily top $10,500, which gets you into some pretty heady company. On the other hand, as a comfortable all-rounder, with the emphasis on street rather than trail, the BMW offers a unique combination of quality, style and high residual value. The only problem we encountered was with the antilock brakes. In our experience, antilock brakes are definitely not what you want when you're skidding on dirt toward the edge of a cliff.


Suzuki DR650 SE



Like Honda, Suzuki builds an air-cooled 650 that weighs only 324 pounds, offers lots of off-road suspension travel, works well in the dirt and looks supersharp. Many enthusiasts think the DR650SE is the best dual-sport machine. It's an inexpensive, fun-to-ride thumper that features disc brakes that are larger than most of its competitors', a stainless steel exhaust system and a 34.8-in. seat height that can be lowered to 33.0 in. with an optional link for the rear monoshock.

The Suzuki also makes a terrific back-road apex-strafer as well as a surprisingly good dirt bike. Die-hards ride these big Singles coast to coast on 1000-mile days, but the DR650SE, like Honda's XR650L, is best suited as a Saturday-night street racer or a Sunday-morning trail bike.


Kawasaki KLR650



The enthusiastic members of the Four-Stroke Single National Owners Club swear by their KLR650s. The big Kawasaki thumper weighs 13 pounds more than the Suzuki or Honda, but it is liquid cooled and has dual counterbalancers inside the engine, a 6.1-gal. fuel tank that gives it a range well over 300 miles, and such standard equipment as a small head fairing and sturdy luggage rack. That 13 pounds is well spent.

Compared to its competitors, the Kawasaki is less expensive, more fully equipped, smoother and is more comfortable. It's pretty good off-road, but its forte is flogging long distances in difficult conditions. For 2004, the KLR is available in Aztec Red, replacing the quasi-military Olive Drab of previous years. The red paint in and of itself should double sales.

A Kawasaki KLR650 dual sport will out-accelerate any traffic, cruise all day at 80 mph and top 100. It has a terrific reputation for being as tough as nails and as reliable as a claw hammer. The really cool thing, however, is that even on knobby tires, the odd-looking KLR is one of the best-handling street motorcycles on the planet. Who would have guessed?



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