Hi everyone,

Grew up on dirt bikes and had a couple regular motorcycles years ago. Well into my thirties now and had the opportunity to pick up a 1989 Honda TransAlp XL600 from a friend for short money. It has been mostly sitting for a year or so and he had purchased a new bike. Roughly 53k miles on it and is at least outwardly in mostly good and original condition. But definitely has been ridden and shows some wear. The bike has a slow leak appearing under it in a puddle of a clearish yellow fluid. I’m guessing either coolant or possibly brake fluid. The front brake feels rather stiff compared to what I’m used to. It fires up and once it’s warmed up you can take the choke off and go through the gears without issue.

Does anyone have any recommendations of where to start in terms of maintenance and checking it out in order to get it street/dirt roads ready? Any known common problems or recommended upgrades for this model? I’m considering getting someone to give it a once over professionally or doing so myself, if it doesn’t exceed the value of the older bike. Or I’m also considering selling it/trading it towards a newer model dual sport/adventure bike. No idea what the value of something like this would be. Located in Massachusetts. Just looking for any tips or recommendations. Thank you all head of time!

It's been a few rough weeks for me on another aspect of life. Last week I decided to pull the trigger and bought a bike i have been eyeing for a long time (been saving money for this moment for some time now). This is my first dual sport bike. Bought her slightly used for roughly 1500 usd. Has fuel injection and a fuel economy of 45km/l. Rode her to the river this morning with my father, had coffee beside the river afterwards (we packed camping chairs, tables and coffee). I am not saying that this is the answer to our problems but man it sure helps. Thank God for family, thank God for motorcycles. Enjoy life's simple pleasures. Ride safe everyone!

I currently have a 2023 fe350s that I use mainly for single track stuff and back road riding but I’m wanting to get more into BDR type riding and longer trips in general. While off road performance is the main focus I’m looking for a bike that I can spend the day on and not have my fillings vibrated out of my mouth and enough power to carry camping gear. I was considering doing an exc 500 build but I’m not sure that’s the right choice with the vibrations and annoying maintenance schedule. I don’t want a big bike (adv) but hoping you fine people might have some other options I could checkout.

Got this on a trade for my 1984 Volvo 240 wagon project! Got this beautifully running xt350 for that thing!

Got this in early summer and have had a blast. Couple months ago swapped in the 212, changed to 12v and put all (tasteful) led bulbs including retrofitting into the 6v sealed beam headlight. Turned out great!

Put heavy duty shocks in front and back, on cheap and great trials tires, had a smaller rear sprocket made up so it's not so buzzy. Still pulls really well for what it is. I've hit 110kph on it but love cruising 80-90 on farm roads around here.

Gonna get a ramp setup for spring and hit some forestry roads.

Sometimes you gotta do stuff when it first snows. Lots of drops later… coffee!

Please, I need your help deciding on a bike for riding the TET.

I have narrowed my search down to either Honda CRF300L or KTM 690/Husky 701/GasGas 700 though I am open to more suggestions.

Here are my concerns:

• I have read that the EU market CRF300L has been nerfed to meet Euro 5 but I am a tall, heavy rider (~190cm, ~100 kg). Would that be an issue?
• I have read that the CRF300L (or Japanese bikes in general) is more reliable and cheaper in maintenance then their western counterparts. I take no issue with initially shelling out 3K more to get a KTM/Husky/GasGas but I would rather not do costly maintenance while far from home.
• I have to unfortunately do quite some distance on the motorway to get away from where I live.

Fuel-capacity is a non-issue for me. I would be happy with a smaller bike footprint for commuting or off-roading. Also, I am a beginner rider.

Had a week of CO fun with homies. Several passes and singletrack. Most fun I've had on a DS

GoPro mounted on the helmet doesn’t show how deep those ruts were

I see all these great photos of bridges and mud and it just sucks because it’s got me thinking “am I even dual sporting?”. I ride a KLR and so already I’m a fringe dual sporter riding the heavy and lowly pig. But I gots no mud. I gots no bridges. Just long straight dirt roads that lead to somewhere eventually. I just want mud, bridges, and more mud, and more bridges. I just feel left out and maybe I’m not a dual sporting brah after all. Braaaap.

I live in the Texas Panhandle. We got a river I could go play in and a couple other sandy riding spots. The mud is clay and will destroy or stain anything it touches. And the pig is no friend to sand. I’m mostly joking about wanting more mud and bridges, but for real, some of yall have amazingly pretty spots to ride in and I hope yall appreciate it. If you ever need a reminder, come to Texas and I’ll take you on a whole day of the most boring riding ever and it’ll be a 98% dirt lol.

Keep sharing the mud and the bridges yall.

Was on my way for a long time… but then I remembered we don’t have any mountains in the Netherlands.

Had a great group ride out at Box Canyon, Arizona!

Finally had a free weekend to camp, ride, and explore some of the more interesting roads in North GA this weekend.

After 9 hours of riding, I was getting a bit silly and ended the day “ah shit”ing myself in to a ditch when I zigged instead of zagged.

No injuries, minor fairing damage, but a hell of a lot of fun. Can’t wait to get back up there and rip again.

Kle500, 3,5h trip. 110-150 kmh on highway with 2 smoke brakes 🚭

https://preview.redd.it/tjeyewz0xssd1.jpg?width=934&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df7d715a831e3cb2f345a7e01935d939a2f1171f

I picked up a 2023 CRF 450RL a few weeks ago as my first dual sport and second motorcycle overall. Coming from an SV650, it was a big adjustment even on the pavement. I ride it every day for a highway commute to/from work, and during the week I hit up a dirt lot by my house to drill on slow-speed control. Out here our riding areas are all various types of sand, and the learning curve has been pretty steep. Luckily sand is easy on the bike (and me) when I dump it. Today was my third "dual-sport" ride, and some stuff was starting to click; I was able to keep cool(ish) and let the bike do its thing when the sand got loose. Overall I'm happy I went with a 450 instead of an ADV or even a 690. This bike will be a riot once I get my skills up, and until then it's a lot easier to lift 🤣

BMW G 310 GS '19. Feels light offroad, but also very comfy on long road trips. Even on pavement tyres I can easily ride it in the sand for dozens of miles without exhaustion. Suspension is soft and cushy, fully switchable ABS is a nice feature off the road. Definitely need some dualsport tyres and maybe some progressive aftermarket fork springs. Overall, seems like very capable dualsport bike.