I hate riding my Sportster in the grass or any off pavement road.. If i want and Adventure Sport, BMW has some bad *** ones that will do the road on and off equally good.

 

HD offered a full size enduro about 8-10 years ago, but they didn't sell. Especially since a KLR650 was $5K and teh harley was $12K.

 

Got anymore info on this? Being 8-10 years ago I would think there might be some used ones floating around. I didn't know harley has made any like this since the '70s

 

I already have an "Adventure bike" a DL650A. There are trade-offs for everything. These bikes have more ground clearance and a lot of load capacity, which means they have very tall saddle heights - 32" +. And while you can take them off hard roads, they are too big and heavy for most riders to do much more than fire roads and can be a bitch to pick up when you drop them. Like this.


One of the reasons I bought a DL650A was that I can pick it up by myself: a BMW 1200GS was a lot heavier. The newer F800GS with a 21" front is a lot better off-road - but not as good on-road.


The biggest difference (if you don't mind rocks pinging off your exhaust system) is tires. Most such bikes come with 80/20 street/dirt tires that have more open tread blocks.


Or they are "DOT knobbies" like the TKC80, which are much, much better off road and handle OK on road but only last 3-4,000 miles.


As this market has grown, there are now even "50/50" tires in addition to the 80/20 and 20/80.


But grass? Nothing works on wet grass!

 

Here is my build I just finished, it started as a 2003 1200XLC. I have a build thread on this forum as well Lowbrow Dirtster.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lowbrowcustoms/7099770147/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lowbrowcustoms/7099769769/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lowbrowcustoms/6953626230/