A new (favorite) way to adventure.
Growing up, riding dirt bikes was one of my favorite things to do, but after 10yr of riding the same field, it kinda lost its spark. Now what?
Riding a motorcycle on the street seemed terrifying- all those machines looked like they’d do 200mph without blinking, and the thought of sharing the road with cars froze me with fear.
I recently began learning a ton about dual-sport riding, and that got my interest big time. There are a billion places in the backcountry to find adventure that I couldn’t/wouldn’t want to take even a Jeep, but are public lands and public roads. A dirt bike with a license plate is the perfect tool for the job.
I sold my old Yamaha YZ80 death-machine when I was 16 and hadn’t touched a bike since. Now 30, I fell down the rabbit hole thanks to coworkers and reading all your adventures here. Upon learning about the old airhead BMW boxers, and given my bias, I had to have one, so I drove to Ohio in June for what seemed to be a good specimen. It’s... been a BMW, which means it’s been broken enough to not ride more than around the neighborhood, but that’s another story. So I bought a Honda.
Monday, on my first ride out, we covered nearly 80mi in the beautiful mountains of my backyard in western North Carolina on a route I made up in google maps. We’ll call it the ‘Lap of Linville Gorge’, and the north/south directions are entirely dirt forest service roads with some spectacular scenery. Even on the 15-20mi of paved sections, there were very few cars, which was a big confidence booster.
But those forest roads... sometimes technical, twisty, muddy, rocky, and exposed. Other times mellow and somehow smooth while still being dirt, and you can let the machines open up a bit.
My little 230cc Honda (a CRF230M for those familiar) is pretty much wide open all the time, as it makes less than 20hp. Think Miata-like ‘slow car fast’ type of fun, and you’re getting the picture. It’s fun.
It’s small, light-ish, and nimble enough to throw around in the rough stuff and blast out of the many nicely cambered hairpins with the throttle pinned. No worries about the rear tire spinning you off the cliff or hooking and pulling the front end up. These little dirt forest roads become your personal rally stages, and on the paved surfaces, you can ride it like a Moto GP race and have the most fun while going 35mph.
I have big plans for more adventure dual-sport riding (hello Backcountry Discovery Routes), and will definitely need to get a more serious machine when those times come, but for now, mind my last-minute lunchbox tied to the rear rack snack carrier and the fact this little Honda will only top out around 65mph (which feels... more than enough).
This is my new favorite thing.
