http://crosstrainingenduro.com http://tractionerag.com How much horsepower do you need for dual sport or adventure riding? On the plus side, horsepower can be exhilarating. Over the years I have had a few rides on this KTM 950 and that instant power on tap is very addictive with adventure riding. But I’m also addicted to remaining alive, which is why I would never buy one for dual sport riding. It’s my personal favourite as I can’t even keep the bike upright at walking speed. So the yellow power band means I rarely get out of first gear with adventure riding, and achieve a speed where I could hurt myself. Perfect! But does excess horsepower going into wheelspin apply to dual sport and adventure riding? In the enduro world a common expression is anything more than 20 horsepower is just wheelspin for dual sport riding. One of the Traction eRag guys entered a Canadian hard enduro on this $300 XL185 and was overtaking plenty of guys on dirt bikes with three times the power and 40 times the price on an adventure bike. It’s why I usually choose the yellow power band. The yellow power band. Weak and floppy with adventure riding. It’s great for KTM riders. Those who just don’t give a crap. And older riders like me who should have given up a long time ago. At a very rough guess, I would say that anything more than 40 horsepower is often just wheelspin on dirt roads for dual sport riding. In our sillier days, we would sometimes do drag races on remote dirt roads on dual sport motorbikes. And I ride a bike that barely puts out 40 horsepower. And of course the 950 is just middle of the road now at only 100 horsepower, while the Ducati Multistrada is pumping out something like 170 horsepower on an adventure bike.
And usually the DR650 would just grunt away in first place. Then the more powerful bike would rocket ahead once in top gear and the rear wheel wasn’t spinning so much. And I have owned that sort of bike too. For a few months I owned a KTM 690 and there was simply no point in using high revs on dirt roads as it just went into crazy wheelspin… on dual sport motorbikes. But of course adventure riding is about much more than trying to accelerate hard on dirt roads. On the other hand, you have the riders into smaller bikes. One thing that has always surprised me is the popularity of Japanese 250s in the USA for adventure riding, clocking up big mileage on the highways with those little engines singing away at high revs. They just enjoy loping along highways at minimal revs with the engine barely ticking over. If you regularly carry a passenger then the extra weight, stability and power of a big adventure bike are all big benefits. I suspect much of this comes down to personality type too. It’s not exactly my thing, but they are perfectly happy with their 20 horsepower. If you do a lot of highway riding, then it’s good to have all that power on tap for overtaking maneouvers for dual sport riding. And of course many riders don’t get powerful bikes to use that top end power. If you regularly feel the need for speed, then lots of horsepower can easily just get you into trouble. Fast! And you obviously go for the red power band. The red power band. Everybody wants it. Almost no one can handle it. The fear and exhilaration of the red power band are hard to describe. These have been best presented through seriously shitty memes over the years. And if you are relatively new to riding it makes sense to start small and work your way up. Different strokes for different folks. For some riders, less is more. For others? There is no replacement for displacement. What about you? 100 horsepower minimum? Or just enough to get to highway speeds does the trick? The average human being isn’t designed to cope with the stresses. And short term injuries include having body parts torn off under acceleration. Eventually you will be able to reach for things on the top shelf. Scary stuff! But if you usually stay in your comfort zone then you will only be using all those extra ponies when you really need them.
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