On-Off Road Motorcycles

On-off road, or dual sport motorcycles include the BMW R1200GS Adventure, Kawasaki KLR650, KTM 990 Adventure R, Yamaha Super Ténéré, and Triumph Tiger 800XC.

There are a variety of bikes in this category, often termed Dual-Sport or Dual-Purpose. They look similar in many ways to dirt or MX motorcycles but are built for use on streets and highways in addition to off-road. As public land becomes scarcer and riding areas are less accessible, the street-licensed dual-sport opens up more opportunity for riding locations. As with any machine that is built for disparate purposes, Dual-Sports are always a compromise between light-weight dirt performance and comfortable street abilities. There are also two sub-categories: Adventure-Tourers, which are large dual-sports that can be taken on long trips for riders who don’t want to stop riding when the pavement ends; and there are also Supermoto bikes that are hybrids built from a dirt bike platform for racing or riding on pavement. These hooligan machines make excellent city-goers and can dismantle a tight and twisty canyon quicker than pretty much anything out there.