http://bit.ly/waKPPE
A few weeks ago I rode my motorcycle to the top of Volcan Baru the tallest peak in Panama. I took a serious beating on the ride, and got some great video out of it. I wanted to do a ride from sea level to the top of Panama, so I started at the beach and filmed my ride to the top. It was exhausting, and horrible, and everything an adventure should be.
For this series of videos I wanted to do something special, something different so I have created an iPad book. The book has a bunch of photos, and 7 different videos with a combined length of over 70 minutes. Since it’s a book I was able to fill in the gaps between the videos and give more detail about what’s happening and what I was feeling. I’m really happy with they way it turned out. I’ve been asked a lot about DVD’s of my videos, or a book about my adventures. Well this is both. You get to read about the trip, see the photos, and watch the videos all in one place. Once it’s downloaded you don’t need to wait for video to buffer before watching them it’s all there you just hit play and it goes. Really if you have ever wanted to come along on one of my rides this is the closest you will get without flying to Panama and renting a bike.
I keep calling it a book because I don’t know another name for it. It’s more like a mini adventure and you get to come along for the ride. I’m very excited about it, it looks great on the iPad.
For this video I developed a scientific test which will help you figure out which dual sport motorcycle is right for you. It’s called the, “Can you kick it over and not want to commit suicide” test. If your going to buy a dual sport bike, and use it like it should be used it’s going to fall over. This will help prepare you for when that happens.
Really this is about making a budget, figuring out what cost of ownership will be for your bike and making a decision about how you want to use the motorcycle. Everybody loves shiny flashy motorcycles, but buying a shiny dual sport is probably a mistake. Get something a few years old that you can beat on and not feel bad about dropping. Price will go down, and enjoyment will go way up.
Next: How to properly lift a fallen motorcycle:
Coming soon
The HOFAI HF200GY-7 Dual Sport Motorcycle
Today my wife and I were attending the annual fair in David, Panama. Lots of great food, carnival rides, vendors selling all sorts of goodies, and car dealerships showing off the latest models. While there I stumbled across this motorcycle. Meet the Hofai HF200 GY-7. Catchy name right?
Call me crazy but I think this bike is awesome. I have no idea what the specs are, but it has a 200cc motor. It’s electric start, but can also be kick started. For its size it has a large gas tank, a great luggage rack on back, there is also a small rack over the headlight. Its black and olive drab color scheme let you know this is a tough, reliable bike… Right?
With a price of $1800 I’m not sure you could go wrong. There are some BMW riders with luggage systems that cost more than this bike. I have to admit, I’m tempted to buy one. It would be a lot of fun putting around Panama and making videos what this bad boy can do. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for a used one, be great to pick one up for less than $1000.
Nice photo of BMW’s F800GS Triumph Tiger 800XC in action.
Edit: Not the bike I thought it was. Thanks to @jolyon_russ for the correction.
(Source: swan403)
M1030-M2 Diesel Powered KLR650
Hayes Diversified Technologies has been converting Kawasaki KLR650’s into diesel powered scout vehicles since 2004. Now in its 4th generation the M1030-M2 puts out 33hp and 38 ft-lbs of torque. Top speed is 95 mph and it will get you from 0-60 in 9.7 seconds. Riding at 55 mph the KLR gets an impressive 96 mpg, and has a range of 408 miles.
Hayes has been trying to bring a civilian model of the diesel powered dual sport motorcycle to market for a few years now. But has been to busy supplying the military to get it done. If they ever do release the bike for civilians the estimated price of $18,000 means you will need to do a lot of riding to make that gas mileage pay for itself when compared to the gas powered KLR650 which sells for around $5,500.
Video of a Marine motorcycle training course after the break.
Track T-800CDI Diesel Motorcycle
This is the “Track T-800CDI Diesel Motorcycle.” Its built in the Netherlands, sells for 17,500 Euro or around $23,400 USD. The bike uses the same 800cc 3 cylinder turbo diesel as the Smart Fortwo. Developes 45 hp and 74 lbft of torque. Top speed is 115 mph and with 93 mpg you wont need to worry about where the next gas station is for another 500 miles.
The range a diesel motorcycle can achieve is what interests me most. As a globe trotting adventure motorcycle traveling long distances on one tank, and then being able to fill up with diesel are a huge plus. In most places outside of the United States diesel is the fuel of choice.
Video after the break.
BMW R1200GS vs Suzuki V-Strom 650
In the summer of 2009 my friend John finally bought a dual sport motorcycle. A Suzuki V-Strom 650. Once in a while when his wife was asleep we would slip away into the foothills around Spanish Fork, Utah and had some great rides.
We both had small hand held cameras, and would leapfrog each other down the trail giving each other time to set up for a shot. It made filming the rides fairly quick and easy since we didn’t have to spend so much time stopping to film.
If you were the guy in front you would cruise along until you found a technical bit in the trail, pull over, whip out the camera, and hope for the other guy to crash and that you would catch the carnage on camera. Both of us laid our bikes down on these rides, but I held the record for most drops. And I didn’t catch John’s on camera :(
My favorite in this series is “The Un-named Trail” It was a great trail, and I love going on rants when I do voiceover.
