Even though I’ve been riding motorcycles all my life, it wasn’t until the mid 2000s that I actually owned one. Here are the motorcycles that I have owned so far.
Honda Tornado XR250
My dual-sport Honda XR250 Tornado bike was a blast to ride and up until now, it has been my favorite! It was light and nimble and performed well on and off road. I would ride it mostly in the dirt, so I was running tires that were geared more towards off-road riding. Even so, it would do fine on paved roads as well. In fact, it didn’t have trouble maintaining speeds of 70 mph, although it’s definitely not a freeway commuter bike.
The awesome thing about dual-sport bikes like this one is that you can ride them on paved roads and highways to get to the dirt roads. I would ride it the pavement to get out of the city and take mostly dirt roads after that. No need to put it in the back of my truck or to tow a trailer. It makes things so easy!
The seat was wider than your average enduro bike seat and was actually quite comfortable, even for long rides. The air-cooled 250 cc engine didn’t put out a whole lot of power but was adequate and very reliable.
This version of the XR250 wasn’t available in the United States – I bought it in Mexico when I was living in Guadalajara.
Here’s another photo of the Honda Tornado, clean and shiny:
Suzuki DRZ400S
The Suzuki DRZ400S was another one of my favorites. With its 400 cc water-cooled engine, it was obviously more powerful than the Honda XR250 and only a little bit heavier. It was also lots of fun to ride on and off-road. The seat was more of an enduro style, narrower than the Honda Tornado seat, and I got complaints when riding with a passenger.
As you can see in the photo, I didn’t have a top-case or panniers on that bike. I would just tie a couple of bags to the rear rack and hit the road!
The second photo is from a ride with my friend Rafa. That day we rode from Guadalajara to Lake Chapala and back. I took that photo while we were in Chapala.
Kawasaki KLR650
I really enjoyed my Kawasaki KLR650. It’s big enough to be considered an adventure motorcycle, but still rides a lot like a dual-sport bike. It was powerful enough so that on the highway I could keep up with my buddies that were riding larger bikes and when we would get off the pavement, it rode like a big dirt bike.
My KLR650 had a very comfortable seat and was a pleasure to ride, not tiring at all. The only issue was when I would drop it – picking it up was more of a challenge as compared to the Suzuki DRZ400 or the Honda Tornado.
Honda XR600R
My Honda XR600R was a beast! It’s no wonder that the XR600R was the king of Baja back in its time. I bought it in 2011 and was planning on racing the Norra 1000 with it. This one had very low mileage and had been garage kept. After having it prepped in San Diego, I took it down to Guadalajara.
The plan for racing the Norra 1000 was to have 3 of us ride the bike and to have a chase crew for support. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find enough people for my team and didn’t race the Norra, although I did participate in a number of local races.
Being a vintage race bike, it lacked an electric starter (would have been nice) and it wasn’t street legal. Therefore, it was more of a hassle to ride it as compared to my dual-sport bikes. Even so, it was crazy fun to ride!
BMW R1100RS
This BMW R1100RS was the first motorcycle that I owned, but I didn’t choose it or buy it. At the time I was selling a machine that I had for spraying polyurea and polyurethane, also known as spray-on truck bed liner. The guy that bought it gave me this motorcycle and the balance in cash. Seeing as I needed the money for other things, I listed the bike and never really got a chance to ride it before it sold.
Yamaha XT225
My first motorcycle, excluding the BMW above, was this dual-sport Yamaha XT225 Serow. Being a small bike, it was a good choice to learn and practice on and I got a good deal on it because it needed a new piston. After I pulled it apart and replaced the piston, it ran just fine. The only problem was that it was too small for me, as I am 6 feet tall.
White Honda XR250 Tornado
This was the bike that I bought to replace the Yamaha XT225 because it’s taller and has a bit more power. I liked it so much that I ended up buying a brand new one at the dealer – that’s the one shown at the beginning of this article.
Husqvarna TC250
The Husqvarna TC250 that I had was a bit too much for me – it’s a motocross race bike that requires more skill than what I had, so I only kept it for a couple of months.
What’s my next bike?
My upcoming trip is going to be from Ushuaia, Argentina all the way to Alaska and I haven’t bought a bike yet. As you can probably guess from this article, I’m looking for a reliable dual-sport bike that isn’t very heavy. If you have any suggestions, please comment below.
