Riding dirt roads

I live in a rural area, and there are more miles of dirt road than paved road. Was wondering what the inmates experience with dirt roads was. How does the swing handle on dirt roads? Do the shocks and suspension stand up to wash board roads? Does it require more attention to air filter and oil changes? Then again maybe I should buy a used standard or dual sport to explore dirt roads on.

Hard pack gravel is fine ,pot holes not so fine,loose gravel , your looking for a mouth full.

If your traveling on more dirt that black top then the silverwing is not the way to go in my opinion. I have traveled on a few gravel backroads and roads under construction, although not by choice, and with my wife onboard it seems a little tense to me. Also the silverwing seems to be too much of a precision machine to be hammering continuously on a gravel, washboard road. However it is a Honda so it could probably handle it. I can't imagine riding in the mud if it were to rain, but im the kind of guy who cringes when a single raindrop hits any of my bikes . Im sure others will chime in saying they use theirs every weekend at the county mudfests and then ride home in the rain through freshly plowed farmers fields and the bike is 12 years old and the oil has never been changed or the air filter checked and the bike runs as new . I guess the choice is up to the individual.

Sounds like I need a second bike then. With no previous experience in bikes, and only about 4000 miles on a SW, I don't know if I need a dual sport for dirt roads or if a street bike would work. I don't plan to ride off road, just on dirt roads and paved roads. Some of my reading suggest that a 500 to 800 cc bike with Adv style tires would be great for what I want, and other articles make it sound like only a dual sport or dirt bike would work. Either way, I am on a budget, so will be looking at used bikes. What is the collective wisdom of the members? Thanks for the advice.

Every time I use the scoot for at least .4 miles, up and down our driveway, other than that I will try to avoid them unless necessary. I'd go a dual sport if I were doing a lot of gravel roads.

A Vstrom or Suzuki Bandit would be a better choice .The feet forward of a scooter does not inspirer confidence , unless you trike your scooter .( Don't do it Ethel)

I reckon thick matted grass is bad as it sqirms around under the tyre, but the worst is a longish downhill on dirt. You lose the engine braking and the back brake is connected with the front brake after 20 seconds. This means you find it hard to keep the back wheel behind the front wheel without the "drag' from the rear. Honda engineers really should have placed an on off switch to the combined brake system. I liked riding the SW all over the place except for that scenario. Wet weather gives me the same creeps.

Well, you've received plenty of advice from Canada and other foreign areas (anywhere outside of Texas).

The dirt roads in your area are probably caliche or other hard packed surfaces. The washboard type will slow you down for sure, but I think the Silver Wing will handle it. Sure, a dual sport would handle it better, but you would sacrifice the street comfort of the S'Wing. They also sit taller and require a different set of skills. Since you are new to bikes and riding, I would wait to make a decision.

Of course I only have about 50 years of riding Texas roads. I have seen very few that I would not travel with a Silver Wing. I would rather have your dirt than our potholes.

Im with hotwings and anyone else who doesnt think a swing is suited for dirt. I avoid dirt at all costs except for driveways. Never farm roads and never az back roads. But........its your call.

The only thing worse than dirt roads that I've ridden on are river beds and wet grass. Howard

I agree with the consensus, if you are going to be primarily on dirt, get a KLR650 or Yamaha TW200 if you are short or the like.

That being said I have had my SWing on many dirt roads and as long as speed is kept down there are no problems. I took my scoot out to the ghost town of Bodie, CA a couple of years ago and while most of the road is paved, the last 3 miles is miserable, gravel, rocks (some big), hills with little visibility etc. Potholes and all the bad things one would expect to see. Daunting to view I almost turned around but instead chugged through it all and made it to Bodie! Not one Harley did I see either.

:lol!:

Are you kidding me Hi-Yo? You have roads in Texas? No way! I watch movies and other notable TV shows featuring Texas and from what I can see the stage coaches are still numero uno form all vehicular travel apart from Union Pacific and Santa Fe Railways.
Stop dreaming!


OOPS sorry..."Railroads"

Kurt, I saw Crocodile Dundee and I'll put John Wayne against him any time. Both are Hollywood's finest.

After many years of riding I now have it figured out:

Paved roads: Scooter's great

Unpaved rough roads: Wrangler TJ

get some road riding experience first-----at least 10,000 miles. Silverwing can be ridden on dirt roads----slowly----remembering feet forward scooter does not allow you control a reg. motorcycle does.

I avoid dirt simply because I hate cleaning the bike afterward.

I don't like dirt or gravel for all the reasons mentioned above and I'm not too proud to turn around and find another road. Every time I have failed to keep the rubber side down and shiny side up, gravel or sand have been a contributing factor. I learned early on that sand, curves and front brake spells trouble.

john grinsel wrote:

I avoid dirt simply because I hate cleaning the bike afterward.

That's my main objection too.

There's a reason dirt bikes and dual sports have 21 inch front tires and scooters don't. Get a CRF250L if you plan on a lot of unimproved roads. It'll do 65 on the highway so you aren't giving up anything. The TW200 and DR200 won't. If you want more power go for the DRZ400.