[yugen852]

Hi everyone, I hope you are doing all right. I am interested in buying a Dual Sport, but I can’t distinguish that kind of bike with the off-road only bikes. How many cc’s should a dirt bike at least have so it can travel on road and how can I distinguish them from the others visually?

[Jeff in Kentucky]

The minimum dirt bike engine for 55 mph roads is 250cc, and for 70 mph roads 400cc. Some of the 250s will go 75 mph, but it is not that comfortable, and there is not much extra power for passing or going up hills.

If you look up the reviews for them, the reviewers will rank their ability on dirt and pavement. Some are more for dirt, and some more for pavement.

Visually, look at the tires. Dirt bikes have bigger and fewer knobs (raised square tread sections), and dual purpose bikes have smaller and more knobs.

[A]

Depending on how much dirt riding you plan to get into: where are you from, what kind of speed to you plan to travel on the pavement and off the pavement.

To treuly able to enjoy dirt riding, I need a dual sport bike under 400 lb., prefereably under 350 lb. even… any heavier, you might as well ride a street bike that you can enjoy riding in the street.

Dual sport bikes at highway speed with knobby tires isn’t something enjoyable (nor safe) for much distance.

[SantaCruzRider]

The difference between dual sports and dirt bikes are that dual sports have the necessary gear that allows them to be ridden on public roads. This includes such obvious items as brake lights, turn signals and a license plate.
Other items such as 4-cycle vs 2-cycle and street legal exhaust are typical of dual sports, but not as obvious.

[TrialsRider]

In most parts DOT branded tires are a requirement for road certification. 250cc is almost a defacto standard for off-road, they offer an excellent balance of power to weight and suited to entry level off road competition. For experienced riders and road riding beyond city and rural roads, large displacement singles are far better suited. The current model 450cc singles, given tire, gearing and suspension modifications, even make an excellent platform for GP style road racing. see: http://www.450gp.com/EN/

[CBBaron]

It depends.
I many states it is pretty easy to get a license on a dirt bike. You just need to install the legal hardware like lights and turn signals and pay the fees. Some enduro or trail bikes may even come with some or all that equipment. In other states they are much more strict and require emissions equipment and the model has the be legally designated a road going motorcycle. These models have the necessary equipment from the factory.

Dual sport motorcycles start at 200cc and go up to about 650cc with some dirt worthy twins even bigger. Bikes from KTM, Aprilla and Husky are basically street legal dirt bikes that offer high performance off-road but are expensive, require more maintenance and may not be well suited for street use. 200cc and 250cc air-cooled bikes are inexpensive and easy to learn but may struggle some at highway speeds.

Off road light weight is better, especially for a beginner. The more capable 250cc and 400cc bikes are often recommended. If you intend to do more road than off-road miles the 650cc bikes are better. The upgrade path is usually converted off-road models or the European models.

Lots of choices. Look up the KLX250s, WR250r, DRZ400, DR650 or KLR650 from lightest and lowest power to largest and most power.

Craig

[yugen852]

Thanks for the info, guys. Really appreciate it.

[Author]

Posts