Trailer Hitch Motorcycle Carrier Confusion

[Ogre_FL]

That is the other bike that I want to try. Local dealer in Ocala did not have one. Next week I will be in Orlando and plan to look and ride one before I buy anything.

Old video, but so much fun… either bike will be good for what I want, but the KTM will be better on the highway…. The Himalayan in the video is an older model that did not have the ability to disable ABS, recent ones have that now.



So yeah, those two are on my final short list.

Would be curious on your take of the 390 when you get to ride it.
I had considered one as a replacement for my Husky 650, but after getting a chance to ride one I wanted a bike with more low/mid range power.
I am a tall guy with long legs and was also a little surprised at how wide the seat was at the front.
Technically lower than my husky (and I have a tall seat on it) but real world used up more of my leg length to touch.

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[wachuko]

Would be curious on your take of the 390 when you get to ride it.
I had considered one as a replacement for my Husky 650, but after getting a chance to ride one I wanted a bike with more low/mid range power.
I am a tall guy with long legs and was also a little surprised at how wide the seat was at the front.
Technically lower than my husky (and I have a tall seat on it) but real world used up more of my leg length to touch.

Not encouraging feedback for me ? ? . Wish there was one around here in Ocala...This week is going to go so sloooooooow... lol...

 

[Ogre_FL]

Not encouraging feedback for me ? ? . Wish there was one around here in Ocala...This week is going to go so sloooooooow... lol...

Have you ridden the Himalayan?
Where do you ride or plan to ride?

 

[wachuko]

Have you ridden the Himalayan?
Where do you ride or plan to ride?

No yet. Since I am not buying until August, I did not wanted to waste dealer/salesman time until I was certain I was going to buy it. I did sit on it, moved it around in the dealer. Height and weight distribution wise, it was great.

One of my friends, from the group that we go riding together on long rides, recently bought one as well... but he is in Georgia, so a bit too far to borrow it. All good feedback so far from him. Describes it as a little tractor that can go anywhere...

As to where I plan to ride with it? Any forest trail around here in Ocala. We should be moving permanently to Ocala by the end of the year... right now we spend the week in Orlando and the weekend in Ocala moving one box at a time...

I would like to do a few of the easy Trans America Trails as well...

 

[Ogre_FL]

No yet. Since I am not buying until August, I did not wanted to waste dealer/salesman time until I was certain I was going to buy it. I did sit on it, moved it around in the dealer. Height and weight distribution wise, it was great.

One of my friends, from the group that we go riding together on long rides, recently bought one as well... but he is in Georgia, so a bit too far to borrow it. All good feedback so far from him. Describes it as a little tractor that can go anywhere...

As to where I plan to ride with it? Any forest trail around here in Ocala. We should be moving permanently to Ocala by the end of the year... right now we spend the week in Orlando and the weekend in Ocala moving one box at a time...

I would like to do a few of the easy Trans America Trails as well...

Have you ridden the trails in your area?
I assume like most of Florida its sand and DEEP sand in places?

 

[wachuko]

Have you ridden the trails in your area?
I assume like most of Florida its sand and DEEP sand in places?

The ones I have been to... yeah... sand, deep sand, and more sand... just picture me riding a big as*, top heavy bike, with all my camping gear, in there... It was a frigging nightmare.... fun, but I was tired as heck afterwards...

But these have been near the coast area...

I have not been to the ones in Ocala... hoping it is not all sand here as well... I know I will need to change tires anyway... even thinking about having two sets of wheel/tire setup... but this is a newbie speaking out of his as*... I have much to learn.

But I do plan to ride up to Georgia to meet up with my friends and ride in their neck of the woods... better trails up there from what they tell me...

 

[Ogre_FL]

The ones I have been to... yeah... sand, deep sand, and more sand... just picture me riding a big as*, top heavy bike, with all my camping gear, in there... It was a frigging nightmare.... fun, but I was tired as heck afterwards...

But these have been near the coast area...

I have not been to the ones in Ocala... hoping it is not all sand here as well... I know I will need to change tires anyway... even thinking about having two sets of wheel/tire setup... but this is a newbie speaking out of his as*... I have much to learn.

But I do plan to ride up to Georgia to meet up with my friends and ride in their neck of the woods... better trails up there from what they tell me...

Yup two wheel sets is a BIG plus if you can do it.
I have 19/17's that work fine for most dirt and gravel stuff north of here and easy stuff local, but I also have 21/18's for more sandy local running or if I think I will do more technical stuff on trip.

While I have run local on decent tired 19" wheeled bikes, its is a LOT of work and I am spoiled now.
One other concern I had with the 19" wheeled 390 and why I haven't replaced the Husky yet.

 

[AuburnATX]

I typed out a long reply but it didn't save or post :/ In summary, the Himalayan sounds like it may be a good fit for you. I've had mine since 2018 and it has taken a lot of abuse off-road, tough single track, big drops and jumps, dropped a half dozen times and keeps on going. It's built more utilitarian like a dirt bike rather than a KTM or BMW (which are great bikes but sit taller and more $$ to fix). It's been on a few 200 mile highway rides and it does that just fine. My only knock is that I wish it had more power but I'm sure an aftermarket exhaust and air filter will release a few more ponies. Enjoy whatever you choose!

 

[Mules]

Yup two wheel sets is a BIG plus if you can do it.
I have 19/17's that work fine for most dirt and gravel stuff north of here and easy stuff local, but I also have 21/18's for more sandy local running or if I think I will do more technical stuff on trip.

While I have run local on decent tired 19" wheeled bikes, its is a LOT of work and I am spoiled now.
One other concern I had with the 19" wheeled 390 and why I haven't replaced the Husky yet.

Alright, you brought up my problem with the KTM390. I love the setup, technology, power and price, but it's only a 19/17 wheel setup. Not ideal for the dirt riding I do.

I've never looked into this but was wondering if anyone has changed a KTM390 to 21/18 wheels, or other bikes. Hell, I put 38's on my Jeep, why not 21's on a bike!?

 

[wachuko]

Alright, you brought up my problem with the KTM390. I love the setup, technology, power and price, but it's only a 19/17 wheel setup. Not ideal for the dirt riding I do.

I've never looked into this but was wondering if anyone has changed a KTM390 to 21/18 wheels, or other bikes. Hell, I put 38's on my Jeep, why not 21's on a bike!?

I have seen them with stock 17" R and custom 21" F ... not sure I have seen one with 18/21 combo...

 

[Mules]

Looks like they're doing it in Asia. I think the bigger wheels and high fender make the KTM 390 a perfect dual sport/light weight adventure bike.

 

[wachuko]

Looks like they're doing it in Asia. I think the bigger wheels and high fender make the KTM 390 a perfect dual sport/light weight adventure bike.

Damn that looks good... the struggle is real... too bad that will make it even worse for my vertically challenged height... darn it!!

 

[Ogre_FL]

Alright, you brought up my problem with the KTM390. I love the setup, technology, power and price, but it's only a 19/17 wheel setup. Not ideal for the dirt riding I do.

I've never looked into this but was wondering if anyone has changed a KTM390 to 21/18 wheels, or other bikes. Hell, I put 38's on my Jeep, why not 21's on a bike!?

Have you ridden the 390?

 

[dcmdon]

Good points and apologies in advanced for the long reply. For road riding I have no issues with a taller bike. I have had taller bikes on the road with no problem. Side to side when coming to a stop was common practice for me on those bikes.

It is a combinations of things for me for what I want to do with this bike... My BMW F 850 GSA was top heavy (well, heavy overall) and too tall. Weight distribution on that bike was awful for me. That was a bad combination for me when stopping on uneven terrain.

I want to enjoy my riding and having to worry that I am going to drop my bike takes all the fun out of the ride. Luckily those times that I had an "oh f* sh*t!" moment, there were friends near by that helped me to avoid dropping the bike... you see, once it got to a certain angle, or my foot would slip on one side and the terrain was lower there... well... not good.

I want to do more remote riding to go camping and exploring. I want a bike that is as light as possible... able to do some highway/interstate riding since there is no avoiding that when going to some forest trails or remote places... It needs to have lower center of gravity as I do not want to deal with a top heavy bike while doing light off-roading or forest trail rides... Also light enough to carry it on the hitch carrier since I do not want to use a trailer for those times that it makes more sense to drive to the initial destination before using the bike (although I prefer, as much as I can, to ride where I am going rather than carry the bike in Jeep).

In a lot of the off-road rides I will need to walk the bike. Having my feet well planted helps keep the bike upright.

I also need to be realistic, I cannot have a dedicated off-road bike... it needs to be dual purpose.

I did decide on not trying to make this next bike a do-it-all bike... So I am getting this one (KTM 390 Adventure or the RE Himalayan) for the fun off-roading rides... and buying a Honda Gold Wing Tour DCT for the coast to coast rides that I do with friends. Still keeping my café racer styled bike as well...

So the idea of just keeping two bikes went out the window a few months ago. I will be back to three bikes in the garage. So much for simplifying things... I could go back to two bikes, but I want to keep my fun-riding café styled bike...

I am comfortable modifying the seat. No issues there. You point on the width of the seat is spot on... the KTM has a wider seat and the frame under it, limits trimming the seat to make it narrower. Himalayan has much lower seat height and the frame is thin... so the seat could be modify even further if I wanted an even lower seat height... but on that one, there is no need for additional modifications.

And then there is the weight... picking up the bike when it falls on its side (and I foresee that it will fall while off-roading... many times) I want to keep it as light as I can. As much as I like that KTM 890 Adventure (impressive weight distribution very, very low on the bike), it is 476 lbs vs 387 lbs for the KTM 390... Yeah, I do not need the added weight. I know I can get the Himalayan down to below 400 lbs as other owners have done the same.

Again, sorry for the long reply. I do appreciate your comments. It all comes down to what I want to use this bike for.

Cheers!

That all makes sense. This past fall I rode my dad's Harley XR1200 (about the lightest Harley made) to the dealer for service for him. At about 550 lbs, it's still about 200 pounds more than I'm used to. And yes, the seat is wide and high. I couldn't walk it backwards without getting off and even then I was terrified of dropping it.

I will be getting something newer soon, as my RZ is really just for around town and b ack roads. I was thinking of the FZ-09. I rode one recently and it was a good feel and not a ton of money. And it's about 150 lbs lighter than the Harley, which my dad said he'd give me since he can no longer ride it.

 

[wachuko]

That all makes sense. This past fall I rode my dad's Harley XR1200 (about the lightest Harley made) to the dealer for service for him. At about 550 lbs, it's still about 200 pounds more than I'm used to. And yes, the seat is wide and high. I couldn't walk it backwards without getting off and even then I was terrified of dropping it.

I will be getting something newer soon, as my RZ is really just for around town and b ack roads. I was thinking of the FZ-09. I rode one recently and it was a good feel and not a ton of money. And it's about 150 lbs lighter than the Harley, which my dad said he'd give me since he can no longer ride it.

Never let go of that motorcycle…never!

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