My Frustration

Bajaedition

Bajaedition

New member
I think the decision has come down. The more I ride this bike the more I go exploring
OK guys, I am an avid 4x4er, I own 2 jeeps and love to go offroad, we usually spend 2 weeks each year just going offroad to places no one else goes to vacation.
I am past the rock crawling stage, no that is a expensive sport, I love the outdoors not measuring my penis
and no not dirt bikes, have a few of those already, I want a bike I can just have fun on the street and also explore a dirt road or 2.

So I started it today

first step was to order a set of off road style pegs to modify to fit the bike
next will be a set of dunlop 616s
I am going to look around for a skid pan and a few other mods

you see the torque zone and the entire bike are so excellent I just want to go places and explore. and not have to drag a truck around with my YZ in it.
 
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decooney

New member
Bajaedition said:
I think the decision has come down. The more I ride this bike the more I go exploring
OK guys, I am an avid 4x4er, I own 2 jeeps and love to go offroad, we usually spend 2 weeks each year just going offroad to places no one else goes to vacation.
I am past the rock crawling stage, no that is a expensive sport, I love the outdoors not measuring my penis
and no not dirt bikes, have a few of those already, I want a bike I can just have fun on the street and also explore a dirt road or 2.

So I started it today

first step was to order a set of off road style pegs to modify to fit the bike
next will be a set of dunlop 616s
I am going to look around for a skid pan and a few other mods

you see the torque zone and the entire bike are so excellent I just want to go places and explore. and not have to drag a truck around with my YZ in it.
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This is what a good dual sport is for. They ride Dakar on 450s. I ride a Beta 450RS for this type of riding myself; i.e. Dirt bike with a license plate, and keep the FZ8 for road. Being that you are dirt rider, I think you'll find the FZ8 is too heavy and the small front wheel is going to be your first limitation in any kind of loose stuff. Tried the same thing on Super Motos and found the small 17" front wheel was lame in the loose stuff. A lot of the guys find the same thing here in NorCal with the larger adventure bikes... Too big, too heavy, costs a few bucks when you lay them over, even with crash bars. Seriously, if this is your goal, you might want to look at a Triumph Tiger with a larger front wheel, and something with crash bars on the side. It would be a shame to drop an FZ8 on some loose stuff at speed, IMO. I bet you'll see an adventure version come out of the FZ09, lighter, not as wide, that might do it.
 
Bajaedition

Bajaedition

New member
decooney said:
This is what a good dual sport is for. They ride Dakar on 450s. I ride a Beta 450RS for this type of riding myself; i.e. Dirt bike with a license plate, and keep the FZ8 for road. Being that you are dirt rider, I think you'll find the FZ8 is too heavy and the small front wheel is going to be your first limitation in any kind of loose stuff. Tried the same thing on Super Motos and found the small 17" front wheel was lame in the loose stuff. A lot of the guys find the same thing here in NorCal with the larger adventure bikes... Too big, too heavy, costs a few bucks when you lay them over, even with crash bars. Seriously, if this is your goal, you might want to look at a Triumph Tiger with a larger front wheel, and something with crash bars on the side. It would be a shame to drop an FZ8 on some loose stuff at speed, IMO. I bet you'll see an adventure version come out of the FZ09, lighter, not as wide, that might do it.
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I do not see that you even read my post
and here is why
I state I own 2 dirt bikes, one is a WR250
that is not what I am looking for
I am toying with the idea of being able to take this bike down dirt roads with confidence. To many times I find a killer looking road that takes off and when exploring it find side roads that are dirt and know I am not set up for it
I think that this bike is light enough for dirt and gravel roads. I never talked about going trail riding.
I have rode dirt bikes since I was 11 years old, I know the difference.
 
DSmith

DSmith

New member
after seeing those dunlop 616s on another thread i started thinking the same thing. too many times ive gone down a backroad which turned into gravel and had to bang a U-ie. Besides the tire upgrade, I think the suspension would be the biggest factor on making the fz8 a little more off-road capable. Yah, if someone wants to go offroading buy a dirtbike, but id love to have the capability of goin down a gravel road with a little more confidence. Defintely a cool idea and would love too see the progress if you decide to follow through with it.
 
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decooney

New member
Bajaedition said:
I do not see that you even read my post
and here is why I state I own 2 dirt bikes, one is a WR250 that is not what I am looking for I am toying with the idea of being able to take this bike down dirt roads with confidence. To many times I find a killer looking road that takes off and when exploring it find side roads that are dirt and know I am not set up for it I think that this bike is light enough for dirt and gravel roads. I never talked about going trail riding. I have rode dirt bikes since I was 11 years old, I know the difference.
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Yeah, actually, I read your "My Frustration" thread, start to finish. This is exactly why I replied. For reference, I raced my first MX offroad race at six (6) years old, now 48 years old, and I've been riding 42 years solid dirt and street. Yeah, and I too owned a 2008 WR250 once (not for long), and its nothing like a great plated 450/520/650R for occasional CA dirt fire roads, etc. Owned 30+ bikes myself dirt/street/dual sport/supermoto/hybrids and conversions. I have several friends with different bikes and have watched several conversions end up being a money pit all to return the bike back to its original design and purpose. It's all fun as an idea, but just be prepared to spend some $$$ if you want it to function as you indicated with your "idea of being able to take this bike down dirt roads with confidence". This will not be a confidence inspiring dirt road bike without making some worthy changes. I considered this myself, and will likely replace my FZ8 with a worthy adventure bike with the correct suspension, geometry, ground clearance, upper exhaust, and power band.


When the offroad trails close here in Norcal, in large groups, we ride a lot of paved roads to get to dirt roads for the same purpose you mention. We do it all the time, all winter long. In groups of 75+ bikes or more, you see all sorts of conversion contraptions. Every single converted supermoto or street bike we saw with 17" front and wide dirt tires that showed up was not that much fun for the riders for many reasons. You need at least a 19" front wheel to make it worth it. The guys with the 17s on front always lag behind, and the complaints are always the same about the small front wheel and wide tire being "real slippery" on the dirt gravel roads with "horrible handling". Not my words, theirs. Wait and see first hand when you hit the first pothole or unavoidable mud slick. My friend has go-pro videos of riders guys on street-converted hybrids that really do have limited functionality. You end up with a bike that is no longer a great street bike and a horrible hybrid dirt road bike unless you plan to change a lot.

IMO, the FZ8 will be too heavy, too wide, slow turning, wrong suspension, no ground clearance, exhaust hanging down, wide and short front end, all requiring various modifications to make it confidence inspiring. Hope you have good offroad armor, and good luck on the project. :p
 
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YamaHammer

YamaHammer

New member
I think it's a bad idea, but hey I'm a noob. I owned a cr250r before the FZ8, other that nothing else. I just think you'll be disappointed.

Wouldn't a ducati HyperMotard be a good choice for a street/dirt adventure?
 
Banky2112

Banky2112

Just plain crazy...
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decooney

New member
Banky2112 said:
Everything I read about the tiger said it was too heavy and didn't do off-road well compared to the others...... It did always get praised for a wonderful engine though.
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Yeah, seems by the time you load them up with side crash bars, lights, and maybe even some mounts for small bags, they do get heavy no matter what.
I've been watching the adventure bike segment the past five years, and almost bought one before the FZ8, but keep waiting for lighter more dirt oriented versions. I build some custom bikes too periodically for fun, and finding the right platform and converting it can be expensive. I'd probably want to start with a nice triple or maybe a v-twin but want to make it affordable. I've seen some guys come up with some leaned out v-stroms too. Like the OP, it is frustrating to find the right setup. If all else fails, I might mod an FZ09, raise it up, change the suspension and try it next.
 
cambo

cambo

Avid Rider
haha, between Baja's first thread and decooney's response my emotions were like this...

"F*ck yeah! For Science!...awww no he di'int...awww snap he did...awww I guess it won't work..."

Either way I'd LOVE to see the FZ8 rigged up as an off roader. It may not be optimal as Decooney says, but it'll sure look bad ass. "All show no go"--I'm fine with that! lolol
 
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fz8kansas

Guest
When I was out to buy this bike I was down to two choices, the FZ and a Suzuki V-Strom 650. The mags all love it as a gravel road runner and it runs on the hiway. There were two factors that made me lean towards the FZ. First, I am 5' 10" with a 30" inseam. On the V-Strom my feet barely touched the ground, I was on tippy toes. Second the dealers could not tell me when they would be getting any in. All the dealers in the area had only the Adventure model which had a bunch of stuff I was not interested in and ran the price over $10K. The standard was going for $8700. The FZ lets me place both feet on the ground, the dealers had them in stock and I got it for $7600. I do not believe I made a mistake.
 
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decooney

New member
Low seat height typically translates to no ground clearance.

I was on a group ride a while ago and one clown showed up with a newer road bike thinking he could do some of the dirt backroads with us. We tried to warn him, while others just laughed and said Go For It! Easy dirt back road, no sweat, he will just go slow. He was hell bent and determined to show us how he could ride and control it even at a very slow speed. The bike lasted a little over an hour when a small rock was barely sticking up, the bike compressed on a dip, and he center-punched his delicate engine case. The oil ran out quickly, and that was it. Hauling it out of there over a late evening was another challenge. No warranty for stupidity. Required a whole new engine case, labor for R&R, disassembly, reassembly. I guess you could look at it this way, he was having fun while it lasted though, bless his heart - Doh! :dropjaw:
 
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decooney

New member
BigOleChalupa said:
I'd love to see the FZ8 become a sweet gravel runner. Here's a really good build by JDRocks from ADVRIDER.com This one's a ninja 650 gravel runner.....and he's done a Versys gravel runner too. Really detailed build and a great writer too! Check it out V649HP-Kawasaki's new gravel runner - ADVrider
BIGO
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JDrock's build is a PERFECT example of great starting platform and what it takes to do it right. Looking at his build thread, he did a bit of parts and conversion work to the bike and it turned out great with no expense spared. Lots of ground clearance too, very nice conversion!
 
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decooney

New member
Bajaedition,

How is the project coming along, did you forge ahead?

Although many expressed differing opinions on the project, there is a lot of interest and its clear you would likely be one of the first to do this conversion on an FZ8. I continue to study ideas around this conversion concept on different bikes myself, or just cutting the cord and going with a purpose built ADV bike in a year or so. Please share photos as you go. We wanna see it! Good Luck on the project. :)
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