Bikes not sold in North america? | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Bikes not sold in North america?

Trying to pretend a Wee can go where a Honda 650XLR can is ludicrous. Even the new entrants from the main brands are lacking in clearance.
Adventure sector seems to be acknowledging the limits - mind you the Africa Twin has broad capabilities if you are tall enough but still chunky at over 500 lb but ground clearance at 9.4" is "respectable and a 21" front.
That's a nice jump over the pathetic 6.9"clearance of the Stroms.

Still the XLR is 346 lb and 13" clearance ....big gap for any off road.
The Verysus 300 is intriguing for me in Australia.
7" clearance, big tank and 386 lb.

Lighter than my 650 KLR, ABS and a very welcome 6th gear.

These lighter machines can get people moving towards better off road machines or towards the longer leg Adventure Tourer.
Finding out trying to horse a Wee out of a bog or on it's side in sand is more of a pain than adventure can be a put off to new riders.
Even BMW has a sweet 300 for entry and downsizing riders.

I think even Gene has at times appreciated partners lighter machine :D
 
Last edited:
...did anyone notice the Africa Twin has tube tires and no rim locks?
 
...did anyone notice the Africa Twin has tube tires and no rim locks?

Not sure why this is so unusual to you.

Most (if not all) ADV bikes run tube tires with no rim locks. Other than some true dirt bikes, I can't think of one ADV bike that come with rim locks from the factory. KLR's don't. DR650s don't. Even KTMs don't run rim locks on their ADV bikes.
 
Not sure why this is so unusual to you.

Most (if not all) ADV bikes run tube tires with no rim locks. Other than some true dirt bikes, I can't think of one ADV bike that come with rim locks from the factory. KLR's don't. DR650s don't. Even KTMs don't run rim locks on their ADV bikes.

... guess I'm too much of a serious dirt biker not to notice.
Pretty hard to lower your tire pressure to suit terrain without rim locks. Have even seen pics of Africa Twins fitted with full knobby tires and no rim locks.
Is unusual to me because even my 90cc Suzuki had rim locks, my MX bikes had 2 rim locks on the rear wheel, imagine what all those horses plus 500lbs plus serious brakes plus some traction is going to do to your wheels :/ perfect formula for tearing off a valve stem imho.
 
re: bikes not sold in NA
of course bikes being a want and not a need here
we buy far less in numbers than places where they are a need
so the manufacturers need to decide what to send where

so you'll prolly find some people in India bitching they can't get an FJR
even though they buy a pile of bikes, but they would be in the minority

I work in the middle east and supervise a team of Asians and Africans
they all own motorcycles too, and we talk about them

one asked to see a pic of my bike because he'd never heard of an FJ 09
he had one question: who uses it when your here?

just could not fathom a guy having a bike sitting around most of the time
and only for the use of one person, a want rather than a need
 
... guess I'm too much of a serious dirt biker not to notice.
Pretty hard to lower your tire pressure to suit terrain without rim locks. Have even seen pics of Africa Twins fitted with full knobby tires and no rim locks.
Is unusual to me because even my 90cc Suzuki had rim locks, my MX bikes had 2 rim locks on the rear wheel, imagine what all those horses plus 500lbs plus serious brakes plus some traction is going to do to your wheels :/ perfect formula for tearing off a valve stem imho.

Dual sport tires are different from dirt bike tires. The carcass is stiffer, so the grip benefits are not as great as dirt bike tires when airing down. Most ADV guys will not air down less than 18-20psi, which is still enough pressure for the tire not to slip. When you're on a real dirt bike, and you're airing down to 6-10 psi, *that's* when you need the rim lock.
 
Dual sport tires are different from dirt bike tires. The carcass is stiffer, so the grip benefits are not as great as dirt bike tires when airing down. Most ADV guys will not air down less than 18-20psi, which is still enough pressure for the tire not to slip. When you're on a real dirt bike, and you're airing down to 6-10 psi, *that's* when you need the rim lock.

Hehehe.We quite often use 4lb front (tube type) and 2 or 3lb rear (tubeless) in modern trials bikes.Both with rimlocks.
 
Hehehe.We quite often use 4lb front (tube type) and 2 or 3lb rear (tubeless) in modern trials bikes.Both with rimlocks.

;) Serious dirt riding requires a serious footprint and that results in serious traction, add a water crossing and some serious acceleration or braking and rim slip can most certainly occur. On any motorcycle there is always the possibility of you experiencing a slow air leak and either not noticing or not having an air pump handy. Shear off a valve stem and you will experience a very fast air leak that can not be fixed with a patch kit.

Heck, even my 1953 BSA Goldstar had a rim locks on the rear wheel! but then it did also lay down some very serious torque at the rear wheel :| front wheel didn't need them because that was long before they invented real brakes.
 
Trying to pretend a Wee can go where a Honda 650XLR can is ludicrous. Even the new entrants from the main brands are lacking in clearance.
Adventure sector seems to be acknowledging the limits - mind you the Africa Twin has broad capabilities if you are tall enough but still chunky at over 500 lb but ground clearance at 9.4" is "respectable and a 21" front.
That's a nice jump over the pathetic 6.9"clearance of the Stroms.

Still the XLR is 346 lb and 13" clearance ....big gap for any off road.
The Verysus 300 is intriguing for me in Australia.
7" clearance, big tank and 386 lb.

Lighter than my 650 KLR, ABS and a very welcome 6th gear.

These lighter machines can get people moving towards better off road machines or towards the longer leg Adventure Tourer.
Finding out trying to horse a Wee out of a bog or on it's side in sand is more of a pain than adventure can be a put off to new riders.
Even BMW has a sweet 300 for entry and downsizing riders.

I think even Gene has at times appreciated partners lighter machine :D
A Wee is a CrossTour, 650XLR is an Enduro -- different class of bike altogether.

There is some maturing in this market. You are seing most makers hone their positions in the ST, ADV and CrossTour market. Some have bikes specific to each segment (I.e FJR, Connis are ST only, KLR SuperT and African Twin are Adv only), some configure models to fit (i.e BMW GS, Vstrom, Multistrata are available in CrossTour and Adv configurations).
 
What is an 650XLR or was that suppose to say KLR?
and what do you call a really serious performance dirt bike that is just barely street legal?
 
ok, that's an XR650L
 
Yes ...often 650xlr is used as well dunno why. Amazing machine ...buddy in Australia has one.

vxL7hEKe7bPHfWgdJljGpn41QaJc71ZbDPNwti5A7vvFz9SOGOia6rocR35SG6R4fWJ89_SP3gb6oHzTQ8fy9lXoGKPcKRjUj7s_tsxMTEcDg8yedR4bidaXYJSNCvTOpk_lwH0dl2maUALQIog8PZGz09bfJUGLHKW7nMZ-cDZp-Fi5POdORpW3wnFDbuVFSJ1CUgvK0g3HgUT7URbCA38f8CsRvCRH9lpixKNojqDW2KUQe7EmQjqK1Khj1TLpCbBTL9oRWmw-f7bygS-_x3qgB91xjYRsh1q2p9wFsQ00ltDJNoX6LquZa8JenfoGUPay5p0I3gPYXkOD_stlLS7pScQO3vy2KfHlWPk7YbH3Uj7vyXZNw9TL89cgVg2HxW04dWmLpa5ctjE8u7Xi4c0Lh0ifHjcurl_9IQpxAkOw3ThS9YP1mvkdQeHJbZs9nmELCrx98w6zd013VFEoTf_ueu0on8McTAig8X6TYUDHW_7S_Dv-L4lYg7ct5V0N37E8MpCnTQboaUlnEF6ebi3gpO10M-yoywFBCS299uTNZYZCyUOP8D3b-8rdquY8YeVWn6v1xREozppb9SEW3P4q-TmebLxEwjKuy1NfHg=w2254-h1506-no


He goes out on 10k km camping trips in the outback ....and plays submarine with it at times.
 
south asia probably buys the total value of the annual north american market every two weeks. To sell a bike here requires meeting lots of requirements and regulations. Selling a bike in places there requires opening a shop. There are lots of cool things we will never see.
 
Was looking at honda japans motorcycle website, apparently it looks like they still sell the VFR1200/800 there, in addition to other bikes that are not sold in NA...

what gives? Is it emissions? One would think japan has pretty high emmision standards as well

Why the **** aren't they selling some bikes here? Feel kinda annoyed..

Always been curious about the V4s and the VFRs...

...and I think I might like to get a super cub sometime

http://world.honda.com/news/2017/2171019eng-supercub.html
 

Back
Top Bottom