B-road blasters... What's the king of the lanes

[weeksy]

Was sitting looking at the other Tenere thread and thought of the XT660X

Which is arguably IMO one of if not the best little B-lane blast bikes out there. It's tough to compare between the KTM 690 because of them being quite different, but the 660 whilst slower, seems to have more of a pseudo-supermoto style engine in the 'grunt' it's more responsive off the bottom end and less revvy, more of a Thumper i guess.

HAd lots of these if you recall and some epic days out with the Supermoto crowd who never accepted it as a Moto, right up until they couldn't lose it on the lanes and then they tried it and were surprised by how it went as a bike...

So, what's the B-lane superstar of bikes ?

[dern]

Of the bikes I've ridden the Aprilia Tuono V4 APRC that I had for two days before it got written on was the most agile bike I've had that made b-roads feel easy.

aprilia.jpeg (1.38 MiB) Viewed 612 times

[mangocrazy]

The one at the front, not the overweight things at the back. And make it an 'R', please.

DSCF2527.jpg (1.08 MiB) Viewed 608 times

[Rockburner]

Anything lightweight, relatively softly sprung, with low-down torque and wide mandlebars.

[Dodgy69]

Oh sorry...thought you said bimbler.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Domino's issue C90 doing a delivery right to the edge of our patch.

[Trinity765]

Street Triple 675. Accelerates quick, stops quick, turns quick, good for dodging potholes and easy to pick up. You can even get them over footbridges.

[Rockburner]

Street Triple 675. Accelerates quick, stops quick, turns quick, good for dodging potholes and easy to pick up. You can even get them over footbridges.

I see your Triumph on a footbridge and raise you......




An off-roading Kawasaki Zephyr!








(sorry - this is a derail, move along, move along, nothing to see here....)

[Trinity765]

Street Triple 675. Accelerates quick, stops quick, turns quick, good for dodging potholes and easy to pick up. You can even get them over footbridges.

I see your Triumph on a footbridge and raise you......




An off-roading Kawasaki Zephyr!




(sorry - this is a derail, move along, move along, nothing to see here....)

The Ridgeway?

[Rockburner]

Street Triple 675. Accelerates quick, stops quick, turns quick, good for dodging potholes and easy to pick up. You can even get them over footbridges.

I see your Triumph on a footbridge and raise you......




An off-roading Kawasaki Zephyr!




(sorry - this is a derail, move along, move along, nothing to see here....)

The Ridgeway?

oh, good work.


err - no that was somewhere in the Surrey Hills behind Boxhill.
I've not done the Ridgeway, but would like to at some point, before I get so decrepit that falling off breaks things.

This was on Salisbury plain:

[Bustaspoke]

My brace of B road blasters






The SV650 is the best on lumpy & bumpy lanes with softer suspension & a top yoke conversion,the 675R is more planted on smooth surfaces.
I quite fancy the idea of a DRZ400SM in the future.

[Taipan]

Still rate one of these!

[The Spin Doctor]

My old XBR500 was pretty good fun around lanes... the GS500E was better - much superior suspension after I'd uprated the springs and fitted a better shock, but excellent brakes, very light and surprisingly punchy low down with revs if you needed them. Much underrated machine.

[Scootabout]

I ride a lot of B roads and lanes. One of the reasons I bought the V85TT was that I thought it would be suitable for that - apart from looking incredibly cool, of course.

It hasn't disappointed.

[Bigjawa]

TDR.

Saying that my GS is bloody good on 17's.

[Horse]

MZ TS250, on decent tyres (which, at the time I borrowed one for 3 months, were Michelin M38s).

[Horse]

I see your Triumph on a footbridge and raise you......

An off-roading Kawasaki Zephyr!


(sorry - this is a derail, move along, move along, nothing to see here....)

The Ridgeway?

Continuing the derail ....

... I was up there ages ago, near Waylands Smithy, when a vehicle came trundling along.

A Reliant 3 wheeler! Rear wheels in the ruts, front on the ridge between.

I have a photo somewhere, but on film rather than digital - so you'll need to use your imagination

[Scootabout]

Is the Ridgeway a BOAT? Would it be sensible for a 65 year old to try it on a V85TT? Asking for a friend

[Horse]

Is the Ridgeway a BOAT? Would it be sensible for a 65 year old to try it on a V85TT? Asking for a friend

You can try ...

IIRC there are restrictions on access. But they may not apply to agricultural vehicles.

I might not be a reliable source for information

Let me know if you're having a go, I'll bring a camera

[The Spin Doctor]

Is the Ridgeway a BOAT? Would it be sensible for a 65 year old to try it on a V85TT? Asking for a friend

Rode it years ago... CX500 and two CB250RSs...

Result? Ridgeway 3, Bikers 0.

Nick's CX had to be ridden to the nearest road and rescued by the AA with a 3" gash in the tubeless rear from a flint, the rack on my brother's Honda snapped on both sides and my rear subframe snapped just behind the nearside shock absorber. We did temporary repairs with some branches and pipe clips and rode home.

At least none of us fell off