Dual Sport/Dirt Roads

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lutarious

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How far have you guys been from the pavement on your FZ1? I have had a ton of dirt bikes and dual sports in the past, and I have ridden both my Hawk GT and my VFR on dirt roads that were far from the intended use of those bikes.

It seems to me that the only thing keeping the FZ1 out of the deep desert or the lost reaches of the Arctic are tire choices, and I see that Conti makes a set of pretty aggressive Dual Sport tires in the 120/180 x 17 sizes.

Wondering how it went. Please post pictures.
 
July 2010

I took a long trip during which after a long (24 hr) Ferry ride I ended up in Bella Coola, British Columbia. There was about 70 miles of Gravel over "The Hill" that connects to Williams Lake. The FZ with Pilot roads performed very well. My Belly pan's paint took a beating though. Thankfully it was dry weather, as I doubt it would have been any fun on steep grades with a muddy slick surface.









 
I am interested in this as well, seeings as how I have Alaska in my sights for 2015. I would REALLY like to have one of the new KTM1190 Adventures for that trip, but that probably won't happen.

I am somewhat concerned about beating up the Fazer on the rough stretches of road. As mentioned, all the exposed bits underneath are subject to damage, and there is the threat of damage to the suspension from the prolonged pounding of rough terrain. One last thing I've heard folks having trouble with is the buildup of mud on the front fender leading to damage of said fender.

Got any input on those issues? Exposed undercarriage, durability/appropriateness of the suspension, and fender damage?

Oh, and great pictures, by the way.

lutarious, which Conti's, specifically, were you looking at?
 
I've done about 200 offroad miles on my FZ1, and I'd like to do more. To address your concerns (in my experience):
Depending on the tires you're using, the undercarriage will receive varying amounts of punishment. Knobbier tires will kick up more stuff. After all, it's their job to displace loose dirt and gravel. Obviously, you probably won't put true Dual-sport tires on your bike, but most sport touring tires (like the PRs) have a fair amount of deep, lateral grooves. The longitudinal (i.e. front-back) grooves don't kick up as much debris. If you're on a true sport tire, you won't see as debris, but your traction will be decreased A LOT. I've ridden offroad on both PR3s and PP3s. The PR3s worked very well for the dry, dirt/gravel surfaces I went on. The PP3s were pretty bad. I had trouble getting up even a 5-10 degree incline. I had to zig-zag to lessen the grade. The PR3s kicked up a lot more dirt. This is probably because they've got more lateral grooves, and also because I was just going faster (but still not more than 30mph or so). There wasn't any damage to the headers or engine. HOWEVER, I have a fender eliminator, and I did see quite a few nicks on and around my tail light. So keep that in mind.

I softened up my suspension a little bit by taking 2-3 clicks off of everything before going out. Combining that with standing on the pegs during the rougher parts meant that my ride wasn't too harsh. Obviously, still rougher than a true adventure or dirtbike, though. I can't comment on durability, but I'm planning on setting up an appointment with my local suspension expert in the near future, and I want to discuss that. My gut tells me that suspension meant for taking little bumps at 100mph should work fine for taking big bumps at 20mph. But my gut also thinks it's a good idea to eat McDonald's twice in a day, so that might not be the best judge.

I've never noticed anything other than a few new nicks on my front fender. There was certainly no buildup like you're describing. Unless you're riding through some serious sludge, you shouldn't see that either.
 
I thought briefly about doing this with my extra Fz1 (gen1). My thought was to get a nice metal guard fabricated to cover the Belly exhast and come up slightly to cover the headers as well.

It also seems like removing the center stand would help clearance underneath as well.

Then I would remove the front fender completely to be able to run knobby's front and rear.

Lastly would be getting the suspension dialed in for off roading.

This this all said and done I could have a super high powered off road machine for pretty cheap.

The biggest issue always comes down to Weight, and with that handling.

If I am on a tight trail and the bike falls over, I am gonna have to pick it up and get it started again, and manhandling the Fizzer is way harder than manhandling a dirtbike or a dual sport.
 
I ran maybe 300 off road miles on mine. Mainly shorter streches to continue the route. However I did the Valley of the Gods and Monument Valley, both roads are pretty rough and have steep grades and sand.

I used the Pirelli Angle GT and my friend PR3 on his FJR. Both bikes had no trouble with the suspension and no damage whatsoever.
However the Fz1 is not a dirt bike and while you can do gravel roads and even sand for short stretches you must keep the speed down. Well, without rpms above 4k you will get a hot bike and the fan is running all the time. In case you run even slower and you will have to do this because of the tires then the lubrication might be a problem. The manual of the Fz1 says only you should not leave the bike idle over longer times because the oil and water pump is not efficient and only becomes so above 3.5k.

For Alaska I would take a tenere or Super Tenere (so I would go with a light bike because you will have to pick it up and lighter is better) or a Triumpf Tiger 800 something which is good on the streets but can do gravel at good speed and will not break in case you fall.
 
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