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Im asking for some advice on how my sportster will hold up on country dirt roads and even some light off-roading. I have never taken it off-road (although I have a lot of off-road experience on my tiger 800 xca) and some friends of mine are doing the trans Wisconsin trail next weekend. My only available bike is my sportster and Im not sure she will last 200 miles in the dirt.
What do you guys who live in the country and frequently ride dirt roads suggest..? Will the bike survive? I feel like even after a 300 mile ride on pavement my bike has loose bolts and starts to come apart. Is there any special prep I need to do? Is this simply a dumb idea?
Im not being a smart a$$. The Sportster will survive, maybe not you. She is a stallion that wants to run. She delights in speed and hates slowness. Her suspension and gearing are for tarmac, not for dirt. She will fight you like a mad dog off road and she does not like to lose.
Last edited by tngarren; Jul 12, 2021 at 11:05 PM.
It depends on the actual dirt road conditions. How deep are the ruts? Will it be dry or muddy? I personally would never do it but others I'm sure have. Remember the Sportster has 110 extra lbs, 2" less ground clearance and 3-4" less suspension travel than your Triumph that was specially built just for off road. Plus the tires aren't going to work well on anything other than dry hard pack. I would think by the end of the day between the weight and the stiff suspension you will be beat up. That's if you don't find clearance issues that leave you stuck somewhere. I personally don't even like long gravel roads on a Harley. The engines have great torque but the weight and suspension are made for long smooth blacktop.
Regular diet of dirt and belt drives aren't a good combo, think about sitting out the boonies somewhere with a busted belt and having to push that heavy bastard out.
Chain rear go for it, my shovels been some places the goats looked at me funny for being there.
I would take the advice from those that have already replied. While I have no experience on a sportster I do have some Dual Sport miles on my belt from when I rode a V-Strom. Not nearly as capable as some of the bikes I see riding the Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail but can hold its own with the right tires and experience.
If you google Trans-Wisconsin Adventure Trail it clearly states its an off high trail system meant for the dual sport enthusiast. I suspect it could be done on a sportster but not enjoyable as tngarren mentioned in his reply. I will say that most of the images I've seen are on a well maintained dirt road so theoretically your Sportster with off road style tires would probably do okay but there are a few that say no way! if you haven't already, check this out: http://transwisconsintrail.com/wordpress/
Sounds like a lot of fun as I've got ambitions to ride the Trans American Trail at some point in my life... just on a bike designed for it.
If you do some how manage to do it and emerge successful please do share the experience.
The web site says the Trans Wisconsin Trail is about 600 miles. 300 paved. 240 graded gravel. 60 dirt roads or trails.
Its not a signed trail. Just a GPS route you can follow or not. I say Go For It! You can easily route around the worst dirt sections and meet them on the other side. This kind of adventure is where memories are made.
Or, you could just sit at home next weekend - your choice.
if you sit at home, Id suggest you go to YouTube and watch Million Dollar Bogan ride his Road King or his Sportster off road across the Australian outback.
I spend summers in WI and MN and have ridden hundreds of miles of Rustic Roads as Wisconsin calls them and forest service roads in central and northern Wisconsin. Just avoid any sandy sections and you should be fine.
Last edited by Traildale; Jul 13, 2021 at 11:09 AM.
Sometimes doing things on an 'inappropriate' bike makes it all the more fun but don't try to fool yourself, for anything worse than a state maintained dirt/gravel road, the Sportster is 'inappropriate' unless it's been modified for that purpose (in which case they're AWESOME ).
Aside from being beat to death by the (lack of) suspension, your biggest concern will be the drive belt. There's good reason why no ADV bike on the market, including Harleys own, run a belt drive.
If you insist on trying it, I'd pack a spare belt and enough tools to change one in the sticks.
I much appreciate all the responses. Im still undecided, but probably will try a few sections of the easier dirt roads and see how I, and the bike, hold up.
Last week my seat bolt shook out on a 2 hr ride and my seat fell off. Two weeks before i did a 4 hr ride and the ignition almost fell off. I simply tightened bolts to fix it, but ive been surprised that things literally shake off this bike. This leads me to believe i better be prepared for some loose nuts and bolts if i go offroad or dirt roads.
This leads me to believe i better be prepared for some loose nuts and bolts if i go offroad or dirt roads.
It leaves me to believe you should do a proper service on the bike before you go. Using the FSM it shows which fasteners should have loctite and how tight they should be. If loctite is called for the torque figure takes that into account.
Check every fastener now. The FSM talks about increasing the amount of servicing for abnormal riding conditions.
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And if you run street tires, you will eat the ground. 
City Boy Advice From Country Folks
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