Hopefully this won't **** too many folks off. I have a Bagger that is all rebuilt and takes me everywhere I desire on all the major highways reliably year after year. I love it and will continue to do that type of touring. But - I also want to do some Adventure touring. I've owned a 75 sporty, an 84 FXR, 4 Honda XL's, 2 Suzuki DR's and a Yamaha XT, all the Enduro's were set up for 90% dirt / 10% street. That being my background - I'm hoping you can see whay I want to build a Sporty for offroad/touring work.

I've looked at KLR's, XRL's, DR's and the GS's from BMW and a slew of other bikes. None of them are what I want. Simply I want an American Air-cooled twin with Hydraulic lifters in a small package that's rubber mounted in a custom frame for gobbling up miles on the highway when it's needed, a Sportster that kicks *** in the dirt and the street...

I want to find a rubber mount and just use the engine / tranny and "cradle" of the frame only. From there -fabricate the rest of the frame and the swing arm... It is the swing arm connection on the rubber mounts and frame setup that I'd like more info on.

Can someone send me a link to pics that clearly show how it is setup? Or even just decribe how it's layed out. I've rebuilt the rubber mounts on the FXR and my current Bagger and I get the whole deal on how they are built - I've also had the joy of replacing multiple cracked rear mounts on my 75 Iron Head. I'm just trying to get the info on how the rubber Sporties are set up at the engine/frame/swingarm section.

Yes - I know it's crazy and far from normal - but I am tweaked when it comes to bikes and I'd rather build what I want over the next 2 years and then show up on a trail a thousand miles from my home next to a bunch of brand new 18k BMW GS just to see the look on their faces when a custom Sporty pops a wheelie and blows thru the trail.

 

Here's some ideas:
http://www.buell.com/en_us/bikes/adventure/XB12X/

 

man i ride with a guy with the BMW discovery... prob one of the baddest bikes i have ever seen... may not be all that to look at but function wise... this bike rocks! and it should he spent over 25g on it! but hey i bet he has 50k on it by this time next year... he rides ALL the time... in chicago weather that says alot... he just came back from up north and did 200 miles on snowmobile trails, including a full river ride... crazy!

 

You have to be real careful to keep the weight down... I feel like the biggest killer for dual-sports is weight. But then again, its a compromise- a light bike will be sweet in the dirt but will get blown all over the place on the highway. The HD torque would be really fun...

Whatever you do, post pics of the build!!!!!

 

Yeah, that's just what I was going to say...

I'd at least go with the buell 1203cc power plant over a sportster... it will make more power and take the bumps/less than upright angles better...

If you really do a sporty, you'll have to do some major frame/suspension work... might as well go ground up with a 1203...

 

www.buell.com XB12X. Have fun. Awesome bike and just what you're looking for. The sporty doesn't have the rear shock travel needed for anything past basic gravel, and the rake is all wrong for sand or dirt.

oh, and www.advrider.com. Come join the horde.

 

Thanks for the feedback. While I love the GS from BMW and getting one of those in addition to my Bagger can always be an option, building a custom frame based off the rubber mounted sporster platform is where I'm at right now.

I'm not looking to reuse the Sporter swingarm or 80% of the frame, just the cradle tubes and the engine and building from there.

The Buell does not have a cradle frame, the engine is exposed with a mufler tucked under it, and it's belt drive -definitly not made for serious work off the beaten path.

The write up of this baja HD using a sportster motor is definitly what I'm shooting for.

http://dirtbike.off-road.com/dirtbik....jsp?id=328853


Thanks for the link and the invite to ADVrider. I'm already one of the inmates there and go thru the forums and links day and night !!!

I figured I would ask here on this forum for the pics or description of the swing arm setup for the rubbermount sporties....

 

The belt will be every bit as reliable as a chain... these are not your belts from even just ten years ago... these things can take it.

I'd still go with the Buell power-plant, even if you go with a sporty cradle and exhaust...

 

Love the Belt and pully setup for my Street only Bagger. Dirtbikes and adventure bikes are chain or Shaft drive (in the case of the BMW.) While I'm sure the belts are strong, the aluminum pullys and the belt were never intended to be run thru heavy mud, rocks and streams for long periods of time.

I'll definitly look for the Buell Powerplant, I've seen a few totaled buells in my searches for a doner bike. Thanks !

 

You don't have to use an aluminum pulley...

I'm a serious belt advocate, but if you want to stick with what you know I understand. Chains are great too... might put one on my Rod... I hate shafts... and seem allot of them break on BMWs...