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The easy answer is because people are different, bikes are different and dual-sports are able to do just about anything, but there is more to this.Â
The easy way is to split motorcycles by use. Form follows function so the intended use will be part of why motorcycles look different.
The two main uses are:
Off-roads are great for having a good time in the big outdoors. They include the following types:
So this brings us to dual-sport motorcycles. Terms that are also used are on-off road, dual-purpose motorcycles. These fall in the grey area between road and off-road motorcycles. Some like the big engined adventure models are closer to road motorcycles and other like the small engined barely road legal dual-sports are closer to off-road bikes.
From this we can accept that dual-purpose motorcycles will be a bit if a trade off in certain areas. A good case in point is that their tyres need to be road worthy and last on faster tar road trips, but also provide enough grip off-road. A full off-road tyre will not last on a tar road and a road tyre will not provide much grip off-road.
The term DS or dual-sport is also commonly used to refer to the smaller dual-purpose motorcycles and the term adventure motorcycles is commonly used for the larger bikes. The following picture illustrates this difference. The large LC8 engined (almost 1000cc) KTM Adventure on the left is more suited to adventure tours that cover long distances over dirt roads. The smaller LC4 engined KTM's on the right are very suited to more technical off-road riding, but are still road legal. Notice the more aggressive knobbly tyres on the LC4's and the lack of wind protection. They also weigh a lot less.Â
The easy way is to split motorcycles by use. Form follows function so the intended use will be part of why motorcycles look different.
The two main uses are:
- Road
- Off-Road
Off-roads are great for having a good time in the big outdoors. They include the following types:
- Motocross
- Enduro
- Trials
So this brings us to dual-sport motorcycles. Terms that are also used are on-off road, dual-purpose motorcycles. These fall in the grey area between road and off-road motorcycles. Some like the big engined adventure models are closer to road motorcycles and other like the small engined barely road legal dual-sports are closer to off-road bikes.
From this we can accept that dual-purpose motorcycles will be a bit if a trade off in certain areas. A good case in point is that their tyres need to be road worthy and last on faster tar road trips, but also provide enough grip off-road. A full off-road tyre will not last on a tar road and a road tyre will not provide much grip off-road.
The term DS or dual-sport is also commonly used to refer to the smaller dual-purpose motorcycles and the term adventure motorcycles is commonly used for the larger bikes. The following picture illustrates this difference. The large LC8 engined (almost 1000cc) KTM Adventure on the left is more suited to adventure tours that cover long distances over dirt roads. The smaller LC4 engined KTM's on the right are very suited to more technical off-road riding, but are still road legal. Notice the more aggressive knobbly tyres on the LC4's and the lack of wind protection. They also weigh a lot less.Â
