Given' it all she's got!
 

On Saturday I met up with 11 other riders to do some practice on our bikes. This was out in Sequim, WA in the Olympic National Forest. I was on my RX3. Another on a WR250R, an old XL600, a KLR, and HP2 and a bunch of KTM's from 690's up to 1190s. We headed out on a forest service road and hit up several gravel pits, jump trails, mud pits, and slimy rutted descents to get all sorts of practice in. Most of the folks on the ride were very experienced riders and were very supportive on working with us on our skill building. Had a blast and the RX3 did awesome. Here's a video about this adventure! https://youtu.be/ESVlCKyy3k0

Most of the high dollar oversized dual sports and adventure bikes hurt themselves in normal riding because they have too much suspension, too much brake, too much power, too much weight, too much maintenance, etc. Just too much of everything. They are like the stock drivelines in jacked up pickups that run short, wide tires--they don't really work very well because they are not the right tool for the job. Such trucks fail wheel bearings every 20,000 miles. Such bikes generally are a hassle to maintain or have other idiomatic habits.

For instance, the GS1200 was built to win Paris to Dakar. It was built to go fast over highways and deserts. So much suspension the swayback seat was invented to allow for tire clearance and still possible some really long legged people to touch the ground when the bike was stopped. BMW still had to invent an entire new offroad riding style because the swayback seat prevented normal standing body movement to maintain control. Ask a BMW person about putting your foot to the ground while riding off road. Nope, not unless you are stopped. Power slide into a berm? Nope. Unexpected loss of traction in a curve? Nope. Keep those feet on the pegs. Besides, the GS1200 is way to top heavy to manhandle with little feets, anyway. People have died doing that.

Yet, we are still stuck with the swayback seat fashion statement on the RX3. What a shame. A flatter, padded seat similar to the old XLs and DTs would serve a lot better. Still, the RX3 is a much better tool for the job you were doing than a GS1200, or most of those overgrowns. Several other manufacturers use the same Zongshen engine in more dirt oriented models that I'm willing to bet would have smoked the bigger bikes on any part of the track other than a straight line. So, your success is not surprising.

The RX3 is as good at just about everything as a KLR, better at some things. That's the only bike you listed really close to competitive with a RX3. And no do-hickey!

RX3 with no luggage, knobby tires (Kenda K760 Track Master), slightly taller bars, and lower gearing (-1 countershaft, +2 wheel) is the best street legal dirt road motorcycle I've ever owned other than a couple of my custom builds, but it only cost 1/3 as much. But, it is not a top notch dirt bike, or a top notch freeway tourer. The RX3 foregoes the extremes and focuses on a superior middle range of practicality.

I have seen several posts from people owning big bikes on Horizonsunlimited mention how they were getting passed left and right in exotic countries in Africa by locals on cheap Chinese 150s on some of the more beat up roads. In fact, there is a growing cult of people forgoing the high cost of shipping their bikes to S. America and buying mildly prepped 22Xcc Chinese enduros, or smaller, because of the terrain, and reporting good rides. There are a few people right here on Chinariders posting riding stories on RX3s in faraway places, and I do believe up until the competition started building small 'adventure' type bikes, the Zongshen was the perfect bike one could get to ride in far-flung places, mainly because of the luggage already there.

Far flung such as exotic yuma:lmao:

i could pass most GS's on my boys pit bike on a windy / bumpy gravel road..
but I wouldn't take the pit bike around the world.. don't think it would be the right tool
to clock up 1000s & 1000s of road miles...

horses for courses...

PS..i would take one of those 1/4 ton BMW's either...


,