As a owner of a 650r 2010, I have to say you opened my eye to the possibility of doing a adventure on it. Never looked at it in that way. Now I know the meaning of. Its not the ride. Its the adventure in the rider.
Just watched the whole Ninja desert camping series and I am seriously impressed. It just goes to show that best bike for the trip IS the one you own. So many people fret over the ‘perfect’ bike choice and go nowhere. Very cool.
I didn't think this bike could handle the rough roads! I ride a Ninja 400R which is a downsized version of your Ninja 650R bike. Someday when I get some skills I want to try off-roading too lol.
I love camping on my motor bike, but don't get to do it enough. I have a Hornet 919, not a dirt or even an adventure bike. I have a few similar videos on my channel. Fabulous scenery, thanks for sharing. Greeting from South Australia, stay safe.
Had the 18 DL1000XT. Got rid of it after less than a year. Zero trouble with it, zero problems. Everything mechanical and electronic worked flawlessly. But I ultimately could not stand the ROARRRRRRRRR around my head no matter what I did with the windshield (or aftermarket windscreen). Drove me nuts with fatigue and noise. Big windshield had my head pouring sweat. Small windshield was just as noisy with more airflow. It's just badly designed fairing and windscreen too far from the rider to keep the head in smooth air. Second problem I had with it was the 1,037cc Vtwin produced extremely modest power for the displacement. It was smooth and tractable, efficient, but rather lacking the kind of power a more performance oriented company would get out of such displacement (such as KTM). Missed the street bike handling, clearance, performance, value for dollar. Went back to a naked bike. Honestly think I would have had more fun with the DL650 (non-XT). Engine was more revvy, happy. Bike would have been 40 pounds lighter, better fuel range. But the suspension and brakes on the DL1000 was extremely good, best on any stock bike I've ridden. Swap that to the 650 and it might be the best value-based ADV bike ever (if the fairing thing could be fixed).
Wouldn't recommend it. The oil filter is thin and a rock/gravel from the front wheel could puncture it. Fairing is enough to block small objects from busting it.
