Importance of high tailpipe for offroad adventure
 

I'm looking for my next adventure bike and I'm between the new Vstrom 650xt and the Versys300. After touring South america on a 150 and not feeling that short on power I'm definitely looking small.

My one concern is that both of these bike place their tailpipes relatively low. I'm very weak mechanically but my impression is that could cause an issue during a water crossing if a bunch of water was to get in there. Is that true? Is there any other reason to be wary of a low pipe or is this really a non issue? The other part of me feels like if this was a real problem the manufacturers wouldn't be designing them this way...

Until BMW launched their GS range in the early 1980's most people travelled on road bikes with a low exhaust system and still went everywhere so it should not stop you travelling on these bikes. If you are after a trail bike to seek out river crossings and generally difficult terrain then buy something with a high exhaust but for travelling it is not such an issue.
If doing a river crossing with a low pipe make sure you keep the power on and you will keep going.

With anything other than the most serious of dirtbikes, other factors will stop you long before a low exhaust does. It's not an issue.

Riding off road, whatever that means to you, the primary issue with a low muffler is hitting it on rocks and road debris. Don't let the low exhaust stop you from going to the places you want to go. If you're exploring the places that I think of as "off road", including river crossings, you may want to cobble up a belly pan to protect the oil pan, especially on a moto with a lower ground clearance to the oil pan. The rougher it is, the more important are aggressive tires and lighter motorcycle weight.

I seem to recall you were in Peru/Colombia during the flooding a few weeks ago. Did you ride the dirt mountain roads of Peru on your 150cc moto? You are the one who can answer these questions. There is no perfect moto, and every choice has advantages and disadvantages.

more important is to have air filter inlet high them pipe. Stay on steady throttle and water won't enter. BTW v-strom xt does not have very low exhaust anyway.

having higher ground clearance helps though.




Kawasaki versys has pipe as low as it can get and still doing fine in water:

A downside to the current vogue or necessity- and I can't decide which it is - for high tailpipes is the extra width this imposes on the bike when luggage is fitted.

the "current vogue" of high mufflers is not new. Japanese and Euro bikes both had bikes with high pipes going back to the 1960's. We call them "Scramblers".

I owned a Honda from early 70's like this, little 175 twin. High pipes. There were everywhere ... all this while BMW were still sleeping. There were Adv bikes 20 years before the BMW GS came along. All BMW did was add weight and take away reliability. :eek3:

To the OP: Why not get some sort of sturdy and cheap dual sport bike in the 250 to 450 range? Going more serious off road, stick to 250, going more highway, move up to 650 class like KLR, DR, XR-L, XT600.

If you toured S. America on a 150, treat yourself and move up in world! Get
a 250cc dual sport like the CRF250L or Yamaha WR250R. Both great travel bikes. The Honda goes quite cheap around here.

The 300 Versys is a great little bike but quite heavy for a 300. Granted, will be
pretty good for loading up luggage over a dual sport single I guess. But on a bike so small ... weight is really really your enemy.

bier

so you really could have adventure on bike before GS era? ;)

unless it's windy :thumbup1:

No doubt, high wind is a PITA ... but it's a pain on bikes BIG and SMALL. I did several cross country rides (and into Canada) on my DL1000 V-Strom. That bike was not happy with gusty cross winds ... a bit unsettling, scary. I later did a fix which helped ... A LOT!

My DR650 is hardly ever affected by high wind , no idea why. Only one ride in my 60K miles on that bike had me worried regards wind. Baja storm. High wind gusts up to 60 MPH. Wind blew so hard it blew down rock wall on a new road cut. I had to slow down to 25 mph.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-...-9m9gmbT-L.jpg

Fairly common in Baja ... and I'm sure other places too.
On a 125 or 250cc bike, newer riders should just pull over and wait it out. I've spent time in Patagonia, winds are famous there. All bikes are challenged in 50 knot cross wind gusts.

Most time an experienced rider can ride through high wind. Big bike or small ... a good rider can ride through it all. :clap:

you mean through hell as well? :thumbup1:

Been riding in Moroccan Atlas mountains at night with very gusty wind,
not fun at all. Dangerous as hell, wind threw me over from one side of the road to the other plus animals and pedestrian on the road without any lighting.
If I were there on 125cc I would end up probably crashed down in mountain gorge.