I don't consider myself an expert by any means but most of my riding life has been on trail bikes and single track. I've had 30+ years of this type of riding. No motorcross/race speed stuff but enduro - lots of exploring unknown tracks in forrests etc where the challenge is not so much going fast but to keep going. That is to say overcoming any obsticals along the way.
I would only ride sealed roads to get to new dirt tracks so I am a recent convert to Adventure Riding. In Aus, we have a lot of great dirt road/track riding in our outback but this often requires vast distances to be covered to get to them. So my friends and I evntually got sick of trailering bikes and moved over to big dual purpose bikes like GSA1200 and F800GS. I was the last to covert due to an impending BIG trip we were planning.
Most of the technical kind of riding I have done is done standing up. So for me, standing up on the ST is where I feel right at home. It's the sealed road/technical riding where I feel less so
After checking out the link, I have to say I agree with all points. And I can say this with some authority now as I have logged quite a lot of kms on the ST over gravel, sand, mud etc. Don't get me wrong - it's not a light trail bike by any means - you won't be racing over deap ruts or flyiing effortlessly over sand or the likes. But it IS a very capable bike to ride on easy to moderate unsealed terrain.
I recall first time I took it on unsealed roads. It was a HUGE relief because it fell so competent! In fact that big trip I referred to above had everything except deep mud and the ST handled it with ease. I have been pleasantly suprised at how much of an "all rounder" it is. Seems to me all the detracters who say "no character" or "lacks power" etc are veiwiing it from the sports bike end of the spectrum. As a RTW/distance/"who knows what the trip will throw up" kind of riding it is perfect. It is bullet proof (appart from the sump and rad/fan, both of which need serious protection and easily done with aftermarket farkles) and it is effortless to ride long distances.
Having had mine now for 5 years, my only gripe is that above 4,000 rpm it starts to guzzle fuel. Below this it is very ecconomical.
Sorry, drifted off topic there a little
Cheers
Glenn
