HELLO LATTE!

Meet my new ride, Latte.

Ever since I rode this bike 2 years ago at DC Dirt Camp, I fell in love with it immediately.

yamaha xt250 dc dirt camp short — July 2021 on my super friend Marjorie’s XT250 (also before working at REVIT) at DC Dirt Camp during an Adventure Bike Class

It was lightweight, easy to ride and super comfortable. Unfortunately I don’t have any pics of me sitting down on the bike, only standing up! :) :)

IS IT TOO SMALL?

No. Absolutely not. Yes, I have almost 20 years of motorcycle experience under my belt but I am absolutely positively new to dual sport riding and I would be fooling myself to think that I could easily conquer a mid size 750cc ADV bike to learn on.

When I took the Adventure class with DC Dirt Camp, riding this bike felt fairly easy since my bike is 400lbs! So jumping on a sub 300lb bike felt super easy. Of course, learning some ADV skills was challenging but I’m so glad I had a little bike like this to try things on.

For me personally, here is my intention with a dual sport motorcycle (which GREATLY affects an individuals’ bike choice)

Short, day trips, possibly overnights with minimal highway / freeway riding (max 30 minutes if possible)
80% offroad / 20% on road focused riding (thus the need for a smaller bike overall)
Build AS MUCH confidence as possible while I increase skills
Accelerate my learning / skills so that I can master this small bike to where an upgrade is going to feel easier, less intimidating and feel more confident

Doesn’t everyone want to become super proficient and highly skilled at motorcycling sooner than later? For me that happens quickest when I’m on a bike that’s smaller, easier to manage and super comfortable.

If my experience level on the dirt were much higher, say 10+ years of dirt riding maybe, AND I wanted to do long distance, 50% onroad, 50% offroad type riding then of course a larger displacement bike would be necessary. I’ve never heard anyone say “Oh no, I don’t want to get really good at this quickly, I want it to take months / years to get better and feel confident”.

I also have a rear hitch carrier on the Jeep, so I may take it places to go riding. But I am not planning anything pavement focused unless I’m riding on the street with my Triumph to do a pavement focused ride.

So there you have it, my little 250 is going to be perfect for me and my riding needs. Always, always write down what your needs are for a new to you motorcycle, if you want to be as certain as possible that you are making the very best choice. I also know that if I need to move onto a different bike, I can easily sell Latte and get it to someone else very quickly. So I’m not worried about that.

Remember, motorcycles are like kleenex! There’s always another one waiting! They’re also like dating, you aren’t necessarily going to marry the first person you meet, right? :)

TALLNESS

But I can tell you that yes, it’s a bit tall but remember, taller and lighter. Please revisit my short tips to understand how that does work when you’re 5’2”! I also modified my boots like this ==>

That didn’t give me flat footing, but it didn’t need to because for me, I’ve been One Footing my motorcycles since the very beginning, even when I was riding a taller scooter.

The XT was my little dream dual sport bike, super capable when I did the BDR ride and I knew I had to have that bike!

I looked at many others including:

Kawasaki KLX250 and KLX300
Suzuki DR200S
Yamaha TW200
Honda CRF250 and CRF300

But it always came back to the XT250. Mostly for the fact that I already rode it, and it just felt right. You know that feeling? When you meet the love of your life, or the perfect pair of shoes or the perfect motorcycle? I also read lots of reviews of the XT250 against these other rides and the XT always won.

There are also lots of upgrades and parts available and I can’t wait to start collecting parts! But for now, it’s going to stay stock other than proper dual sport tires:

yamaha xt250 dunlop d650 — **Dunlop D650 Tires on Latte**

UPGRADES

The only upgrade for now are proper 50/50 tires : Dunlop D605’s .

PROTIP for PARTS SHOPPING:
When you are shopping for bike parts, you can ALWAYS visit the manufacture website because they will usually have a bike / part finder to enter your bike into their website and see what fits / is compatible!

This bike came from a local motorcycle school outsider of Denver so it had pavement focused tires and I need something just a bit knobbier that will also handle ~30 min of freeway riding to the mountains (I LOVE DENVER).

Also, tire shopping for offroad bikes are a whole thing. Sizing isn’t normal metric usually (e.g. 120/70/17) like on my street bike, so you may need to translate sizes. Grab your owners manual (or download one), LOOK UP your recommended sizes and then go from there. There are also lots of tire size translation resources on various website, but if you just scroll to the bottom of this page for the Dunlops, checkout the handy chart!

Looking at dual sport tires was super confusing for me until I found translations like this that told me what my size was in width (inches) and metric so I could understand the translations from metric to regular inches.

So that’s where I’m at for now, I’ll be posting another one soon about the gear I’m going to wear and why I chose it so stay tuned!

*Drool* KTM USA Tent at Circuit of the Americas, Austin. What I wouldn't give to take this baby for a 1,000 mile test ride. — *Drool* KTM USA Tent at Circuit of the Americas, Austin. What I wouldn't give to take this baby for a 1,000 mile test ride.

The reason we flew out to Austin was to watch MotoGP, it's the tip top of international motorcycle racing. But along with MotoGP, other classes were out racing that weekend namely MotoAmerica. Which is "a professional motorcycle racing series sanctioned by the AMA and FIM North America."

Valentino "the Doctor" Rossi, 38 years old, 7? time MotoGP World Champion. To most, a pavement god.

Whereas "MotoGP is the pinnacle class of world championship road racing". The machines achieve a maximum output of over 240 hp and reach speeds of over 340km/hr. Watching live motorcycle racing is just awesome. If you're interested in the technical aspects of MotoGP, click here.

Racers from all over the world compete to win the title of MotoGP Champion. They race motorcycles that *no one* can buy, motorcycles that frankly, no one can really ride except champions. They cost millions of dollars, and are supported often (but not always) by the factory brands such as Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, Ducati.

I urge you to go watch the Faster Series (Faster, Fastest, Hitting the Apex) on Netflix/iTunes/Amazon/wherever. It's an incredible look into the sights and sounds of MotoGP.

The Doctor, as he's known, showing the pavement who's boss with mere inches making contact with the pavement while moving at steady speeds between 100-200mph?!?!  Photo: ValentinoRossi.com — The Doctor, as he's known, showing the pavement who's boss with mere inches making contact with the pavement while moving at steady speeds between 100-200mph?!?! Photo: ValentinoRossi.com

Something that has always fascinated me are the physics of motorcycling. Physics to me, are like magic but REAL magic, supported by Science and Facts! You can't really see it, but it's happening and can be measured to match up what your eyes are seeing before you.

It's something I highly recommend experiencing at least once in your lifetime. 6-8 years ago, we went to MotoGP at Laguna Seca in Monterey with friends to watch and it was exhilarating.

The Track

When I think of The Circuit of the Americas, the first thing that pops into my head are the signature stars and stripes across the entire track. Red, White and Blue colors are everywhere which isn't too unusual but I would say of all the MotoGP tracks, this one is *especially* patriotic to its home country.

View from The Tower, looking down on Turn 3 with all the glorious stars.

And Turn 3 was a great spot, with a nice tv screen to see all the action along with feisty commentary from Eurosport.

Check out a short video I took from the MotoGP Race on Sunday afternoon:

I wish I had incredible camera skills, but if you want to see some beautiful motogp photography, check out Photo.GP.

After the final race on Sunday, they opened the track for 30 minutes and let us walk around for a bit.

Walking Along the Apex

At The Start Line

Looking Up the Main Straight

Official Rubber

Could be from Rossi's tire, who knows?

The Tower

Ever since I saw this Tower in photos, I always wanted to get to the top to see what the view was like. The elevator was out, so that meant we had to climb to the top. It took awhile, but totally worth it. The view was stunning, and you could see the entire track in any direction.

Selfie At The Top

But it's not just about big motorcycles racing, it's about the little ones too like this minimoto track some kiddies were practicing on:

Kids Minimoto Track

And then there were the Budweiser Clydesdales touring the country, with Austin as one of their stops. Look at these cuties, they were gorgeous and Huge! I love how the one in the back is totally cheesing in the background. They seemed excited when everyone was there to take pictures with them.

Of course there's also a few stands to buy some gear. I couldn't resist buying this "coolshirt" from Taichi. It's basically a zip up baselayer for hot weather. I got a really bad sunburn on Friday and I needed something soft up against my shoulders so this was perfect. It feels silky to the touch, really soft, I'm looking forward to wearing it in really hot weather to see how it compares to my other hot weather baselayers. I bought a Medium and it fits me perfect, not too tight / not too loose. You can check it out here.

Wandering around the track, there were also some cool areas to check out including shopping, bikes and bikes.

KTM SuperDuke GT

Can we go out sometime?

Have I Mentioned How Much I Like You?

Isn't He Beautiful?

Yamaha FZ10

I'll admit, it's one of my top 3 bikes for future upgrades

A Brief Lapse in Judgment to the Dark Side

Pretty Yamalube Westby Racing YZF-R1

With Latus Racing's Kawasaki ZX-10

Racer Bobby Fong landed on the podium three times that weekend with this bike.

The Food

I think I gained 10lbs. SO much deliciousness in Austin. The food was fantastic, and the barbecue was amazing.

Torchy's Tacos

First stop after landing in Austin, for some tacos and 'ritas

Crazy tacos from Torchys

Snooze, an A.M. Eatery

This was "Chicken Pot Pie" breakfast style

Counter Cafe

Another tasty breakfast right near our Airbnb

Coopers Old Time BBQ Pit

Second night in Austin. I swear I tried to take the entire hunk of Ribeye home (2 days later). It was SO good.

Gourdough's Donuts

Homemade, fresh ginormous donuts piled with various toppings. YUM.

Blacks BBQ

Last BBQ in Austin. Another delicious meal.

I swear practically on every corner was a food truck. Even in the parking lot at this adorable pet store.

And food trucks parked in the pet store parking lot.

Handbuilt Show

We spent Friday night at the Handbuilt Show, a popular event in Austin that happens the same weekend. It's remarkable what people can make with their own two hands.