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I was listening to some of my buds talk about a few of the new motorcycles now coming on the market, and one of them made fun of the new Moto Guzzi Stelvio, which is billed as a "dual sport" machine. As you probably know, those are the kind -- like my R1200GS -- designed to take you anywhere you'd like to go, anywhere around the world. Trouble is, says my friend, the tank is too small. The range is something like 150 miles.
So that get me thinking. That time I rode from L.A. to Sedona -- a neat 500 miles -- in a single day, I was in the saddle only about 6 hours. But the door to door travel time was closer to nine hours. The rest of the time was spent in various combinations of pit stops, fuel stops, and meal breaks. I stopped for a short while at some military parking lot / museum that I passed along the way, full of World War 2 tanks and planes, as I remember. But the trip was far more time consuming and tiring that it would have been on four wheels.
One reason, obviously, is the exposure to sun and wind. But a bigger reason is that my bike simply can't go that far on a fill-up. Maybe 200 miles. But the warning light comes on after around 150 or 160 miles, and it's time to start looking for a place to refuel.
Of course, you can buy the "Adventure" version with an 8 gallon tank, instead of the 5 gallon standard. And yes, there are aftermarket products that can increase the bike's range, from auxiliary tanks that feed into the main tank to simple jerry cans you can strap on with your luggage.
But why is that necessary. What's the thinking that keeps a machine so beautifully made for eating up the miles on such a limited diet?
If someone can enlighten me, I'd appreciate it.
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