The Kneeslider

Doers Builders and Positive People

Heavyweight Dirt Bikes

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GL1500 dirt bike
GL1500 dirt bike

On all of our previous articles about Sportster scramblers, you guys keep commenting about how ungainly the Sportster would be if actually used in the dirt, the issue of weight seems to be the problem. Well, Mule just sent in this photo to underscore his point. He said we should stop all of this talk of modifying “chick bikes” and go all the way. Let’s see, take one Honda GL1500 engine, add knobby tires, trim off a bit of bodywork and instant MX bike, a tad portly perhaps, but, hey, I give the builder points for effort. Maybe Randakk should look into this.

Does anyone have any info on this bike? I’m kinda curious.

Comments

  5. Reminds me of me: slow, fat, prone to getting stuck, and hard to keep upright for any length of time…

  7. The tires aren’t wide enough. That puppy will sink to the axles in soft sand or mud, and at that weight, it would actually need a tow truck to get it out of there.

  8. I wonder what the bike really weighs? I bet its not much more than the vaulted BMW GS 1200. Not really a dirt bike, more of a Fire Trail Scrambler like the Sportys. Good fun with a low cost old bike!!

  9. quote
    The tires aren’t wide enough. That puppy will sink to the axles in soft sand or mud, and at that weight, it would actually need a tow truck to get it out of there.
    quote

    Good point, but it doesn’t matter, because this is another one of those … Why? Because it can be done.

    The problem is that when you take a dirt bike and put street wheels on it, it works very well (supermoto etc.), when you try to do it the other way around, you get what you deserve.

  13. I used to dirt bike with a friend that had a modified Triumph that had been salvaged from the flat track circuit.

    Wasn’t a “competitive” dirt bike by any means, but it sure could climb hills.

  14. Speaking to that, mxs, I once had the brilliant idea of putting street tires onto a yz125
    dirt hopper and just trying it out…
    shoulda kept that bike, it was a sweet little motocrosser.
    Of course this was way back when SuperMoto was unheard of here.

  19. Ha…. a coincidence … a friend has a Valkerie for sale … I was wondering about ways to strip it down and do a Randakk type project with it…..
    I don’t think I’d go with the knobby tired style … but if you can reframe the front end and bring the rake back and maybe loose some length … ?

  21. There’s a similar \XR1000\, a modified ’76 GL1000, that shows up at the annual Dirty Dabbers National Dual Sport in Mill Hall, PA. I believe he rides the whole event on that thing. Awesome!

  23. I think this bike is pretty cool, even though I doubt its functionality as a dirtbike. I’m not surprised to learn that the Modderfokker guys that built it are from the Netherlands. A 550 pound dirtbike probably makes more sense after you’ve done a few bong hits.

  24. I left an XR250R in the mud one afternoon after I and it got bogged down in the woods
    Went back to pick it up and it had sunk! – this BIG baby would have sunk like the Titanic!!

  25. Going back to the Kneeslider item about guys riding hardtail Harleys off-road because that’a what they had; why not this bike, too? Sure, it won’t go through a bog, but that’s not the point. Serious off-raod riders ride serious off-road bikes. The GL 1500 would scoot around in the dirt fairly well and might even do some surprising things with a good rider aboard. Most of the bikes on this site were built for fun anyway, and the GL looks like it would be a ton of fun when ridden properly.

  26. People seem to forget that riding off road does not equal landing 25 foot jumps. Riding off-road covers everything from flat track style dirt road riding, to Elsinore GP style variety, including jumps and paved sections, to Baja/Dakar overland fast desert riding, to mud and tree cross country, to European grass track, and even ice racing if you take “Off-road” literally. Would I want to ride a dirt Gold Wing on a motocross track? No. For that matter my Husky CR400 has too much power and doesn’t turn fast enough for most motorcross tracks. But at last year’s Elsinore race it really came into its own. And if you remember when the Valkyrie was introduced it was shown flat tracking around the El Mirage dry lake. Low center of gravity and a long wheel base equals slideways fun.

  27. @B50, “The GL1500 would scoot around in the dirt fairly well.” ???????? Did you just get back from the Nederlands? Things are gettin’ just a might ouuta hand here!

  28. @Mikey

    Naaaah, you just saying it. If you really did have the idea, you’d having your feet up and laughing now.

    BTW, I do think that GL500 doing off road is a very good analogy to yz125 on street. That’s why sumo was invented and went mainstream while something like GL500 will always stay a project done by few ….

  30. For those with short (or shorter) memories, the Sportster was a competitive bike in the early hare & hounds competition at Big Bear Lake, and the XLRTT was a neat bike.

  31. I think it’s great. It let’s people participate in something that they wouldn’t be able to otherwise. A sumo wrestler wouldn’t ride a dr350.

  32. All this Whining about excess weight, Has anyone noticed the new to the U.S. Yamaha Super Tenere adventure bike weighs in at 575Lbs??? Thats 7 Lbs more than a rubber mount Sportster in stock trim,and I bet more than the sweet Honda featured here. Where is the hate?? The Yami is $13,999 the Sporty is $8,999.

  33. Akumabito’s three photos say it all – look at the colored hats and the smile of the rider, that says it all!
    Last photo – no comment necessary!
    Thanks for the chance of letting me hear the best sounding Goldwing ever.

  34. It’d be interesting trying to watch a fallen rider trying to pick the thing up. I’m not sure I’d rush over to help! This thing might handle a bit of green laning as long as the rider isn’t too adventurous but I wouldn’t like to try. I’ve ridden on some pretty sandy roads and this monster would probably just dig in. As regards the Super Ten, I’ll pass on that too.

  35. Hey, guys, you can sink ANY bike into the ground if you want to! I love Akumabito’s photos — they do indeed say it all. This bike is for FUN, and spinning it to the axle is part of it. I’m sure there are a couple dozen spectators willing to set their beers down long enough to lift it out!