I've always thought of dual-sport motorcycles as the Swiss Army knives of the two-wheeled world. They sit right in that sweet spot between street and dirt, letting riders commute during the week and disappear down a forest trail on the weekend. Long before adventure bikes became a marketing buzzword, dual sports were already doing the job.
The bikes that come to my mind when I think of OG dual-sports are the likes of the old Honda XRs, Yamaha DTs, and Suzuki DRs. These bikes pretty much defined what “go anywhere” really meant. They weren’t fast. They weren’t fancy. But they were rugged, simple, and dependable. That formula built a loyal following that still exists today.
But the world of dual-sport motorcycles is actually much bigger than you might think. Apart from the classics I mentioned above, there exists a weird and wonderful world of extremely niche dual-sport motorcycles. Bikes you won't necessarily see out on the trails, but rather, putting in hours at the farm. I'm talking bikes like the Yamaha TW200 and yes, the Kawasaki Stockman, a weird off-road motorcycle that wishes it was a farm-built ATV in another life.
