I´m thinking of buying a Husqvarna TE 610 E from 2007. But is it possible use it as a touring bike whit your girlfriend as a passenger over a weekend? Ore will she insult me after a half a day in the saddle and take the bus home?
I do it every once in awhile... having to sit so much farther forward is the killer. Esp with my STOCK seat. I'm almost on the tank and my girl, (5'5" 120lbs.) is almost on the rear fender... 50 miles is the comfortable limit for me and 100 is the absolute most. So, guess it depends on distance, if you can do something bout the seat, and your builds. Personally, I'd think it'd be alot more fun on something just a LIL bigger.. I LOVE my 610 to no end though !
I rode on the back of my own 610 once (don't ask...) and did not enjoy it one bit. I rode on the back of Eric's KTM LC4 640 once, too, and hated it. Besides the fact that a 600 single is not passenger-friendly in the first place, the flat seat makes it miserable for someone on the back. You get a real nice view of the back of the person's helmet and nothing else. In my view, a passenger-friendly bike needs to have a bit of a step-up in the seat so the passenger can look around and enjoy the sights without being slammed up against the rider in front.
Just a thought...I have a plan for you if she can't/won't ride her own bike: Get the 610. Take her on a nice, long romantic weekend ride. Make sure the cozy bed-and-breakfast inn is about 200 miles from home. Be real nice to her and tell her you want to do this with her a lot more in the future. She will either leave you as soon as you return (bonus! The 610's are way more fun when solo) or she'll decide she likes the romantic weekend part but not the passenger part so she'll start looking for her own bike. If she leaves you it will be an opportunity to find a better girlfriend (i.e. one that rides) next time around. Either way it's a win-win, don't you think?
I know a few riders that wouldn't want to do 200 mile on the front of a 610, let alone the back. You might want to start out on a little shorter ride.
No dual sport bike is comfortable riding two up and the 610 is no exception. You can get away with short hops around the area or rescue some one whose bike broke down on the trail but if you're planning on doing 200 mile jaunts you should look at one of the other larger adventure bikes.
My wife survived about 3 miles back there once... never again. If both you and the passenger are small, light, young and spry then you might get away with it.
Oh many answers… Where to begin? Well I am 175 cm and she is 160 cm. (I don’t know how many feet that are because I haven’t found any god conversions sites on the internet. And why “US and the A” and that little island outside Europe use so strange measurements I don’t know) So me and my girl isn’t the larger kind of people, but every ones says on this sit seams to say that it is a bad idea so I don’t think it does any matter how tall I am ore my girl is. But she can do some cool yoga stuff! I did 400km in one day whit my old 610. That was an adventure… But the only one I had as a passenger on that bike was a 10 year old. He was big as a gnome so to go for a shorter trip whit him was never a problem. I can’t afford a bigger touring bike, and I really want a Husqvarna 610. But if I can’t take a passenger on a Husqvarna 610, I am going to buy a KTM adventure 640. I know that you can take passenger on that bike for shorter trips.
My wife will only ride on the back of my BMW. She has no problem being on a two hundred mile ride on that. Maybe you should look into a more passenger friendly used motorcycle.
Not a whole lot of difference between the KTM 640 and the Husky 610 so far as comfort for the passenger goes.
Exactly. They both provide the same degree of uncomfortableness. Based on my experience I would not want to ride 50 miles on the back of either. ERic's LC4 I referred to in my previous post is a 640. If I had to choose between the lesser of two evils, I would choose to be a passenger on the 610. There is a little more space on the 640, but the seat is just as flat and it provides no view, and the 640 vibrates so bad it isn't worth it. The 610 is silky smooth with no vibration whatsoever in comparison to the 640 motors. We've had 2 of them and they were both the same...paintshakers.
Yep: depending on what bothers you most (vibration or or space) the 610 might actually be marginally better than the 640 but niether of them is going be like touring on a Gold Wing. There was a time when I thought about doing some mods to the 610 to accomodate a "buddy seat" but it just semed like way to much work involved for the limited amount of use it would get.
I have heard of people who have gone on trips whit a KTM 640 adventure for longer trips whit passage. So that most be possible. But then people say that you can’t take a passenger on a 640 and that the 640 and 610 are about the same if you are a passenger. I am really confused Personally I have no intentions to drive a 610 ore a 640 whit passenger for longer trips than 100 miles a day. We just have to se what’s pops up first on ebay…
Was out for a ride today and saw a guy and his gal riding around on a crotch rocket. She was sitting a least a head higher than him, knees tucked up under her arms and crouched over hanging on for dear life. She seemed happy enough! Can't imagine a 610 being worst than that.
There are alternatives but missing the dirt can be a huge detriment. I am also thinking about a TE630 for two up on dirt roads and think my pillion could handle at least 100 miles without issue. She takes on 500 miles with this at ease.
