Off road conversion?

Just saw a video of a vf on u-tube that had knob tires running at high speeds on a beach in Australia . Now i have a buddy that is giving up on an 84 Magna and i have an opportunity to take it off his hands for cheap. I know its not the same bike but the engine and carbs are damn closr. Anyone ever heard of this before? Any opion how long it would take to break the thing in two.. or three? Would b kind of mad max kind of cool... but dont want to waste time and money if its just going to be problems.

 

Have seen one Vfr Frankenstein with knobby they will ride on dirt but it is like wrestle the pig in the mud
You can try it can always be convert back to street.

 

I've been wanting another magna for years and you want to make a dirt bike out of one, sheesh

 

It can be done. Did it to my Sabre some time ago. "Ceptor be even easier.

 

So... What did you do to it? Was it just a simple change to knob tires? How did it handle? Would u do it again? Would you say it's just a "novelty" toy for flat ground or can you still have a little fun. I know it's not quite the ride for some crazy stunts, but remember the first off road bikes were Harley's striped down to bare bones. And I guess if a Harley can stay together off road (they seem to fall apart on smooth road)....

I have never ridden a dirt bike (shameful). But I have ridden street bikes (magna & cepter) off road (again, shameful). I have learned that at speed a street bike is a real handful in the dirt and gravel, and turning the handle bars is only a request for the bike to turn, not a guarantee.

I was just a little curious at first, but now I'm a little more interested!

 

That's any bike in the dirt, I've all ways said anyone who rides street should be required to ride dirt for a minimum of 3 years before hitting the road. On dirt. If you want to play in the dirt I recommend a dirt bike, a 400 pound plus bike on dirt is not for beginners, I don't care if you've ridden for 30 years on the hard stuff your still a beginner when you hit dirt.

When I was 13 or 14 I use to ride my dads Yamaha 850 special, their version of a gold wing at the time, stereo and all. Bastard was HEAVY! I use to jump it about 4-5 feet high at around 50 mph.

 

Okay - first riding experience- I have been riding dirt, road and "adventure" going on 30 years. Okay- this bike, as it sat in the picture, has 200k miles on it. This bike is "off road" as far as it is really built to ride long distance down a dirt road, or improved road- not necessarily a BMXer mmmkay? :crazy:

I rode this bike year around, in Alaska, in the snow. It is actually easier as far as I am concerned to ride on snow and ice with car stud-studded tire set up I used. This bike also weighs close to 600lbs curb weight. Add 50-200lbs of gear, and two riders two up totaling about 400lbs, it is a lot of weight.

So what are you calling "off road"- you going more dirt, or more trail? Adventure? What is your use? Always the starting part of any big modify thing.

This bike has Renthal bars and hand guards, CBR 600 rear shock mod, race tech springs, and a corbin seat. Oil mod. 3.40 gears. and the small fairing is the best evah for adventure biking for me to date. Krauser bags.

counter steering works well in dirt as well as street, BTW. I rode two up for over 400 miles on barely improved dirt roads in Canada and Alaska with this bike- so it can be done.

The magna is horrible to modify in this manner- it doesn't have the clearance the Sabre does. Would be easy to do to the 500cc cepter. I would even go dirt bike forks (probably KTM) and dirt swing arm "(KTM again!) and you would have a heckuva nice dirty adventure bike LOL

 

i'd just buy the KTM...

 

I agree, for the amount of money/time you'd have to spend to make an OK adventurer out of it, which would still be a pig on anything but packed gravel/dirt, why not get something you wounldn't have to fight so much with like an older IT, XR, DR, KLR or one of the many KTM's or Husky's. Would probably be easier on the wallet and leave you more time to enjoy when all's said and done.
If you want to get creative the Mad Max look was pretty cool.

 

That totally depends on your fab skills and getting of old parts skills. If you go to ADVrider there are numerous examples of people converting street bikes to dirt or adventure bikes. A couple guys have done the 650r ninja to adventure or dirt bike conversion, mostly using KTM parts in one case. KTMs aint cheap LOL.