HP2 enduro. What are they like to live with ?

luke scott

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Anyone here have a HP 2 enduro and use it as a daily use bike for city riding ? I have developed a slight itch for one of these and would consider selling the 1150 adventure. I never go off road (unless to park on the pavement) but fancy one all the same.
 
Anyone here have a HP 2 enduro and use it as a daily use bike for city riding ? I have developed a slight itch for one of these and would consider selling the 1150 adventure. I never go off road (unless to park on the pavement) but fancy one all the same.

Never owned one, but I've ridden a couple of them.

Awesome fun off road, stupidly capable but have crap forks. On road......a chore imho, there are better ktm's for way less money.

I also rode one on supermoto wheels which had a problem with the forks, that was a laugh. Started wobbling at 90, thought I'd ride through it so opened it up some more. At 110 I decided it was going to dislocate my shoulder so backed off. Still one of the most memorable biking moments I've had in 20+ years on riding. I'd love one even though it is a flawed machine.
 
Underbraked for the road, plus Phil's comments are borne out to a degree

Great bikes:thumb2
 
I owned one from new for three years to use as a lighter version of a GSA that was better off road and I kitted it out with Touratech Zega panniers and other stuff to make it more suitable for longer distance work and even rode it up Norway and across the Arctic Circle and many miles of Swedish Gravel roads. I also rode up to The Shetland Isles in winter aswell as an extensive tour of the Western Isles and intended to take it to Iceland but traded up to a GSA instead.

It was a very rare bike when I bought mine from Germany and as such it only had the one set of enduro wheels. Very, very powerfull and light compared to the GS's at the time but it had a very small fuel tank(13 litres) and was hard to ride anywhere without looking for fuel so it would do around 200km maximum to a tank and didn't have a fuel gauge just a warning light.

The single disc front brake was a bit inadequate on the road and the rear brake had no feel whatsoever. The front forks had a lot of dive and a 100% fail rate as did the sidestand switch and bracket. The rear air suspension unit was unusual and firmed up the harder you rode the bike and would loose pressure if you left the bike for a few weeks and the seat was like a plank to sit on. A handy bike if you ever wanted to build a wall or put up some shelves as it came ready equipped with its own spirit level cable tied to the frame.

I only rode around 6000 miles on mine during the three years I owned it and was very happy to trade up to a more comfortable and much longer legged 1200GSA in 2010.

The good points with the HP2E was that it had an immense amount of power and was a bit of a beast to ride on the road especially if you went into a corner a few mph too fast on knobblies in the wet and had to use a bit of front brake but then it was never really a road bike with enduro wheels nor was it a touring bike either but in the dirt or on a good gravel road it was an amazing bike to ride.

Very happy to have owned an HP2E without having to pay a fortune and I was also lucky to sell mine for a very good price too.

Do I wish i'd kept it?

Of course I do but it just wasn't practical for what I needed and I've now got a cheap as chips G650GS Sertao for getting dirty in the dirt and on the winter roads without too much drama aswell as having a comfy seat, good carrying capacity, 200 mile tank range, heated grips, ABS and all for less than half the price of an HP2E


FP.
 
So maybe not something to rush into then . . . . . :beerjug:

Maybe, but you definitely try to blag a ride on one :D

950 super enduro worth looking at or the supermoto version of it if you aren't bothered at off roading it. Same silly power to weight but cheaper with better forks and brakes.
 
Never owned one, but I've ridden a couple of them.

Awesome fun off road, stupidly capable but have crap forks. On road......a chore imho, there are better ktm's for way less money.

I also rode one on supermoto wheels which had a problem with the forks, that was a laugh. Started wobbling at 90, thought I'd ride through it so opened it up some more. At 110 I decided it was going to dislocate my shoulder so backed off. Still one of the most memorable biking moments I've had in 20+ years on riding. I'd love one even though it is a flawed machine.

What the shortcut for the cool smilie with the sunglasses ?
 
OP, if you want an HP2, but won't take it off road, try and find a Megamoto. They are very very rare, but fantastic fun to ride on the road.:JB

Here's mine and Skipsters.:beerjug:

null_zps652a4437.jpg
 
...an HP2 is a very special thing, if you have the itch Id say go for it you'll not regret it.

Is it a big GS no, can you use as an every day bike? Of course you can

I've recently ridden mine for 1450 miles non stop (28 1/2 hours) as I had ultra heavy duty tubes I kept the speed to 70 and it just purred along nice an comfy for hour after fucking hour

I've also used it for a day trip to see my mother 600 miles and it will do a trip like that at what ever speed you like, other than fuel range there's very little compromise and non in my opinion that should stop you going for it if you really fancy one



Ahhhh just seen the question is about City riding....I've used mine a few times in London (I normally use the 1150) no issue at all except it does bring out the hooligan and it can quickly get you into holy sh1te situations
 
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OP, if you want an HP2, but won't take it off road, try and find a Megamoto. They are very very rare, but fantastic fun to ride on the road.:JB

Here's mine and Skipsters.:beerjug:

null_zps652a4437.jpg
Nutty, would you mind me asking where that pub is?, I sort of recognise it from my trips out.
 
I`ve done 40000 miles on the two I have owned and they are a fantastic bike. They do a bit of everything but forget practical thinking.
So many reasons not to buy one as there are loads of other bikes that will do specific things better.
Not one of them will make you feel like you do when you"pilot" a HP:thumb2

If you can get one then do.:thumb
 
Nutty, would you mind me asking where that pub is?, I sort of recognise it from my trips out.

Looks like the pub on the north side of Bury Hill.. ( Southdowns) on the A29....
 
Maybe, but you definitely try to blag a ride on one :D

950 super enduro worth looking at or the supermoto version of it if you aren't bothered at off roading it. Same silly power to weight but cheaper with better forks and brakes.

+1 !!!



Only use my SE on road but it's my favourite bike for that purpose I've ever had.And that includes KTM 950 Adv,and all GSs,1100,1150ADV,1200ADV etc etc.
 
I used mine as my sole bike for one year, commuting, 2up touring, and off road playing - covered about 19k that year. I bought it about a year after I passed my test so I'm probably not the best person to ask as I don't have the frame of reference of riding lots of other bikes... but for me, if I could only have one bike - this would be it. For sure, there are better bikes for specific tasks, but very few that can do so many to same level and give you the same feeling to ride it.

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40 thousand miles later, I've no intent of selling mine :thumb2
 
going back to the original question..

I ride mine to work in London everyday.. usually in the SM wheels

Have toured in it and had great time, in fact I think for non motorway touring is a great machine.

Have a Wilbers lowered shock and progressive forks springs.. still would like to find some Marzzochi factory (gold series?!?) forks to install.


Fuel range is a pain but there are ways to extend it..


Everyone's take is different on the HP2. I love mine the Duc Hypermotard I have in the garage is left unused while the HP2 gets out every day.

I am not sure if there is one bike that i would rather have over the HP2..
 
Fantastic bike to ride :D

Issues are suspension, and, as others have said, braking.

I regret selling mine but the real issue is to find one to buy. Most are bought by folks abroad and will never been seen again, shamefully :mad:
 


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