Hey Luke – I discovered the same thing you are finding out, but it took me a lot longer to figure it out. I think the trend these days is to go with a really capable middleweight adventure bike like an AT, T7 or 890. With a bike like that you can really enjoy long rides on forest service roads or through the dez. Those types of rides consistently attract the most DDMC riders. A traditional dual sport like a DR650 or XR650L might be a little better than a modern middleweight adventure bike on harder trails, but not by much.
Then when you want a more intense ride, fire up your RRS and hunt for technical single track. Plenty of guys do that too, but they’re racers or ride at that level. No reason you can’t do both.
