DirtDaze Motorcycle Rally Explored with Honda NX500 REVIEW: The Mid-Range ADV Tested

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Annick covers her experience at the DirtDaze Rally, focusing on the event's activities and a review of the loaned Honda NX500 adventure bike. The vlogger, Annick, highlights the rally's diverse offerings, including demo rides from various manufacturers, guided and unguided tours, and motorcycle classes run by groups like She ADV. Annick's details her participation in an accidental all-woman ride on the New England Scrambler route, where she meets inspiring riders like Lana Tsurikova and the arborist twins, Bear and Melissa. Furthermore, Annick praises the NX500’s performance and features, describing it as a well-priced, versatile mid-range bike suitable for commuting and long distances, despite minor issues like being slightly top-heavy. Finally, Annick concludes by reflecting on the rally's positive atmosphere, the value of attending such events for community building, and the option of on-site camping versus local accommodations.

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Information on Dirt Daze

Transcript

DirtDaze Rally and Rides

Annick: Hello, my beautiful motorheads. It's Annick and I have just arrived at DirtDaze. You can take a look around behind behind me, and I came up here on the NX 500 that Honda has loaned me for the event. So I'm going to be riding it this weekend and I also rode it already today, um, about five hours. So, uh.

It's been great and tonight I'm giving a presentation. So that's going on. I'm going to bring you guys along with me and we will be able to check out what DirtDaze is about some of the rides and meet some of the people that are here doing it.

 * INTRO *

Annick: Hi!

Vlogging, Yo.

It's obnoxious.

One of the highlights of this rally is that they have a ton of things going on. So in addition to being able to do the demos, which are behind over here. They also have classes. And uh, you could see over here she, A DV is running some classes,

which we'll go take a closer look at. But they offer all sorts of different classes at different levels. Uh, not only She ADV, but I think that there's a few other classes going on as well. And they also have. Guided and unguided tours so you can sign up to do like a half day and all day and go out with a group.

Uh, there are various levels. I think one of the things that they do that's fantastic is that they're very clear about what the different rides are, like, what type of bike you need, what type of experience you need, all of it. So that part is super well organized. And actually before I came up here, it didn't even occur to me that they were gonna have all these tours.

I know it's an A DV rally. Crazy. you could also sign up for demos and we will go over into the demo area and take a look at that.

The demos are totally where it's at. They've got a few manufacturers here. Let's say we got Harley Yamaha Triumph, Honda Suzuki, and if you have a chance to come and do demo days, whether it's here or anywhere else. You should just do it. It gives you the best opportunity to try to try out different motorcycles that you typically wouldn't, but also the people who organize the events, the, you know, running all the demos, they're so knowledgeable about the bikes and they're able to answer any of your questions and.

Help you figure out what model you might wanna ride, maybe a model you haven't considered, anything like that. So definitely recommend. And it's awesome that they do this here because you can't get all these manufacturers at so many events anymore. And uh, hopefully that changes and the manufacturers realize that riders want to test ride before they buy.

But you know, we're all a work in progress.

To take classes. She ADV and Dart. I have not taken classes with either one of them, but I hear that they're really good. So if anybody has any feedback on that, let me know. They also have a whole vendor area, which I'm gonna walk over here. Oh. And this stage where they showed a movie last night, uh, one on the BDR, I believe, and the, they're basically gonna do a movie every night, which I thought was pretty cool.

Oh, and by the way, my presentation went really well, which was. Very fun. A nice crowd showed up and they asked excellent questions and we had a good conversation about podcasting and vlogging, so that was cool. Uh, they also have over here the vendor area. As you can see behind me, I. And I am gonna go check this out because I am definitely in the market for some new gear.

I mean, I always am, let's be honest. And uh, I also want to see just kind of what's going on and what some of these guys are doing. And I think that we might go visit one of our friends.

Yeah. I mean,

actually I like them better.

Yes.

What's going on? Good to see you. You were coming. Yeah, I was like.

I am here at Stella's, and I'm sure, I think it's in Lime, Vermont. And I am going to be meeting a group of riders and joining in on the New England Scrambler route, uh, that is going to be led by Victoria Zandonella. And this sweep is Alana, whose name I don't know, but she's Alana on two wheels, which you guys might know.

 (Annick goes on ride with group.)

Voiceover:

As you heard, this ended up being an all woman ride, by accident. 

The sweep with the accent, whose name I pronounced incorrectly earlier, is Lana Tsurikova from Ukraine, known as “LanaOnTwoWheels” across social media. 

She was on the prettiest BMW GS I’ve ever seen. She is going to be competing in the International BMW GS Trophy competition coming up in the fall. After she comes back from Europe, we are going to interview her on the experience. Needless to say, she’s an excellent rider. So, let’s wish her luck!

The two women who they put behind me who Lana says has chemistry… well, it ends up that these two women were just the coolest. They had chemistry because, it ends up - they’re twins named Bear and Melissa. These women are arborists who teach people how to climb trees.

They were like two kids playing. During the ride, they were jumping off stuff, teasing each other,  teasing everyone else, super supportive of the other women on the ride who had less experience. They just brought such a youthful and joyful energy to the ride. It was an absolute honor to be around them.

You just never know who you’re going to meet at a rally and ride. Its just such a good way to meet new people. Motorcyclists just do cool things in life.

As you can see, the roads and views - everywhere were beautiful - whether you were on pavement or dirt. In this Vermont/New Hampshire area, it switches quickly between the two. 

Earlier in the ride, they had done some of the BDR (Backcountry Discovery Route). Due to my schedule, I joined in the afternoon on the more subdued portion of the ride.

I have to say, the Honda NX500 was a great choice for the whole trip. Honda put 50/50 tires on for the event. I rode up on some backroads and then spent about three hours on the highway. I had no problem cruising at 80mph. I was at about 6500rpm and the bike red lines at 8500rpm. It had plenty of power. On the highway, I averaged 57 miles per gallon. When riding more conservatively, I was around 65 miles per gallon. 

Even with these tires, it rode well on the highway. There were some roads that the tires buzzed and it was like driving a Ford F250 with snow tires on a highway. (Werererererererererer) That was a little much. But, it was only on specific roads and with these tires - which are not stock! The NX500 comes with street tires from the dealer. But I was grateful to have these tires on for all the dirt road riding we did.

The windshield was a great help. It has a nice upright riding position. They offer a lot of after market parts so you could customize it to your liking.

A lot of people at the event came up to talk to be about the bike.

It has this rugged utilitarian look that I just love in the black. The 2025 color is white. The 50/50 tires add to the tough look. This mid-range bike often gets overshadowed by the Honda Africa Twin and Transalp. I think this bike is worth looking at. It a bit of blank canvas that you can make your own.

It is a little top heavy. The seat height is a tick tall. But the parallel twin engine is easy to ride and it has the beautiful digital display that’s easy to use.

It does well on the dirt. I wouldn’t want to ride some of the technical BDR routes on it. The front forks are stiff. It would be hard for me to bounce it up and over bigger obstacles. 

I think this is very well priced at $7400 new and would make a great long distance bike and/or commuter. 

We ended our ride with ice cream. Who doesn’t love that?! It was really a lovely experience. Thank you to Victoria Zandonella for putting together such a nice route.

Annick:

I am here on the second morning, and as you can see behind me, these are all the campers, literally the campers and the campers. Uh, I did, I decided not to camp because number one, I, I don't really like camping. Number two, uh, if I was going to camp. And I had the means to do so. I would totally do it this way.

I would say that I think the campers get the best experience in that they're just right here at the event. And there's a lot of things that go on at night, whether there are presentations, they show a movie, uh, I think there's like a bar, so you get more of an experience camping on site, but it's way more fun if you've actually got all the rigs.

Versus being in a little pup tent, which is what I probably would've been doing. So I, I ended up getting a hotel in the area. Some people also pitched in and got Airbnbs and put a bunch of people into a house, which would be super fun. I will say that it is very dark around here at night riding. So. One of the nice things I found out about the NX 500 is that it actually has a really nice high beam because I absolutely needed it, uh, riding home last night, because I'm telling you, it's, it's rural, beautiful, and absolutely rural.

Annick:

After the event, I was reflecting on how you can make whatever you want out of an experience. Each motorcycle rally has a different vibe and focus. 

I was glad to experience DirtDaze. We lucked out that the weather was perfect. No rain.

Going to events is a great way to meet people to ride with and grow your community. It always feels good to be around like-minded people.

At night, they also had fun contests that people really got into. I had a lot of laughs watching people compete!

I hope this inspires you to attend a rally of some sort, whether it’s DirtDaze or something geared towards your own preferred riding style. 

Let me know in the comments what rallies you have enjoyed or plan to attend!

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* OUTRO *