Does commuting require highways or going around 60mph? How are you defining backroads and dirt track scouting? But in general weight is your enemy off road. To include picking it up off the ground. And the more weight the higher chance of injury. I wouldn’t want anything over around 350lbs if I was doing much off road riding. And keep knocking that weight down the more technical the trail gets. Of course skill level matters and the numbers adjust accordingly. For tame forest service roads and gravel roads you would be fine on many of the 600-700cc dual sports and could get away with heavier bikes like a KLR650. Those big 550+ pound Adventure class bikes market off road use but for the average to good riders they are no bueno on much more than a decent dirt road. They are expensive to drop or wreck too. If you start dealing with much ruts, sand, mud, roots, rocks, hill climbs/descents, narrow trails then I’d be looking at sub 500cc bikes. Again depending on your riding situations, I’d say the crfl and klx bikes by Honda and Kawasaki are good models to consider. The 300cc bikes. DRZ400S is another good one. If you need more for the road the Suzuki Dr650s type bikes are good. If you like parting with your money, KTM 690 Husqvarna 701 are on the big side. They commute well but have legitimate off road ability. KTM, Husqvarna, Beta 500cc and smaller dual sports are really straight up dirt bikes with just enough to be street legal. They are awesome but very dirt oriented and pricey. Honda and Kawasaki, probably others, offer bikes in this class too. Don’t over look maintenance and miles from a tank. The smaller and more dirt bike oriented they are the more frequent the maintenance intervals. Mainly oil changes. And the smaller the gas tanks. Aftermarket bigger tanks exist for all of them. Dirt bikes generally have lightweight subframes and are more difficult to use for panniers, tail racks, carrying much extra in general. There are solutions to these things. But in the end dual sport = compromise. But still tons of fun.
