The road conditions are not any worse than my home town, so it's no different to me. The road to Samana is great, the toll highway to Boca Chica is great, the autopista to Santo Domingo is also great. I really don't see where the roads are all that bad. Some of the mountain roads are bad...but Jarabacoa....great! The most dangerous are mostly right in the downtowns where the manhole covers are missing!!!!
The really cool places are not on the main road. We go all over where the roads are sub-optimal for a big, low heavy cruiser with limited suspension travel.
Any bike is fine on a smooth, straight road with limited access. Granted, many roads here are improving.
A rule of thumb: buy the best bike (or boat, or car, or truck, or tool) for the worst conditions, then you have most contingencies covered.
