Prime example of Adventure bikes being too heavy for most?
Discussion
I didn't watch the whole thing (who the f
k would?) but the bloke doesn't seem terrifically experienced, and it's a heavy and expensive thing to drop, he knows this, is stressed, but giving it a go anyway.
The bloke has got fking balls. He's out there, in brilliant scenery with like minded people, giving it a go, and making memories that will last a life time. What percentage of ADV bikes actually get used even like that? 1%? What percentage of people take chances like that? 0.001%?
As for the bike, yeah, sure a 1990s 2T would have been much easier on the trails, but not so good with the hundreds of miles getting there and back.
Fair play to him.
k would?) but the bloke doesn't seem terrifically experienced, and it's a heavy and expensive thing to drop, he knows this, is stressed, but giving it a go anyway.The bloke has got f
king balls. He's out there, in brilliant scenery with like minded people, giving it a go, and making memories that will last a life time. What percentage of ADV bikes actually get used even like that? 1%? What percentage of people take chances like that? 0.001%?As for the bike, yeah, sure a 1990s 2T would have been much easier on the trails, but not so good with the hundreds of miles getting there and back.
Fair play to him.
Prof Prolapse said:
I didn't watch the whole thing (who the fk would?) but the bloke doesn't seem terrifically experienced, and it's a heavy and expensive thing to drop, he knows this, is stressed, but giving it a go anyway.
The bloke has got fking balls. He's out there, in brilliant scenery with like minded people, giving it a go, and making memories that will last a life time. What percentage of ADV bikes actually get used even like that? 1%? What percentage of people take chances like that? 0.001%?
As for the bike, yeah, sure a 1990s 2T would have been much easier on the trails, but not so good with the hundreds of miles getting there and back.
Fair play to him.
Neither did I, but doesn't have highlight how ridiculously large the bikes are getting.k would?) but the bloke doesn't seem terrifically experienced, and it's a heavy and expensive thing to drop, he knows this, is stressed, but giving it a go anyway.The bloke has got f
king balls. He's out there, in brilliant scenery with like minded people, giving it a go, and making memories that will last a life time. What percentage of ADV bikes actually get used even like that? 1%? What percentage of people take chances like that? 0.001%?As for the bike, yeah, sure a 1990s 2T would have been much easier on the trails, but not so good with the hundreds of miles getting there and back.
Fair play to him.
Bikes not suited to that sort of terrain - far too cumbersome. Basically the bike equivalnt of an SUV, can go across a field (maybe), but nothing mor hardcore than that.
All seemed to be on road biased 'adventure' rubber, rather than proper knobblies - that's also a recipe for disaster on that sort of trail.
Good on them for trying and using them for what they're 'supposed' to be capable of, but give me a proper trail or enduro bike any day of the week over them, would be up like a mountain goat
All seemed to be on road biased 'adventure' rubber, rather than proper knobblies - that's also a recipe for disaster on that sort of trail.
Good on them for trying and using them for what they're 'supposed' to be capable of, but give me a proper trail or enduro bike any day of the week over them, would be up like a mountain goat
I'll probably never take my Tuareg off road and will be putting road rubber on it when the factory tyres wear out. I think it's one of the most capable of the current adventure bikes off road. However, I'm not and I wouldn't risk dropping £10k worth of bike.
Adventure bikes make great road/commuter bikes for tall folk. The bulk of the big bikes along with the cost is why we are seeing a resurgence in the middleweight sector right now.
Adventure bikes make great road/commuter bikes for tall folk. The bulk of the big bikes along with the cost is why we are seeing a resurgence in the middleweight sector right now.
They seem to be on road biased tyres, and that guy panicking after hitting a slightly rocky section I'm sure was sitting down and tensing up.
Honestly, decent 50/50 tyres and standing up would have solved half of his problems. And then a training course or two would have helped with the rest.
Problem is you have all these middle-aged accountants thinking they are Charlie and Ewan after leaving the office. Some good preparation (as above) would have come in useful. And maybe buying a middleweight ADV instead of the full fat version. Like, know your own limits.
P.S. My bike (Tiger 900) is 500lbs+ fully fueled, and scares the sh!t out of me sometimes when I'm out on my own on trails. Why anyone who doesn't have the talent or experience would buy something that is 600lbs+ and take it somewhere it might fall over a lot is beyond me.
Honestly, decent 50/50 tyres and standing up would have solved half of his problems. And then a training course or two would have helped with the rest.
Problem is you have all these middle-aged accountants thinking they are Charlie and Ewan after leaving the office. Some good preparation (as above) would have come in useful. And maybe buying a middleweight ADV instead of the full fat version. Like, know your own limits.
P.S. My bike (Tiger 900) is 500lbs+ fully fueled, and scares the sh!t out of me sometimes when I'm out on my own on trails. Why anyone who doesn't have the talent or experience would buy something that is 600lbs+ and take it somewhere it might fall over a lot is beyond me.
Edited by Bob_Defly on Wednesday 29th March 15:57
One of those ATs had Karoo STRs. On that dry hard pack gravel, those tyres are plenty sufficient. Sorry, but that vid showed up issues of rider skill and lack of confidence. More throttle and momentum needed. You can’t crawl up that at such a slow pace and expect full stability. I’ve been on far worse trails with lesser tyres (Pirelli Scorpion Trail 2s) and made it through easily on a fully loaded GS - and trust me, I’m definitely no Simon Pavey!
To the OP, go take the Honda or BMW offroad skills course and see what a fat 1250GS or AT can do with a modicum of rider training. And it will surprise.
To the OP, go take the Honda or BMW offroad skills course and see what a fat 1250GS or AT can do with a modicum of rider training. And it will surprise.
I wouldn’t have an Africa Twin / GS / 1290 etc etc, for all the tea in China. Crazy heavy / wide / bulky. Fine for a blast down the motorway though.
I had to let my modded / much loved 89 XTZ750 Super Tenere go a couple of years back, due to its circa 205kgs dry bulk. I did a fair bit of development on it to try to get the weight down, Arrow can, revised rear mudguard, Renthal bars etc, but it’s steel bottom yoke and fuel tank would have been ££ to replace.
With a knackered arthritic hand, its top heaviness was just a joke. I did try to find a YZE750 / 850, but they are ultra scarce and very Euros expensive when they do come up for sale.
I’m now down to a trusty 88 KLR650 Gen 1 @ 153kgs dry and an 85 XL600LMF for which Honda also claim 153kgs, but it’s a lighter bike than the KLR.
I do really fancy a Husky 701, but they are too £ much still.
I had to let my modded / much loved 89 XTZ750 Super Tenere go a couple of years back, due to its circa 205kgs dry bulk. I did a fair bit of development on it to try to get the weight down, Arrow can, revised rear mudguard, Renthal bars etc, but it’s steel bottom yoke and fuel tank would have been ££ to replace.
With a knackered arthritic hand, its top heaviness was just a joke. I did try to find a YZE750 / 850, but they are ultra scarce and very Euros expensive when they do come up for sale.
I’m now down to a trusty 88 KLR650 Gen 1 @ 153kgs dry and an 85 XL600LMF for which Honda also claim 153kgs, but it’s a lighter bike than the KLR.
I do really fancy a Husky 701, but they are too £ much still.
I doubt any of these small trail bikes mentioned would have been much fun on the ride from the UK to Spain though. It just shows that there’s no one bike that can do it all, unless you’re very talented! Even then, you would have to compromise on whether you’re going with road or off-road tyres fitted.
The roads leading up to the part where they went off-road looked epic. I would have been very happy to stick to those, even on my adventure bike.
The roads leading up to the part where they went off-road looked epic. I would have been very happy to stick to those, even on my adventure bike.
Neal H said:
I doubt any of these small trail bikes mentioned would have been much fun on the ride from the UK to Spain though. It just shows that there’s no one bike that can do it all, unless you’re very talented! Even then, you would have to compromise on whether you’re going with road or off-road tyres fitted.
The roads leading up to the part where they went off-road looked epic. I would have been very happy to stick to those, even on my adventure bike.
Of course. They'd be very hard work on the big roads of that distance. Personally I think there is a workable compromise. The 250/350's are a diddy but these current GS's and friends are way too big and heavy to the point they are only really going to end up as high sitting sports tourers without the relative agility of a middleweight.The roads leading up to the part where they went off-road looked epic. I would have been very happy to stick to those, even on my adventure bike.
I think there are plenty of bikes that would be 'good enough' on the motorway and still get up the trails in the video. It's challenging but not that challenging.
Piss poor group management I thought. Richy Vida (whose content I usually quite enjoy) is supposed to be leading a tour of, presumably paying, punters. He obviously knows the trail but didn't assess the conditions on the day - it had been very dry and hence more rocks than usual on the trail that would usually be mostly washed away, according to the comments.
He's sitting above the difficult bit wondering what's happened and I think it's his mate who's supposed to be assisting who loses his st.
I'm not sure I would fancy it on a full fat ADV as it does look pretty steep. Plus I think his advice of just paddle it up was poor. You need momentum and to pick a good line. Lucky no one got hurt really. Then he leaves the rest of the group to carry on himself.
The bikes are all capable but so called 80/20 tyres are pretty useless in my opinion.
Still, YT content is king eh?
He's sitting above the difficult bit wondering what's happened and I think it's his mate who's supposed to be assisting who loses his s
t.I'm not sure I would fancy it on a full fat ADV as it does look pretty steep. Plus I think his advice of just paddle it up was poor. You need momentum and to pick a good line. Lucky no one got hurt really. Then he leaves the rest of the group to carry on himself.
The bikes are all capable but so called 80/20 tyres are pretty useless in my opinion.
Still, YT content is king eh?
ArnageWRC said:
Nathan Millward's channel is good for Adventure/ Green Lane riding....especially his £1,000 challenge....
Thanks arnage. The Benly is currently out of action after that drowning in the puddle.Interesting video. I'm heading out with a group in the summer to do Stella Alpina and the fortress roads nearby. We'll be on smaller bikes, Himalayan, crf300, 390 KTM etc. They'll be more of a plod to get there, tho we're taking 2 days and avoiding motorways, but once there they'll make tracks like these mich more rideable for the average rider. And to be fair all my riders have had off road training beforehand.
Fair play to these guys for giving it a go but it really does show up the pitfalls of the big bikes being sold as off roaders for the everyday rider. Tyres wouldn't have helped. It was confidence and ability they lacked and in that situation the bike becomes the enemy. Most of them would have got up that no problem on smaller bikes. But fair play for getting them all off the mountain. Thats what matters at the end of the day.
I've had TKC70s on my Africa Twin (same tyres as the lead bike in that video) and it was very capable in worse lanes than shown here. I've also done the Honda Adventure course, those bikes had proper 50/50 tyres on (AX41s), and the bike never struggled even with much worse terrain. I was the only limitation.
Of course a lighter bike will perform much better, but I'd say most of the issues there are due to rider skill (and I don't have a lot of that myself if I'm being honest).
I don't necessarily disagree with the thread title, in that you can't drop an average road rider who's never seen dirt on one and expect them to climb any trail, but with the right training and a bit of experience, they're fine.
Of course a lighter bike will perform much better, but I'd say most of the issues there are due to rider skill (and I don't have a lot of that myself if I'm being honest).
I don't necessarily disagree with the thread title, in that you can't drop an average road rider who's never seen dirt on one and expect them to climb any trail, but with the right training and a bit of experience, they're fine.
Edited by Alex@POD on Thursday 30th March 14:10
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