About 56000kms of unformed legal roads somebody reckons. Thats one hell of a lot of adventuring to do.
I for one love taking my 950 to off road places most wouldn't. To get to the latest gem I had to ride 2.5 hrs of highway, 50 or so km of gravel then open a paddock gate to get access to a paper road and go over a 1400m high mountain pass with scree, large rocks, stream crossing, mud etc. A road bike could do the seal, but thats it. A dual sport everything but with less comfort. A trail/enduro bike the mountain pass and destroy your arse on the road if regoed. The big adv bike just does it all. End of story.
I'm still really not sure why I'm selling the beast!
"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools." - Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
Ain't got it no more. Went lighter. It was way too limiting trying to adv ride the 11GS
Some people certainly take those big adventure bikes off road,but it's not for me.In the '70's,'80's and '90's I had trail bikes,and they went on and off road....but we don't talk about those bikes anymore,they didn't exist.
So I've had Adventure bikes in the 21st Century - the XLV750 was far too big for a puny guy like me to take off road,as I found out several times.So I worked my way down to the DT230,which was far more my size off road.
I have a few problems with the adventure thing,the main one being I'm not at all sociable,and organised events with lots of people is somewhere I don't want to go,I don't belong there.The other thing is I like to ride off road on off road bikes,a lardy street bike is too frustrating,why not just use the real thing.I enjoy my twinshock trials,I get to ride places you wouldn't take an off road bike,and so it satisfies my '' I just can't do this,it's too hard and I want to go home'' need,I work harder with more accomplishment...in short,it's fun.
I've been riding loose metal for 40 years,every single bike I've owned (lots) has been on gravel roads...it's just my medium.So I decided to do what I always do with any bike,ride on loose metal roads....and made a bike to do just that.I don't have to pretend it's an off road bike,but I can pretend it's a road bike - dual purpose from the other end of the street.
It's just another road bike,but it goes all the places ''adventure'' bikes go in the real world....on all roads.
"The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools." - Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)
I'm mildly irritated with this thread and the implication that we have to justify our choice of bikes and riding, it's the same old shit which permeates this (and lots of other forums) in the form of keyboard penis waving.
I actually don't care what your riding, or where you're riding, as long as you are happy doing it, any ride can be an adventure, it's dependant on your skills and the particular things you find challenging. To me this is the joy of adventure bikes / riding, just having fun and laughing at the results, as soon as someone sets themselves up as god and starts telling me how I measure up I would rather just go for a ride.
So, I'm taking the 640 for a bash up Muriwai and the north west later tomorrow and the 200 to Woodhill on sunday if that's ok.![]()
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