Adventure Bike Rider Forum

OB1 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 1:54 pm

zimtim wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 1:03 pm A man round the corner has bought one of these, so far he is really pleased with it
https://www.honda.co.uk/motorcycles/ran ... rview.html

£10,295 for a scooter!

An Adventure scooter

Hi m8

The man is a fool I ride a gsa and have many friends that ride other makes and I can tell you we have had some fantastic adventures a very good friend has a big smile on his face every time he gets on his Honda grom , so to me this chap you got chatting to needs to get into the real world

I get it all the time with the CRF250L “you’ve been there on that.. I wouldn’t want to ride there on a 250” etc etc. If anything it is more of an adventure bike than the previous Africa twin, I can ride the crf anywhere, without worry. Places I wouldn’t dream of taking my old Africa twin. The bike you own, is your adventure bike.

Maybe we all have a different idea of what an adventure is, so different ideas of what an adventure bike is?

A kid up the road goes all over the UK for weeks at a time on a Chinese 125 scooter with a few bits crammed under the seat - but on paper that ain't no adventure bike
I rode some TET in Portugal an a CRF250L, then home through Spain and France - not an adventure bike either apparently, but it sure felt like one to me!
Even going for a local chug around on an old Enfield feels like an adventure due to the shonky electrics leaving me feeling like I might have to start walking any second

So, BMW man was obviously a bit of a knob (not necessarily because he rode a BMW, but just a born knob ) and best left alone, while we do what makes us smile and stuff the pointless labels

If the ‘adventure’ is all about getting to your destination before your bike claps out then, from what I’ve heard, the 1200GS Adventure is aptly named.

(I ride GSes but mine are 30 and 38 years old!)

Andycrf250l wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2019 4:41 pm I get it all the time with the CRF250L “you’ve been there on that.. I wouldn’t want to ride there on a 250” etc etc. If anything it is more of an adventure bike than the previous Africa twin, I can ride the crf anywhere, without worry. Places I wouldn’t dream of taking my old Africa twin. The bike you own, is your adventure bike.

Aye, get it all the time on my 250 Rally. I've ridden it to the Picos, the Dolomites, through Switzerland and up the length of France. People still say can you really do that on that bike? Of course you can, you can do it on any bike. My Rally now has 18,500 miles on it in two years, most of that touring in Europe. As an aside it has held on to its condition very well indeed, despite all that's been thrown at it, and occasionally what it's been thrown at.
Still loving it after 2 years.

The whole 'adventure bike/rider' thing is IMO utter nonsense, a phrase coined by a number of commercial interests to suck a number of gullible folks into spending money so they can justify that they belong to the biking 'category' they think they have to fit into!

Magnon wrote: ↑Sat Nov 02, 2019 8:08 am If the ‘adventure’ is all about getting to your destination before your bike claps out then, from what I’ve heard, the 1200GS Adventure is aptly named.

(I ride GSes but mine are 30 and 38 years old!)

I agree--as I said we have an 81 G/S----I would ride that around the world! Where are the modern GS owners?-- standing up for their adventure points of view? I have a theory about modern GSs--(and any new BM with shaft drive )-I've broken a R100 GS shaft (angle issue--design fault), a K75 Shaft(lack of spline lube!--didn't know that I had to pull the bevel drive off regularly and grease!), and an 1150 shaft twice(seals and pivot bearings)--I'm a gentle rider and have never broken a chain. When BMW first went to shaft drive on the GSs it was simple--bevel and shaft both filled with oil and one Hardy Spicer joint up the front, and limited suspension travel/angle change--and transmitting about 50 bhp--lasting forever. Now with the paralever relying on two tiddly needles , two shaft joints, no shaft lube, and trying to transmit about 100 bhp without any significant size change of the bevel drive (diameter or tooth contact area) its no wonder they collapse---the early R80 G/S s were 168 kg dry!--what are they now --plus another 100 kg!!!--ok as a smooth road bike but thats it if you apply common sense. I might add that we also had a Danish army import R65GS--what a little sweetheart that would cruise at 70 mph plus and was smooth and even lighter than the R80G/S--BMW have tried to go small with the 310 GS but that has backfired a bit as they have had so many quality issues--I'm sure that they will get it right eventually but it hasn't sold in the uk when compared to the Honda 250 L and Rally. My little wr250R did Bulgaria and back camping all the way---4,500 miles with one oil change and a chain adjustment.--I bet the new T7 proves just as good.

`Hardy Spicer joint` .. not heard that name for many decades

a few decades ago, I rode a friends R60gs i think it was .. 600cc bmw boxer, anyway. .. from Swindon to north wales .. what a great ride .. feet kept dry, comfy upright position, no aches, easy ride .. didnt even notice the distance, arrived as fresh as I started 4 hours before.

I would not relish a ride on the present monsters, tho I have heard good reports and seen some great riding off road on 1200GSs

mark vb wrote: ↑Sat Nov 02, 2019 10:04 am The whole 'adventure bike/rider' thing is IMO utter nonsense, a phrase coined by a number of commercial interests to suck a number of gullible folks into spending money so they can justify that they belong to the biking 'category' they think they have to fit into!

after many years of hearing and reading the phrase `adventure bike` .. I suddenly `get it`
in the `old days`, there were road bikes, tourers, and mx bikes, basically.
people wanted to go touring on bikes that could handle a little bit of rough road riding when going abroad (like gravel roads over the alps ) with tyres that could handle the odd rough patch .. .. .. hence the `adventure bike` was born. ?