Adventure Riding, why?

"You know why adventure riders don't stand for the National anthem?

Because they're already standing."

I got bored about a third of the way through. He took a trip on his bike. How nice for him.

I've owned ADV bikes on both ends of the spectrum:  more road bias, or more dirt bias.  Big ADV bikes are pretty silly for off-pavement, IMO, but they make very comfortable touring bikes without the silly forward lean of the sport tourers. The more dirt oriented bikes like the KLR are not much fun on the road at anything over 60. 

They are compromises like anything else. There is no unicorn bike that does it all. 

In reply to ddavidv :

I'm sorry you got bored. I thought it was a pretty nice overview of ADV riding, bike choice, a challenging trail, potential risks, etc. I tend to like SFM's shtick. 

I'm a big fan of his channel so I enjoyed the video. I guess his dry sense of humor isn't for everyone.

The broken leg at the end was pretty dramatic way to finish a trip. Cause "Adventure".

In reply to NOHOME :

Agreed, and I've been over most of those passes. Lovely country.

In reply to NOHOME :

If anyone else has followed Itchy Boots' motorcycle journey across Africa, this video reminded me of her last installment.

In reply to stuart in mn :

I just saw on IG that she is upgrading her tool roll in prep for her next trip. She must be recovering well.  Glad to see it.

hobiercr said:

In reply to ddavidv :

I'm sorry you got bored. I thought it was a pretty nice overview of ADV riding, bike choice, a challenging trail, potential risks, etc. I tend to like SFM's shtick. 

I'm pretty patient with YT videos as I watch a lot of them. I've even learned to enjoy Stuart Fillingham, which is no small task. This guy...I dunno, he just droned on too much before getting to whatever point he was trying to make. 

In reply to ddavidv :

I'm not sure I'd consider a KLR more dirt oriented.  It's still heavy, has crappy suspension and brakes, until recently wasn't fuel injected, etc, etc.  It's cheap though...  There's a world of difference between a KLR and my 701, although I totally agree with you about the larger adventure bikes.  It takes a skilled rider to get them off road and that's the same thing with the so called "middle weight" bikes, which weigh ~500lbs.  Far more than I care to deal with off road...

I love his humor, and will be looking hard for my sticker on the land speed car

I enjoy Super Fast Matt's videos. Including this one. Bummed that this will probably delay the work on his streamliner. 

docwyte said:

In reply to ddavidv :

I'm not sure I'd consider a KLR more dirt oriented.  It's still heavy, has crappy suspension and brakes, until recently wasn't fuel injected, etc, etc.  It's cheap though...  There's a world of difference between a KLR and my 701, although I totally agree with you about the larger adventure bikes.  It takes a skilled rider to get them off road and that's the same thing with the so called "middle weight" bikes, which weigh ~500lbs.  Far more than I care to deal with off road...

More dirt oriented in the sense it's not a Triumph Tiger or BMW GS. It's more closely related to a dirt bike than a road bike. And it doesn't do either category well. It is, however, the kind of bike you really don't care if it falls over or gets dirty. I've called it the "lawn tractor of motorcycles". Classic video about the KLR.

stuart in mn said:

In reply to NOHOME :

If anyone else has followed Itchy Boots' motorcycle journey across Africa, this video reminded me of her last installment.

I| have watched a lot of her vids. Having lived or spent time in some of the counties she traverses, I am amazed at how little trouble she runs into; a lot of those countries are far from safe.

I am also amazed at how poor of a off-road rider she is considering the saddle time she has.

In reply to NOHOME :

This is one thing that makes it hard for me to follow her. I actually met her at a race a while back and she seemed nice enough, certainly has seen some cool stuff. But also an influencer attitude (there was some stuff she was specifically instructed not to do, and those things happened anyway in the name of content), and somewhat concerning to observe riding in a race environment. I too am somewhat amazed (and happy) that she hasn't run into more issues. the ADV world is weird though, when it comes to publicity. I've seen a few instances where people did run into problems and their stories were kind of rolled under the rug, sponsors dropped them, etc. Running into problems and advertising it is bad for business, depending on the nature of the problem, so it wouldn't surprise me if things have happened but she kept some of them to herself. 

I do enjoy Matt's videos. In a world of overdone  youtube personalities, I appreciate his sardonic delivery. Sure, that video was longer than his norm, but having done many videos like this myself, it is SO hard to cut things short because every clip comes with a dozen memories that you want to share. The standing comments are absolutely hilarious to me, and so, so true. My group all calls it Prairie Dogging. 

Like he says, grip heaters are excellent. Unfortunately the integrated ones all seem to be street grips, and the under-grip heaters always seem to end up spinning on the bars no matter how well you glue and safety wire them on. My go tos are the Symtec Heat Demons, but if someone has a solution that works better, I'm all ears. 

Bummer about the broken leg, soft luggage helps with that but rule #1 on big bikes is always keep your feet on or in front of the pegs, with #2 being don't try to save it. If you can ride it out, great. If not, just dabbing a foot hard can hurt badly. jump clear and let it fall, most of these bikes are pretty darn sturdy. I'm still recovering from a stupid foot dab injury on the 990 10 months later. 

And to the comment that big bikes are silly off pavement - it's a different kind of challenge and a different mindset. Maybe like the whole finessing with a slow car vs. bludgeoning with a fast one debate. I contend that there is nothing more fun than racing a big bike that is set up properly. Nothing makes me giggle in my helmet more than racing the 990. 

Riding large ADV bikes off-road is an acquired skill, kind of like turning fast laps with a 1970s Porsche 911. When you get good, you can do amazing things, but the learning curve is steep.

I'm too old/weak/grumpy to be bothered with heavy ADV bikes anymore. They are okay for travel on pavement and light gravel, but more than that and they are more 'work' than 'fun'.  I have mad respect for guys like Bret Tkacs who can ride massive bikes up things I'd be hard pressed to do on a dirt bike. That just isn't appealing to me to try myself.

In reply to ddavidv :

I'm with you.  When I had my KTM 990 I did similar things with it that I did with the 640 it replaced, but it was much more effort and work. 

This latest round I was enticed by the KTM 890 Rally but riding an 890 R in comparison to my old 690 cemented the same 990/640 feeling I had.  The 890 can certainly do everything I do on my 690/701, but it's going to be a lot more work for me.  I ended up staying with the lighter 690/701 because of that