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Dual Sport vs Adventure Bikes--Should equal paces be expected?


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Great nickname for the "other" forum, Eric.

We've got a lot of that dual-sport clique around here too. Guys who trailer in their scarcely legal KTMs and WRs. These are the type of guys who think it's OK to let a new to the dirt rider go on the "advanced" course at the Rally last year and of course he post-holes himself. Oops, sorry 'bout that. Freakin' alcoholic poseur clowns more concerned about their post count than someone's safety and scarcely stop long enough to summon help. No wonder he got a bad impression of ADV riding from those guys.

Nonetheless I usually always preface my rides with the fact that I'm strictly a "D" grade rider anymore. That and the fact that I ride a Tiger 800 virtually assure continued solitude which suits me fine. Where's the "adventure" if there is no risk? I'm not foolhardy I just don't want to be forced to ride like a madman to keep up with a dissimilar bike and riding with someone on a dirt bike while on an ADV bike makes no sense.

Ha ha!  Sounds like you're as familiar with them as I was

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  • 3 weeks later...
3 hours ago, 556baller said:

Over the years through all my endeavors, I've found that people aren't always compatible. The worse way to find that out is on a trip of some sorts where your more or less stuck together. Those situations make everyone resentful. There's always a guy that doesn't pay his share, do his part, or what ever.

The only way that I've found to mitigate that is by doing short  shake down runs to get an idea if it works or not. 

Oh man, I agree 110%.

Guys, remember the "Stelvio 2016" video?
Well, if you don't, here's a little behind-the-scenes.

Originally, we were supposed to be a group of guys, not just me and Filippo. We were supposed to be the OG Stelvio guys, those who made that trip every year since 6 years. But, due to a series of events, ALL the guys had to bail: one because he was sick, the other couldn't get a couple of free days from work, and so on.

Well, in the end, I was stuck with the "newbie". He bought his bike only recently, he never did such a long trip... you get the idea.
Boy oh boy at some point, 2 days into the trip, I was literally THIS CLOSE to stabbing him with my handlebar. I only did very short trips with him, and he wasn't bad, but I should've noticed the alarm bells ringing in the back of my head. Well, those bells became absolutely DEAFENING, during the trip. He drove me insane. First of all, due to the fact I was recording the clips for the youtube video, he wanted to lead the way ("That way I'm gonna be front and center in the video!", he said), and all this while being absolutely OBLIVIOUS about all the roads we were supposed to take. Then he's one of those guys super uncertain about everything, he spent literally FORTYFIVE minutes trying to search for a t-shirt to buy while we were on top of the Stelvio pass, he made me change a restaurant reservation THREE times and many many more small things that in the end, made me decide that 2016 was the first AND LAST long trip I ever did with him.

He's not a bad guy, far from it, but one thing is to go out for a pizza, another is to be togheter 24hours a day, for 3 days straight.

 

Sorry for the rant guys, but I had to keep this inside me for nearly a year! LOL

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I wrote this on rider selection a while back.

What we do really tests one's character with factors such as exhaustion, hunger, dehydration, etc...  I've ridden with lots of really cool people who turned out to be huge liabilities on the trail.  I try to make it instructional as well as self-examining, like "am I that guy?"  I probably was that guy a couple times ;)

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  • 2 months later...

Find a short miserable route.   You will find out real quick if they can embrace the suck and continue to push on as you.  Or you find out they are fair weather enthusiasts in whatever endeavors.  Make it short and see if they push through and are mentally on the same page as you or whine, complain, or just annoy the hell out of you.  

Whats great for you may be miserable for them.  Force them to stay at your pace.  If they keep it and enjoy it, you got some good riding buddies that just want to be outside and enjoy it.  If they continue to complain or make you feel like you're ruining the trip, find new riding buddies.  Most likely they will complain and throw fits every other time they don't get their way. 

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So, they took EXCs on the same trail as you could manage no problem on an F800?
Why?
I mean either;
you're one hell of a rider;
they're are terrible riders or they've misunderstood the point of an enduro racing bike completely..

Ha!

Keep in mind, we are oil/oil vinegar/vinegar day to day. So therein lies the problem--we love hanging out together, so it usually starts like:

"You have to come to this event--we'll all have fun doing x,y,z".

"Is it a dual sport event or DS and big bikes?"

"It's easy, don't even worry about it..."

See where this is going?

All's well and good, I can hang with what I would say are "intermediate adventure routes--(not just paved fire roads, but stuff that you have to be comfortable with threading the needle (Lippencott pass comes to mind) until I forget that single track tight switchbacks, rocky steps, and extended sand washes aren't in my wheel house.

If only I could have that 350EXC... saving up my scheckles...
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....I guess I'm just lucky to have a 'wing man' if I ride with anyone at all.

My buddy and neighbor Mike and I have similar interests and (usually) similar bikes.

He's retired and I'm not, and he's also is about 5 years younger, go figure.

However, it's hard to get him away from mowing his long to come along...

When he does, he's happy to trail behind like a loyal dog.

Sometimes I figure Mike is just doing his civic duty,  keeping an eye on 'the old guy'.

Jeez, getting old sucks... doG bless the youngins  ;)

IMG_6929-X2.jpg

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