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Has adventure riding become the new gluten-free? Everything in the grocery store now seems to carry a label “gluten-free!” I bought bacon the other day and saw it on the front. It’s BACON! Of course it doesn’t contain any gluten! Likewise it seems with “adventure.” Everything seems to be “ADV” this or that. Even BMW’s new S 1000 XR comes with the “adventure” moniker even though it’s probably the last bike I’d ever use for what I define as adventure riding. Look at me, I’m going adventure riding! It’s not really that important to me how people ride their bikes or what terms they use to describe their riding. But for me, “adventure riding” does still hold more of a finite than infinite description. I guess the classic and more narrow definition of adventure riding would be something like this: Any motorcycle journey of perhaps a week or longer, probably international or at least out of one’s comfort zone involving travel over multiple road surface types (not solely tarmac/bitumen/asphalt) where the rider is most likely camping off their bike and/or sleeping in a different place most nights, raising money for X charity and documenting their epic selfies with a GoPro camera and becoming social media commodities. Okay, so I might have been kidding about those last parts. Personally, it’s meaningful to me to understand what I consider adventure riding is as well as what it’s not. I’m very open minded and have become even more so over time but there are still some things I find bug me about it. I understand that adventure means different things to different people but when I hear someone talk about throwing their un-plated dirt bike in the back of their pickup and going “adventure riding” for the day, I just kind of shake my head. I understand that guy sees it as an adventure of some kind. I just don’t see that as “adventure riding” myself. I recently had the opportunity to pose this question of how does one define adventure riding on a Facebook group, IBAR (International Brotherhood of Adventure Riders; 8,300 followers) and got some really fantastic responses. I learned a lot! My perception of adventure riding has definitely been expanded, but I find I’m still clinging to my own tastes in certain areas. Believe me, if there’s one thing I hate it’s a “bike nazi” who sets up rules of what you can/can’t do. I don’t want to be “that guy.” But when a word starts to mean anything, it means nothing. I’m really good with broad brushes but if all I’m seeing on a canvas is a blob of neutral color with no shape, definition or story, I’m lost. I also know that simply owning an “adventure bike” doesn’t equal adventure riding. I own an adventure bike and on the rare occasion I commute on it, I call that commuting, not adventure riding. I might go ride some twisty canyon roads on a weekend and prefer to call that canyon carving, not adventure riding. I might go do a track day and would call that track riding, not adventure riding. Recently, Tolga and I took his new camera assistant, Gozde, out for some dirt training and a little trail ride. I’d call that trail riding, not adventure riding. I sit back and look at all the riding I’ve done over about four years and 56k miles and guess that maybe only about 20% of my miles were what I personally would call adventure riding (e.g. Bolivia, Baja, AZBDR, COBDR, etc…). I do a lot of these three day weekend trips to say, Death Valley, and camp in one spot and ride trails out and back each day. I guess that’s really more trail riding than adventure riding. To me, that’s totally fine. I don’t feel like I’m some kind of adventure rider poser because I’m not “doing it right,” nor does anyone else. There’s no right/wrong answer and no test to pass. It’s really irrelevant. I’m not an Alex Chacon, but I do still love following adventure riding topics via this site (of course) as well as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc… I also don’t think one even needs an “adventure bike” to go adventure riding. Some of the best examples of adventure riders did their journeys on bikes most wouldn’t consider adventure bikes: Harley Davidsons, Honda Goldwings, Honda C90’s, old Triumphs, BMW RT’s, etc… This being XLADV, I still don’t think adventure riding requires any kind of “XL” or big bike component (doesn’t hurt). Not everyone has the time/money to be a Ted Simon, Austin Vince, Lois Pryce, etc… I think the longest motorcycle trip I’ve done was just two weeks. A lot of the riding I do for fun locally I view as kind of training for future adventure riding, so in a sense I kind of see how the term gets expanded. Interestingly, I find the more regional trail riding I do is many times more adventurous and enjoyable than the two weeks of riding I did in Bolivia. The riding conditions there were pretty bad, actually. There were lots of narrow, dusty and dangerous dirt roads and no interesting single-track, challenging hills or beach riding like I’m more used to. The adventure there for me was in the places I got to see, the people I got to meet rather than the riding itself. I guess the “death road” and seeing a hillside road slide down a thousand foot cliff in front of me was adventurous. It’s also just a convenient classification we use to distinguish ourselves from other motorcycle sub-cultures like café racer hipsters, sport bikes, choppers, cruisers, tourers, moped gangs, etc… (yes, there are moped gangs). In sum, I guess I can say that while my definition of adventure riding is already quite broad and has been expanded, it still holds specific meaning to me. That meaning is just one person’s opinion and not a test, label or judgment passed on anyone else. I’ll leave the reader here with some of the responses I felt were noteworthy: Notion of picking a spot on the map and going seems to fit. Something new, different, destination unknown, more for the journey than the destination. Live, ride explore. Not everyone can take a multi week multi country trip. For some, a good day ride on a new more challenging track is all we have time or allowance for. Anything new, or more challenging that pushes our bubble just a bit bigger is an adventure. It is to each of us a personal experience. For me it's travelling. Whether it a weekend of logging roads near Algonquin (& camping) or longer, mostly pavement trips. 10 days in Canada's East Coast & 6 weeks through Western Europe. Just getting out there and being. I think the term "adventure" is relative to each person. Hey, if it's an adventure to you based on your everyday life, then more power to you. Live your adventure. Single definition of adventure riding don't exist!! All depend what adventure means to YOU.. My idea of adventure riding. It's not about the route but about the journey. Alone or with a friend pick a spot on the Map and go there. It's always different, take pictures, enjoy the people places and the ride. I think you can define it as whatever you like. My personal definition, is having the ability to go off road and find a nice camping spot. I'm on an adventure every time I ride, even if I don't hit dirt that day. For me, an adventure ride HAS to include some dirt/off-road sections. Adventure to me is not being on Tarmac 100% of the time. Gravel, OHV trails, minimum maintenance roads and preferably not sleeping in my own bed. Explore riding is what I do riding to see where a road goes I've drove past a hundred times in my truck. Riding is fun and every ride to me is an adventure but if you can ride trails fire roads freeways you are an adventure rider. Adventure is a mindset (Harold Olaf Cecil) Adventure is in the heart. In my opinion. If you can't go out and have a good time, no matter what. You're NOT an adventurer. If you break down and say, "that really sucked"...but it was AWESOME! You ARE an adventurer. If you're on a ride with friends and have something to complain about. You're NOT an adventurer. If you can jump into a ride, last minute without caring where the destination is, you ARE an adventurer. I don't see it about being on dirt or bitumen or related to time or distance traveled. I see it as being open to try new places, roads, tracks and experiences, and being willing to go out of your comfort zone to have those experiences. It's about learning and living all at once. Well I have to say this much for you Eric Hall, you do ask some great questions and start some good threads. The marketing department at BMW really knew what they were doing when they attached the word Adventure to there bulked up GS back in 2001/2002. At that time the GS was just a moderate seller in their lineup of bikes. Now today it is their biggest seller. I think as a definition in the motorcycle world the Adventure bike was meant to be a do everything machine. Tour the freeways and highways with ease and comfort as well as get you though some fairly rugged stuff if you had the balls and the skills to ride it there. KTM soon produced a twin to compete and now there are more and more bikes that have a wider range of capabilities because that is what people think they want. One thing is for sure, the Adventure market has opened up a lot of opportunities that did not exist before. Look at all the companies like Touratech just for starters who have thrived because of this segment of motorsport. I echo the sentiments that riding in general is an adventure, but that does not mean you are necessarily doing it on an Adventure bike. If you are riding and you want to call it "ADV" riding have at it I say, want to put knobbies on your bike and run back and forth to Starbucks well maybe it's not so ADV'ish To me if it’s all pavement it’s not ADV. All pavement is touring or sport touring. ADV includes some dirt and generally longer distances. Dual sport is similar but shorter distances. The original intent of the term was to draw a distinction vs. other forms of riding My definition......the bike has to be plated and at least some of the riding must be off the pavement.......now if you're lucky.......MOST of the riding will be off the pavement and involve tents, sleeping bags and a bourbon of some kind!

I try to be nice. But I still have to be true to who I am. I’m a market researcher by trade and we’re paid for our objectivity, accountability and transparency. I’m paid to tell the truth whether or not that’s convenient to someone’s marketing objectives. That may be in a way how I’ve shaped XLADV. I want this community to be real. I really do want it to be positive though as well. I embrace the vendor community (some say too much?) but I also have to stay true to the objectivity and will call BS when I see it. Precious few have been “thrown under the bus” and I think I’ve been pretty even-handed but community members are going to say whatever is on their minds. There are plenty of industry hacks, obsequious and sycophantic yes-men there to fill that space the vendor/manufacturer community thinks they want. More savvy marketers have embraced the community and opted for reality, credibility and a take-it-as-it comes approach but it seems there are still a few old school holdouts who are desperately clinging to their trained seal media. They’re afraid. They’ve even told me so. They say they’d love to leverage this community but the upper levels see it as a potential liability given other “mutinies” over at GS Giants (“shhhh! you’ll scare away our sponsor money!”) and AOLrider (where few companies fear to tread). And boy is being a trained seal profitable! Maybe I’m just jealous that I cannot yet afford a shiny new new Sprinter or Tundra or a stable of bikes to evaluate long term. Remember the list we compiled of the companies ADV riders should avoid for their contribution to groups shutting down responsible vehicular access to our public lands? Well a lot of those companies are still trying to have it both ways and marketing themselves to the off road riding motorcycle/ATV markets. Examples: YETI, Marmot, MSR, Big Agnes, etc… What are these media outlets going to say when our riding areas are closed like they are on the East Coast and Europe and one of us points out how they carried that company’s water who funded the entire campaign? Yes I know, they’ll delete the comment! lol Just the other day I saw one of our media friends (we are actually friends, btw) post a review of one of these offending companies’ products. I said something like “great product but it’s too bad they contribute to groups shutting down responsible vehicular access to our public lands.” So not a slam on their journalism. Not even a slam of the product’s quality…. just a bit of accountability directed at the manufacturer (I tagged them). And…. the comment was deleted. But I’m not surprised as I did it to see if it would be deleted. I was proved right. By deleting it they weren’t saying “you can’t insult my writing like that!” or “you can’t insult this product like that!” but more like “you can’t make my client look bad like that!” So keep that in your mind next time you’re sensing a bit of a divergence between what you read elsewhere and what you read here at XLADV.com. I do want to keep it positive but at the same time real. They can have their business model. I’ll stick to mine, thanks.

March Madness With a rough plan for the next two weeks, and a bit of optimism, I set out to race the Sandblast Rally in South Carolina and then continue down to Florida to catch bike week if all went well. The plan was to work out of my company’s Florida office and to rough it in a tent for as long as I could cut it; hopefully long enough to combine my return trip with a detour to Tennessee to catch March Moto Madness. Despite some ups and downs the stars aligned and it turned out to be quite the journey. Sand Blast Rally On the morning of Thursday, March 2nd I packed up my bike and departed from my home on the eastern shore of Maryland. The ride down to Cheraw, SC was uneventful but I was burning through my knobbies faster than I anticipated causing my somewhat worn rear tire to turn into an extremely worn rear tire. I arrived at the campground in time to catch a stunning sunset before unpacking my things and making a run into town for signup. At signup I ran into my friends Steve and Amelia who offered me to pit with their crew, an offer which I took them up on. After signing up and getting supplies I returned back to a cold campsite and prepared for bed. It was a cold night, dropping to freezing temperatures, but I was plenty warm and plenty grateful that I had opted to pick up a 30⁰F sleeping bag before I departed on my trip. The problem though, came when I had to leave my sleeping bag and put on all of my now frozen clothes. There is nothing like scavenging together pine cones to burn for warmth at 6 am. I eventually warmed up enough to go into town and run through tech inspection before attending the novice competitor orientation. Following orientation I went back to the tent and prepared my roll chart for the race by cutting out the special stages then trimming and taping it all together. Shakedown runs in the afternoon were followed up with parc exposé (fancy words for race car show) in the adjacent town of Chesterfield where the rally start would be held. After talking with other riders and getting some tacos for dinner I called it a night. The morning of the race I woke up extra early to give myself time to warm up by the fire. Once warm, I made my way towards Chesterfield for the start only to arrive shivering; it was still near freezing at 6:45am. I warmed up with some coffee and a hot breakfast sandwich, set my watch to key time, and queued up taking my spot as the last motorcycle to start. Starting 30 seconds behind Steve I followed him to the first special stage while getting better acquainted with using my roll chart. Doing some mental math I ensured that I checked in on the correct 30 second interval to avoid penalty and moved up to prepare for launch. With my nerves buzzing with anticipation I watched the timer countdown to my exact second to launch. The timer hit zero and I took off blazing. Unthinking and overly anxious I did not heed the old adage of “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast”. Only several turns in and I was already getting the dreaded arm-pump. Barley able to hold it together, sliding through a chicane I ignored logic and accelerated into the next turn pitching rear slide sideways. Photo by Mathew Styrker I had bitten off more than I could chew and I put myself into a drawn out lowside giving the viewers quite the spectacle. I picked up the bike and finished with a more sustainable pace, the arm pump now so bad that I could barely pull in the clutch at the finish. Heeding my lesson in exceeding my limits, I relaxed and elected a more suitable pace for special stage 2. With my arm-pump subsided I was able to find my rhythm and increase speed throughout the day, though not without a few more mild crashes. Photo by Rally Girl Racing All in all I ended up finishing 8th of 13 for medium class, and 16th of 28 for all bikes. Steve’s video of the rally sums up the whole experience nicely, plus it has some sweet crash footage. Video by Steve Kamrad The end of the rally was in downtown Cheraw where NASA threw an excellent party with “free” food and beer for the competitors and volunteers. Trading war stories and tall tales of the day’s events seemed the perfect way to cap an exciting day of racing. Comradery runs high among the rally folks and many new friends were made. Florida Living In the morning I packed up camp and set off down to Florida. Upon arrival I crashed at my friend and coworker Joe’s apartment for a few days while I decided where to camp. Joe owns a Ninja 300 so naturally the hijinks started right away. Joe had expressed an interest in riding dirt with me so we went adventure riding after my first day of work. I do not think he expected to ride 20 miles of powerline cuts, rail road tracks, and trails but he managed them much better than I ever thought possible. After a few days of staying with Joe I found a place to set up camp in the woods near my office. I guess word got around the office because I soon had an offer to set up camp at my coworker Tommy’s property. Tommy has around 40 acres of property and gave me free reign over it. I found myself a little lean-to structure in the woods and set up shop under it. This would become my new home for March. Adapting to living in a tent turned out to be easy and I quickly got into a routine of going to work early to shower, making meals at work, stopping by the laundromat twice a week to wash the small amount clothes I brought with me, and doing “Florida things” such as visiting the swamps and paddle boarding. I caught wind of a free CADS/GS Giants event called the Trans-Florida Adventure Ride so I eagerly prepared the Versys with an oil change and new rear tire. Early Saturday morning I packed up my bike with my camera, sleeping bag, tool roll, and air compressor and headed out to traverse Florida. Trans-Florida Ride The Trans-Florida Adventure Ride starts out of Crescent Beach along the Atlantic on the first Saturday of bike week and takes a primarily dirt route out to Cedar Key on the Gulf, followed by a mostly dirt route back to the start on Sunday totaling around 360 miles. Navigation is done solely by roll chart with optional “enduro” sections and picture challenges. Deciding I wanted a challenge I took the first optional section, to ride down the beach and get a picture for proof. It turned out I was the only one who did the 4 mile long challenge which now placed me behind literally everyone. Questioning my abilities to follow a roll chart I hastily made off to the next dirt section hoping to catch up with the pack. I rocketed through the next dirt section and despite a few navigational difficulties I got back on track. Passing a group of riders taking a break as I neared the first split between enduro and adventure routes I decided to take the enduro route with the hope that there would likely be someone behind me in the event something went wrong. Naturally things immediately went wrong. Things started to get bumpy blasting down an overgrown trail that somehow passed for a “road” according to my roll chart. At first it was fun getting small amounts of air as I set my pace to 60mph, but my concern grew as the dried mud holes that launched me started to increase in size. I tried to back off but was too late; I flew out of a dip over the bottom of another hole and landed onto the uphill face exiting it. Bottoming incredibly hard, I felt my left foot come free from the peg. Headed towards a mud hole that was filled with water I tried frantically to get my foot back on the peg and regain control but to no avail. I blasted straight through the water hole before finally coming to a stop, now completely drenched. Checking the damage I realize that I could not perch my foot back on the peg because the peg had broken free of the rearset mount taking the shifter and linkage with it. The riders I passed by earlier stopped to check on me as I zip tied the dangling peg and attached shifter to the frame. Seeing that the bike was still rideable I sent them on their way. Attempts at rigging up a way where I could still shift failed as the zip ties snapped immediately or didn’t allow for enough movement. Thinking about my vice grips laying back in my tent, I contemplated what to do now that I was stuck in 3rd gear only 40 miles into the day 1 ride. “How hard could it be to ride one footed,” I pondered. I would soon find out that hard was the answer. Photo by Steven Breckenridge Realizing I had nothing better to do this weekend I decided to forge onward. Placing my left foot on the rear passenger peg afforded my quickly tiring leg some rest as well as added bike control as I made my way through the deep Florida sand. For the next hour I played cat and mouse with the group of riders I encountered earlier; I would pass them as they would wait for the group to reassemble, then subsequently get passed back as I missed turns. Soon I found myself lost, all alone, deep in Ocala National Forest single track. Ready to give up, I turned my bike off (since I couldn’t shift into neutral) to check my phone’s GPS, and to my surprise I distantly heard a bike struggling through the sand down the trail to my right. With renewed hope I rapidly took off in the search of the machine’s pilot hoping that they could show me the way. The first rider I found, Courtney – a R1200GS pilot, had lost place on the roll chart as well but directed me to catch up with the leader of the group, Nick who helped organize the event, would surely know. I reached the group at the end of the trail only to find out that they were actually taking a slightly different, “locals only” route they knew and that I indeed had been lost. I followed them through the last few miles of the section before regaining my bearings and finding my spot on the roll chart. After talking with one of the riders, Mark, at a gas stop I decided I would take their offer to ride with the group for the remainder of the day. After many more miles of sand we reached Cedar Key. Mark was kind enough share his hotel room with me after discovering that I had no accommodations. The next day we ride the 180 miles back, this time with slightly less dirt. About three-quarters of the way through the ride the skies opened up quickly soaking us. Cold and wet we finish the ride back to Crescent Beach to earn our Trans-Florida Ride Finisher stickers. While we celebrated with dinner and some beers I messaged my “roommate” Tommy to see if he knows anyone who can weld aluminum and fix my footpeg. As luck would have it Tommy was drinking beer with his friend who happened to be a welder at that very moment. I limped back at 60mph down I-95 and paid a visit to his friend. Bike Week With my bike fixed I went back into my normal routine: wake up early, go to work, adventure ride, eat tacos and drink beer, and sleep. That Saturday I headed down to Daytona International Speedway to get a taste of bike week. I started off by immediately demoing an Indian Scout, followed by an FJR1300, and finishing on a Hayabusa. After thrashing them as much as I could get away with (they all do wheelies, yes, even the scout) I went and met up with Joe and we checked out the manufacture’s offerings that we couldnot ride, then watched the Daytona 200 from the infield before finishing the night off by bar hopping on Main Street. Photo by Joe Sendzia During the time since the Trans-Florida Ride I noticed that my gas mileage was starting to drop, and soon a noticeable power loss too. Checking my air filter I discovered the problem; it was completely clogged. The dirt and sand was caked onto the filter in unbelievable amounts, to the point that rinsing it was futile. Having failed at cleaning the filter I had a new one overnight shipped. With the new filter in place power was immediately restored and wheelies abounded. In the period from when I first took Joe to the trails to now he had been riding his ninja off-road nearly daily, unbeknownst to me. After catching me planning an afternoon dirt ride he wanted to join along, which I agreed to of course. We started off with local sandy ATV trails and single track that led to a large play area of deep sand. Photo by Joe Sendzia Joe was surprising me with how much more comfortable he had become off-road and was able to go at a respectable pace. After playing on the single track for a while longer we decided to see how far we could make it on the powerline access trail before dark. After knocking out around two miles we reached a swampy low area where I suggested we turn around. Joe wasnot having it and volunteered me to go through first to see how bad it was before attempting the feat with the ninja. Like a good friend I obliged. I started by trying to ride the center between the 4x4 ruts but it turned out to be slick and I soon found myself pulled into the rut of slimy mud. Duck walking I managed to make it through at a crawling pace as the rear refused to get traction despite my best efforts. As I turned around to tell Joe not to attempt it he came barreling down towards the ruts without heed. Despite nearly tucking the front he saved it and his momentum carried him half the length of the rut before the trouble started. Appearing to be stuck Joe turned down my offers of assistance and instead man-handled the 300 to conform to his will. I laughed and photographed him as he slipped and slid every which way, slowly making progress in the intended direction. With the sun about to set we jumped onto the next road the powerlines crossed and met up with Adam for some food truck and brewery action. Brec, one of the riders I befriended at the Trans-Florida Ride, asked if I would be interested in riding a mostly dirt route from Florida up to Tellico Plains for March Moto Madness. Already having plans to attend March Moto Madness, I quickly asked my boss for additional time off to take the long way up. With permission granted I packed up my tent home and spent my last few days in Florida at Adam’s apartment, getting in a few fully loaded test runs over the weekend. Onward to Tennessee Tuesday morning I loaded up the bike for good and headed north to meet Brec in Jacksonville. With his KTM 690 smartly packed and my Versys loaded to the brim we took off, picking up the trail west of the city. Following our route we winded up through the sand roads of Florida and into Georgia, eventually setting up camp for the night near Twin City, Georgia. Rising with the sun we got an early start on our day, crushing many miles of sand that slowly gave way to the red dirt that Georgia is known for. As the day wound on we found ourselves on the twisty, gravel, mountain roads of Chattahoochee National Forest nearing sunset. With only 35 miles of riding left before hitting our intended stop, Mountain City, Georgia, my trunk broke free and tossed itself down the gravel road. The bouncing had sheared the horizontal pins from the ¼ turn fasteners that connect the adapter plate to my tail rack. With a quick zip-tie repair we were back underway only to have it break off again a mile down the road. With sunlight fading fast I was prepared to leave my trunk, its only contents being a sleeping bag and pillow which I could lash to the rack and some MREs I would have to leave behind. Brec insisted that we give it one more go but this time he lashed the adapter plate to the rack with a cam buckle strap. To my delight this worked, but the happiness would be short lived. While stopped at a junction a mere mile down the road my oil pressure light illuminated red. Neither Brec nor I had oil with us and we were still 30 miles into the mountains. Reviewing the roads on the GPS we see that we are already on the shortest path back to civilization and we decide to push on. Maintaining revs to elevate oil pressure enough to stave off the light became my new riding style as we made our way through the forest in the dark. Pulling into town a little after 9pm we decided to get a hotel for the night. In the morning I got oil from gas station next-door which conveniently carries Rotella T-6. The versys eagerly gobbled down a quart, followed by most of the second bottle. This was not good; an oil change requires 1.9 quarts per the manual, only 1.7 if you don’t change the filter. The moment of truth: I pushed the starter and it reluctantly came alive only to stall when idling. Sometimes the bike does not like to idle on cold mornings I reminded myself and I fired it alive a second time. Mildly concerned, I crossed the street to the gas station only for it stall as soon as I pulled in the clutch. My concern quickly grew; I thumbed the starter button but there would be no third time. Not wanting to accept its fate, Brec and I swapped batteries since it was cranking a bit slow. No dice. With it starting to rain a man from the town Welcome Center offered me the use of his pavilion to work on the bike. After pushing it over I pulled the tank off and checked the air filter for oil only to find that the entire airbox was covered in dirt. I called my friend Chad, who lives in Georgia and would be attending March Moto Madness, to see about getting a lift. Chad offered to pick me up on his way north that night, even though it was two hours out of the way. Seeing as I had all day to wait he recommended that I try pulling the plugs and putting some thick oil down the cylinders in an effort to raise compression enough to get it started. Now armed with a plan, and back-up plan, I said farewell to Brec as he continued his journey solo. (Brec has a much more detailed report of our ride, with plenty of pictures, located at http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/waybills-ride-to-tn-from-n-e-florida.1229589/ ) I walked down to the auto parts store and picked up oil and fresh plugs and got to work. I poured oil into both cylinders and gave it time to settle while I found lunch. After turning over the motor a few times to blow out excess oil I installed the new plugs but not before checking for spark the old fashioned way. With the plugs installed and my fingers tingling I tried starting it again but the motor gave not even a hint of wanting to start. Due to the abundance of time and stubbornness I tried oiling the cylinders and cleaning the plugs three more times before accepting the hard truth that the versys was dead. I put the bike back together and waited for Chad to come save me. March Moto Madness Chad took me up to March Moto Madness where we meant up with Steve, Amelia, Rob, and Don. After some pleading, Steve and Amelia were kind enough to offer the versys and myself a lift back home. With a ride secured I turned to the problem at hand: how do I find a bike so I can ride with my friends? After asking around I discovered that GSM still had one rental KLR available for the weekend, and with some exchanging of information I had a hot new ride to thrash. How is March Moto Madness? Well Steve answers that with his video better than I could explain: Video by Steve Kamrad Steve playing in the water Chad and Rob laugh at Steve’s inferior, non KTM bike Tough limbo competition this year Don doing his version of limbo Top of the world Amelia ripping on the ‘burg The crew pondering where to go next After a great weekend of hanging with friends I loaded the versys up behind the TRD Pro and spent a cozy twelve hours with the Karmrads. Arriving back home in Maryland it was now April 2nd and time to return back to the normal grind. March was a hell of a month; now I have to figure out how to top it.

Since we've started this project bike, the most frequent question I've been getting is "so how do you like the 990 vs the GSA?" I can tell you it's been a lot of fun! I really like what is obviously better off-road handling and the highway comfort is not as bad as I expected (my Seat Concepts seat sure helps!). While I love my GSA too, I can't say that I'm missing it that much yet. There are a few interesting surprises though that I didn't expect. For example, I thought the 990 was like 100 lbs lighter or something but the specs show the dry weight is just 32 lbs lighter! Also, the 990 has loads more travel, right? Nope. Only with the 990 (R spec suspension from Konflict) has front/rear travel of 248mm/248mm vs the GSA's 210mm/220mm! My stock 990 Adventure came with 210mm/210mm; about the same as the GSA (less in the rear). The center of gravity is also much higher and that, combined with less front end feel (suspension is so good), and you'd best be light on that front brake or you're going to low-side really damn fast! Ask me how I know! The gearing is also taller than the GSA's legendary tractor gearing, but that's easily addressed with larger rear and smaller front sprockets. Bottom line: Much better in the dirt and not as bad on the highway as expected. Pro's: Lots more off-road fun, feels more powerful, nimble, suspension doesn't bottom out (my TFX Suspension on the GSA doesn't either anymore) Con's: Really tall, taller center of gravity, taller gearing, sucks gas big time when you're on the throttle. * I should note here that this switch was due to type of riding I like most. I was looking for something not similar to the GSA but 21/18" wheels, more travel and more dirt-able. The 990 has not fallen short of my expectations, I can assure you.

It was one of those buddy road trips to the KTM Rally in Crested Butte, CO with TG Woody Witte (Woody’s Wheel Works) recently when I found myself quite stirred to emotion when trying to convey what it is I like so much about adventure riding. Woody’s what we call a “kindred spirit” so he knew right away where I was coming from. But before I was so stirred, I gave an intro I guess from my head which was what I always say… there are three things I like best about adventure riding. The first is simply riding. It’s fun to ride these bikes off road! The second are the places I get to see; places most people never get to see in their lifetime. The third are the people I meet; extremely interesting and unusually kind people that I would have never met otherwise. Again, that’s from my head. But there was something else there, something deep down. I’m not sure how to convey it and I wasn’t sure at the time but it was like my spirit about to jump out of my body because of so much joy. I was describing the first time I was about to see the Grand Canyon. I was on a ride pretty early in my adv riding history, within the first 9 months or so, with Jesse Kimball, the Flying Monkey Adventure Rally (FMAR) in southern Utah back in 2011. We had to ride something like 100 mile of these perfect dirt roads to get to the north rim and even before we got there my eyes just started welling up that it soon mixed with the dust and started burning. I had to stop and dry my eyes out. Jesse asked if I was okay and being a guy, I lied and said I “got dust in my eyes.” It was just this overwhelming feeling of joy that I was about to see something really special for the first time. But it was also that I was having so much fun doing it and glad that I’d found this new “hobby,” this group of people and these great trails. I've felt that before too, once when I was in a 575 year old cathedral in Belgium hearing an organist play. Maybe I was born for this kind of stuff, who knows? It’s like a lab jumping in the water to fetch a downed game bird; I was finally doing something that I felt I was bred for. Maybe it’s the Norwegian explorer in me. It’s hard to explain all that it was: joy, wonder, excitement, gratitude, exuberance. It’s a spirit thing that really defies explanation. My first nation friends probably laugh at me because they know EXACTLY what I’m talking about. They might say it was the “white shell woman” giving me a gift. “Cuando algo te emociona mientras mientras lo estas haciendo es por que lo estas haciendo bien.” That’s a quote I saw recently from an adventure rider who goes by the handle El Bufalo KTM that roughly translates to “when something stirs you while you’re doing it, it’s because you’re doing well.” This photo isn’t what stirred me but it takes me back to the thirty minutes or so before I got there to what I felt.

No, dumbass. It’s not that dangerous and please don’t ask to ride with me! Is it really though? I don’t think it is (or has to be). Obviously we have accepted the risk that goes along with riding a motorcycle, but I have to only look at my friends who ride mountain bikes, road bikes, play softball, etc… and notice all their injuries. It makes what we do look safe, really. I was injured myself once (right Achilles tendon) and have seen friends get hurt but it’s really not that common. Danger carries with it a lot of romanticism though and that is surely used to sell the whole “lifestyle.” I think there’s a bit of that in Brad Barker’s (Ride of my Life) video he did last year on AltRider’s “Taste of Dakar” event. There certainly can be quite a bit of danger in what we do if you don’t know what you’re doing and/or if you simply don’t pay any regard to safety. Here are a few things I think contribute to safe riding: Gear. ATGATT. You need a good helmet, good boots, good gloves and a good riding suit with good armor. I took a particularly nasty spill doing the COBDR (riding too fast to slow down in time for a washout). My fellow riders thought I was going to be seriously injured but I just got up and dusted myself off. I had a small bruise on my right quad the next day and that was it! I also wear a neck brace (Leatt) as well as knee/shin guards. Proper bike prep. Don’t think you’re a stud because you ride off road with street tires or something similar. You’re just dumb (in my opinion). Ride with knobby tires (aren’t completely worn off). Adjust your seat, pegs, bars, controls so that you can ride comfortably, particularly when standing. Have a bike that’s in good working order with all the tools, spares, etc… you need to handle most roadside repairs. Have enough gas to get where you’re going plus a safety margin, but if you have a GSA and are only riding 60 miles of trails that day you certainly do not need 8.7 gallons of fuel compromising your bike’s off-road handling. Nor should you be riding with hard panniers off-road if you don’t absolutely have to. Air down your tires enough to give you a better contact patch, but not so low you risk damaging your rims (about 30 psi on my bike). Tell people where you’re going and when you’ll be back. Use a SPOT/DeLorme type satellite device if you can. If you have a GPS with tracks, for chrissakes please know how to use it! Proper body prep. Riding a big bike off road takes a higher level of fitness. Consider going on a diet and exercise regimen. I recently lost 30 lbs myself and notice it’s a lot easier to ride. You should also eat enough and bring enough water (1 liter/hour) and drink it regularly to avoid dehydration/exhaustion. Maybe a session of endurance drinking the night before isn’t such a good idea prior to spending all day on the trail. Accidents always seem to happen when you’re in that “yellow zone.” If you really like riding off road and spend most of your seat time doing that, consider investing in some formal off road training. It’s the best farkle you’ll ever buy. Proper riding technique and trail/group choice. 100 miles from the nearest highway is not the best place to practice wheelies or riding near 100% of your maximum speed. Slow is fast. Don’t ride beyond what you can see. Don’t ride in dust. If you stop, get off the trail. Joining a group of dirt bikes when you have less than a year of experience (and no formal training) on a big bike is not a wise idea. Joining an “A” group when you’re a “C” rider is also not a good idea. Never ride at a pace faster than you’re comfortable with (they’ll wait for you). Grow up and leave the need to compete or prove your riding skill behind (no one cares). Stop or “post up” at a turn and wait until the person behind you reaches you so they know which way to go. If it’s getting late and you have a bailout point, take it. Don’t pass other riders unsafely. Pick a spot in the riding order you’re comfortable with and stay there. Know how many people are in front and behind you.

I saw this article featuring Bill Dragoo this morning and it reminded me of how offensive I find this kind of labeling that what we do with big adventure bikes is some kind of “midlife crisis.” This is a midlife crisis I was just 43 at the time, hardly mid-life, when my ex wife first saw the 2011 BMW GS Adventure I’d bought a few months earlier. “Midlife crisis!” she said, nodding her head, in a way intended to cut deep. It reminded me of this girl in the fourth grade, Susie Webster, who upon seeing my new feathered hair style (all the rage in ’76) one morning at school said to me “your hair looks stupid.” Thanks! That’s really nice of you to say that. I told the ex, listen, if this was a midlife crisis I’d be riding some shiny Harley with a 25 year old girl on the back. Or driving a Porsche…. with a 25 year old next to me. This is a midlife crisis See, chicks just don’t get all that excited about an adventure bike. Guys? Absolutely, but that was hardly what I was aiming for. I’ve seen grown men bound across a parking lot with hearts in their eyes looking at my bike. I’ve seen the wistful longing look of the dads in minivans packed with their squabbling teenagers on vacation wishing they could snap their fingers and be riding with us. This is called living your life to the fullest If you ride a big adventure bike like I do then you just get it. That whole "midlife" crisis is irritating not just for its inaccuracy but because it completely misses all that is wonderful about how we are choosing to live our lives. See, the crazy cat ladies HATE being called crazy cat ladies because it's true. All I can say about us big adventure bike riders is if this is midlife now, it just goes to prove that the first 43 years of childhood are the hardest.

I wanted to share with our members a bit of a progress report on how far we've come in just two years. It was our objective to create an online community that was all about big adventure bikes that had a user experience unique to anything else out there and I'm extremely proud that many of you have found that to be the case and have chosen to make your ADV home here with us. Facebook is fun but it's still a mile wide and an inch deep and isn't the best place to ensure your adventures persist beyond a day or two or even get the kind of in-depth commentary and sharing that only can happen here at a forum. I felt that due to the fact that big adventure bikes are built for different purposes that it deserved its own forum. I made the choice on day one of my adventure motorcycling experience to ride "beyond Starbucks" but as funny as that sounds and as popular as it became, it still attracted a lot of flack from riders who just didn't "get it." I just realized the other day that in two years of our community, we have yet to have a single member (aside from spam bots) booted, let alone even given a single infraction! The reason why is people here simply respect each other because we're coming from a similar experience. That kind of quality is what we set out to accomplish and I thank you for showing up to provide so much of that. I also want to share some measures of our performance and put that up against other industry media for comparison. A few months ago I got what was probably the highest compliment I've ever heard and that was from an industry insider who said "I've been in this industry about 25 years and I've never seen any brand go as far and as fast as XLADV has in such a short time." By the way, "domain authority" is a score from 1-100 that sort of rates a site's stature online. Google and Facebook are 100. Instagram is 98. This type of success will continue to drive a lot of new opportunities for us in terms of gear to test, press launch participation and hopefully paying ad clients! You may notice we run these ads from Google AdSense but those only get us pennies a day and aren't really enough to even keep the lights on. We're at the point now, however, that it does pay to advertise with XLADV given the extended reach we now have with our social media (#1 on Instagram). I think our community is strong and will continue to grow. I am proud of the "cred" we have achieved calling things like we see them as well as knowing a good thing when we see it. I'm also proud to have helped numerous round-the-world travelers acquire critical gear, helped out of jams & found a place to stay on their journeys. So if you like what you see then please invite a friend to join our community. Post some photos of your recent trip. Ask a question. Show us how you set up your bike. Then share it on Facebook. Thank you!

I pretty much met my match out on the trail this past weekend. I was out for a nice ride on some easy trails I knew up in the mountains above Salt Lake City when I proceeded to make a cascading series of mistakes that got me in a heap of trouble. My 1st being riding on unknown trails alone. I ended up tired, embarrassed, and feeling like a bit of an idiot. I decided to try a trail I had never been on before. On the GPS it was only a couple miles long and ended up back on the main road. Easy! I headed down the trail and it was great at first. The usual rocky trail that I’m used to, somewhat narrow, minor washouts, thin surface mud and puddles in places, you know all the things that make riding a trail fun! Not to mention the scenery and views were amazing! The first obstacle on the trail was a bunch of rocks firmly planted in the ground with sharp craggy tops - all about a foot or more tall. Nothing like the soft fuzzy rocks I’d been riding through so far. Just below that was some loose scree and then a coffee sized boulder. Beyond that the trail looked like more of what I’d just been riding. I wasn’t crazy about this obstacle, but sometimes you’ll find a nasty spot in an otherwise good trail that if you can just get around or over all will be well. There was a side-hill whoopty that I could use with a bit of momentum to get around the rocks. Fortunately the whoopty dumped into the scree with the perfect line to get around the boulder. I made my 2nd mistake and proceeded around the obstacle that I knew would be very difficult to surmount in the opposite direction. If I needed to return I’d have to ride uphill through scree, turn in the scree while keeping up momentum, and hit the whoopty perfectly to get around the rocks again. I wasn’t worried at all at this point though as I figured the rest of the trail would be just fine, and in a couple miles I’d be back on the main road. Around the next corner? Crap. The trail started to quickly degrade. Steeper downhill slopes, worse washouts, more scree. At this point I knew I would have a very difficult time going back the way I came. So on I went. I did find one wide enough and flat enough place to dismount and rest in the shade which is where I snapped the first picture above. From there I walked a little back up the trail to try to get a more representative picture. Here’s a section I actually rode through. Meaning I was up on the pegs actually riding the bike. I wasn’t willing to waste the energy needed to walk back up to one of the “less than 2 miles and hour sitting on the seat paddling and screaming for my mommy sections”! What this picture doesn't represent well is the 30 to 35 degree downslope of this section. From here I took it very slow. I’d walk a little ways ahead on the trail, scout out my lines, ride the lines, stop when I could, and repeat. The trail just kept getting worse and worse and I was digging myself deeper and deeper into the crap pile. I just kept looking at the GPS and thinking “It’s only 1 mile to the main road! How bad can it be”? Then I’d come up on something like this. Plan my line. Make it through. At this point returning the way I came just didn’t seem like an option. I was doing alright though. Hadn’t dropped the bike once, was making progress, and more or less feeling pretty good about myself. Hell, I even ran over a rattlesnake with my front tire, he struck, hit my boot… Meh - I’m invincible. This section made me feel particularly good about myself. A narrow weave through a washout, but what you can’t see is the 30 yard long 45 degree downhill scree slope right after the left turn in the pic. I pulled it off - managed the bike with some rear brake down the scree which ended in a nice meadow. Took a long break after that, and walked some more trail. Looks like it might be getting better finally! Yay! I was just getting ready to push on when this Jeep came down the trail I had just ridden from above me. It’s a CJ of course, and naturally the guy’s name was actually CJ. The nicest, and most helpful guy you’d ever meet. He was quick to tell me he wasn’t going any further down the trail as it was impassable a bit past where I’d just walked. Very steep, covered with scree, and pretty much washed out to non-existence. At least 3 times worse than what I’d just come through. In fact, two months ago a jeeper died trying to come up that section when he rolled his jeep over backwards. Now, I realize I’m on two wheels and am not a jeep, so it’s very possible that what he sees as impassable may very well be passable to a bike, but at this point my confidence was completely shot. After a bit of deliberating internally I decided the only way out was back the way I came through a trail I did not want to go back through. Double crap. CJ said he'd follow me up and make sure I got out. An amazing guy. So up I went. At first not so bad. Moving at a pretty good clip keeping up momentum over the rocks when I took a bad angle and ended up in a bush. Sorry, no pic of the bush. CJ caught up and helped me yank the bike out of the bush, get it back on it's wheels and off I went again. Another nasty obstacle - had a bad line and had to stop. Good thing I did cuz down came 2 Tacomas and a FJ. Now the predicament of getting me out of the way, and CJ's jeep out of the way to let the 3 Toyotas get by and out of our way. Classic trail dilemma. Lucky for me the 3 Tacoma drivers looked like they lived at the gym, and we just literally picked the 560lb bike up off the ground and moved it over. I Didn't have much room to get a run at the obstacle which was on a really steep sideways cant. Lost the rear end into the ditch and the bike ended up on it's side and upside down. The three huge guys were still around thankfully, so we just picked the bike up and carried the damn thing the rest of the way up the obstacle. Off riding again. Completely wasted, burnt out and tired. Finally came up on the big doozy of an obstacle. You know, that first rock pile I’d navigated around knowing it would be exceedingly difficult to get around in the opposite direction? Yeah, that one. I though about it. Thought about it some more. CJ finally says - "you're not doing this. your too wiped out and you'd have to be completely on your game to pull this off. If you screw it up you WILL break bones. I don't give a shit about your bike, but your not breaking any bones." As luck would have it AGAIN two more jeeps pulled up behind us, both with Andre the Giant at the wheel. We got the bike out of the way enough to let CJ in his CJ by, and he went up past the rocks, turned around, and payed out his winch. Yes I said payed out his winch. We winched that damn Tenere up around the rocks. BTFA! If those guys hadn't been there I would have been leaving the bike and walking home - I am forever in their debt. AltRider - your crash bars and skid plates are indestructible! Unfortunately I don't have video of winching over the obstacle itself as the camera operator had to go run the motor in the CJ's jeep so his battery wouldn't die. You can get a pretty good idea of what we were up against though. After that it was smooth sailing back to the road. CJ met back up with me there and we aired the tires back up on the bike and his Jeep, fixed some bent crap on my bike, had a couple beers, and shot the breeze for about an hour. Great guy - CJ wherever you are, YOU ARE MY HERO! If it hadn’t been for all those 4-wheelers being in the right place at the right time I would have been screwed. I either would have had to leave the bike there and walk out to return later for it, or more likely done something I shouldn’t have done in my wiped out state. Lessons learned? Never ride an unknown trail alone. For that matter it’s not really a good idea to ride any trail alone whether known or unknown. You never know what kind of crap you’ll get yourself into. Never cross an obstacle you are either A) Not willing to cross again, or Can’t cross again in the opposite direction. Option B is exactly what I did in this situation, and as you’ve read it got me in a serious pickle. In the end it all worked out ok. No damage to me, and some minor damage to a couple of the guards/plates on the bike, but meh… that’s what their for right?

So Why Not a Big Bike? It really is quite amusing to find discussions here and there across the Interwebs when it comes to "what bike should I buy?" You hear some good advice like questions as to what the rider wants to do, what their riding background is, etc.... You also hear some really strong opinions, declarations really, about the bike the rider is supposed or not supposed to buy. A more recent example is when I made a big deal about Noah Horak's statement of what a "true adventure actually is" and "if you cannot pick up your bike fully loaded in any situation, it's not an adventure bike." O-kay, Noah I mean, I get that many peoples' opinions are based on their own real world experiences or what's worked best for them, but it really is amusing to see some people succumb to paroxysms of bitterness and rage if the rider says they're leaning towards a big bike, whether that be a GS or a Super Tenere, Tiger, etc... I think Jim Downs gets it quite well: So much gets said in motorcycle riding circles about motorcycle size. Prominent naysayers hail the trend of larger adventure-style motorcycles coming to market with the fevered zeal of sandwich-board wearing religious zealots crying out about the end of the world from city street corners. But instead of demanding that we repent our sins to Jesus, they try to shame those of us who like to ride heavy motorcycles on the dirt, saying that our bikes are “too heavy” and that we’d be better off with something smaller. Disciples of this “moto-size,” religion are also want to plague social media feeds. Always quick to interrupt otherwise civil threads with some shrill vitriol about why we ride the wrong kind of motorcycle. Like the rapture nuts on street corners, I usually pay people like this little mind. But lately I’m finding their rants more difficult to leave unanswered. I see the bike you choose to ride simply as a tool you picked from a tool chest. Some tools are better suited for some tasks better and worse than other tools. I am completely bike-agnostic too. I used to own a KTM 500 EXC and it's a fantastic bike! I wish I could have kept it but with no truck/trailer, I wasn't riding it enough to justify parking that much cash idle in my garage. I know many of you also own small bikes, touring bike, choppers, etc... Is owning a big bike expensive? I don't really know... How much is a second vehicle (truck) or trailer, gas and time (limited to 55 mph w/trailer) worth? I can ride a few hours to a destination, camp off my bike, ride multiple days off road and then get back on the pavement and ride home. That seems like quite a value to me. But see, I'm the rich guy! That's what a guy who is retiring at 55, has paid of his mortgage, has a tricked out jeep, toy hauler and multiple bikes once told me. I really love my big bike! Yes, it's the first motorcycle I've ever owned (I did ride scooters in high school/college but that doesn't count). Yes, I hadn't nearly a clue about adventure enduro riding (vs. adventure touring) when I first got it. Yes, it did take me quite a while to figure out how to ride it. Yes, I may have found a smaller, less expensive bike easier to learn on. But I really have no regrets. I've seen many people also figure out that riding these bigger bikes off road is not as hard as it seems with a few pointers, feedback and some professional instruction. I have seen SO many great places, met SO many great people and have had a blast riding my big bike. Yes, it does take a different and more focused set of skills to ride a big bike off road but therein lies the fun! Ryan Frazier (GS Trophy Team USA '12) said something to the effect that he prefers a bigger bike off road because they require more input and finesse and that it's the challenge that makes it so much fun. Obviously falling and getting tired from lifting your bike isn't so much fun, but with time and a few friends around, the challenging parts become a lot more fun. I personally cannot stand Harleys but I realize they are popular and there's a lot of people who enjoy riding them. That's why I do not care to bash them here or there because I really don't care what another person's choice of ride is. It has no effect on me whatsoever. But that also means I do not care to share a forum, Facebook group or online community with Harley riders. We're just different, that's all. I really don't care to hear about how shiny and loud they are or how I'm "doing it wrong." And as much as I still love the smaller bikes, I really don't care to hear from someone who's never ridden a big bike off road how I'm supposedly ruining "their" trails; my bike is not practical to ride more than a simple fire road; I'm carrying too much; I should have started on a smaller bike, etc... Bigger bikes are just that polarizing I guess. That's why I think XLADV makes so much sense. We get it. There's no explanation or defense of our choices required.

Q: How high do my handlebars need to be? A: Half your height But how do I measure that? I rode with Alan recently and noticed his body position seemed a bit stooped and he wasn’t able to control his 1190 R as well as he might have been had he that extra few inches of bar height. I have been riding for roughly 4 years and even with 2” risers (Rox), Jimmy Lewis said I could use another inch of height. Now I’ve also lowered my pegs by about 20 mm, so I was looking for a way to do that, which I found with this new set of prototype risers from RRR Tool Solutions that has given me that extra inch (plus some cool extras like a dual usb, voltage meter and powered as well as two ram ball mounts). Riding big bikes off road means using your body more to help control and stabilize the bike as well as giving you better traction. It’s also a great way to see farther down the trail for any obstacles, as well as simply get some air flow and cool yourself off. Do this all day with bars that are too low and chances are you’ll have a sore back and be very tired. On center stand, measure vertical height (to the ground) of top of peg (16”) With front wheel perfectly straight ahead, measure vertical height of center of grip (54”) Subtract those two (38”) and take that as a percent of your height (76”; 50%) Alan’s was 34.5” (17” peg height; 51.5” grip height) but at 6’ tall, or 72” he’ll need a height of 36” or another 1.5” in height. How do I get additional height on my bike? Rotate your bars up (may want to rotate back down for highway) Get risers Get lowered pegs Get high bend bars (If you are 6'4" or taller most likely)

What do I hate about Facebook? I’ll tell you what I hate about Facebook! I hate the vague-bookers, braggers, candy crush gamers, etc… That’s not really what I’m going to blog here about though. I’d rather focus on where Facebook falls short for us big bike adventure riders. The biggest gripe I have is probably how temporary, fleeting and unorganized everything is. You see a really good set of photos from an event or special trip and then a few days later, they’re essentially gone. And forget any kind of in-depth ride report. Mostly it’s just a photo and a short commentary if you’re lucky. And then when you go to try and find something you’ve seen before or from a particular event, good luck! It’s not really that easy to search for it. Another gripe is how damn repetitive it is! How many tire and oil threads per week can one person possibly read?!!! The same questions get asked/answered over and over and over again. Information isn’t catalogued or organized in any fashion. People just don’t seem as nice or helpful either. Smart ass replies, thread hijacking, pissing matches, questions regarding factors already answered by the original post or a subsequent reply, etc... can really get annoying after awhile. That’s when that “stop notifications” feature really comes in handy! These are all part of why XLADV was created in the first place. Facebook can be fun and enjoyable, but it’s like cotton candy; fun at first and then it’s gone (and not particularly good for you). Park that special ride report here! Start a discussion on what types of panniers you’d like to buy. Peruse the product reviews to see which tire is going to work best for your next trip. Find ADV rides in your area and/or list your own. Check out our fabulous photo gallery and upload your own favorites. XLADV: Size matters

I'm getting ready to do the IDBDR later this week. One guy I've ridden with before and one I haven't. They guy I haven't ridden with before has ridden with other guys I have ridden with and he seems like a great guy so I'm not sweating it. But this got me thinking how important rider selection can be, especially for a big trip like this. Think about it, you invest lots of money in new gear, farkles, etc..., not to mention time off work and away from family/loved ones. The last thing you need is someone messing up your ride. I have ridden with a LOT of people in the last four years. I'd say just about every one of them is a very good person. But let's face it, what we do is REALLY demanding! Think about the fatigue, hunger, dehydration, stress, injury, etc... that you get put under during an adventure ride. That's an environment that reveals peoples' character very quickly. Let's face it, there are probably a few people you can think of whom you'd never ride with again, am I wrong? But wait a second... what if you are someone people don't want to ride with again?!!! "What if I'm THAT GUY!" I think it's important to look in the mirror and ask yourself "how can I be a better group rider?" Are you ready to go at the time agreed upon for "kickstands up?" Is your bike packed with all the right tools and gear? Is your bike in good working order? Do you have GPS and know how to use it or do you just hope to follow someone who does? Do you know how to change a tire or perform routine trailside maintenance? Do you ride too fast? (guilty) Do you ride too slow? Do you ride recklessly? Do you bring riders on trails way above their ability? Do you show up for rides you know are way above your ability? Do you stop to help a fellow rider lift his/her bike? Do you thank someone who helped you lift your bike? Do you space out? Do you get hangry? (guilty) Do you not post up at turns? Do you pass unsafely? Do you roost others? Do you ride too close behind others? What other important riding etiquette do you think is important to mention? Tell us here or drop in our Beyond Starbucks section where you can find a safe place newer riders can learn about these things and more experienced riders share their wisdom and experience.

I dropped in on RawHyde's California Adventure Rally this weekend in Panamint Valley, CA. The camp looked like a great group of people and a nice variety of bikes. This was the first time I've rode 2-up on the dirt...needless to say I was a bit nervous. After a couple hours of riding and getting used to the weight and getting a feel for the bike, 2-up was actually more fun than I expected.....I was planning to be a nervous wreck the entire time riding 2-up. I was able to cruise quite comfortably, passing Jeeps and kept pace with solo folks riding at a nice easy pace. The worst part was not being able to stand up freely, but it was fine. I just stopped and took a stretch brake more often than I normally would. We had a great time, no spills, the Tiger 800 performed great, and my girlfriend didn't have to sit at home wondering what I was up to. A few photos of the rally are below:

BIG BIKE / SMALL BIKE: LEAVING FOR LAS VEGAS THE HARDEST WAY: Riding LAB2V the Hard Way: The GS and The Huskey Photos by Stacie B. London The LA / Barstow / Las Vegas route chart described the next quarter-mile of Red Rock Canyon as a "Rock Garden." What was actually off the front wheel of my 600lb motorcycle didn't resemble any garden I had ever seen. Gray exhaust smoke hung low in the canyon, glowing in the late afternoon's winter sun and the air was thick with the smell of cooking clutch plates and overheated engines. The trail ahead merged into a dry creek bed through a long, narrow gorge that was filled with car-sized boulders and steep rock faces. In it was a traffic jam of bodies and two-wheeled machines. The scene was a mass of human-mechanical struggle. Some motorcycles lay on their sides, others were bottomed-out over high jagged rocks as their riders fought to stay upright, exhaust pipes belching, tires spinning and men cursing. One bike even appeared to have been abandoned, it's front wheel inexplicably buried in silt up to the axle. An unending stream of riders flowed up the canyon, some pausing to consider what they were about to face, others throwing themselves into the trail's maw without a moments hesitation. Men on torque-addled enduro machines with tall, supple suspensions and claw-like knobby tires throttled their impossibly light machines onto the rocks one atop of another. My 1200cc BMW felt heavier than it ever had . Climbing off, I hiked down the trail to let Stacie know that we had to turn back. We had come so far over that past couple days, overcoming miles of deep sand, boulder strewn fields and single track hill climbs, but now it was over. This final metal mashing section seemed impassable. The notion that we would have to turn back and go around the mountain to Las Vegas by the "easy route," left me defeated. I didn't even have the energy to be angry at myself for not being good enough. Redrock Canyon had humbled me. After covering hundreds of off-road miles the final turn onto the paved highway for Las Vegas was a mere ten miles further up this trail and over the mountain. But it might as well have been another hundred miles. Riders on bikes 300lbs lighter than mine were melting down in the sausage grinder ahead and the prospect of getting my beastly BMW through the carnage seemed impossible. Continue Reading at Motostella.com

In the Pacific Northwest, we have access to some incredibly talented motorcycle craftsmen, whether it’s Darryl VanNieuwenhuise’s Cyclops Adventure lights, Alex Marten’s Konflict Suspension or Alex Guth of Alyxmoto. OK, you might ask, who is Alex Guth? Well, Alex is a master motorcycle mechanic who moved here from Germany in the late 90s. He has 25 years of experience working on BMW motorcycles, and for a time was the shop manager of SSBMW. But now he’s in his own shop, and he’s expanding into more of the adventure market like KTM and our Yamaha Super Tenere. I know one BMW GS owner in particular who travels all the way from Alberta Canada just to get his bike worked on by Alex. Alyxmoto is where world travelers like Simon and Lisa Thomas of www.2ridetheworld.com stop to get their bikes worked on. Alex rebuilt Lisa’s older F-650GS from the ground up (after 200+K miles on a single cylinder; it needed it), and when Simon’s 1150GS’s final drive exploded (after 150K miles) on a Seattle freeway at 60MPH, Alex had him back on the road in minimal time, so the couple could get to a presentation in Boise Idaho. Helge Pedersen’s www.globeriders.com tour members’ bikes get tuned up here before getting packed in the container to head out on their globetrotting journeys. The roomy new shop has multiple lifts and tire changing capabilities. The shop was just finished last weekend, so Alex is still moving in and getting everything settled. He can do just about anything, not that our Yamahas need much done to them other than regular servicing I had Alex do a simple tune up of new spark plugs, air filter, wheel bearings, rear brake disk and new tires (Mitas MC-60’s). I only do my own oil changes, because that’s about the limit of my mechanical patience, and a limitation of not having an actual garage at my house. Alex is still working on getting a steady supply of Yamaha parts, so I showed up with all the parts and had him install them. It’s great to have Alex available in the area. I know several of our members have spouses that ride BMWs (mine included: Elsa gets her G-650GS low serviced by Alex), and Alyxmoto can be everyone’s one-stop shop. Alex is the right guy with the know-how to get you set up for a long journey or just your daily commute, so give him a call if you need anything done. He really knows his stuff! Web: www.alyxmoto.com Shop Location: 17829 77th St E, Bonney Lake WA 98391 Phone: 503-270-7088

Tyler of Everide just posted a new video (see below) with some really epic scenery and riding in Maui with some perhaps more philosophical than literal discussion on "slowing down." I thought there was a lot more meat to that topic, especially for us big bike riders. Too often I see riders who ride way too fast; too fast for the conditions; too fast for their ability. I'm guilty of that sometimes myself. Speed oftentimes masks bad riding which is something I was taught by Jimmy Lewis. If you can do it slower (which is harder) then that builds the skills you have to have in order to do it faster later. Especially in dual sport where the aim is to ride there, get your dirt fix on, then ride home, slowing it down means a bit more insurance that you're going to make it back in one piece. In some cases like deep sand on a heavy bike, it is easier to go faster but if you ever want to get better at riding deep sand, it does help to try and go back and forth through it slower rather than faster, trusting your balance and practicing the use of your throttle and body position. Big bikes also don't have the suspension travel of the smaller bikes and you have to slow down before you encounter the kinds of obstacles like washouts, rocks, etc... that the smaller bikes typically can just go over without as much trouble. Slower isn't always better. Sometimes I see people riding way too slow out of fear/lack of experience and that can make it a lot harder/less safe. I'll see someone struggling in the sand and I'll say something like "I'm a more experienced rider but it would be just as difficult for me to do it that slow." We had a rider on another trip who just didn't have the momentum to get over some tricky rock sections and he fell more times than I could count. We kept telling him he needed more momentum to get him through that stuff, but we're talking like 12 mph instead of 5. This is Jimmy Lewis showing us some slow speed cornering in his class out in Pahrump, Nevada I see guys ride way too fast on the pavement as well, like in sharp corners with knobby tires that are under-inflated. I did a trip last year where I just hung back while a few others chose to "measure their manhood" by who could ride the fastest. There were a few low sides in sandy corners that were completely avoidable and could have ruined everyone's trip had it turned out worse. On another trip, we were riding pavement through a snaking river canyon road and my rear tube melted from all the heat from the tire flexing (too fast for what little air I had in them). I'll leave the philosophy of slowing down and smelling the roses to Tyler. He's much better at it than I am!

This is my second visit to PSR....both thanks to Mr. Hall... I just wanted to share how awesome the team at PSR is. The photo above is a Tiger 1200 laying down with a holed oil pan, somewhere near the bottom of Saline Valley....see the close up below of a "bash-plate-fail". The crinkled corner of the bash plate damaged the oil pan....and hopefully not the crank case. So....these guys roll in around 8pm ....they've had a long haul back to PSR (couple hours), and need to go back with a truck, ....they explain their dilemma to the PSR folks and what additional tools they need for a long night of repairs, ....a few minutes later, a nice bearded gentleman shows up with a grinder, hacksaw, and extension cord, ....and says, just bring them back when you are done, let me know if you need anything else. I look forward to going back.

Took the bike out through Utah's West desert today! Ran out West on the Pony Express trail then South to the Topaz Internment Camp Northwest of Delta. There are definitely some middle-of-nowhere locations out in the West desert! Most of the Pony Express Trail can barely be called "off-road" as it's a hard packed dirt road with a gravel skim in places. Most of the road can be ridden at 60 Mph or more, but there are parts in the passes that slow you down into the 20's. The desert has a beauty all it's own. It's not the dense pine forests of the Pacific North West, or the Canyon lands of Southern Utah, but it certainly holds its own appeal. One can ride for a couple hours and be, quite literally, in the middle of nowhere. Not many people come out this way, so once your out you're on your own! Watch that gas gauge, never let it drop below a half tank, and bring LOTS of water in case you get stuck out - there's no water out here. I Finally found the Topaz Internment Camp, and was super fortunate that the Historical Society was there giving a private tour to some families with roots in the camp. For those of you that don't know, there were 10 hastily built internment camps erected around the US in the 40's where Japanese American's families were held during the early 40's - you can read more about the camps here on Wikipedia. This camp is in the middle of nowhere. The associate museum is in Delta Utah, and I always had the impression that the camp was just on the outskirts of Delta - Nope! It's a good 40 minute ride outside of town in the desert. Absolutely nothing around it. The tour was being given to two gentlemen that were born in the camp and their families, and fortunately for me they invited me to join their tour. Wow... A very sobering location that reminds us that even what we call the "good ol' USA" certainly has its faults. I was amazed that the entire camp is completely gone - torn down as if to try to erase an evil past. The only signs left that it ever existed are a few stone trails between flat spots in the earth where structures once stood, along with a few random glass shards, chunks of wood, and the like. I didn't take a lot of pictures, as the mood of the tour was very somber. Pictures didn't seem very appropriate, but I did sneak a couple. All that is left of the Buddhist temple at the site - a trail of stones around where the structure once stood: A rock garden near the Buddhist temple:

con·trol, kənˈtrōl/ - noun 1. 1. 
the power to influence or direct the course of events.


 syn·er·gy, ˈsinərjē/ - noun 1. the interaction or cooperation of two or more agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects. No doubt you've been wondering why adventure riding is so dull. I'll tell you. When we're riding, we have nothing to do! Aside from activating the odd turning signal or grip heater or GPS, we have very little that we can do with the bike. The meat of the matter is… a bit salady; we can control the bike's direction - right, left, straight, nowhere, and with a little extra 'body English', up & down - and we can control it's acceleration - positive, negative, & nothing. Ho hum. We don't even have many tools with which to exert this control. We can fiddle with the clutch, the front & rear brakes, the engine (throttle), and the suspension. This last we can fiddle with indirectly, by pressing (or not pressing, or pulling…) on the bars, the pegs, the tank, or seat, or really any part of the bike we can touch with part of our bodies. Our bodies. We can't do much with the bike without touching it. Bike control, really, is all about body control: the only way we can control the bike is by touching it - so it pays to develop the skills, strength, & flexibility to enable ourselves to apply our body to the bike in as many different ways as possible. And to develop the endurance to be able to do that a lot, for a long time, when we want to. So, I started at 'riding is dull' & got to nine things we can do with the bike, coupled with the idea that the more athletic we are, the better able we are to do any of those nine things. Well, I can get more options on a pizza, but maybe it's not that dull… What are we actually manipulating, then? When we use our body to wield one of those few tools we have available to us on the bike, in order to alter (or keep from altering) the bike's direction or acceleration, what, actually, are we manipulating thereby? Again; not a lot: We can manipulate traction, balance, momentum, and what I will perhaps incorrectly call Angle of Attack, or lean - which may turn out just to be balance, really. So - for now - four things. That's it. Let me know if you come up with another. Here's where it gets (for me anyway) interesting: We're only manipulating those four things, but I submit to you that 1) We can use ANY of those 4 things to manipulate BOTH direction AND acceleration; and 2) We can use ANY of the tools I listed above to modulate ANY of those 4 things (or, almost any). So, adventure riding is dull because we only have 1[body] x 6[tools] x 7[directions] x 3[accelerations] x 4['things'] = 504 - - wait; that's not right. One body we have, but at our best we are in contact with the bike with two feet, two hands, and two knees - at least - and although the other controls can really be manipulated from one place, suspension can be influenced from many, so, (1[body] x 5[tools] + 6[body parts] x 1[tool]) x 7[directions] x 3[accelerations] x 4['things'] = 924 Nine hundred twenty-four things to do. Hm. This is beginning to sound like work. Or at least - interesting... In reality, there are probably a few less combinations available that are actually functional, but the statement above makes an important point to absorb, slightly inaccurate though it may be, for it is MOSTLY accurate, and quite revolutionary, from many folks' perspectives. So I'll say it again: We can use our body in AT LEAST 6 ways to wield ANY of the 6 tools at our disposal to manipulate ANY of the 4 things with which we can make the bike go up, down, nowhere, straight, right left, slower, faster, or the same speed. So now you know why adventure riding isn't very dull; there's so much to do! "But wait; there's MORE!" There's one other tool we have for manipulating traction, balance, momentum, & lean. It's sort of a weird one. It's terrain. Admittedly, we must use other tools to manipulate those things in such a way as to guide the bike onto specific terrain, but in doing so, we can guide the bike onto terrain that then helps us further affect traction, balance, momentum, & lean. Compared to the other tools - take the clutch, which we can engage, disengage, or slip - terrain is almost endlessly varied, often in unpredictable ways. Our ability to use it is limited (or broadened!) by strange things like creativity, past experience, or bravery. [... And the discipline (& In Situ SkillzDrill) of Line Selection was born..] This adventure riding thing is beginning to sound downright exciting, to me! "But wait; there's MORE!" And now, finally, you get to find out why this post is titled Control Synergy: We can use more than one of our available tools, at the same time! And, if we can use ANY of the tools available to modulate ANY of the 4 things we, er, modulate in order to control ANY of those… bunch of things we can control, well, then we can use ANY COMBINATION of … message repeats… How cool is that! I TOLD you adventure riding is fascinating. But you didn't believe me… A lot of EarthRider classes focus on a specific riding technique or skill, and implicitly, on the tools most effective in performing the technique, or what to do with your body to get the riding results the class is about. Control Synergy is a different class in that we spend time considering some more seldom-used control combinations, & discuss what they might be helpful for. It's a class that tends to fatigue small muscles instead of large ones, that often requires 'detail work' and finesse, that is as much about riding slower well as it is about riding faster safely. Riders don't generally go home with a specific new skill in their pocket ("Now I can back into a turn!"), they go home with an arsenal of ideas about how they can go out & play on their bikes in a dirt lot for 20 minutes and continue thereby to make notable improvements in there riding. <inevitable plug>"And its coming up on April 17. Check out the EarthRider website for registration & other information." </inevitable plug> Really; its always more fun with more riders - & I'm hoping to have a really fun, productive class next month! There are 3 other classes next month as well; again, see the website (or FB page). Keep the rubber off the asphalt!

Size matters. It does! (snicker) For adventure bikes, at least The smaller bikes are more fun and forgiving off-road but then they compromise considerably with cargo carrying capacity, fuel range, highway comfort, service intervals, etc… Bigger bikes can surely carry more stuff (even a pillion) and cruise more comfortably and further on the highway, but it takes a bit more skill than most have to confidently handle them in the more difficult terrain with all that weight. Leave you gear at camp and they become even more fun. A lot of us big bike riders kind of like that challenge and have found that while most of the world’s roads are in fact dirt, they’re not all that bad. We may not take the hard way to Magadan or attempt to cross the Simpson Desert, but we'll get there just the same. At XLADV we get that. Size matters.

There are many things I love about BMW Motorrad that I will cover in a separate entry, but for now I'd like to just talk about what I HATE! Well, hate is a pretty strong word. Dislike. Disappointed. Let-down. Maybe that's more appropriate. Maybe it's mostly a function of who I am and what my expectations are from that particular brand. I'm more of the "adventure enduro" rider than the guy who might take his GS/GSA on some very nice graded dirt road for a mile or two in a national park once a year. I've heard something like 90% of GS/GSA owners never even take them off road. Maybe it's just asking too much for them to act in a way that pleases such a small part of their market? Let me start with their abandonment of off road racing. I don't think since their last Dakar in '01 BMW has done anything with racing off road. I guess that's not entirely true if you consider the HP2 in '06. But since then what? I remember chatting briefly with some guy from BMW USA at the GS Trophy competition in Moab in '12 and he didn't seem all that excited to be there. I would have thought a marketer from BMW getting the chance to be at an event like that would elicit more excitement, curiosity and inquisitiveness. When their new LC version engine came out with its wider wheels and radiators I was like c'mon, what are these people thinking?!! I did not see any way these bikes were going to be better off road. Better on road for sure. I've since tempered my thoughts there (better OEM suspension, enduro mode w/front abs) but it is a fact the lower enduro gearing isn't there anymore. What really bugged me was this video where I see "scarf boy" pointing out the various design lines and contours on the new GS. This had me thinking, "I bet this guy has never ridden off road in his entire life!" I'm less bothered by scarf boy than I am the scarf boys they seem to be marketing to nowadays. Alexander "Scarf Boy" Buckan at 1:49 Then was their "One World, One GS" promotion. This was a contest where they opened it up to the entire world, soliciting entries from GS riders everywhere. I even filled out an application They would pick five winners who would each take a GS for a week or two in some exotic location (e.g. Laos, Europe, Africa, etc...). The idea being the same bike would be transported to each region for the next winner to ride. When the winners were picked, I was not the only one who was stunned to find guess what? They picked one winner from each of the EU5 countries: Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the UK. More like "One Continent. One GS." What I finally realized after talking to many others about this is that BMW sells A LOT of GS's in Europe. These bikes are ridden by 40-50 something affluent urban businessmen (scarf boys) who may commute on their bikes a few days a week and whose idea of adventure is riding down for a weekend in Marseilles (not that there's anything wrong with that). Even their celebrities they picked to be a part of the promotion were a complete joke with the exception of Charley Boorman. They seemed to be marketing to the urban pop/hipster crowd. Their most important customers are those dealer networks from those countries. Their goal was to drive awareness in their key market but what they were essentially doing is giving the rest of us across the globe their middle finger. This is not a minor thing, but something I feel they need to remedy. There are a lot of good riders here in the US, Australia, Africa, Canada, Mexico, South America, etc... Now to give them credit, they have done this GS Trophy competition every two years now since '06, so I guess there are still a few inside the company who feel it's important to have at least some kind of dirt credibility. However, it seems to me a lot of the events at these competitions aren't even based on the bike, but on the brute strength and ability of each team to cooperate. How quickly four guys can lift a GS over a log doesn't seem the least bit relevant to what a GS is capable of. Another beef was while I think they did a great job this last time of covering the event with daily videos and score updates, coverage in the past made it seem as if they wanted to keep it a secret or something. It was weeks or months before we ever saw anything come out of the South American GS Trophy. That's a lot of money to spend on an event; one would think they'd want to leverage that as best they can via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc... I look at all the new stuff coming out like the maxi-scooter, 9-T, S 1000 XR, etc... I will smack the person in the face who decided to classify that as "adventure." It's a BMW Multistrada (also not an adventure bike). What ever happened to the smaller dirt bikes like the X Challenge? The HP2? Why not make a lighter GS with a 21" front wheel or even 18" rear wheel? It's like they really want to push us dirty hillbilly off road cousins to the back yard away from their more desirable house guests. We'll just be out here playing in the dirt. Don't mind us! I'm telling you, we "adventure enduro" riders will be riding KTM's in the near future! What do you think? What is it you hate about BMW Motorrad?

I first had the idea of venturing into Lesotho alone whilst I was busy (trying to) study for my surgery part one exam. As with most ideas, it was even more interesting and absorptive when surrounded by a looming exam. Megan had just taken some leave to go to a wedding in Cape Town, so I had a bit of leave to spare and no-one to spare it with. So on finishing up with exams, I threw everything I might need onto the spare room bed and gazed on with a mixture of excitement and ‘what the hell am I doing!?’. It took me about 2 weeks to plan and two days to pack. I had lots of fantastic advice, and some crappy advice, this encompassed my route, my equipment, and my skill set amongst other things. I did have to purchase some extra gear for the trip, which we would be needing for the GAT too, so I didn’t feel that bad about its impact on my trip-savings. This gear included a soft 5 Litre fuel cell, a 12 volt kit, a Hella to 12V adaptor, an air compressor, and a pair of inner-gloves of which one came home. Packing – the usual mayhem The decision to do the trip solo was a surprisingly easy one. Initially out of necessity, the solo aspect of the trip became central. I was looking forward to some alone-time on the bike, and in the wilderness, and as any biker knows ‘Sometimes it takes a whole tank of fuel before you can think straight’, and I was going to be needing a whole-lot of fuel. The route I planned was around the East side of Lesotho via the beautiful Natal Midlands to a town called Himeville, where I would bunk down for the night. From here I would make my way up the legendary Sani pass and on to Katse Dam for my second night on my own. My route would then go far South West to make my way to Maletsunyane Falls, the highest falls in Southern Africa. After this I planned to make my way up to the Afriski ski resort at 3200m where I would head home via a night in Golden Gate national park. This was what I had planned, and we all know what they say about the best laid plans. My route (or so I thought) Day 1: Home to Himeville: Luckily I had everything packed and ready to go the night before. So when my alarm went off at 04h00 I jumped into my gear, activated my GPS, pounced on the bike and excitedly sped out of the Garage and into night, eager to leave Joburg in the rear-view mirror, along with all the thoughts of exams, finances and worldly troubles. There really is something special about riding a motorcycle at night. With adventure on my mind, a whole trip ahead of me, cool air on my face, and the solitude of my helmet I started chipping away at the 640Km to Himeville. I looked forward to the sunrise that would greet me as I left the tar and hit the dirt, and what a sunrise it was. Sunrise on day 1 The differences between solo riding and riding with Meg or friends hit me early. When stopping for breakfast, there was no-one to ask if they were ready, there was no-one else to suggest a time or spot to stop at. Already I had to get my arse into gear and be more decisive, it becomes easy to see a spot and quickly think- ‘Nah, there will be a better one over the next rise.’. If this is done enough you will completely miss breakfast and will be stopping for lunch instead. So I stopped for some breakfast on a quiet dirt rode forming the driveway to a farm. Breakfast – dual-sport style After getting the winter woolies off and realising I hadn’t left space for them in the panniers, I hit the road again. The Midlands are strikingly beautiful; wide, flat, fast dirt roads lead me through the most amazing scenery. About to hit the dirt – smiles for miles The roads are lined with wild flowers, with green fields and trees stretching out into the hills on both sides. While riding there were about 3 times where duikers (a small antelope) would bounce across the road and into the bushes and there were constantly flocks of pheasant and guinea fowl to be encountered. I felt like I was in a bloody Disney movie. Riding a bike cant get anymore hardcore than this… By the end of the day I had put a huge amount of distance under the tyres and made my way onto the tar roads of the sleepy little town of Himeville, where I stayed at the Himeville arms, a great place near the base of Sani at the Lesotho border. The Arms is well known to the adventure biking community as a stop-over on the way up Sani Pass, a good place with friendly staff, clean linen, and most importantly, a massive bar. The KZN midlands – ugly as hell The Mommy-frightener and I, on the way to Himeville After getting changed back into people-clothes I made use of the bar and put a few away with a steak, egg, and chips. Whilst trying to get over the dodgy feeling of drinking on my own, I met a really cool guy who was already well on his way to stupor, as it turned out, he was a border-official at Sani Pass, where I would be crossing the next day. Just to top of the action of my first day on the road I received an injury. Being on a motorcycle trip, one doesn’t expect to twist an ankle and get carpet burns on your back and gear-changing foot from slipping on a water bottle whilst intoxicated in the dark, but that’s what happened to me. At least there wasn’t anybody around to wet themselves laughing and further damage the ego. After the shock had left me I had a good laugh at myself and hit the hay in a happy, and very satisfied mood, after all, I had the fabled Sani Pass to climb in the morning! My room at Himeville Arms, the water-bottle is waiting for the opportune moment to strike Part 2 to follow!

I've said this previously but more recently even, BMW has been having quite a lot of social media blowback over their stanchion problems. I first noticed this in November of last year and posted on Instagram these three images, one of which I took myself and another from the same event I was at: Now we have reports of injuries related to apparent failures of these fork stanchions: Woody Witte (of Woody's Wheel Works) in his caption to this story above he shared on Facebook: "This is the sort of stuff that makes me MADDER THAN FUGGIN HELL!! I bet i can round up at least a dozen incidences in a few minutes Half of which have lefte the rider needing serious medical help !!MAN UP BMW & send an alert ir even product recall before it'll cost ya more in bad press AND COURT COSTS!!! Pass the word!! I even had a reporter from Motorrad Magazine in Germany reach out to me the other day about this. Just to refresh... these crimped forks have been found to be coming loose on the '13+ liquid cooled GS bikes. There have been a few injuries. To BMW's credit there is word of some new service bulletins out designed to address this (not yet confirmed as of June 23) and there's already a few after market solutions (see link at top). Here's where it gets interesting though... So I read that the crimped fork solution was in an effort to reduce weight (and probably cost) from the previous generation GS (looking for source now). I had an '11 GSA and never had this problem. But as it turns out, this crimped fork solution appears to be an attempt to patch or correct an even earlier design that was found to have also failed ... coincidentally merely weeks after the fatal accident of journalist Kevin Ash at BMW's GS launch in South Africa on January 22, 2013. According to an anonymous source (6/24 edit: this was actually public), barely two months after the accident (April '13), BMW Motorrad USA issued a service bulletin regarding a check of the front forks. The bulletin affected only a few handfuls of early '13 model bikes and their solution was a tool they provided to crimp the forks so there'd be no separation between the "slack plug" and the fixed fork tube. Their wording was such that they'd determined in rare cases the plug could work itself loose. It was after this that the fork tubes came crimped from the factory. As to Kevin's accident, there is no implied or direct connection being made here between the fork stanchion issue and that. Reporter Florin Tibu of AutoEvolution.com felt that even a year after the accident, many questions remained. He characterized the fact that BMW retained the wrecked bike before a forensic mechanic could inspect it as "a bit bizarre" and that explanations are still due in the investigation. The Warwickshire UK coroner, Sean McGovern, says there's no verdict due to insufficient evidence. BMW never released the results of their investigation, even at the request of Ash's widow. Caroline.

Is the new liquid cooled GS Adventure better off road than the older oil-cooled one? Yes, it is! No, it’s not! Who is right? I can’t seem to find a decent answer. I could just buy a new one and judge for myself, but that day hasn’t come yet. On road, I think there’s no doubt the new bike is an entire new generation of all around road performance. It’s clear they mean to compete more with the street touring segment. For me, the answer is that it may be a better bike off road, but there are a few features that make it worse off road. The best comparison I’ve seen was this video Touratech USA did with the new LC GS vs. the old GS (Adventure model hadn’t come out yet). And then more recently there is this article from ADVMoto, which I found a bit disappointing. They showed the two bikes with different tires (street vs knobby), compared the new GSA to the new LC GS on an inclined hill on loose terrain when the article was supposed to compare to the old GSA and made mention of the new wider wheels making it better on-road but not addressing whether that made things better or worse off-road (I think worse). Let’s not forget the psychology going on here either. Some might say I’m skeptical because I own an ’11 GSA and want to protect my resale value by not acknowledging the new GSA is better. But I think there’s an opposing psychology with new LS GS/GSA owners to justify their expenditure by denying the possibility it may not in fact be better off-road. Let’s take a look at what some of the advantages off-road of the new GS might be: Higher snorkel that is better for deep water crossings Better oem suspension quality, as well as a longer swing arm that allows the suspension to operate more efficiently Retaining front wheel ABS off road makes for more confident cornering Active ESA keeps wheels planted when applying brakes (goes into soft mode) Narrower at the seat makes it easier to grip with the knees and contributes to a lighter feel Wet clutch better suited to high temps seen in off-road conditions Some sort of vague point about how the new frame geometry makes the bike handle better off-road (not sure why that is) And the disadvantages: Taller gearing. Even with heavier mass on flywheel to aid in the low end, it’s still more prone to stalling at slow speed maneuvering and uphill starts. And it’s not the wet clutch; it’s that you have to use the clutch so much more. Wider wheels. The front is more likely to deflect, which is probably why it comes standard with a damper. It’s likely more difficult to handle in deep sand because of that. Wider rear tire spreads out force over wider area making cornering on loose surfaces more difficult (prone to skip rather than bite more so than a 150 width tire). Radiators are one more thing that can break off-road leaving you stranded. (Edit 5/10/17) First year and a half models had front tubes prone to cracking. They fixed for latter half of '14 models. (Edit 5/10/17) Now issues surfacing since at least Nov '16 of fork stanchion separation. (Edit 5/10/17) Other issues with transmissions failing. What would have really excited me was if BMW had gone a bit bolder with the GSA (as KTM was with their 1190 R) and had made it with 21”/18” wheels and kept the lower enduro gearing. What do you think?

When Dave and I arrived at Burgdorf Hotsprings on Sept. 28, he announced we were going to stay the night in one of the rustic cabins. I was totally down for that as the original plan was to find a campground down the road and pitch our tent. The nights were starting to get very chilly and there had been talk of a wolf pack in the area that would howl all night. This created some eerie imagery, which a storyteller loves but I could do without wolves sniffing us out. Read more here.

My right shoulder was becoming an issue on the trip, an old injury that would sear after a long day of trying to keep the bike in position amongst rocks and boulders or just around tight, dusty corners. I drank a beer and took two Tylenol with it. Recommended by doctors world-wide. Read full story here.

After a series of bad luck spills, break downs and financial distress, I decide to break up with my G650GS and trade it in for a younger, more handsome model with a better body and more endurance. If you know what I'm saying... Blog pull: After the experience with my bike on the Dalton, I had a big decision to make; do I keep the Frakenbike and put thousands into fixing it up or invest in another bike? There were a few sleepless nights wondering if it was worth it. If I should just fix the 650 and accept its limitations. We had such history together. It had patina. It had, sniff, a very expensive, custom-made seat just for me. Something I couldn’t transfer over to the F800. Read the full story here.

"That's an awesome question," answered Simon Pavey this past weekend at AltRider's Taste of Dakar where he was the signature guest. I had posed this question last year and took a lot of heat for it. Honestly, I feel the jerk in retrospect for asking it too, but Simon was a good sport and shed some never-before-heard insight into this matter in ways that made not simple good sense but in a quite endearing way that, given the fact I have my own son of 14 years I hope to ride with one day too, made me a bit teary-eyed. I see that I had a point after all, though, because Simon did reveal that they did in fact intend to race separately at first. He said it's just easier to do it alone given his previous experience and besides, Lel is a faster rider than he now. I don't want to give the whole story away for you just yet; you'll have to read the transcript for yourself... Me: “On Adventure Bike TV the first question you were asked on there is okay is this all for one and one for all or is it every man for himself? And you said kind of jokingly oh it’s every man for himself. Well then in the Dakar you finished together so I’m curious was that the plan the whole time or did it change or what was the thinking there?” Simon: “That’s an awesome question. What happened is we definitely set out to just do our own race and a little bit because of my experience before of trying to ride with teammates and other people. Obviously Race to Dakar is a great example of that but have done it on a few other occasions. Actually it’s really difficult and dangerous to ride together, you know you interfere with each other just trying to look after each other all the time. You can’t ride your own pace. In a 14 day race everyone has a day where they’re on it and everybody does a day when they’re not riding well and on the day you’re not riding well you gotta just chap off and do your own things. And for sure he’s (Lel) faster than me now. So we set out at the start absolutely just to both do our own thing and then what happened was I definitely came a little bit … I was really comfortable when he was a little bit faster than me everyday if I’m honest you know. It was a really comfortable place for me to be riding at my level and my pace. But you know I was usually just ten minutes behind him in pace by the end of the day so that was a real comfort thing really. And then there was that scene you saw where we were both a bit lost and came together and he went in front again and then I think later that day he had quite a bit of a crash and just by pure chance I was the one who found him crashed really. Um there’s a little scene in the medical car there. We rode in together that day because you know it really didn’t matter if it was Lel that day or someone else. You know when you find someone crashed and the medical guys send them on their way.. well we kinda just rode in together. And because of that when we started on the lake in a mass start, and we started side by side then we were together in the bivouacs and stuff… and you know our bikes are identical so when his bike died on the salt lake luckily I was there so that kind of just changed the whole dynamic because we were then both in survival mode really. We spent four hours in the middle of a salt lake working on the bikes. So the whole result for either of us was out the window. The only result that became important was for both of us to get to the finish. I think at that stage we both have our problems and neither of us was going to leave the other one. It has just totally changed. And in the second week of the rally it’s easier to go on together because some of the madness is gone. Yeah it was definitely not what we set out to do but it was an awesome result. It made it a much better experience… you know we had to tow each other three times and there was loads of times when we were in difficult situations in here when he lost all his engine oil one morning because of the salt lake and we spent a long time fixing his bike on the side of the road and then when we got to the start of the special they wouldn’t let us take the start because the cars were about to start so I got into a massive argument with the French organizers and it was really nice because he (Lel) turned out to be the adult, calm one and kind of calmed the situation down when I was trying to kill this French guy (laughter) . You know that was a massive change for me because he was the calm one and I was the hot head which hadn't really happened before. (laughter)” Simon Pavey is a 10 time Dakar racer and heads up the Off Road Skills BMW school in South Wales, UK Llewellyn (Lel) Pavey also races motorcycles off road and is editor of Brake Magazine

Nels Byersdorf at 2 Wheel Dynoworks is the "go to" guy when you need to change the performance of your engine. What Nels mainly does for our bikes is to retune our electronic control unit "ECU" (the computer brain in our bikes),the main improvement is he makes the bike run smoother with a much improved throttle response. Even when your bike is throttle by wire, the modifications make it feel like there is a direct cable between your hand and the engine. Another thing that's possible is he can also program your bike to run on different fuels from regular unleaded to NASCAR race fuel. Just be aware that if he resets your bike for another fuel, that's the only fuel it will be able to run on until it's re tuned. Adjusting fuel economy is possible also. Getting your ECU re flashed, you have a few options: Go to his shop in Woodenville, Wa. or remove and mail your ECU to him. Turn around time is quick at a week for about $350.00. Your bike shouldn't need to be put on a Dyno unless you have it set up bike differently then the current "maps" he has on file. (different header or muffler combination) When your ECU arrives,Nels installs it with the "ECU Unleashed" program Here is info from the ECU Unleashed website ECU unleashed Performance Reflash Eliminate Factory Restrictions- Unleash up to 10% more power Increase Acceleration & Top Speed Improve Throttle Response & Control Specifications: Improve Fuel & Ignition Maps Eliminate Factory Throttle Restrictions Optimize Throttle Maps Eliminate Timing Retard Increase Rev Limit Remove Factory Top Speed Limiter(s) Increase Idle (Race Idle) Eliminate Factory Fuel Cut Optimize Off-Throttle (Decel) Mapping Disable Closed Loop Routine (For Use w/ Auto Tuning Air/Fuel Modules) Disable Factory Error Code(s): Exhaust Servo Motor/Valve, Pair Valve System (Smog Valve), O2 Sensor/Lambda Disable Factory Immobilizer *ECUnleashed performance tune files are tested and tuned for maximum power, performance and drive-ability Nels has done 30+ Teneres ECU " re flashes" already and has the programs ready to upload. He has been tuning engines for 16 years now and on his own since 2007. Nels can tune whatever you have, weather it's a 260 HP Turbo Heyabusa or Honda Grom ;-) He has asked that if you have ever had your bike re flashed by 2 Wheel Dynoworks, please contact him with feedback weather good or bad, its valuable information he needs to get out a better product and service. Nels can be reached at 425-269-5332 http://2wheeldynoworks.com 14241 NE Woodinville-Duvall Rd #331 Woodenville Wa. 98072 This is his mobile dyno thats he takes to area events.

It was an awesome weekend of training for the PNWSTOG! We were able to work with the great instructors at Puget Sound Safety/Puget Sound Safety Off Road for a weekend of real world Dual Sport motorcycle training. Saturday was a special Off-Road 101 class for XLADV bikes like ours. We had a full class of big bikes including 7 Teneres that covered many slow speed drills working on traction and clutch control. I think the most fun they had was going over the logs. After the drills in the green grass, they headed for the hills to learn what to do on the steep stuff. I know everyone learned a bunch about themselves and what their bike is actually capable of. Day two of the training weekend was all about the pavement. The MSF Advanced Experienced Rider Course is a course not normally taught by PSS but they did a special class just for us. It’s the most advanced course the MSF teaches. It’s geared toward sport bike riders but the class room and range time covers effective use of corners, riders perception and accident avoidance. It’s such a great class the Department of Defense makes it mandatory for every Soldier, Sailor or Airman that owns a sport bike. The time out on the range is extremely well thought out and useful for anyone with an endorsement. I highly encourage everyone to take a street class, there is always more to learn. I hope we can make this a yearly event in the spring, it’s valuable information that we as Tenere owners need, weather on or off road. A huge thank you to Chrissy and Bret Tkacs of Puget Sound Safety. The off road instructors, Chet Mainwaring, Tad Haas and AERC instructors Jim Ward and Jim Paulsen.

It was an awesome day for the PNW Super Tenere Owners group! We had a large group of 22 bikes, (18 of which were Super Teneres) riding in the Olympic National Forrest We want to send out a huge thank you to the crew at Brothers Yamaha in Bremerton Wa. that opened up 30 min early and had breakfast waiting for us. The sale on gear was extremely appreciated! Mike Gebhart started off the ride by showing us one of his favorite routes along North Shore Rd to get us warmed up on some most excellent twisty dirt. Thanks Mike! Back on the pavement along both sides of the Hood Canal thru Belfair and Union, we stopped on the Skokomish Indian Reservation for a top off of fuel and snack before heading into the woods. While we were there, a nice lady in a blue van pulled up and saw all the Altrider stickers on our bikes and asked if we had done the , it was Mary the awesome chef that helped make those events very memorable.At the high steel bridge, we split into two groups to take different routes cutting down the 22 bike conga line and dust. 35 miles of a fine mix of dirt and gravel with a few rocky parts kept everyone on there toes( most were standing anyway). A couple guys had slow speed tip overs and only one needed a roadside repair to zip tie his luggage rack back on. We did pass about a dozen other Adventure riders on Triumphs and BMW’s, it’s nice to see others out. We all made it to the Wynoochie Dam as scheduled but a few had to get back to family so they headed home. The rest of us stopped for one last photo op at a vista that overlooked the Wynoochie valley. The Wynoochie Valley road from the dam to Montesano is a real gem in the PNW, it’s 35 miles of glorious curves, the northern half is new pavement that’s wide and pristine while the lower half is much tighter with a few blind corners. You’ll be smiling the entire way. The Ranch house BBQ didn’t fail to deliver. Nothing beats a full belly after a long day in the saddle.

Hi everyone, Here are two videos my wife and I found when we were doing research before I purchased the Leatt neck brace.(Click in the links) The search all started when my wife Elsa was in a car wreck last November that totaled her Mini and seriously aggravated an existing neck issue she had. It really got me thinking about how fragile our bodies are as we head off into the back country on our 600+ lb adventure bikes loaded down with gear. I for one, have always followed the rule of ATGATT (All The Gear, All The Time). While in the military, they required us to “show no skin below the chin” plus wear reflective/brightly colored outer clothing while on the instillation. It’s something that has become second nature to me. Venturing off road in the back country only increases the possibility of something going wrong, especially without quick access to paramedic services. The neck brace I purchased from RevZilla was the Leatt SNX. There are a few reasons why I picked this particular one( and no,it’s not because it only comes in black and orange ) The SNX is actually designed for snowmobiles and meant to be worn over your jacket, the same way we ride on/off road in our protective street gear. It also has the same “shelf” angle as the off road designed neck braces for upright sitting on our bikes. Leatt makes a few other neck braces that fit over the jacket for road racing but they are designed for the full tuck of a sport bike on the track. Watching the videos really showed me the science that goes into the design. Yes, they are fairly expensive , but like a good helmet, I think it’s worth it to spend the money for safety’s sake. I’ve worn the neck brace a few times now and I have to say it’s very comfortable! More so than my helmet. I actually forget I’m even wearing it. In doing my research we also found an article written by a medical doctor that did a journey from Alaska to Argentina. He was in what could have been a life ending crash but credits his neck brace with saving his life. Yes he did break his arm/wrist very badly but he’s alive because of the neck brace. Read the full story—-> here So when you see me out at events, you’ll know why I’m wearing the Leatt neck brace. You’ll see Elsa in one too once she is all healed up and back on two wheels. Ride smart, Ride safe

The March Moto Mudness was awesome! Thanks to Tad Haas, Chet Mainwaring, Deb Shiell and Greg Hilchey for the legwork putting this event on. All proceeds are going to Riders for Health and Lost For a Reason.

This year will round out a decade of guiding day- and multi-day rides, & teaching off-pavement adventure riding skills as EarthRider. EarthRider was born as VCARS, the Ventura County Adventure Ride Series, a series of increasingly ridiculous and often epic "day" (which is to say, "and some night, as well") rides under the Aegis of BMW Motorcycles of Ventura County. The ride reports (HERE is a sample; probably a more entertaining read than the rest of this post - I'd click on it & come back later, during a hospital lobby wait or a bad movie or something...) - what was I saying? Oh yeah; the ride reports still survive on the defunct web page, to tell the tale. It became increasingly clear that as a general rule, riders of adventurous spirit enjoy (at least, after the fact) biting off a bit more than they can chew, and the more they actually could chew, the bigger that enjoyable bite could be. This common aspect of adventure-rider nature led to numerous requests for riding classes, and to make a long story short, EarthRider was born. What began as one class designed to appease a small group of riders who wanted to slide the back ends of their bikes around has morphed into what I think is a unique training program in the world of adventure riding; a series of twelve classes, most all of which manage both to serve riders well as solo classes, and to synergize with the rest of the series, each focusing on - basically - one specific skill. Teaching off-pavement adv skills is apparently a bit like smoking: I tried to quit once, but I started to gain weight, and I couldn't find anything else that satisfied in quite the same way. The manager of BMWVC called me out of a brief retirement in 2010, to help noobs come to find the monthly shop Adventure Day Rides more manageable, and at this point, in loose association with the shop, EarthRider puts on two classes a month, running the twelve-month series twice at the same time, the classes staggered by half a year. I also work with individuals or small private groups on occasion, either as a guide or instructor. You may have noticed by now that I'm an educator and rider; not an entrepreneur: If you live nearby, EarthRider provides a golden opportunity to put in a solid year of good training and practice into easily manageable (&, I am continually told, inexpensive) monthly steps. If you don't live nearby, well, it's hard to justify, for instance, twelve 3-day weekends during which you spend two days commuting and one day in the middle, learning riding skills. Draw a line from Newport Beach to Barstow to San Luis Obispo and you've boxed in 99% of my client base thus far. Until I - or someone who wants to do me a big favour! - figure out how to provide the content (&, as far as I can see, the resulting necessary format) of instruction I strive to maintain in a way that makes it available to a wider audience, I thought I might … post a bit on XLADV! A well-designed venue of this focus has been a long-time coming, and how I might most effectively contribute here remains to be seen; for now my aim will be to field questions in the Technique sub-forum, and try to post something useful to you in this blog, now & then. Likewise, if you can teach me a thing or two about riding, I'd really appreciate it - & the chance to pass it along. [Visit EarthRider on FaceBook]

Aren’t we though? I’m only kidding! It’s surely an incendiary thing to say but I do think there are some key differences in how the two are ridden that are worth mentioning. I do think small bikes are easier to ride off road than big bikes, but I’d never say that they are a breeze or that big bike riders are somehow “better.” Small bikes still require a lot of skill (skill I definitely am not in possession of) to ride well. Let’s face it, big bikes are less forgiving, heavier, take longer to stop, easier to tip over/harder to pick up, have less traction and less suspension travel. They can’t go over the same terrain in the same fashion. I cannot go as fast over whoops or any other obstacle or I’m going to break my bike or get bucked off! I recall hearing Ryan Frazier (GS Trophy Team USA ’12) say that’s why he likes riding the bigger bikes; because they require so much more finesse and control off road. I’ve seen quite a few dirt bike riders be humbled by a bigger bike. The skills are similar but these riders don’t always make a smooth transition to the bigger bike. I have ridden with former Baja racers who found their skills didn’t automatically transfer to the bigger bike. But as difficult as riding big bikes may be, so many find with a bit of instruction and feedback that they are a lot of fun off road. I’ve seen too many riders go from complete dirt noob to intermediate or advanced in as little as a year. What do you think?

As if anyone cares. The "What I HATE about BMW" is the entry that got so many views and generated so much discussion on the Interwebs. That last screed was more about BMW's GS brand becoming more "gS" (less dirt, more street), but I should note that there are a few things that are known to make the new GS/A 1200 LC bikes better in the dirt: longer swing arm that allows for more efficient rear suspension, a higher snorkel for those deep water crossing and the ability to retain front abs which makes it a lot more fun in dirt cornering. I'm sure the list is longer but since I don't own one yet, I can't say (although I would love to do an XLADV "project bike" ). As far as my own '11 GSA (oil head) goes, what's not to love? The thing will go nearly anywhere, tractors well with that low enduro gearing, cruises comfortably on the highway and is arguably one of the most versatile bikes ever made. I can tour with a pillion, carve canyons, do track days or just ride out and do some very challenging desert tracks. That versatility is a real value in that I don't need a truck and/or trailer with all that extra gas and time; I just hop on my bike and I go. You have to love the heritage as well. I wish I could find it but there's a graphic I saw on FB somewhere showing an old R100 and said "a 40 year old BMW still looks better than any new Honda." BMW has really been around a LONG time. KTM, not so much. And even if it weren't for people like John Penton, KTM would still be making lame scooters. BMW's heritage shows in their attention to detail and the degree to which they will spend engineering time to not only make something work properly (rather than the cheap route), but will go back to fix things that may not have worked so well ('13 and half of '14 LC GS frames). I can also admit to loving the GS riders. Many will call us smug, arrogant, etc... but my experience has been nothing but positive. I have met some really wonderful, kind and interesting people riding GS's over the years. They're amazing ride organizers too! They really know how to put an event together and have a great reputation (GS Giants). Other bike mfg's don't really have that halo. I've bashed BMW for seeming to care less about the dirt rider over time but they do stand out for their support of off road training and do still hold the bi-annual GS Trophy competition. BMW has become like a good friend to me. Sure, some of their traits may grate on my nerves from time to time, but they are still special to me and worth keeping around.

Yup. Sani Pass. But we’ll get to that later… What a great feeling… Having forgotten where you were and where you had lain your head, to wake up and realise you are on holiday, alone with your motorcycle, with days of awesome riding and adventure ahead of you and Sani Pass to climb after some brekkie. I was as happy as a pig in sh*t. Once I had overslept, and arrived at the breakfast table I decided that, seeing today I was crossing a border, it would be a good time to try and organise international roaming, permission from insurance, a letter from BMW, change my daily withdrawal limit so I could withdraw all the cash I needed for the next week, and buy a toothbrush, which I had left at home. The joys of traveling without a woman to organise your life.Amazingly, most of the above worked out OK, and I couldn’t be bothered about the ones that didn’t, the mood was just too good. So I waxed the chain, filled up the tank, popped on the GoPro and whipped off down the road to tackle the great Sani Pass, that I had heard so much about. Waxing the chain: not as rad as gleaming the cube The tar road to Sani Pass is a work of art. With no sarcasm it is literally one of the best tar roads I have ever ridden. It is in beautiful condition, brand-spanking new and is made up of an awesome set of twisties – made for a motorcycle. After a short bit of scenic dirt road I reached the border, disappointed to not see my friend there from the previous night, according to the other official he had called into work ‘sick’. The tar road to Sani – smooth as a baby’s bottom and nearly as wide as Kim’s Finally, the dirt has arrived After the mandatory touristy ‘look where I was’ photos, I hit the road with my serious-face on ready for the gnarly stuff. Now I don’t know who of you reading this article have ridden up Sani Pass, but I spent the whole trip waiting for the technical stuff. Now, it is steep, but maybe it used to be worse? Maybe all the Chinese contracting companies have ironed out most of the kinks? I’m not sure, but I like my dirt roads a little bit ‘kinky’. If anything makes Sani Pass a difficult road to ride, it is the sheer beauty of your surroundings. The need to stop and take it all in hits you every 100m, it hurts to keep on riding sometimes, past some of the views it throws at you, and we all know how dangerous staring at a beautiful view can be when trying to ride a heavily-laden adventure bike up a steep dirt incline on the edge of a cliff. It is really, really breathtakingly beautiful, and so refreshing to finally feel like you are on your way to leaving the beaten-track. Granted: The road did get worse after this… Touristy photo number 1 – Ya gotta do it though! Touristy photo no. 2 – You HAVE to! A tight turn: You have to place the camera on a tripod, turn around on a steep gravel incline, ride past, turn around again, ride back, and pack everything up again, for. every. single. shot. Evidence of road works: not great constantly having to overtake these guys only to have them pass you again at every scenic spot. Trucks, trucks, trucks. On the way up the Sani pass, it is really beautiful As you go up it just starts getting better, some of the most magnificent views I’ve ever seen And there’s the valley you come out of At the top of Sani Pass is the Lesotho border post, as you see it, you will instantly realise “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas (South Africa) anymore.”. I will never get tired of that feeling: a mixture of panic, pleasure and new things. And this is the Lesotho side. This is why people do adventure-biking. I cheerfully got my passport stamped and headed over to “The Highest Pub in Africa” at Sani Mountain Lodge for a pint, albeit a mighty-expensive one. This one beer turned into two, which turned into three, which turned into lunch. By this time I thought to myself that it might be a better idea to camp here, than to push, it was already past 13h00 and I wasnt in the mood to rush through a beautiful landscape and amazing riding. I wanted to take it all in as it should be. After trying to convince myself I was doing the right thing, yet still feeling heavily defeated, lazy, and soft, I set up my tent in an open area of the mountain and lay down for nap. What a lazy bastard. Everyone’s heard of ‘helmet hair’, here’s your chance to see ‘helmet beard’ Sani top: ‘highest’ pub in Africa (excluding Afriski – sshhh) Spot the sticker! We made it onto the bar— The entertainment at Sani Top: They’re no Deep Purple, but they’ll do Setting up a tent alone in the wind, you gotta have skills My camp spot – all done (sneak a look at that rear tyre) And my view from bed Sani Summit – that’s Sani Mountain Lodge on the far right (the one with the pub) After setting up my tent and putting on some jeans I went to meet and greet some the passers by in the backpackers and the camp-site. This is another great advantage to traveling alone. When traveling in a couple, or with friends, I find one tends to make fewer new connections, and meet fewer new friends. The social bubble of our familiars is a comfort and sense of security, but at the same time it is limiting what you take in and who you meet. Among the people I met were three hikers, who had been hiking for 11 days through Lesotho, and camping in the wild with 3 days left to go, an awesome bunch of people (and absolutely nuts, they made my solo bike trip look like a Sunday drive). There was also a group of Afrikaans ministers and preachers doing a 4×4 trip, and a large group of bikers who had come to ride Sani Pass. The majority of the bikers were doing their first trip on the dirt and having their first camping experience, and they were loving it. Being on my own and probably looking like a bit of a sorry sight, the guys took pity on me, they fed me, boozed me, and entertained me to no end. I was very thankful not to have to subject myself to lonely baked beans on the camping-gaz in the cold that night, a braai, a fire, and a beer would do just fine. My “windswept’ pose – had to put this late in the post in case it gives people a fright and they stop reading Before I hit the hay, one of the guys noticed that my rear tyre was completely flat. After a torrent of foul-language topped with a ‘whatever, its future-Poodle’s problem’, I decided to wake up at the crack-o’-dawn and deal with the problem then. Below freezing in the middle of the night on soft soil, filled with beer are no conditions in which to fix a tyre. I was up at 05h00. I got the bike to hard, flat ground, and started to work. Initially nervous about doing this on my own, I was surprised at how easily I managed in the beginning and my confidence was up (oh just you wait!). After repairing the puncture and feeling inside the tyre for any protruding nastiness I replaced the tube, wrestled the tyre back over the rim with valuable help from one of the hikers, who had spent time leading overland truck tours through Africa. As it turns out, Sunlight dish-washing liquid is a winner in this department. After getting the wheel back to the bike and hooking up the compressor, I quickly realised there was still a leak. So back to the start I went. What had happened was a thorn had lodged itself in the tyre in such a way that it only protruded when the tube was pumped up against it. By now, everyone was awake, people were keen to get involved or just watch the escalating scene I was causing. The scene was getting progressively more embarrassing too. It took 30-45 minutes to get the stubborn thorn out of the tyre, after which the new leak also had to be patched. Once hooked up to the compressor, I realised there was still a leak, the new patch hadn’t taken completely. By now the black powder-coat on the rim was scratched from the tyre-levers, my tools were everywhere, I was hungry, gatvol and fast approaching the “Lord, why have you forsaken me” stage, after having left the “what the hell was I thinking” stage behind me. Thankfully, and to my huge relief, the new patch worked. After about seven hours (yes, seven hours) of struggle, my bike was once again ready to roll. I have learned to look at these sorts of difficulties in a positive light. With The Great American Trek rapidly approaching, I now see these experiences as learning opportunities, they make me better, and they prepare me more thoroughly. At least I would have been there already when this happens to me in the middle of a foreign continent. Not only this, but I think it also strengthens ones resolve. Especially on your own, this sort of struggle will do wonders for your mental strength if you manage to solve the problem, which you will, you have to… The ‘men-of-God’ who had been staying at the backpackers were kind enough to share their cooked breakfast with me and make me some fresh coffee, so after some chatting with the hikers, some cheering up and calming down, I took to the road once again. My technical difficulties had resulted in my departure time being delayed to somewhere around 12;30, but the weather had warmed up a bit and the Sun was shining, so I didn’t zip my waterproof and warm layers into my riding gear (rookie move!). I headed out in good spirits on the muddy road away from Sani and through the mountains. I was oblivious to the fact that what awaited me was the hardest day I would ever experience on two wheels. A little taste of Part 3 – hardest ride I have ever done to date Part 3 to follow shortly.

We've all been there, right? You're on a group ride and it gets separated. Someone forgot to "post up," or wait at the turn for the rider behind. This has happened so many times now, I can't even count. It happened day 1 at our High Sierras event and despite the pre-ride lecture and a threat that any violators will get a kick to the nuts, it happened three more times the next day! It happened again at Death Valley a month or so ago and the rider left at the turn wasn't too happy (right, John?). This video of our High Sierras ride opens up with a walkie talkie conversation I had w/Brad Barker where he asks which way they are supposed to turn because no one posted up! http://youtu.be/S_bETUqVpQ8 I think we all get both excited, tunnel vision when we ride, as well as fatigued and just forget. It can really mess up a group ride and even cause safety issues if someone goes down or gets lost. Leap frogging is where the lead rider waits at any kind of turn for the rider behind. When the rider behind comes, they signal each other to acknowledge being seen and then the lead rider proceeds while the second rider then waits there for the next or third rider. I recently saw a different method employed by Jimmy Lewis at his off road training class where he would tell the second rider not only to wait at the turn, but not to move until the last or sweep ride came to that turn. What this does it ensure no one blows by turns without waiting and creates great assurance that the group will stay intact. Let's say you are the second rider behind the leader in a group of five riders. You are told to post up at a turn and then then wait as riders #3 and 4 pass you. When rider #5, the sweep, comes, you then resume the ride and are rider #4. This happens at each turn and after just two turns, you are back to the #2 spot. Each rider basically gets rotated in order. The only downside to this I think is that the more advanced riders want their position up front and don't like to be stuck behind a slower rider. That faster rider could always pass (safely) but then they are going to find themselves posting up at the next turn and going to the back of the line again. I think this modified form of leap frog is best for larger groups and groups with a larger range of experience where "issues" are more likely to crop up. You probably trust the original leap frog method with riders you have ridden a lot with, but I will start to use this modified one for the larger groups. Thoughts?

It sure is nice to have a place to call our own, isn't it? First, I'd like to thank each and every new member of this site for your participation. Communities like this only thrive when people such as yourselves, all rock stars in the world of big bike adventure, choose to play a part. This is not "Eric's site." It's YOUR site. YOU are what is going to make XLADV an interesting place to be. Next, I'd like to thank the leadership team from Thumpertalk for believing in this concept and taking the time to invest in this online adventure. When I first discovered Thumpertalk about two years ago after purchasing a KTM 500 EXC, I was amazed at not only how large and vibrant it was, but also with the technological capabilities and the look/feel/usability of the site. It was at that point I asked myself: "I wonder why there's no big bike counterpart to Thumpertalk?" And here were are! As far as where to go after that, it's really even hard to get my head around because there just is SO MUCH still to come. I'll be sounding off soon enough in some articles, product reviews, upcoming events, new site features and just general big bike stuff. Feel free to reach out for any issues/questions you may have and I will do my best to see how they can best be addressed. Still miles of undiscovered open roads to explore...