Thanks flipflop, I love how we all have different takes on motorcycles an what's comparable or not always makes for interesting reading.

Had a good day out today continuing the run in on the Honda CRF 300 Rally. All being well I should have it finished by the end of next week. Unfortunately no gopro footage from today as none of the audio came out the wind was pretty darn wild.

A quick question for anyone who also has a rally and is 6'2" with a 32" leg what front screen have you found effective? At the moment I'm getting quite a bit of buffeting from it so wanna address that before it re does my neck injury.

Overall still really content with the lil Rally fun engine on the road. A different experience to the Himalayan an 390 advs we had.

An was a really nice partner in the rubbish conditions today. Once she's ran in I'll decide what other mods to do, I'm thinking seat concepts seat and a Rally raid level 1 suspension for the seat Height so dad can ride it to, while we decide what 2nd bike to buy for our big trip next year. Plan is to buy a t7 after the house move in the next 2 months then run them back to back and decide what to take.

6'2" with 32" leg implies you have a long body length which will stick you well into the airflow.

There are times when riding offroad fairly slowly in high temperatures when you will welcome all the airflow you can get, so my suggestion would be to install a clip-on deflector which in hot weather can either taken off, lowered or adjusted flat when needed. I've been using a Darkojak deflector for nine years on various bikes but there's loads of low-cost versions on eBay.

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Thanks Tim its funny you should mention a deflector I actually found an old one I'd bought for one of the GS's when I used to have an f800gs, gave it a whirl was quite handy today. That's a good point regarding the off road stuff.

Today was such a brilliant day on the honda CRF 300 Rally. Went out road riding continuing to run her in with the idea of going to Matlock Bath ended up flicking through adventure_bike_rider guide to green lanes while having some chips at Monyash an decided to give it a go ^_^ ended up on Houndkirk Moor doing the first of it an just through the 2nd gate. Was great seeing so many people out having fun. Gonna go back up it once I've got some better hand guards on.

First Green lane on my CRF 300 Rally. Only my 3rd in my life once was on a 1200gsa te which got stuck 🙃 then unstuck, other was a really easy muddy one on the Himalayan by accident.

This was interesting never ridden on loose rocks before was a learning curve an lots of fun didn't drop her either woop so mission success, next step is to sort the seat and some handguards on.

Quick mobile phone photograph on my old Samsung a70

Finally got the video edited from yesterday tried to cover my thoughts on the Honda CRF 300 Rally tried to cover my thoughts mainly from a road riding point of view till I had a complete change of plans while eating my chips at the old Smithy in Monyash and flicking through the adventure bike rider guide to green lanes and spotted houndkirk Moor and Did a bit of section 1-2 on the map.

Noticed it said not to do a-b on the map for beginners but that was all numbered would that be 7-8?

It was really fun to give the Honda CRF 300 Rally a go on a green lane and im super looking forward to going on one again. Lots to learn and that's exciting as it's a new challenge, and great to learn as itl open up more possibilities for when we do the trip next year to Iceland Norway an Morocco lots to learn.

Today was a beautiful day out on the Honda CRF 300 Rally after my first go at green laning on the Honda yesterday I really wanted to have another go.

I ended up back on Houndkirk Moor at first I pulled up just for a look at the other end as I was curious where it came out, what was weird was a big pack of bikes came down while I was just taking 5 an walking up the trail a bit and it actually made me a little doubtful of trail riding so I decided to head back to the foxhole end on the road an decided to have a go there as it seemed quieter the other night.

At first I was a bit like am I capable of doing this an I had a few moments of self doubt it's amazing how it can creep up on you and grow and grow isn't it an it's something going a bit further on past the two gates, then all off a sudden things started to click from what I'd been watching on YouTube and I found myself at the viewpoint taking in the breathtaking scenery. An then I decided I'll just do a lil more an then a lil more an a lil more and before I knew it I'd completed my first full green lane. Each time I came across something stopping and thinking about which line to take then tackling it systematicly seemed to work.

It was amazing just how capable the bike was considering the terrain I was going over, can't wait to get the Rally Raid Level 1 done when I'm able.

There was some really interesting bits on it that challenged me and it is really exciting from that perspective. No drops an just kept a steady pace picking my line also found its much better to get the Rally into 2nd an modulate on the clutch

It was nice doing it at my own pace just taking my time stopping when I needed to for a break actually amazing how hot I got as well.

Didn't get any pics of the tricker bits but did have my gopro on so looking forward to learning watching it back to see where I can improve.

Eventually all the tension (Although I was trying to keep loose) melted away and I was flowing much better on the Rally the pace picked up a little and things seemed easy that I'd struggled with and felt like I was flowing over stuff.

Every day's a learning day and I'm learning alot feeling so much better about the trips we've got planned an once I get some off road training as well it's really gonna help at the moment though I'm just loving learning at my own pace.

Was great seeing so many people out having fun.

Today really convinced me on the Rally 100+ miles of b road riding and Houndkirk Moor green laning then back over the cat and fiddle in the dark. It also amazed me how much narrower the CRF is compared to the Himalayan I had when stood up (did a basic lane on that) gives such a nice feel.

I ended up doing stuff today I could have only dreamed off yesterday can't wait to do the trip next year now.

See what I mean? Wait until it's 30+ºC under a hot sun...

If you are totally new to trail riding about the most important thing is to not focus on what's about to happen under your front tyre, but instead to keep your vision 50m or more in front.

Secondly, the only thing that keeps you and the bike upright is the gyroscopic effect of the rotating wheels, the slower you go, the less they rotate, and the more likely you are to fall, so around 10mph should be your minimum.

And if you want some light entertainment, have a look at 2mins 40 secs on the video below.


Big Rock Moto: Honda CRF300L Rally Full Test

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"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Hi Tim as always really appreciate you taking the time to reply very helpful.

Yep I totally get what you meant now! I'll be looking onto layering gear once I start doing a lot more trail riding. Even with the vents open on the Badlands I was roasting. I can see me changing the kit. It's so fun learning.

That's a really good tip on speed once I realised that yesterday I started going over things that were way more difficult alot easier once my confidence grew was a few points where i went nice and steady though an used the clutch to modulate the pace rather,than the first video where I was ping pinging off rocks it actually really surprised me just how capable the crf is, an it's light enough that if you need to push it it's easy enough to move about can understand why rtwpaul used the ktm 500 now it's amazing how things start to go aah!

Funny you should mention Ian, Tim his videos and him showing that even though he's so experienced convinced me to film my experience learning to trail ride. Showing all the bits where I'm a bit nervous and stuff as it might help inspire a few others to have a go.

Ians videos, Nathan Millward'a an Dave Darcys Motorcycle adventure dirt bike TV are excellent to watch on the Rally

Looking forward to getting some training with dad once we've got our house move done to either North Cornwall or Dumfries and Galloway.

As someone coming from an off-road riding background this is very odd to read - a useful off-road skill is to be able to stop, static balance a bike for a bit, and set off again (along with full-lock turns at less than walking pace, for example), however I'll admit that these aren't things for absolute beginners

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