[QUOTE=chris;644949]Utter, utter nonsense. What about the many riders, particularly from Germany and France, and to a smaller extent from late to the game English speaking areas setting off on big, beyond Starbucks, trips on bikes like the BMW R80g/s (first sold in 1981) or Yamaha xt500 (released in the mid 1970s) to name just 2 very popular models? There's an entire universe of bike travel going back to well beyond when the 2 lovies were even born. It really didn't all start with Ewen and his unemployed carpet fitter mate


Everyone one on this forum knows that because most of us were at it before they came along.
When I said ‘adventure bike scene’ I simply meant the main streaming of motorcycle travel/holidays. When we turned up at the ferry dock in the 80s and early 90s there would be a few bikes, all different types, all with different destinations - some just to northern France others to a lot further afield, everyone was excited and friendly at theirs and others trip to come.

I knew a few guys who rode to Australia in the mid-80s and there were plenty of books on the shelves back then but it was a very minority past time.
Then came the time when we rolled up to get the Bilbao - Portsmouth ferry and there must have been a 100 bikes, it was a couple of years after LWR and all the bikes were big adventure bikes - the vast majority GSs, and, it saddens me to say, all the riders were ‘too cool for school’ all sunglasses and no smiles.

If you add for Brits as a suffix to "main streaming of motorcycle travel/holidays", then some of what you say makes sense. Otherwise it's nonsense. This forum has (had) contributors from probably more than a hundred countries (I'm sure GJ has the stats at his fingertips ), so bandying about "we all agree on that" is disingenuous and makes any other contributions to be taken with a pinch of salt too.

I like your too cool for school comment. Once at a UK BMW owners club event many moons ago, this chap turned up with a 1150gsa with, shall we say politely, lots of bling attached. I, "in civies" in an old car (at the time poor and couldn't afford a bike after the end of my rtw trip) only asked him 2 questions:

1. Do you know what all those buttons do?
2. If you press all the buttons at the same time, will your bike explode?

His buddies thought it hilarious, him less so.

When I still lived in the UK (until 2020), I had a paid subscription to the Ukgser forum (despite swearing in 2002 I'd never ride a BMW again, having ridden one around the world... Now 23 years later still pretty much abstinent, except when I had a free bike to ride or when it was actually just a rebadged Aprilia ) in order to have access to their for sale section. Must have saved 100s of £, despite my £12/year outgoing, buying rarely/never used gear at a fraction of the full price from the Portsmouth posers you mention, after they moved on to macramé or tiddlywinks. Those clowns do have some uses...

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[QUOTE=chris;645076]I wonder if his side of the story goes;

I bought this new GS and not short of $$, I spent a heap on farkles, cause I could and that’s what I like to do.

This poor, jealous fella who couldn’t even afford a bike came up and said

“Do you know what all those buttons do?”
“If you press all the buttons at the same time, will your bike explode?”

Strange fella.

How's Portsmouth? I've heard it's lovely at this time of year.

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This is how I got 95%+ of my motorbikes and gear over over the years

Which reminds me, I've "grown out of" my track day leathers and need to sell them on this year since I no longer have a sporty bike. I paid about 40GBP for them in brand-new condition with one scuff on a knee slider, I might even be able to sell them at a profit since I managed to not come off while wearing them ...

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FreeBSD fan since before it was cool ...

At the start of this blog , i asked do we need a 120hp bike ................. NO...........
Now you can buy a 170 hp .... sounds to me a 100hp too much !!

Depends on what you want to use it for, I had an R1 for a whole 3 months, went for a track day at Silverstone and the bike was well suited to it. I sold it after, and had far more fun pushing a 70hp bike riding to it's limits instead.

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FreeBSD fan since before it was cool ...

you have a point ..................
1 is a sports track bike
2 the " other " is a sensible adventue " type " bike !!

Oh.... isnt it about time we all had some type of suitable form to what we all see as "off road" bit like a ski run Black .... red etc.
that way we can judge what people see as an " off road " track

Which returns us, neatly back to the start.

"Adventure Bike" is simply a very clever marketing ploy.

Teapot One had an adventure on a GSXR1100.

Ed March on a C90.

Both laughed their was around the world, smiles on their faces. They sure as hell werent concerned that their chosen bike met the approval of others.

Just ride what YOU want.

Like these adventure bikes …..

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Agreed, ride whatever bike you want.

I like to fly and ride and for my rental bike I choose a scooter if it is available.
In SEA countries, you do not need a big cc bike to travel.
Around 150cc onward is sufficient.

And to be honest when on a rental scooter, when you wave at a fellow biker decked in riding gear on a big bike most of them will not acknowledge a little scooter even though i am decked in riding gear. ha....ha....

The exception was in Japan, when you wave at a fellow biker most of them will wave back or they will wave at you first.

Hey brother.

When did you ride Japan? I did three weeks last year mainly Shikoku and the Wakayama Peninsula.

Had a ball. Hope to head over for a month in September.

We actually found a decent dirt road on Shikoku too! The onsen was at a campground in Wakayama.

Cheers

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I used this Kawasaki V-Strom 250 for the Shikoku inland mountains in April 2024. Absolutely lovely bike and an excellent adventure. 20k yen for a two-day rental out of Takamatsu, including insurance, helmet and pickup/dropoff in the city center!

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My wife had the earlier 250.

They are awesome. Loved Shikoku

AnTyx,

That's a smart looking V-Strom 250.

Do you mind sharing where you rented the bike from at Shikoku?

HomersGSA,

Here's the link to my report.

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...ovember-105649

I would like to ride again in Japan and specifically starting from Tokyo as my younger brother lives in the outskirt of Tokyo. So rent a bike and go ride to see him.
I have not decided when yet to go as i have 2 tours planned already, Feb-April (5 weeks) Vietnam and then July (4 weeks) to Bali and East Java.

I have an opening in October to November and still thinking of where to go. That is if my other half doesn't ask me to travel with her and her friends. Got to keep her happy so that I can continue my bike tours!
ha...ha....