Thanks Palace

You make some good points IMO especially about the smaller bike and the Enfield, and about the changing problems of travel on a bike. And you actually garaged your GS, which I find hard/impossible to do with my similar bike.

Yes travel can be expensive, especially on fuel. It's about finding the money and for some/many, that's not easy.

Caminando - there's a lot of food for thought in your original post and much of it has been on my mind in recent years as well. What I have been trying to do is distinguish between signal and noise when it comes to travel and bike travel in particular. The signal is what's actually happening in the world that affects my ability or desire to travel with the noise representing my own personal circumstances. For example, too many years of long queues, aggressive officials, petty restrictions, decreasing value for money and many other factors have all combined to put me off air travel. I really don't enjoy it anymore. My 22yr old son however wouldn't agree with any of that list and uses Easy Jet / Ryan Air to flit round Europe on a whim like they were his own personal airlines. He, and most of his peer group, enjoys it. I used to but no longer do. It's me that's changed and my personal noise is drowning out the signal that air travel is probably cheaper, easier, safer and more commonplace than its ever been.

It's much the same with bike travel. I did my first long distance bike trip in 1970 so it's probably not surprising that I've changed somewhat in the meantime. I've been bike traveling ever since and that interest has remained a little bit of a constant while everything else has changed around it. I'm older (obviously), wealthier (not so obvious but a combination of luck and judgment has kept me level with my peer group) and subject to an accumulation of biases and prejudices that creep up on you over that length of time. I also have to have accumulated numerous commitments and responsibilities that I didn't have when I first started.

All of these have to be juggled and weighed when I start planning any sort of trip. Twice in recent years substantial bike trips have been canceled at reasonably short notice because of fiscal prudence. There was enough money available if the future went well but not if our circumstances took an unforeseen downturn so I decided that I couldn't justify the expenditure. All of this, the state of my health, bank balance, predicted level of homesickness, my wife having to take up the slack while I'm away or even can I be bothered with it all is just noise in the system. It's personal to me and nothing to do with the state of the wider world and external problems such whether I can get a Sudan visa or even whether I should use a pizza delivery bike or a GS1200. Back when I first started these decisions were everything. We'd spend weeks pouring over maps on the floor or pre booking campsites by letter. Now I hardly glance at a map.

That's the reason I've only been to Ripley once (and then only for one night) - the corporate world that's become "adventure motorcycling" doesn't interest me. I've no interest in the latest overhyped megatourer or the contents of the TouraTech catalogue. What I've always enjoyed is the actual touring whether it's sunken lanes in Devon or shipwrecks in Mauritania. It's kind of fortunate really that I'm now old enough and experienced enough to be able to decide for myself whether a piece of kit is right for me and happily ignore opinions to the contrary.

Anyway, the point of all of this was to say that I'm not sure that we're in any sort of new era or difficult times for bike travel. Certainly fuel costs have gone through the roof here in recent years but they did back in 73/74 and I managed to cope then. Borders come and go although I would admit that Africa at the moment does seem to have more no go zones than the average over the last few decades. That may not be the case in ten years time although (depending on how old you are) that may not be much personal comfort. For me though, for the last 25yrs or so, its been personal circumstances, relationships and commitments that have governed where I go or whether I go at all.

Many thanks for your detailed and very thoughtful post. Much of it I recognise and share.

I do think that these are issues that affect, or will affect most of us. I fully admit that when younger, I paid little heed to the thought of being older.

I was interested too, in people's response to this, if any. It's actually about keeping on riding, and adapting to changing circumstances. However, like Ogri, "I've still got my bike"!

Beyond agreement or disagreement, I like your post. It's thought-provoking, honest and respectful; some may not agree, as said, but that's a different issue. It's a good starting point to hear opinions. Some are really nice to read. It comes to my mind Clifford T. Ward's song "Thoughts from Abroad": [I've been reading Browning, Keats and William Wordsworth], Well I like the words they use, and I like the way they use them.

I agree with many points and see no contradictions between what you stated and what others said against. I tend to position myself a lot, but here I cannot see a clear statement 100% right, but many nuances.

Not the big issue discussed here, but I'm sure I profoundly dislike the BMW GS+Touratech+Sunday coffee life-style. I may not go anywhere far, but I prefer that to be a pretender.

Esteban

Right, I've had a couple of glasses of red so I'm hoping what I say makes sense.

I agree with what a lot of the OP says. It's become something of an obsession here. Not at retiring age yet but seriously looking forward to being able to get away more. We've noticed how much the cost of everything has increased over the last few years. Increased costs at home have meant there is now much less 'disposable income' to spend on breaks and holidays. Fuel costs are a major issue making it more expensive to go any distance on our old airhead than use our modern diesel car.

Dreams of 4/5 star hotels on our bike tours are just that (dreams) so we're looking at ways of making camping more comfortable (we like camping but unless you do it a lot it takes a while to get used to it).

We don't have as much opportunity for hopping on a cheap Ryan air/Flybe as people living in the UK but we do have the advantage of being only a few hours from Biarritz, the Pyrenees, Barcelona, Marseille etc. which is a big plus, however the prices for hotels and food in big cities is generally beyond our means.

I enjoy meeting up and riding with other adventure bikers but personally can't bear standing around all day with the express purpose of talking about bikes, so avoid the Ripley and Ace cafe stuff as much as I can. I'm also stongly anti farkles - in my book it's either essential or a waste of money

No no no! It's: "I've still got me bike"!
And a brilliant summing-up it is.

Like BoB above, I often give thought to all the different opinions and outlooks and ideas featured all over the HUBB, but usually I can't relate to many of them.
And I wonder why.
In the end I think it's mainly down to personal circumstances, your 'baggage' or experiences and influences from the past.
The possibility of being influenced by individuals isn't often mentioned. We've had Ted Simon and Charlie&Ewan brought into posts above, which indicates to me that probably they are amongst the people with the biggest influences at the moment, albeit at opposite ends of the spectrum I think.

On the other hand, how many members of these forums would say their parents have influenced them insofar as riding motorbikes is concerned?
My dad, a lifetime rider (mainly sidecars 1960s to 80s, bicycles before) is still a big influence for me I think, which might put me in a minority. And maybe is why I don't relate to a lot of what is on the HUBB. But notwithstanding that, these forums are a big resource for me and I read a huge amount of what gets posted, and enjoy it all and take note.
There are as many different views about riding a motorbike across continents as there are people doing it. And it will always be so, I think.

On the question of where we are now and what the future holds, it looks to me as though the popularity of riding off into the sunset continues to increase or at least remains steady. The changing stability of borders and countries has always been a factor and always will be. Ditto personal spending power. And fuel costs are probably the third major factor but that too has had its spikes in the past (for some of us - still have the ration books).

So routes, modes of transport, and sizes of vehicles will always change to suit the world situation and personal circumstance, at any given time. As it has done in the past.
For instance, it seems to me over the last 1 to 2 years, the popularity of going east (from UK) towards eastern Russia and SE Asia has increased enormously, while fewer are going to Africa. And the size/costs of bikes in use seems to be going down. (Standby for the major 'farkles' merchandisers to launch their new range of overlanding gizmos for the Honda C90!)

And there's a lot to say for the "travel to nearby places, look further while there" philosophy. If nobody is hearing that now, I think they may do in the future. It has a lot going for it, which I'm beginning to find myself and hope to explore more. (Although maybe, in reality, it's not much cheaper than overlanding on a distant continent).

For one thing that isn't mentioned much above, (just one brief reference), is health. And you need it more than money.
Consequently I find there's a lot to keep me interested in researching places nearby; finding I can travel there easily by bicycle, stay a good while and still see new things. And as I've learnt from a few long bicycle trips in the past, fuel costs don't matter.

Yep, I've always got me bike(s)!
(And a bus pass now, - which changes everything yet again!)

__________________
TTR250 - London to Cape Town

Corrrection fully accepted on the Ogri quote. "Moybe its becorz Oi ain't a Londonaa"....

And there's a lot to be said for the Honda 90.

Given that some of the posts here are thoughtfully written, some may care to look at
http://International Journal Of Motorcycle Studies
for something a cut way above the bike magazine stuff with its talk of "loads of grunt" and "grin factor" clichés..

McCrapkin refered to some thoughtful points... (as usual).

Of course, travelling by motorcycle now is MUCH easier now than it has ever been and I'd say that -as for travel by any other means to remote regions- the main reason IMO is the easy access to information, call it internet (forums as HUBB, LP Thorn Tree, etc) and quick/cheap communication as e-mail, fax, etc. Add these new technologies to security, such as GPS, Satellite phones, and SPOTs and similars. It's tailwind!

In the past, it was jumping into the unknown. Now you know what to expect, that's the main difference. I guess that if this access to information/communication were not here, less than 10% bikers would be accessing very remote areas. But that's happening in many fields: how many used to dive in the past? Now it's easier, safer, etc.

BUT, I understand that (obviously) Caminando's opening post takes that into account, since this is the time we are living in, but nonetheless, some factors may look to be against.

Totally agree it's never been easier. I 've often thought about those early riders and the sheer heroism of what they did.