For those asking "What's Adventure Motorcyling" how about some possibly twisted logic?

When I go on my holidays I go on my bike/outfit. I say "No I can't go to X on Y, I'm on holiday". When people ask me where I'm going and it used to be East Germany on an MZ, Morocco on the BMW, Nordcapp in the snow, the responses that didn't include the phrase "****ing stupid" would often claim this was "adventurous". I am a total coward and don't do anything that doesn't involve a G&T at the end of the day and a proper breakfast, so this response sort of went over my head. When I turned up at the ferry there would be blokes on sportsbikes going to the GP at Assen, people on Wings going to the Italian lakes for a month, Harleys going to a BBQ in Calais and so forth. The fact we all had luggage made it touring in the terminology of the day.

Given that work, cash family and so forth allow I'll still chuck luggage on my bike, take a couple of weeks holiday and ride as far as I want. I really don't see what's changed. I take a Motorcycle Touring Holiday. If I win the lottery I'll take a really long motorcycle tour. The fact that when I hit sand I carry on while fellow tourers on their Goldwings maybe turn back I guess does make a difference, but we each go to our comfort zones limit.

I think the term Adventure Motorcyling is Chris Scotts doing. The title got people like me to buy the book (and learn a lot) because we expected something more than a list of B&B's in the Black Forest.

It's been changed though. Adventure Motorcycle has become a class of bike like Sportsbike and Cruiser. You won't win the TT on a showroom Honda Fireplace. You'll get laughed at if you enter your 2011 Custom Dyna Badboy Glide in a show and probably thumped if you think you bought the right to call Hells Angels "bro" or something. Likewise we have all these BMW's and KTM's that never go further than a coffee shop claiming the Adventure Rider "class" because they are not sportsbikes or cruisers or mega tourers. If your accountant loves his Wideglide and the kid who sells you your mobile phone wants to dress like Rossi, that's up to them, it's their life to enjoy, I'm not having a go. The Adventure riders are still new.

I think it'll pass over. Racers race race bikes not sportsbikes. Custom builders customise into low riders and street fighters not factory cruisers. Once our phenomena has sorted itself out, I guess the Adventure riders will be happy with their plastic yet silver square boxes and the long distance motor cycle riders will still be kicking about on ex-army rucksack festooned C90's, ten year old Tenere's, Enfields and a thousand other odd and very personal bits of machinery, including the odd tin-boxed GS.

Andy

If I was to go out and buy a bike for a RTW, this is what I'd buy!

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http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

Thanks chaps, there have been some really interesting, illuminating and articulate thoughts here. Makes me proud to be a part of it - long live the HUBB! Can you imagine this kind of eloquence on any other similar site?!

For those of you who asked, the mag is called Outrider Journal. It's a new US-based mag but I believe they ship worldwide. It's a quarterly, intelligent, high-quality affair dedicated to worldwide adventure/off-road riding with an eye on cultural topics, land-use issues etc as well as the bike/kit side of things.

The first issue has just been launched. The website is Outrider Journal | The Print Quarterly for Dual Sport and Adventure Motorcycle Riding Enthusiasts

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www.loisontheloose.com

What happened to the original topic ????

Surely "What is adventure motorcycling" is another topic entirely ??

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

This was printed in1996:

I agree, the topic got somewhat expanded and morphed ...

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Thomas

"Hey, ...I'm just ridin' shotgun"

I think there will always be DIY'ers, like in the ''old days'' they made everything; or when something, whatever it might be (tools,equipment,trip...) is not THE one for you, you just try to make your own.

I bought my bike used, made my panniers, do my maintenance and plan my trip by myself/with my riding buddies.

I do sometimes buy, 'cause I can't make it (like a stove, can make a fire though ;-))....

I don't mind that some folks want to pay for whatever they want...it's a personnal thing. Just like an adventure, personnal thing.

PS: Thank you Lois for ''kickstarting'' my wife into ''adventure'' motorcycling

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"Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love."
RIDE like your LIFE depends on it.
BMW R1150GS '02 crashed
BMW R1150GSA '04

I like this

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"Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love."
RIDE like your LIFE depends on it.
BMW R1150GS '02 crashed
BMW R1150GSA '04

It would be rude to comment

Take a look at the "Stuff you wouldn't take next time" thread too, I think it's heading along similar lines. I'm embarrased to say that with the exception of the bog brush, I did carry half the useless stuff (CD Heliograph etc.) that's mentioned . Then I remembered why I decided I needed it all. It's all in mid-late 90's books on the subject (the bog brush is for the vital task of getting mud out of air cooling fins lest the engine siezes). Still, lucky I didn't confuse the books, I've one from the early 1900's that suggests various firearms for dealing with rebelious natives and cocaine (probably to sooth your nerves afterwards). . How did we survive without the interweb!

Guess I should go make myself something for the next trip. Think I'll start with another cup of tea

Andy

surely DIY means pedal cycling rather than letting an engine propel you ? :-)

there's a paradox in there somewhere that reading about DIY sort of dilutes your DIY-fu.

then again, if you were to compare it to cooking... take raw ingredients at one end and ready made supermarket meals at the other, I think people of a certain mindset generally gravitate towards the raw end of the scale; regardless of where they initially land on that scale.

you can have an adventure with a tomato sandwich, just as you can with a naive trip to France.

I understood DIY to mean 'not an organised group tour'. I have to say there are a lot of potential DIY travellers on this site and others and I can't say I have noticed a European bias but then the septics stick mostly to their own sites I suppose.

Is there a lot more DIY'ing going on because of resources like the HUBB or is it just the same now as it was a few years ago just that people tend to over plan their trips because there is so much information available.

The downside with just setting off and working it out as you go is the amount of time you spend sorting things out in unfamiliar cities - we spent weeks in Cairo, Port Said and Suez trying to find a way round or over Sudan as at the time Sudan was closed. I'm sure it would be easier now.

Ted makes a good point - the thread (like so many before it) did wander a little!

In addition to my earlier points I'd say this about DIY Advanture Touring - doing everything yourself gives you a far greater sense of achievement. I think people like to choose the level to which they 'DIY' - they do as much as they think their own skills allow them too and feel all the more pride in their acheivement. There is definately a feeling of satisfaction from home made kit/doing it on the cheap/ choosing your own bike (rather than what MCN tells you what you need). You will ofetn hear a DIY Adv-tourer telling you with pride how his home made panniers cost $8.50 and took a weekend to build - but you'd never hear that from someone who bought TT's off the shelf. Imagine - "Yeah, and I did my entire trip with these panniers - they cost £1000 and were adequate. Pretty proud of that..."

However, for some people that isn't important. They simply want to ride their lovely expensive bike in interesting places. There's nothing wrong with that. DIY is perhaps just an added dimension - something more you can take from the experience. If x = adventure motorcycling and y = DIY, then x on its own simply = x. But x + y = z. And z = DIY adventure motorcycling, which (for some people) is so much more than x.

(Saturday night. Lots of wine consumed - hope this isn't total nonsense!)

MAtt

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http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

It seems unlikely to me that the "DIY approach to motorcycle travel" is any less common in the USA. But they don't leave North America as often simply because it is such a big place, and thus don't show up as much on this web site.

Also, what is the cutoff for a person who is "DIY"? Someone who doesn't use an organized trip? Someone who has no sponsors? Someone who can work on his own motorcycle? Someone who built his own motorcycle from scratch? Someone who bought all gear second-hand?

Depending on where you make the cutoff point, I am either a diehard DIY traveler, or have never touched the DIY philosophy a day in my life. For example, I work on my bike myself because I enjoy it, but I decided long ago that it is simply not worth my time to create most of the rest of my gear. Am I not a DIY'er because I place a high value on my own time?

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Traveling The World Since: 2011
Blog: The Seductive Life (General Travel)

And right there is the difference in philosophy!

For you DIY-ing would be a waste of your precious time. Absolutely fair enough.

I would say (IMHO) that the DIY-er places no less value on their time. But, because the (for example) manufacture of home made panniers is an enjoyable end in itself, the time spent on this is NOT a waste of time.

Most Adv-Tourers live in first world societies where the (say) 20 or so man-hours spent on building home made panniers would not really be that difficult to find. But for some it would be a pointless waste of time, for others it is an interesting and rewarding challenge.

There is no right way or wrong way - just your own way.

Matt

__________________
http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

I think that most of the DIY threads on ADVRider which I have seen were from the USA... things like carbon fibre panniers, or mermite tin panniers.