This is a rather embarrassing topic but one that I’d like to see discussed (if anyone can be bothered to answer the ravings of a mad man…) I suspect some of you feel as I do and I know that most of you will baulk at my cynical views.

After reading the “Pointless round the world races” thread started by nick_horley in 2002, I decided to air my view on a similar subject.
A significant part of me wants to tell everyone to get out there on a bike but the price of progress and popularity may be too high. Let me explain…

4X4 Adventuring was not a big thing in my country when I was still a boy. Sure a few people explored the country in dented LandRovers but very few ventured across the border.
Suddenly SUVs, MPVs and all manner of 4-wheel-drive vehicles became the norm.
Soccer moms congest parking lots with their monstrous Land Cruisers and BMW X5s. Every Tom, Dick and Harry has a fuel guzzling monster truck with a high-lift jack, GPS and spray-on mud! South African, European and American holidaymakers have earned a terrible reputation in some African countries for trashing their environment during guided and self-drive tours.
4x4 Vehicles have become something of a joke here. It is so popular that the average owner is now a pot-bellied, loudmouth lard-ass with his prissy wife (make-up and designer safari suit included) and no respect for his neighbour whatsoever.
Gone are the interesting bearded gentlemen and women (un-bearded) who had wise eyes and wonderful stories of the great Congo River. They wore silly colourful clothes, big hats and had earthy smelling objects d’art on their walls and odd seashells picked from distant shores.

I see the same change in the adventure motorcycling fraternity. Adventure riders were once seen as crazy petrol-heads who respected other cultures and wanted to see the world in a unique way. They were resented and admired in equal measure by their own people.
Recently, thanks to aggressive advertising campaigns by certain manufacturers, every imbecile with enough money has begun buying enormous adventure bikes with the sole aim of conquering the ‘outer darkness’. It has become fashionable to appear gnarly and colourful whilst not actually deserving the reputation…

Soon forums such as this one will be overrun by people seeking free advice whilst adding nothing themselves. They will mimic Nick Sanders' adventures. They will have “Long Way Round III” in their DVD collection and mock anyone on a bike smaller than a 1000cc. Organised tours of 10 or 20 bikes will thunder through African villages upsetting the locals. A Great Pan American highway will be constructed to enable thousands of Harleys to do the Anchorage to Terra del Fuego Iron butt rally.
The people that inspired me (Helge Pedersen, Ted Simon, Chris Scott, the Johnsons, etc.) will all be on the ‘Great Road’ with Livingstone, Ericson and Drake while those of us left who remember how it used to be will be unable to stop the machines of mediocrity.

Drama aside. From now on if anyone asks which bike they should buy I will tell them to get a moped and do their bit for the environment.
You do what you want… I’m keeping the riff-raff away from adventure motorcycling

If this posting sounds elitist or amount to hate-speech I apologise. It is only meant as a warning that our passion could be diluted by too much exposure. Aww crap, I’m sure I’ll feel better once I take my pills.

__________________
BMW R1200GS
Suzuki TL1000S
Suzuki GSX750R
Honda MBX50

There was an article in one of the recent issues of 'Two Wheels Only' magazine, here in the UK, which dealt with the trend towards big trailies and speculating that they are going to be the next 'urban 4x4 must have'.

I'll try to look it up and forward it on to you as it was an interesting article to read.

Geoff

I too guess I fit in with Squidbrains description of clueless people buying big trailies (I HAD NOT seen LWR when I got the bike though!) - but I don't get people buying them for riding round roads in the UK/Europe - I only got the bike for a RTW trip, and if I have the cash when I get back will try and get a nice fast Japanese sports bike.

Also killing chickens in the third world??? are there really overlanders out there that are this sort of yuppie scum? Everywhere I have been off the beaten track everyone has been ridiculously nice to me, free lunches and chai etc so there is hope for us yet - our international reputation is at least a bit intact. That said I was on a small ferry in S.America when two Americans on bikes decided to start their engines early and rev hell out of them - not a popular move.
Maybe the code of conduct would be a good idea, but this is getting close to having rules for our delightfully anarchic hobby......

I guess its a case of be careful what you wish for. Every time something gets easier it brings in people who were'nt quite up to doing it before. My "overlanding" experience goes back to 1970 when I went to Morocco 2 up on a 250 two stroke Yamaha. No hard luggage, no GPS, no Lonely Planet, no big tanks, no mp3 players, no mobile phones, no internet (and our haircuts were checked at the Ceuta border in case we were degenerate hippys). Everybody genuinely thought we were stupid to attempt it. Bit by bit over the decades I've seen equipment and infrastructure improve to the point that last time I went to Morocco (2yrs ago) I don't even think I checked the oil.
All of these changes were ones I welcomed at the time as they took a little uncertainty out of the next trip but at the same time its brought in people who wouldn't have considered setting out without a whole raft of backups.A few years ago I met a German guy and his girlfriend at the Western Sahara / Mauritanian border. She had fallen and broken her collerbone. She got a lift to Nouhadibou in a 4x4 and flew home. The German AA recovered the bike (a GS BMW!) Without the ability to do this many people would not undertake such a trip.
My rule of thumb observation over the last 35 yrs has been that whatever is cutting edge foolhardyness now becomes easy to do ten years later and you'll see others having their hand held as part of an organised commercial tour ten years after that. They might be using vintage Enfields with wicker baskets as hard lugggage and a tweed riding suits but its more likely that they'll have goretex suits and be riding GS's
It's not just GS's that pr**ks ride. Two weeks ago I was lane splitting a holdup on the M40 when I was overtaken by a courier who physically pushed me out of the way to get past, gave me a one fingered salute and twenty meters up the road kicked the door of a car that hadn't pulled over far enough.

I think regardless of what bike we ride or what panniers or throwovers we choose...these are tools of our trade!

i dont think you can or should keep any so called riff raff away from what we do.
the taste of adventure is not something that can be owned and protected like some exclusive golf club.

I think most kind of motorcycle types e.g sports bikes,offroaders etc..have their fare share of indivduals who create a false image for the non riding public by the way they act and behave,but is their any group of road user that are regarded as saints?

And If certain people just get thier kicks from looking like a modern lawrence of arabia but without gaining the deep satisfaction that we get from seeing and being part of it all,im afraid thats their loss and nice secondhand bikes for us!!

Lee.

Well if you happen to see me on the road I am riding a '99 africa twin, brand new metal mules, gps and roll chart holder on the handlebars. Have spent a lot of time reading stuff on this board, and come Monday I will be in New York waiting for my bike to turn up. I have my digital camera, my camcorder, laptop, and under pressure to buy a cheap mobile in the states.

I may be the yuppie, I may be the riff raff, but I am doing this trip on my own, in my mind it will be the first and last time cos cant imagine being in a position to be able to do two or more rtw's in one life but who knows. It is my trip, I am doing it my way. Minimal route planning except to want to do the trans am trail, route 1 california and be at the horizons meeting in Argentina. I dunno how long I am gonna be on the road for, taking it one day at a time but have all my flights booked I want, completely flexible and taken 18months off work.

In my humble opinion, everybody does there own trip, in there own way, and there own style.

This is why we are still classified as being individual

Ride safe and hopefully get to meet a few of you on the road

Paul

Hows the 1200 GS Mr Striker? Personally I found the Bavarian Motorenwerken to be the most suitable RTW weapon for the well heeled. You havent seen my sister have you?

__________________
I had survival training but couldn't use a petrol bowser, let alone ride a bike. Claudio! Claudio!

Emotionally I agree with you LuckyStriker, but that's "progress". I dare say the brave adventurers of yesteryear who journeyed great distances on horseback or on foot into truly hostile territories would rail against those of us who take the easy option of motorised transport. The same could be said about canoes vs. sailing boats vs. motorboats etc but they are all points on a continuum. I'm for people doing what gives them satisfaction - short of doing disproportionate harm to the rest of us. In any case, I don't think the people you describe would find many kindred sprits on the HUBB or would be likely to contaminate the pure strain of adventure motorcycling, as you know it.

Maybe we need an HU code of conduct. It could tap into guides for all the new travelers while also encouraging responsible traveling. The trend cannot be stopped, but remember trends go up and down. Motorcycle travel will never become a significant problem as compared to many other similar issues.

------------------
Brooklyn Dakar
http://motorcycleramblings.blogspot.com/

__________________
Prevously known as JSherm
My blog: http://www.motorcycleramblings.com/
http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/sherman/ I will up date this soon, really Grant, I will....
"This is the story of America. Everybody's doing what they think they're supposed to do." J Kerouac
"Who's more foolish: the fool, or the fool who follows him" OW Kenobi

Don't worry, history will not repeat itself. You can't aircondition bikes. So, it's too uncomfortable for most people.

In any case, most SUVs never get into 4x4 territory. And if they did they'd soon be stuck.

------------------
Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

__________________
Cheers,
Peter.

Europe to NZ 2006-10

I'm looking forward to sitting quietly outside my tent at Ripley and doing a bit of people watching. With a 300 punter sell out there are bound to be a good few "Ewan effect" converts with plenty of wadge to throw at a bike. However, some of them may well return in 2006/7/8 with suitably battered machines after having been inspired by more seasoned travellers.

I know I was.

Mick

If SquidBrain's going to be making notes then I may as well get my confession in early... I'm near enough exactly as you describe and probably the sort of person LuckyStriker's complaining about (apart from the environment trashing part). I'm looking forward to 3 months camping around Eastern Europe and Asia in September and will be heading to the meeting for information and advice as well as meeting like minded people. I don't expect to be quite so "green" by the time next year's meeting comes around.

I guess I’m just sore that trailies are becoming the next urban 4x4. And I guess I’m angry at some tour operators since I read Fiona Cambell’s book “On foot through Africa” where she described the Overlanders killing scores of goats and chickens when they plough through starving villages. I don’t want adventure riding to become a yuppie event and later turned into a dreadful cliché.

But I reckon Jsherm and beddist are right – something so uncomfortable as motorcycling around the world will probably never become a mainstream event…
As for someone like unhinged, people like you should be encouraged.
I should shut up now before I give myself a bad name.

__________________
BMW R1200GS
Suzuki TL1000S
Suzuki GSX750R
Honda MBX50

Isn’t people watching a little elitist? And what exactly can you conclude about somebody from the state of their bike, boots, tent or whatever?

You can’t tell how somebody came by their bike, how hard they worked for it or anything else. And who cares if Ewan inspired them?

I thought his pretrip ‘SAS training’ was ridiculous but I didn’t have to watch his DVD or buy his book (I didn’t). If others did and it inspired them, then good luck to them.

There are also ‘seasoned travelers’ who like to wash their bikes and ride what they can afford. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with different approaches to motorcycling. There’s room for everyone.
Stephan
PS Does anyone have a link for bike air-conditioning?

Motorcycle Air Conditioning, as asked for:
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com...ves/002710.php

__________________

Our Favorite Roads, until the next trip!
Bob & Kathy
The adventures of Lemonade