Quads better than bikes for traveling???
 

Three years ago I did an around the world trip on the industry standard BMW 1150GS, I loved it for North America, Europe, and Turkey but when I reached Africa I hated it. I was so limited on the terrain we could ride, if there was mud it would take a week to pass, if there was sand we would fall all the time. I missed so much scenery because I was focussing on the road.
So when we decided to do Africa again my wife came up with the idea of Quadbikes. It was the best idea ever, all of sudden we could travel the worst roads in Africa, we could ride up the dunes in Algeria, river crossings no problem, and I spent more time looking at the scenery than looking for potholes. Not to mention we could carry much more gear and take enough food and water to last us a week. We traveled 17 countries in 8 months and never regretted being on a quad a single time.
Quads are the best of both worlds for africa, you get the adventure of a bike but the stability of 4 wheels. But with that said I still have my BMW and I will never sell it but I will never bring it to Africa again.
So alright all you hard core motorcyclists lets hear it.

For the info from my first trip WELCOME TO JOURNEY TO ESCAPE REALITY
For the Quad trip Welcome to www.quadsacrossafrica.com

Quads are not leagal here on public roads....

May need a old school dune buggy or sand rail, quads are not legal most places in the USA. Some quads are more like a buggy now. but not legal on road most places.

You're not the only one with that thought...;)

http://www.brainsweb.co.uk/uploads/the-wrong-bike.wmv

4 wheels are 4 wheels
 

When I take the thought process of switching from 2 to 4 wheels to its full logical conclusion it points toward a Land Rover or Cruiser et al.

With a quad, you give up all of the advantages and attraction of 2 wheeled transport with not much gain.

In a post a short time back, there was a very good argument and summary about why a quad in South America is not very suitable.

As someone who chose three wheels I can see the advantages. You are still open with a 360 degree view, so people treat you as a biker and talk to you. You have power to weight ratio's 4x4 drivers only dream of. You have a fairly simple vehicle you can keep up to. In addition snow, sand. mud etc. holds no fear and you can carry a massive amount of gear. Diesel quads have ranges that'll have the chairman of Touratech/Acerbis running for cover and unlike the latest crop of CAN messaged, catalysed, overweight, overpriced bikes, they are designed to be used.

It is a different vehicle entirely, not a landcruiser, not a bike.

That said I'd stay clear. I mean, they turn the same way in both directions, boring or what!! Seriously, the legals will be frightning and probably make a RTW impossible. In some markets they are treated just like a 4x4, in others some are light cars others are off road only and in other markets still they would count as a 4x4 for type approval/certification but fail on crash protection and are so totally illegal. You could argue that what's legal at home is allowed transit under the UN charter. This works for having the wrong headlights or even a chair on the left in a right hand country, but a vehicle where they can't even tell if you have the right license? If you try this you'll need an extra quad to carry the lawyer and his/her books and an extra ten or fifteen years to spend in jail while the cops come round to your way of thinking :frown:

Sorry to rain on your parade. Put a chair on the GS and simply fly it when you fancy two wheels, problem solved :mchappy:

Andy

Why not a more sensible choice of bike, I don't think for a north africa trip a GS would even make the short-list, especially if you want to ride through some dunes. As you have ridden a GS in bad conditions you should appreciate the difference even more (am still recovering from taking a big traillie through some dunes years ago).

I could rant for England about the disadvantages of quads, but to be fair a lot of that is personal prejudice against the people that ride them so I'll try and leave it in the bar!

If you want the open-ness of a bike and the stability of 4 wheels then I would also say a sand-rail would be your best bet, either buy one or get an old VW beetle, take the body off, uprate the suspension, weld a roll-cage on, add extra oil coolers to the top or side, whack in a couple of seats with 4-point harnesses and you're good to go. In the UK you wouldn't even have to re-register the vehicle - it would be a VW beetle still.

You still wont get past the "4-wheels move the body and 2-wheels move the soul" issue!

Why not?
 

Odd hé.

QuadsAccrossAfrica shares his positive experience with quads in Africa, and we get an avalange of legal nightmares and other disadvantages.

Seems to my those guys just proved they are a viable option for Africa. If not for you, sure for someone else. What about Siberia in winter?

Cheers!

I wouldnt do it for a few reasons however if (for whatever reason) a lightweight/sand and mud worthy 2-wheeler were out of the question then the next logical step would be a quod!
Ive seen a few have some truly spectacular accidents though.
Not for me, heavy is the wrong direction.
Why hasnt a quad ever won the Paris-Dakar?


Peace

for the siberia winter....
 

Russian motorcycle manufacturer Ish make a crazy bike for the siberian winter (actually a trike), massive massive balloon wheels, about 3 foot wide for staying on top of the snow. The look insane but are probably a bad way to travel compared with a truck (warm) or snowmobile (fast), anyone ever ridden one?

Why hasnt a quad ever won the Paris-Dakar?

We werent in a race so that really isnt a relavent reply, we traveled 8 months covering 17 countries.
I agree that a small bike, a 250, would be the best bike to travel Africa but on a small bike the amount of gear you can take for an 8 month trip is very limited. Like I said we carried food and water for a week, this made us very independent and we could go pretty far out into the back country.


As far as paper work Quads are street legal in Europe so no problem their and in Africa we never had a single problem with our paperwork as far as the rest of the world cant say. In the US some states they are not legal but several people have crossed the US on them doing back roads. So where there is a will there is a way.

I refuse to travel by landcruiser or a VW bug, the difference being that you are sitting in something and on a Quad you are riding. A quad still has all the same adventure of a bike if not more because of the places that can be accessed.

I love when people make arguements that they have seen horrible accidents on Quads. Uhhmmm go talk to the local policeman and ask him how many motorcyclists they have scraped off the highway, way more than quads for sure.

Finally
You still wont get past the "4-wheels move the body and 2-wheels move the soul" issue!
I am a die hard motorcyclist, as soon as I got home I couldnt wait to take my BMW out and I am jonesing for a track day on my sport bike. But after 8 months in Africa when you hit the hard the roads trust me moving the body is just as important as moving the soul. Plus Quads arent this boreing souless vehicle they are a blast and do have character of their own.
Like threewheelbonnie said "It is a different vehicle entirely, not a landcruiser, not a bike."

Yeah, I'm on the positive side of this argument too, as to me they do look like a great "third way" which gives you a lot of the plus points of a bike, with some of the extras of a 4x4.

Well oddly enough, that's just what we're thinking. We've been pushed back on leaving for China so there's no way we'll get a summer trip so inspired by Tobias's adventures Trans-Siberian in winter we thought, why not?

Mind you we're shifting one step further from bikes and looking at the latest crop of UTVs or Side-by-Sides like the



It's got a 700cc EFI engine, full/part-time four wheel drive.... well you can read the rest via that link. I reckon it gives a lot of the perks of a quad (small size, good power/weight ratio, manoeuvrability) but with the added safety perks that some people worry about with quads (the whole roll issue)

And it has plenty of space for all the gear, thousands of accessories available from Polaris and loads of others.

As for the legal issues, a European quad or side-by-side or buggy is classed as a "heavy quadricycle" which you need either a full bike licence or a full car licence to drive/ride. From the research I've been doing it many countries seem to say if you have a licence to drive it and it's registered for the road in its home country then you can drive it on the roads or off-road no problem. The US appears not to allow this as the Quadtrek team found out with their drive from Canada to Mexico. I don't know about South-America or Australia though.

I'll shut up now before I sound like an infomercial

I have limited experiences with quads, but they seem to be a sensible alternative to a motorcycle, if one was to ride strictly, or as much, off road as possible, such as riding across the US on the back country dirt roads/trails/etc. I have to agree with Quadsacrossafrica--who cares if and why a quad has not won the Paris to Dakar? Or the Baja 1000? They can do the route, and for 99.999% of the people, can do the route better than a 2 wheeler as far as when the terrain gets ugly for two wheels. Much can be loaded onto them. The only real downsides I can see (again, considering the intended route) are the thumb throttle, and the appetite for fuel.

The short answer - NO!
 

Quads are only better in limited circumstances. No one has made the case that quads are recognized/legal in all places where motorcycles can operate.

So there's some people who happened to use them in special situations - as in Africa - where there wasn't a restriction on quads. So they perform better in soft stuff - a reason for the things to exist in the first place. But hit pavement and the motorcycle will be a better vehicle choice. Try negotiating through congested city traffic, and I'm willing to bet the motorcycle will get you through traffic better.

Around the world, motorcycles can go anywhere its legal to operate a motor vehicle, and although there are situations when they may not be the best vehicle, they'll still get you there.

But is anyone say "thou shalt not use your motorcycle"? "thou shalt not use a car"?

No I think not, all that's being suggested is that in some circumstances they can also be considered as a suitable long distance touring vehicle. I wouldn't dare tell anyone what vehicle to use, all I'd do was suggest alternatives.

Sorry Alexlebrit - but the thread is titled:

Are Quads better than bikes for traveling???

so, except in limited circumstances, certain situations, NO!

Indeed, although it then goes on to expound in far greater detail, the specific times when they may be and the specific reasons why that might be so, so I was engaging with the whole thread, not just the title.

To go back to your previous post, it appears that outside some states of the US, some parts of South America, and all of Australia, a quad can be used, legally on the road. From the research I've done so far it appears Africa, India, Europe, and most of Asia are fine with this IF they've been registered for road-use in their country of origin (not certain about Antarctica though). I'd suggest that they're legal for road use in more parts of the world than they're prohibited.

So sure you can't use them everywhere, but you can use them in many places, including some where motorbikes may be either unsuitable or prohibited (increasingly in France for instance motorbikes are prohibited off-road due to over-use by noisy "scrambler" style bikes, but quads, and other motor vehicles are still allowed).

I do appreciate that some bikers appear to loathe the things with a passion, much more than they'd dislike other 4 wheeled vehicles, although I'm not certain why that's so. Is it because quads are seen as "sissy-bikes" and their riders are like those kids still using stabilisers or training wheels on their push-bikes long after the rest of us mastered balancing?

Wait for Harley to bring one out and see the reaction.....:eek3:

Andy

That made me chuckle:clap: I live in a rural setting, and all the Shepard's around here use quads with their dogs riding on the back:thumbup1: The terrain they cross would leave a bike standing (literally), and the carrying capacity is brilliant (especially with the front racks fitted). It's lambing time now, and quads must be a godsend for them, the area that can now be covered (compared to walking) is immense ! They're not to everyone's taste, but they get the job done:mchappy:


Trophymick

I dont think the opinion of quads as bikes for sissies applies to agricultural use, just those select few who get a road legal quad and road tyres so they can pose around town......

I've seen shepherds in the desert carry sheep on a ural motorcycle, but I am pretty sure they would prefer a quad!

Does that apply to the shepperd or the sheep?

Good point! I guess if you have a particular fondess for bending the sheep over your lap the ural might win, would look a bit sus if you had a perfectly good but unused rack behind you

I kinda hate to do this, but I want to get back on topic...
Quads are definitely a worthy choice depending on why you are out travelling in the first place.

On a motor/push bike, you are exposed to the elements and situation much more than in a vehicle-this can create interesting moments and has benefits. The quad is a compromise between the two...
Unfortunately Josh's initial choice in bike tainted his exposure to what two wheels are capable of, but in the end when he took the quads he got out of the trip what he wanted and that was to share the experience with someone significant and not have a vehicle limit their choices of where to go.

The comfort of 4 wheels can be judged however you want to judge it, but it was their trip/holiday and they proved that we shouldn't limit our choices to the f650, klr, gs, dr650, xt600, lancruiser, landrover, etc. Although I get somewhat fatigued at the banality of vehicle choice by some folks, in the end what impresses me is the sacrifice and committment people make in order to scratch their travel itch...

Although Josh, I still think a BMW K75s would have proved more interesting;)

Edde after seeing where you crossed the Sahara on your K75 I would put that right up there as the most underrated travel bike.

So I am going to through the pro's and con's to the quad travel
Quad Cons
Thumb Throttle- must change out to twist throttle (that was our first mod)
Fuel consumption - 25 mpg (US miles and gallons)
Tires - have to plan ahead and have DHL deliver if traveling in the 3rd world.
Top Speed - only 50mph ( but we found that there is no need to do more than that in Africa, we were there to see the place so why fly by at 100 and miss it all)

Quad Pros
Storage - ability to carry 4 times more gear than a motorcycle.. my wife took all her camera equipment and now has signed a book deal. On a motorcycle she wouldnt have been able to carry the amount of gear she brought.
Terrain - the ability for a beginner to easily cross terrain that would challenge a Dakar Rally rider.
Novelty - on a motorcycle we couldnt get a magazine company to even talk to us, we were not famous moviestars with support vehicles, but on quads we write for 4 different magazines, in the end got a book deal and we even broke a Guinness World Record. *Diclaimer- we didnt do the trip for any hopes of fame or breaking records but it was nice to get the publicity while doing the trip.
Feeling - believe it or not you still get the same rush and feeling of the wind in your face and the sense of freedom that comes with a bike.
Safety - we did not fall over a single time, hitting dogs, chickens, pigs was never a concern. When we traveled in Mali on the BMW we had to miss some of the best countryside because we fell off the bike and hurt my wifes knee. But with the quads falling over in deep sand wasnt a concern.

Alex like your link. I think ride or drive what you want, whatever floats your boat so to speak. If it gets you out there than who cares about the hows or whys. I like the look of quads and they are great fun in the dunes I cant store one at home as I only have room in the coal shed for 1 bike at a time but those 700 Raptors from Yam look brilliant.:scooter:

For those of you who think a 'dune buggy' like those they make out of vw beetles by ripping everything out and chucking roll bars on it is a good alternative to bikes in Africa, I dare you to try that! For one its fine on a beach as the sand drops quickly but try driving that in Fesh Fesh and you will have serious health issues with your lungs. The dust in Africa is so light it can hover for hours, also making it a nightmare for anyone who is following you. On a more technical side, the VW engine suffers from overheating in dusty conditions, so loads of new air filters will be needed.

These buggies are great fun for a day out but trust me I have tried it in Africa and its not a practical day-in-day-out mode of travel on that terrain.

PS: For anyone who cares I did most of Southern Africa in a home constructed steel tubed enclosed 'sand master' with a Rover V8 engine rear mounted, built by a family friend. A bit heavy but great fun.

Trav

We did Africa (cairo to Cape Town route) two up with a 100kg of luggage on a R100GS. We were focused on getting there and unlike some other bike travellers we met we were not tempted to go looking for off road for sport. We did take the bike up Mt. Kenya (to nearly 4000 metres) and all around Botswana and Namibia off road and never really felt restricted. It was a bit of a liabilty in deep sand due to weight and road tyres. I've owned an 1150 since and wouldn't even consider it for the same trip. The bike is much too heavy to start with and vastly overated in my opinion.

I've never liked quads even though they are road legal here but you never know, the next trip may be me on the bike and wifey on a quad - she's not safe in control of 2 wheels pedal power or engine.

"The bike is much too heavy to start with and vastly overated in my opinion"

I agree 100%:thumbup1: Just shows what a big advertising budget does for a remarkably average motorcycle. The British can't get enough of them, I suppose the same people buy Range Rovers despite living in London. How can anybody justify the price too?!

Anyway this is just a little :offtopic: so I will stop before I get carried away.

Trav

Hey I just wanted to add that on my first trip around the world I couldnt get any magazine or media to publish a single article that I wrote. The thing about motorcycle traveling is that unless you are a jedi night that pretends to have his bmw panniers fulll you cant pay your bills. So traveling by quad I have now made serious money (well over $10,000) by writing articles. The cool thing about quads is that nobody does it. So please anyone who wants to try something different let me know and I can point you in the right direction.
Cheers,
Josh

Like T-W-B, I have a sidecar outfit (Ural) and so, having experienced now what a sidecar is like to ride, I do not feel the "Quad is like a car, because you do not have the sense of Freedom" arguement applies.

As someone said, ride/drive what you like. Having struggled in places, two-up, on our bike in S. America, I do know what it feels like to miss the scenery and only watch the "road", so I can empathise with that, too.

For me the reasons I would not (barring the fact I already have a Outfit for "terrain" peace of mind) use a Quad are the following.

Mainly expense: We do our travelling as a couple, predominantly, and so to use Quads we would have to buy two as, by all accounts, I understand they are "single rider". Then, as Josh mentioned there is the aspect of tyre availability, let alone other spares (although spares for newer bikes would probably have to be couriered in, anyway). Then there is my complete lack of mechanical knowledge surrounding quads, although I'm sure it has a lot of cross-over with bikes so perhaps not such a problem.

In short, I think cost would be the most prohibitive. Note these are all practical reasons, and not some vehement revolt against the non-bike.

I consider myself a biker, through and through, and for a long time I think that meant "damned if I'll ever give more that two-wheels even a second glance!!". Since coming to the conclusion that, whilkstmI still own and enjoy a bike, for travel with my partner, the Ural is the best solution and very good fun it its own right. So, if it takes your fancy, I say Quad away to your hearts content.

So when do we see some pictures, then??

To quad or not to quad?
 

Hi All

Like Josh I’m sold on the idea of Quads/ATVs.

Having held a bike licence for 30+ years and have driven trikes then quads for more than 15 in my work as a contract shepherd.

So much so I’m in the process of planning an overland trip all be it at a more sedate pace than Josh as I’ll be diesel powered plus hauling a custom built trailer.

Cheers
Chris

Chris, I'd love to hear more about your plans, either here or by mail.

I'd happily ride Africa on a Quad.. I reckon it would be "sensible" and also "Fun" choice.

I can certainly see the advantages of a quad. Being able to ride pretty much anywhere without the risk of being hurt or swallowed by mud and rivers..

You still get the sights, smells and sounds of not being in a "TIN BOX" but without the limiting factors of a bike..

On the other hand.. I can't imagine it giving you adrenaline, fun and freedom feeling that can only be had on 2 wheels..

I ride a bike because I don't want to be sensible.. If I did, I would have a car and drive to Rhyl.

So to answer your question... NO, its not better than a bike but much better and much more of an fun experience than a Landcruise/Landrover etc.

P.S. I think the reason you didnt enjoy your offroad parts is you picked a heavy TANK of a BMW1150GS... Personally, I think they are marvel of great marketing as far as Adventure bikes go. (but each to their own)