Why do I need an adventure bike?

[treefrog]

Hi there.
Just a quick question. I am planning a trip to Morocco and fancy some 'mild' off road riding but am a bit stumped. I currently ride a CBF600 due to being a short arse and would rather feel comfortable riding than facing a bike I cant get on without platform shoes. I used to own a F650GS which was bought with the trip in mind but I had nothing but reliability problems and constant blank cheque writing to the thieves at the BMW dealership so got rid as soon as I could. Will the CBF be ok for the trip and will I be able or have to put dual purpose tyres on? (ie.Metzeller tourance etc.)
:confused1:
Cheers people,
Phil

[TurboCharger]

It depends on how you treat the bike. IMO you can do almost any road with any bike if you take it slow enough. As you're CBF isn't designed for off-road then you should take extra care to check the bike more regularly. You should do a service sooner and if riding in dusty or dirty conditions clean the air-filter.

As for tyres, this will depend on the size of the rims on your bike. You can check for example a tyre distributer whether they have suitable dual purpose tyres for the riding you are doing. try Pneus Online: Expert store for tyre selling online and motorized classifieds
Note that in Morrocco there is a lot of sand, so if you want to ride sand, the best is a very light bike. Otherwise the roads are good quality and you're CBF would be fine.

[oothef]

Lots of really good roads to keep you occupied for weeks in Morocco, the pistes are stony, and if you are sensible, rideable but, there could be wet, muddy, slippery patches and washed out gullies which will be testing/stop a road bike. Depending when you go, snow could be a problem at higher altitudes. You could use the road bike and hire an off-roader in Marrakesh or Agadir for a few days.

[T.REX63]

Originally Posted by treefrog

...
Will the CBF be ok for the trip and will I be able or have to put dual purpose tyres on? (ie.Metzeller tourance etc.)
:confused1:
Cheers people,
Phil

Any bike will do. Check out MotoEdde's blog. Around the world on a K75. It puts it all in perspective...

[masukomi]

Originally Posted by T.REX63

Any bike will do. Check out MotoEdde's blog. Around the world on a K75. It puts it all in perspective...

I have to agree, but having done dirt and deep gravel on a ninja 250 I'd suggest that some bikes are definitely better off road than others. If you take the bike you love you'll enjoy the trip more, but the roads you want to do and the bike you love might not be a great match. If you're taking a street bike it'll be much happier, and make your life easier, if you stick to pavement as much as possible. If you wanted to spend more time off road then you're going to be better off with something more dual-sporty.

And yes, if you're going off road tire choice makes a huge difference. Street tires feel very slippery to me in gravel and loose dirt. You have to ride much slower, and have a harder time making quick directional changes (to get away from that car that suddenly came speeding around the blind corner).

Bikes can be lowered if height is an issue, and there are many to choose from. BMW isn't the only company that makes dual sports.

[Nath]

Sort of depends on your definition of off-road. Gravel roads are easily rideable on anything if they're in half-reasonable condition. Hardpac dirt roads are too if it's not wet.

If you're venturing onto slightly more tricky stuff, then you will find things a little more difficult depending on your riding abilities. Cbf6 not a very light bike. If (when?) you drop it there's plenty of stuff to break. Might find it difficult to find anything other than road tyres for your wheel sizes. Beware of lack of ground clearance, particularly denting your exhaust pipes.

If you've not got any off-road experience at all then the cbf should be perfectly fine for the kind of non-asphalt roads you should be looking to ride. Anything that is going to be tricky enough to cause real problems should probably not be getting anywhere near to being on your route plan.


Most people do the opposite, buy something with off-road pretensions (often with a bmw badge on it) and then ride a handful of gravel roads at granny speed before declaring themselves to be hardcore 'adventure motorcyclists'.

[normw]

My Kawasaki ZR-7S is quite similar to your CBF in terms of ergonomics, tire size, and number of cylinders. I've had it on gravel / dirt roads in the Yukon and Baja (wet and dry). I say without hesitation that it does very poorly under those circumstances. Progress is slow, painstaking and insecure. So, sure, it can be done but it's not fun and, frankly, not that safe, particularly if you hit a softer patch of dirt or a deeper patch of gravel. More than once I felt at the edge of control.

Of course, a pair of Vespas once successfully completed the Paris - Dakar so perhaps it's me and not the bike.

The conventional wisdom is that deflating the tires substantially will improve handling off pavement. I never did that because I was encountering routes that kept shifting between pavement and gravel and the thought of repeatedly deflating and inflating was just too much trouble.

I do recall investigating the availability of dual purpose tires that would fit the 17 inch wheels and, about four years ago, Avon Distanzias were available in the correct size.

There is supposedly something about the manner in which parallel four cylinder engines deliver power to the the wheels that makes them bad choices for unstable surfaces. Perhaps someone more technically knowledgeable can weigh in on that topic.

Normw

[Threewheelbonnie]

Go back before about 1980. There were no "Adventure" styled bikes. People managed perfectly well on a Triumph or Enfield. The only difference was that these bikes had tyres available for the conditions. With this in mind I've run a Hinckley Bonneville on Heidenau knobblies and you can go anywhere an F650 can. More to the point, if you are under six foot you have a much bigger choices of places to put your feet down and unlike an XT225 you can do motorways two up as well.

There is no reason you can't use a four cylinder engine. For competition (the bane of all of us trying to buy stuff that isn't designed for twelve trips round a half mile loop with a weekly rebuild) they aren't used because of weight, complexity and the need to keep the revs up/be in the right gear. Learn to use the power and torque where it is instead of trying to copy Dougie Lampkin (whose bikes do more miles on trailer than their wheel) and a four will be fine.

My only concern about road bikes is the build. The F650's I had dropped to bits faced with off road use, the Triumph has it's moments (minor stuff like the horn bracket) while the XT seemed unbreakable. Styled bikes like the F and Bonneville are designed for weekend use while XT's etc. seem to get a bit extra metal. The Bonneville was a lucky choice, the 60's style made them fit extra metal not by design, but through style. If you can get 17-inch tyres with a decent tread and you are willing to find out about the shocks and welding on a road bike, go for it.

Andy

[GasUp]

Originally Posted by normw

There is supposedly something about the manner in which parallel four cylinder engines deliver power to the the wheels that makes them bad choices for unstable surfaces.

Depending on the configuration of the motor, the delivery is different. multicylinder bikes put the power down in a more constant stream, 4's more than twins & V's. Singles put the power down once every two rotations of the motor, so the wheel has a <very> small period of time to recover from a spin. Kinda like very basic traction controll!!


There is still no reason why you couldn't use a 4 on the loose as Andy (above ) has said you just need to match your right hand to the situation. Matching that with a single is much easier than with a 4.

I think Singles are a bit of a Marmite thing, love 'em or hate 'em...

[treefrog]

Cheers to you all for your replies. I think I'll stick to the tarmac for now and just enjoy the scenery rather than worrying about venturing off the beaten track and breaking my legs. It'll be my first trip so plenty of time to return on a more capable bike if I fancy being more adventurous.
Also off to iceland for a wedding of all things in November and have heard good things about the organised bike tours but will have to win the lottery before I can afford that. Cheers.