Adventure bikes?

Submitted: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 18:35
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Hi all, just wondering if anyone else on Exploroz, does any adventure bike trips, and what do you ride.. Have been looking at a few of the trips on offer with the major players, but can be very expensive... One in perticular leaves from Streaky Bay, and finishes at Broken Hill.. All food, back up support vehicles, and depending on accomodation, cost between $2000 up to $4000, for six days.. Think I have seen a few on here mention bikes?.. Just thought I'd put this out there, to see, if anyone else enjoys exploring on two wheels.. Cheers Odog
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Reply By: Robin Miller - Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 18:54

Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 18:54
Not sure if you mean trail bikes , I mainly use a Honda crf-230 these days , although I did ride the Simpson on my DRZ-400.

I found that over the long haul I could explore about 5 times as much territory on the bike compared to the car , and use a lot less petrol as well.
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Follow Up By: Member - Odog - Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 19:26

Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 19:26
Hi Robin, had a few mates do the Simpson, on dirt bikes, unfortunately, I wasn't in a position to go at the time, kids and work commitments..
Have been on a few weekend trips, used to have an XR650 Honda.. Wish I still had it, was an awesome bike.
Would love to do a few longer rides.. At the moment, I have a BMW 1200 adventure bike, hardly gets ridden these days, but great peice of kit, very comfy, and good for getting into the bush, even with Sue on the back. Maybe I should join a club I guess..
Have seen on the home page, EO caters for bikes as well as the 4x4 touring scene, so thought I'd ask the question, and see what response I get..
The DRZ400 is a great bike too, new quite a few people had them, ultra reliable, and unstoppable.. One of the most dependable bikes out there.. Cheers Odog
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Follow Up By: Member - Outback Gazz - Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 20:50

Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 20:50
G'day Odog

For a number of years I ran 4wd / motorbike tours specialising in Central Australia - many many trips across the Simpson Desert ! Had the Flying Doctor there one year for a poor fellow who cracked his neck - great rider but just had a very very simple accident - he's ok now but stays clear of bikes !

Whilst I still run a few 4wd trips I have stayed away from the dirt bikes coz the support required to do Simpson trip for the 10 bikes I usually took is huge - fuel, spares, tools, food, swags, shelter etc etc etc.

I've had a couple XR 650's and ridden them across the desert and on other occasions a WR 400 and a WR 426 but not sure I would ride a BMW 1200 across ( way too big and heavy )

You're probably already aware of offroadexplorer but there are people on there that do tours for adventure bikes or even if you post a query about clubs and rides you will get some info !!

All the best and stay upright

Gazz

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Follow Up By: Robin Miller - Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 14:36

Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 14:36
You guys are tougher than me , I don't know how you could ride a 650 or bigger out there , but many do I guess.

This post made me re-read post 59635 which was about our simpson adventure ride.

In it we meet up with a group in real trouble and on verge of giving up on there bigger bikes after multiple issues before they got to eyre creek even. I even picked up a full 20lt jerry can that they didn't know had fallen off a bike !

I understand just how much organization is involved Gazz , although I think theres quite a few like the group we rescued who just shouldn't be out there at all.
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Follow Up By: Member - Odog - Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 18:40

Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 18:40
Hi Robin, just read your thread on Simpson crossing, great read.. Thank you for that.. My youngest, sounds exactly like your young fella, he also raced an rmz250.. Now rides a ktm500 and lives in Perth, we will ride together again one day... I sent him your story, know he would love to read it.. Cheers Odog
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Follow Up By: Member - Outback Gazz - Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 19:39

Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 19:39
G'day Robin
Yes - a lot of orginization and a lot of gear to carry !! We usually had 2 traytops ( 1 Landcruiser and 1 Patrol plus 2 wagons sometimes 3 ) - normally 18 people with ten bikes so that meant - 18 swags, 18 clothes bags, 18 chairs, 4 fridges, 2 camp ovens, bbq, gas bottles, quick shades, lights, lots of food, water, firewood for camp ovens - and that's before the bike stuff ! Three 44's of petrol for the bikes, two 44's of diesel for the cars, plus handle bars, chains, tyres, oil, tools etc etc etc !
Bugger me - don't know how we did it really - especially with 18 different personalities and ten different levels of rider abillity ! But we did it without too much drama.
Agree - some motorbike riders / groups shouldn't be out there, we have also helped out a few but having said that we have also helped some 4wdrivers that were ill prepared and gone out of our way to get them on the road again !
"You guys are tougher than me" Tougher ? More stupid ? Or just crazy ? Not sure which one suits best but of all the bikes I have ridden across the desert I found the XR 650 the easiest to ride - I seemed to be forever changing gears on the smaller capacity bikes. ( could just be my larger frame lol )
Some of the younger blokes who came on my trips asked me what the best training / preparation is for all the sand and the sand hills. That's easy I said - buy 5 tonne of play pit sand and spread it 300mm thick on the corner of your house, go inside and get all your riding gear on, boots, nylons, armour / jacket, gloves, helmut and goggles. Then, using a ladder, climb on the roof, go to the corner where the sand is and jump off - repeat this several times jumping backwards, sideways and with a couple forward rolls thrown in plus the occasional belly flopper / face plant ! Do this twice a week for a month and you are now prepared for the desert !!!
Why is it now I have the urge to ride the desert again ??? lol
All the best
Gazz

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Reply By: Member - shane r1 - Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 23:38

Wednesday, May 11, 2016 at 23:38
Gday Odog
I do a lot of riding , am about to do the APC rally , if you haven't heard of it Google and you'll get some info. 14 days of mostly dirt roads and tracks.
Was going on my ktm690 but the gearbox has got a gutsacke, so no choice but to take my 1200GSA , probably be a bit hard at times on the big bike and might have to take the easy option some bits.
The other trip you mention would be OK, but a bit overpriced I think. Did their safari in 2005 wasn't very costly then, although we did our own accomadation then. The current one is a bit of a ripoff by my calculations, the accomadation is about 150 a night, and where they are going there's not many rooms wearth that much as far as I know.more like 50/night, we did a lap up around Tibooburra Birdsville back in August staying in rooms. I do camp as well though.
But this years would be a good trip, and I think would be very organised and you don't have to organise anything much.
Cheers
Robbo
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Follow Up By: Member - Odog - Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 16:55

Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 16:55
Gday Robbo, think the Beamer would be a handful in deep sand, and nothing wrong with doing the easy way, when you have the option, either, price of parts can be a deal breaker, why risk doing damage.. I also have a ktm 625, was a good mate of mines, that past away, so I ended up buying it when his wife needed it gone.
That bmw enduro, from streaky, in the details, said you need to pay for spare tyres, in case you ruin one, so it's all extra costs. We are leaving on a 5 week trip, a few weeks after this ride, so trying to save my pennies for that, but next year I'm going to try and do a BMW safari.. Always wanted to do it.. How did you find doing the safari? Where was that one held? Cheers Odog
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Reply By: Hoyks - Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 10:20

Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 10:20
I just got rid of my KLR650. I never did any paid tours, just a bunch of mates that also had KLR's would loosely organise something on line and away we would go.

I can see the advantages of having a supported trip and a vehicle to carry your gear though, the KLR was a pig when loaded.
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Reply By: Stu & "Bob" - Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 20:12

Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 20:12
I don't do much in the way of adventure riding, but here is a web forum that I frequent regularly.

ADVRider

These guys do a lot of riding to out of the way places.

I have a soft spot for the mid '80's Honda XL/XR bikes.

This is a pic of my fleet. Both the XL's were made Sept. 1985, the XR is 1988.
I enjoy seeing them come back to life after all these years.
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Follow Up By: Member - Outback Gazz - Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 21:23

Thursday, May 12, 2016 at 21:23
G'day Stu & "Bob"

Ah - the good ol days, remember them well !

Nice looking bikes mate

Cheers

Gazz
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Follow Up By: Member - Odog - Friday, May 13, 2016 at 15:51

Friday, May 13, 2016 at 15:51
Old thumpers! They all look great.. Wish I'd kept my XR650r... Loved the low down grunt, then hang on!... Remember I'd always have to wait till the others are nearly at the top of any hill climb, or steep fire trail, get it up into 2nd or 3rd and hit it.. The weight and the traction, together with the tourque were so good together, miss that bike so much, just the basics, easy as to work on, and so reliable.. When I had my property, my neighbor had one, 70,000 km on the clock, only ever did the valve adjustments... Unlike my ktm625, just to do an oil change is a pain in the butt.. 2 different oil filters, and need to bleed the oil in the frame when done.. Bit of a joke really.. Odog
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Follow Up By: Member - Outback Gazz - Friday, May 13, 2016 at 17:02

Friday, May 13, 2016 at 17:02
"Unlike my ktm625, just to do an oil change is a pain in the butt.. 2 different oil filters, and need to bleed the oil in the frame when done.. Bit of a joke really."

Hey Odog - when blokes in the desert were working on their KTM's, I would just park the XR up and enjoy 3 extra coldies while watching them change filters and oil etc !


Cheers

Gazz
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Follow Up By: Member - Odog - Friday, May 13, 2016 at 17:50

Friday, May 13, 2016 at 17:50
Few mates did a trip, across the Simon, an xr650, wr426, and 2 ktm625s (one of which I now have) and a husaberg 650 I think.. The 625 I now have, had the rear hub, totally shatter, 6th gear pinned.. He was lucky! Only bike to get home was the XR...
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Follow Up By: Stu & "Bob" - Friday, May 13, 2016 at 18:03

Friday, May 13, 2016 at 18:03
The Honda XR is a pretty much bullet proof design. A mate of mine rode his XR650L from Cairns to Pt. Hedland and back via Ayers Rock and the Great Central Road. He rode solo, with a satphone and a spot messenger for backup.
11 400 Km round trip, oil change and new rear tyre at Pt.Hedland was all that was needed.
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Reply By: jack1971 - Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 13:36

Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 13:36
That's a loaded question. Yep, ADV rider is worth a look for sure - there is no one bike that would be suitable, just trial and error. My preference is a klr650 or r1200GSA if your're over 6' and then you have budget?? For me 4 wheels is more relaxing/sure footed than 2 on extended unsealed roads and you don't have to have a full armour of clothing on regardless of weather conditions but yeah a bike is a great way to travel though.
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Reply By: Gone Bush (WA) - Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 21:57

Saturday, May 21, 2016 at 21:57
I've recently got back into motorbikes and would love to get an adventure bike. Two friends have just purchased BMW R1200GSA's, very nice.

My bikes are road bikes (a Kawasaki W800 and a Harley Ultra Limited) and I couldn't sell either of them so I'm getting considerable resistance from Senior Management about getting a 3rd bike. I mean, where's the love?

Way back in 1977, in what seems like a different life, I got real pleasure out of riding a Honda XL100 inland of Madang in PNG. Anything over 100cc had huge import duty on it so we all had XL100s.



Quite often some very good buys for R1200s appear online.

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Follow Up By: Member - Odog - Monday, May 23, 2016 at 16:01

Monday, May 23, 2016 at 16:01
Was away with a mate, he was on the phone, purchasing another bike (his 13th, likes to restore them) mean while, my missus rang me, told her mate was on the phone buying another bike. When we had both hung up, he said "ya didn't tell Sue I was buying another bike, what if she tells Cath! " he was panicking big time.. So I rang my missus back, and told her not to say anything.. Was so funny..
Unloaded a semi at work, got talking to the driver, he had 35 bikes, all going.. Had been collecting European bikes for years, had 3x900ss ducatis, 2x750ss ducatis, and Mike hailwood replicas, just to name a few, was his passion.. Hate to think the value of them all..
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