Quote:
Originally Posted by colebatch
Why have a big bike if it will limit your trip?
To me this is one of the ultimate questions that I see people who are new to Adventure Motorcycling failing to ask themselves. Certainly there are some very skilled riders for whom a big bike will not limit their choice of routes. But they are a tiny minority in the world of adventure riders. For the rest (98%) of us mortals, we need to seriously consider weight.
You should not be limiting your adventure because of your choice of a heavy bike. If a person limits their adventure because of the weight of their bike, then the adventure itself was not their priority. Maybe image is? Maybe something else? (not that there is anything wrong with that)
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Most people probably agree that it's easier to use a light bike offroad then a heavy bike. I own a 400EXC and a 200 (210?) kg BMW and I can go places with the EXC which I find impossible with the BMW.
But on the other hand I would say that my heavy BMW has never limited my trips. What have limited my trips are lack of range. I need a bike which can carry fuel for 750 km and water for a few days and all my other luggage. Basically I would say that a heavy bike is more suited for heavy loads, in general it's better to add 100 kg to a 200 kg bike then adding the same weight to a 150 kg bike. (handling, frame, brakes etc).
I've met quite a few travelers in Africa who use light bikes but still stick to the main route because they simply don't have the range to get off the main routes. This have been more common the last years.
If you don't need the range and plan to do a lot of hard offroad a lighter bike might be a better choice.
I also think that pleasure is an issue. For me it's much more fun to ride a bigish powerful bike, 50.000 km on a single cylinder bike doesn't sound like my kind of fun - but people are different.
Quote:
Originally Posted by colebatch
You should plan (and select gear) for the toughest parts of the adventure you want to have. Any bike, any luggage, any tyres can deal with the easy stuff ...
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