offroading in the uk
 

Hi

Im heading back to the UK after 6 months motorbiking across the US on a dual sports dr650. I hadnt been offroad previously and have now done the white rim trail in moab, and trails in truckee, tahoe and black rock desert.

I'd love to keep learning (by the skin of my arse). So hoping that people have suggestions/ good recommendations of people who can hone skills, ride with etcccc.

Im hoping to ship my dr 650 back home - but know that on the white rim trail a 250 or 400 would have been more fun.

Money's too tight to mention right now, but i'll be bah humbugging looking for work and be in a better position end of jan.

cheers

marie

Suggest you join your local branch of the TRF -Trail Riders Fellowship, and go out on their regular rides

Ive just started green laning in epping/essex (last 2 days), done a little bit before with others but now finding my own.

On an yam xt600 too which seems very very similar to the dr. Im more than happy to go for a spin with you. Its great fun!

Also a motorcycle traveller so look forward to sharing stories!

Lemme know.

thanks :)

And message sent.

I do a bit of off-roading in the UK too. There are some nice lanes around but I suspect it's not going to live up to the U.S. experience, given the relatively limited range of options.

I agree with the TRF recommendation.

Also look at specific events - often they get access to routes not normally available. I ride these and they are great fun: http://www.themotorcyclingclub.org.uk/

If you want to get a feel for what's available to ride in a specific area go onto Bing maps and select the OS map option. Byways are marked as green crosses and unclassified country roads as a series of small green blobs. Both are usually legal to ride.

Cheers
Andy

There's a few options in the North Yorkshire area, a couple of weeks ago I took my Super Tenere for a blast over Rudland Rig on the North Yorks moors, the route is about 10 miles long.....20 if you turn around and ride it again :mchappy:

I got talking to some chaps up there on 250/400 trials bikes, they seemed to have a lot of local knowledge about green lanes in the area and like others have said, they suggested getting acquainted with the TRF to get the lowdown on where is legal to ride.

Whilst we were talking, some walkers approached and told us to get off the track, one guy nicely explained the situation and reassured the walkers that the track is a legal road and even showed them the map where the route is clearly marked as a Byway Open to All Traffic (BOAT), they were unconvinced and not very happy that we were there.

I got the impression that this type of antagonism might be quite common.

Salisbury Plains is a good place to go and explore.

Ah yes the wooly hatted nazis. The antagonism is more common in places like the Yorkshire Dales and Moors. Best to ride in winter and in not so good weather when the nazis are tucked up at home in front of the fire, drinking ovaltine and reading the Daily Mail. Also best to avoid or don't stop to speak to any group bigger than 4, especially if wearing matching jackets/ carrying telescopic walking sticks etc..

If said wooly hat brigade is encountered, slow down to just faster than walking pace (and low revs) and give them all a cheery hello/good morning. If they ignore you, you've at least won the moral argument.

On a legal green lane I once had a chap threaten me with a walking stick. After explaining what I would do with his stick if he didn't desist threatening me with it, he put it away like the nice chap he, deep down, wanted to be.

Rambliars tend to be blind and can't navigate (so only walk on big wide tracks like Rudland Rigg) and don't like getting their boots dirty (Again... RR). If you stick to less good weather and away from the popular walking routes, you'll see nobody except pleasant locals and decent walkers.

In places like north or mid Wales I have met only pleasant locals when trail riding.

Spot on!
 

The wooly ones exist all over the World, they lurk near the more built up areas of Australia too!

Couldn't have diagnosed their character any better than the previous post - You could slip that assessment of their mental state straight into a Thesis on - What makes them tick?

Know your rights and ignore them, that's how we handle it!

Always find the ramblers in the UK hard to figure. Any group that can simultaneously campaign to 1) establish legal rights they want but don't have by a campaign of civil disobedience ("right to roam") and 2) have the legal rights others already have to have eliminated ("roads used as public paths" to enable "quiet enjoyment of the countryside") deserve to be viewed with a mixture of suspicion and contempt. Don't get me started......


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also suggest a visit along to a HU meeting there is usually a few trail rides sorted out or people who know the trails locally or the people to get in touch with. Eaasiest thing is get yourselve based in the UK with a bike then post that you want to get out. I'm based up in the NorthEast and out on a big trailey pretty regular now.

Off Road UK
 

Hi,

You don't mention where in the Uk your going to be based.

TRF group is excellent and if you are down in Wiltshire area Salisbury Plane is excellent

Keep safe whilst riding

Graeme

You forgot to mention that any organisation that has, or has had, Janet Street Porter in charge should be regarded with utter contempt

only go on Salisbury plain if you know what you are doing and have the most up to date information on access, otherwise you run the very real risk of prosecution and having your wheels confiscated. It is rigorously policed by the range wardens and they have considerable powers.

Never was a truer word spoken (or written)!

The reality is that out in the great British countryside everybody hates everybody else irrespective of their mode of transport. The older ramblers hate the younger ones, the full on arctic survival ramblers despise the flip flops and shorts ones and the no mates lone ramblers think the groups are no better than football supporters, ruining the environment and scaring the wildlife. In short if you're not exactly like the cranky self opinionated pillar of society that you meet coming in the other direction you have no right to be there.

Woe betide you if you bring young children out with you as the little brats have no idea how to behave. Walking is a serious business for serious people and they want peace, quiet and solitude to commune with nature. Not only is it their right to have it, as they've walked this same route every day for the last thirty years, it's as much their property as their kitchen or living room. Their place, their rules.

That automatically cuts out mountain bikers and any form of motorised transport whether it's a motorcycle, a 4x4 or even the landowner on his tractor. The only exception is horses - and then only if they're in the distance. Half a mile away they're part of what gives the countryside its character but coming towards you down a narrow lane they're unnecessary, spoiling it for everyone and should be banned. As I mentioned in another post I recently had someone berate me for walking past them on the wrong side on a rural path. If you get shouted at for that what hope have bikers got.