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.

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Dave

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

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

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!

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

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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?

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

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