ADV 2

Would you ride this bike... 

SO... are you getting a sense of what an ADV bike looks like, what it's good at and what it just pretends to be good at?

...here?

Soft bags and a small screen on a big single equals versatility.

What ADV bikes are in general are multi surface touring bikes.  With longer travel and better quality suspension than street bikes, you can ride most ADV bikes on both hard tarmac and groomed non paved surface roads.  I have two bikes that could be considered ADV, the first is a Yamaha XT 600 which truthfully is more of a large bore trail bike and the other is the well known Suzuki DL 650 V Strom.  This latter bike is certainly more suited to hard surfaces.  I would never try riding this bike in an actual off road situation.


Did I say "never"?  I meant to say... if I lost my mind completely, and was being chased by a pack of saber toothed werewolves, I would stay completely away from any trail I may encounter.  I have however ridden this bike on smooth graded gravel surface where the semi block tires still offer some useful grip.

Trail riding on a sunny day.

Removing the hard luggage makes this ADV bike slimmer and lighter too.

The V Strom and it's ilk,  do make good traveling tools, Mine is kitted with pretty much everything these bikes are noted for, including engine protection for the physically rather large L/C V Twin, three removable hard luggage bags, adjustable suspension, solid hand guards, both center and side stands, etc etc etc.

This is a legal "highway!"

My XT 600 on the other hand is a large displacement 4V single that is air cooled, (no radiator to damage in a tip over) fairly light and has happily carried me through the Baja peninsula and around the Cabot Trail.  It's also pretty competent off road.  It make far less power than the DL but is also much lighter, has a good stand up riding position and is stone reliable.

KLR, does it all!

Somewhere in New Brunswick 

The other thing that ADV bikes are good at ls looking like you just conquered the Sahara!  In some ways they are the extension of the extension we used to know as PD (Paris to Dakar) bikes and which today can be found on show room floors in big bore twins/ triples and even fours.

Don't try this at home boys! Certainly not on your GS 1200

In my riding career I've traveled a great deal on bikes from my DT 50 (CDN BIKER B.C. on 49cc a Day) right on up to Gold Wings.  I get a great deal of satisfaction riding my dual purpose bikes on trails that could and have swallowed mountain goats!  I personally own several true dual purpose bikes including a family of three XT Yamaha's.

I don't need a Go Pro, I have a handlebar mounted Gopher!

Street and off road legal, they bikes are powerful enough to ride to your trail head, suspended with decent suspension, shod with the obligatory 21" front and 17 or 18 inch rear knobby or semi knobby tires, in my case suitable for 50/50 riding off and on the road.  They are slim, unlike the ADV bikes but carry far less fuel, however simplicity and reliability coupled with very good fuel consumption allow me to ride my XT 350 for example, about 175 miles on a single 10L tank without switching to my reserve. All of my DP bikes are air cooled, two of them are 6 speed transmissions and all my XT's are four cycle engines!  I used to ride two cycle bikes at one time but of course they have virtually vanished from the makers.

I know this 'road' it's hard packed and suitable for a good rider on an ADV

Hard to beat an ADV for long distance touring.

I have ridden various DP bikes on freeways, quiet two lane country roads, on parts of the SCORE Baja race course and many trails all over the continent.  The downside of these bikes... I'll be the first to admit, the leanings to off road use limit the comfort a great deal.  Gearing (which can be altered in most cases by changing sprocket teeth ratios, try that on your BMW GS 1200!) can inexpensively  and fairly quickly be changed to suit your riding style.  If you want to carry anything at all you will have to choose from a variety of soft sided bags.  The ADV bikes generally are equipped with good quality hard luggage systems.

Hard packed gravel, no problem. Just don't try this... 

Should you buy an ADV bike ranging in size from 250-1200cc... depends on what you wish to do with it.  Pack the DL up and head around North America staying mostly to paved roads or hard packed gravel... go for it!  If you are like me and wonder while gazing off the highway, where that trail in the woods goes... forget the ADV and find yourself a new or used Dualie.

  This is the territory of a good dual purpose bike.  Street and trail legal.

Then go have some fun!

Get on your bikes, and ride!  This is the Arizona desert.

What exactly is the ADVenture thing?! 1

ADV explained... read this and it will be clear as red mud.

Arguably the hottest thing on two wheels these days are ADV (adventure) bikes.  Adventure bikes are a hybrid of sports motorcycles (fairings and gearing) Touring bikes (fairing, gearing and luggage) and to a much lessor extent, dual purpose bikes.  For those of you that are considering real trail riding, ADV is NOT for you.

Reminds me of a trip on my XT225 Serow during the late fall of 2004.  I was riding the Sierra Giganta mountains in Baja Sur, I rode a loop of some 220 miles, most of it without seeing a human being.  When I dropped onto the coast at Loreto, I met a group of five bikes riding completely kitted out KLR 650's, surely one of the best known ADV bikes on the planet.  Most excellent soft luggage, knobby tires, decals etc.

They were making a big circle tour down the mainland and then crossing over into Baja at La Paz before heading north back to California.  I asked what the off roading was like only to hear the only time they spent off the pavement was gassing up at the Pemex stations!

The appeal may be there like watching that 'exotic dancer' but really... you're dreaming right?!

Sure a graded gravel road is not out of the question but riding off road is.  Some of these motorcycles weigh as much as a Gold Wing or Dressed Harley... surely you wouldn't ride from Paris to Dakar on your HD Bagger... with knobby tires!!

ADV is well populated with a great deal of variety both in displacement, performance and utility.  I'm not going to get into the various manufacturers or models, you can find anything you want on the net.  I am going to talk about why these bikes 'are'.

Many, many riders in my age group were interested in motorcycles at a young age.  I began my riding career in 1968 when bikes were small and could be used for different things.  If you watched any of the "Then Came Bronson" T.V. programs you could be forgiven if you actually thought Michael Parks rode his 'Sportster' up steep hills, raced it on Scrambles (forerunner to MX) and across the many miles.

It may seem hokey today but I actually liked watching the series. Then again I liked watching 'CHIPS' too.

1970'S "Street Scrambler" The beginning of ADV?

In 1968, when Yamaha introduced the DT-1 they created a category of bikes that ultimately spawned a renewal of the spirit of off roading/dual purpose riding that today's ADV bikes emulate.  The DT-1 was light of weight, had a very willing engine that if not producing large amounts of HP certainly produced large grins when riding them!  The forerunner of the DT-1 Enduro were street bikes with some altered parts (high exhaust pipes, cross braced handlebars and shortened fenders, the ADV bikes of today are nothing but extensions of CL 350 Scramblers and DT-1's.



The Street Scramblers were therefor the for runner of the modern Adventure motorcycle. Many of us went on to ride Enduro's which caught on so swiftly after the Yamaha Enduro line met the market, that everybody including all the Japanese and even an Oregon based company called Pabatco produced Hodaka's!  Even the Brits, gasping their collective last had bikes based on street models that were sold as trail/adventure bikes.

Inevitably we got older.

Dual purpose/Enduro bikes nearly died.  I say nearly because thanks to Kawasaki, and some others, models that soldiered on with few changes over decades proved that real adventure was still alive. You could still bungee on the bedroll and shorty tent and head for the hills whether across the Rockies or the Dakota hills.

Trouble is of course, as we did age, we rode less and less often off road,  Belly's got bigger, Cruisers allowed us to look like Hell's Angels, and like them we as riders wanted to look like them or in the case of Enduro bikes, we wanted to look like off road racers without having to race and get muddy or visit the emergency room of your local hospital.  Nothing new here, this went on in every line of models the manufacturers produced.  The Enduro went into near hibernation and lines/models were axed significantly with only a few left by the end of the 80's.

The continuation of Enduro??

I will conclude this first chapter by pointing out that during those times, the core group of Enduro riders Some of whom became MX racers and XC racers kept the spirit alive.

Choices, choices...

Yayy, I have a bedroom again!

MOST of my time this spring of '18 have been spent regenerating my southern home from the disaster of Spring '17.  The year of the "FLOOD"

...and a spare for daughter Holly.

People ask me unknowingly how I could possibly have a flood in the desert, after all, what you see on the tele are sagebrush, Bugs Bunny and dry riverbeds.  It's true that running water her is a rare commodity for anyone having grown up in Northern States or of course, Canada.

Course that's irrelevant if your toilet tank splits and the water is turned on, hence my flood within my humble abode.

My yard is cleaned up too but brutally hot!

The last two times here, were spent living out of a suitcase so to speak and waiting growing increasingly impatient with what seemed like a deliberate delay by the constructions people hired to do the job.  It took them 6 months to repair what amounted to a complete downstairs reno and half an upstairs.  The fact that it seemed to me very poorly planned, waiting for one portion of the job to be done before thinking about the next step in line.  I don't know if they were simply incompetent, maybe don't like Cdn's or it could have been deliberate, after all no need to put me off if I'm not here right.  We could have had two complete homes built from the ground up in the 6 months they puttered with my place.

Nevertheless, I have officially moved back in and managed to feel like I was living here once again.

Kitchen is more or less back to normal

Boo of course practically lives here year round in any case and I often joke she'd the only cat in the state with her own condo! It's nice of her to let me use her digs once in awhile.

She is a highly esteemed pal to me, and besides the furry company for which I am grateful for, I also have a local male all black that comes around and visits routinely.

I used to come here more frequently and generally in fall months and will continue to do that for the near future.  Much as I hate being cold, desert heat can be quite unbearable as well.  This trip there has been several days where the thermometer has been over a hundred degrees and new records have been set already.  Just a couple of days ago we reached 106 and to be honest, I can't ride in that kind of heat.  Don't forget, if its a hundred here in the valley, out of the city among the .rocks and canyons, it can be 10-15 degrees hotter yet.  Many years ago while riding my Seca 600 with then 16 yo Lisa on the back on a 7000 km round trip to Hollywood and return to Calgary, we experienced temperature in the mid 120 (50C) and let me tell you, that was pure hell, maybe hotter!  Fortunately next week is only in the mid 90's.

Unfortunately I would have preferred that while planning my XT 350 travels this trip.

People die out here every year.  It can be a furnace among the rocks

After Holly left I continued the task of getting this place ship shape and in the evenings I'd peruse the maps looking for doing some ground I'd not covered before.  I had the use of a Dodge Dakota this time around so was actually planning on driving some of the highway mileage, much more comfortable that getting battered on the slim lightweight dual purpose bike I was riding.

Rare outside the Sonora but plentiful here and in Baja Saguaro cactus

I had wanted to find the Old Stagecoach Road loop and close that but because of the pick up, I felt something a little more ambition would be more suitable and so it went.

THE Dr was going to redo some of my favorites especially the Fish Creek portion of the entire Apache Trail to Roosevelt and unload the bike and ride the East side of the largest lake in AZ (I've read)