Why to ride Small bike on a long Adventure trip

[armpump]

One thing i have noticed is most guys who rate the smaller bikes are east and west cape based.

Ie  Don't need to cover distance quickly just to get to nice terrain

[Cracker]

Good point. 

My next little jaunt to south Lesotho is a day's ride to get nearly there - on tar. And the same thing back. I'd rather be doing it on the 950 than my ex-650, never mind a little 250.

Tar and time-restraints is what governs my 'long' adventure trips. I am past riding long distances in discomfort and boredom.

 

[Rover]

I find 250cc bikes are fine if you have a trailer.
They are dangerous and scary on the National roads because you get stuck at 110-120kmh and everything overtakes you SLOWLY
pushing you around in the wind.
No problem on a 600 though.

[BlueBull2007]

Good point. 

My next little jaunt to south Lesotho is a day's ride to get nearly there - on tar. And the same thing back. I'd rather be doing it on the 950 than my ex-650, never mind a little 250.

Tar and time-restraints is what governs my 'long' adventure trips. I am past riding long distances in discomfort and boredom.

Surely there are dirt routes to Lesotho? Okay maybe miss the bit past Soweto

[Xpat]

One thing i have noticed is most guys who rate the smaller bikes are east and west cape based.

Ie  Don't need to cover distance quickly just to get to nice terrain

I am sorry armpump, but seriously how did you come to that conclusion - at least in the case of western cape? Can you please point me to where the good riding is in WC - especially the one that would call for small bike? Sure, there is plenty of scenic riding for people interested in smelling the roses, but when looking for more technical riding that would actually call for small bike as you seem to indicate - where should one go?

As far as I can see  - assuming one is in CT and has three quarters of his living space taken by salty water - there is Cederberg which is good for about one trip a year, Tankwa Karoo, that at least from what I have seen looks like dirt highways all over (i.e. territory for SUVs like yours) - yes there is Postal Road but from what I have heard it is about 20 km or so long and doable on big bike without too much sweat, then there is Outshooren and Die Hell and then Baviaans (strictly speaking EC). I have done some of them, not all (hence my question), and as far as I can tell they are all more or less dirt highways easily done in SUVs like yours. So not sure why one would bother with small bike (i.e. 690 and smaller)

It seems to me that within the comparable distances, Gauteng's central position offers incomparably better riding in my experience , especially for small bike and in terms of juicy technical riding. Lesotho, Limpopo, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique, Lowveld are easily within the distances one has to travel in WC to get to their - much less interesting from riding perspective (which one of them can compare for example to the vast public land called Lesotho?). And I can get easily to most of them on dirt farm roads if I choose to do so.

I have talked about this with JustBendIt on our last trip as I'm actually quite intrigued why there is this perception that WC has the best riding in SA, when I honestly cannot find a reason to go ride there, even though I am genuinely interested. And he confirmed that the closest good riding (apart from local riding places like Atlantis and Macassar) that one may find interesting on small bike is west coast sand and then Richtersveld about 600 km away - both of those in NOrthern Cape (not completely sure about the west coast sandy tracks).

So - genuine question here - where in WC is the good riding for a small bike that can keep me busy for let's say 5 day long trip? If there is one, I may head over there with my 690/500 for a peek, but so far I couldn't find anything that would come even close to some other areas much closer to Gauteng.

[Offroadrider]

Xpat there's no reason to go any further than Camps bay beach to see the most amazing sights on any sunny weekend, there you would see the best riding in the country.

[Xpat]

Xpat there's no reason to go any further than Camps bay beach to see the most amazing sights on any sunny weekend, there you would see the best riding in the country.

I'm assuming Camps bay is in CT - don't know the place. Do you need small bike for Camps bay riding to stay in the context of this thread and armpump's argument? Is there any interesting riding that would justify few days trip for me?

I'm not talking about pretty scenery, that can be done on any bike. I'm talking about riding that would call for small bike, i.e. with good technicality. CT is 1400 km from Joburg. In 1700 km I can be in Uis with Kaokoland & Damaraland at my disposal for 2 weeks of extra fat cream goodness. Or in 900 km I can have the whole Okavango delta for playground. Or 600 km or of some of the best sand on the planet in Mozambique. Or the whole of Lesotho, Swaziland, etc.

I'm not slagging CT here - sure it is very pretty - just quite keen to understand where the riding there is that can match or even come close to the above.

[Offroadrider]

I have had a few different sized bikes but for the type of riding I do now in my "later" years my S10 works fine for me, my DR650 was great but became tedious on the long road which is the reason I would never consider a 250-310 kind of set up. I don't often ride extreme tech any more  so there is no need to have a smaller off road although at some stage I would like a 525 or something just in case.

[Gee S]

Yes and no - I own a 650x challenge and a 1150 gs. The 1150 was bought about five years ago with 70000 on the clock- now 235000.
Define a long trip - 7 days Namibia to cover some ground and see some sights - 1150 - three weeks to explore-650.
4 day Klein Karoo - Rooiberg- Groenrivier and Baviaans - 1150
4 day Baviaans to explore-650
Cederberg - Wuppertal-Algeria-1150
Cederberg-Old Postal-Heuningvlei to the top of the pass-650.
Pillion- 1150
My luggage for both bikes is the same except that it weighs a bit more on the 650 due to tools and tubes.
1150 weight all up- about 260kg- 650 about 180kg - that is about one and a half pockets of cement.
That does not mean the 1150 is shit to ride - just to pick up so don't drop it.
So as the song goes - if you can't be with the one you love - love the one your with.
And yes the 650 tenere is heavy.

Snap! I also own the same pair of bikes, 1150 and X Challenge. Although I don't undertake many very long trips, a weekend bash is about the longest for me. But on the tar road there's very little difference in the speed I cruise at. 120, or 130 or 140 if I feel like it, that's fine on either bike apart from one thing. The bloody X Challenge seat! 

Since I can't afford a nice aftermarket replacement, I'm considering some padded cycling pants for a bit of relief. Anyone with experience or advice on that?

I use padded cycling pants on long trips and believe me they work.
Cominig back from the Koes rally last year the 690’s clutch started slipping so I decided to do tar from Askam via Upington to Roodepoort. I did it  in one day and without too much discomfort. The biggest irritation was not being able to go over 120 as the clurch would start slipping.

[Cracker]

Good point. 

My next little jaunt to south Lesotho is a day's ride to get nearly there - on tar. And the same thing back. I'd rather be doing it on the 950 than my ex-650, never mind a little 250.

Tar and time-restraints is what governs my 'long' adventure trips. I am past riding long distances in discomfort and boredom.

Surely there are dirt routes to Lesotho? Okay maybe miss the bit past Soweto

Yep, plenty dirt roads to all destinations, even to Soweto, but I've been around a while and have travelled all of them. Casting your net further requires different equipment, even if it's only to relieve the boredom. Speed is also fun.

Just like a fisherman and his rod - he can catch a fish in the surf or go to sea in a boat. Whatever he does he's still a fisherman with a rod, just a boat gives a better catch and a bit more fun.

I can't see myself selling my 950 for a smaller bike, not yet, I'm still enjoying it too much. If I want proper tech with adrenalin pumping, I whip out the 450 .............. and the trailer.

But it really boils down to - you ride what you got, you buy what you can afford, you ride with who you know and you ride when you've got time. If I had a 250 I'd still have a blast and would probably tell you all it's the best bike ever. Whatever you've got, allways is.

I do quite like those little 701s though ......... maybe one day 

[2StrokeDan]

One thing i have noticed is most guys who rate the smaller bikes are east and west cape based.

Ie  Don't need to cover distance quickly just to get to nice terrain

Us Western Capies do actually need to cover quite a bit of distance to get to nice riding places. Not much within an hour or two from Cape Town.

[2StrokeDan]

Good point. 

My next little jaunt to south Lesotho is a day's ride to get nearly there - on tar. And the same thing back. I'd rather be doing it on the 950 than my ex-650, never mind a little 250.

Tar and time-restraints is what governs my 'long' adventure trips. I am past riding long distances in discomfort and boredom.

It is a pity that time has to be such a constraint, because if there is one area where you MUST go on a small bike, it is Lesotho.

[TheBear]

One thing i have noticed is most guys who rate the smaller bikes are east and west cape based.

Ie  Don't need to cover distance quickly just to get to nice terrain

Us Western Capies do actually need to cover quite a bit of distance to get to nice riding places. Not much within an hour or two from Cape Town.

Moaning with a white bread under the arm there Danie.  We Valies have only heard of such nice riding places!   

[Bliknêrs]

I am struggling to get my head around an "adventure" that only lasts a weekend.
Maybe some of us are mistaking adrenaline for adventure?

[Cracker]

Long weekends, Blikners, are from Friday to Sunday - with 7 days in between 

[Bliknêrs]

Gotcha 

[Dux]

One thing i have noticed is most guys who rate the smaller bikes are east and west cape based.

Ie  Don't need to cover distance quickly just to get to nice terrain

Us Western Capies do actually need to cover quite a bit of distance to get to nice riding places. Not much within an hour or two from Cape Town.

Moaning with a white bread under the arm there Danie.  We Valies have only heard of such nice riding places!   

You are most welcome to come and find out for yourself , we haven't closed our borders yet 

But in the WC , there are lots of shorter interesting rides on the CT side of the mountains and even more over the mountain , in that case it involves riding about 100 to 150km to start getting to the interesting bits , but once there then the sky is the sky is the limit and you realise there are so many different routes to arrive at any particular destination and all good for their own particular reasons .

[armpump]

Xpat there's no reason to go any further than Camps bay beach to see the most amazing sights on any sunny weekend, there you would see the best riding in the country.

I'm assuming Camps bay is in CT - don't know the place. Do you need small bike for Camps bay riding to stay in the context of this thread and armpump's argument? Is there any interesting riding that would justify few days trip for me?

I'm not talking about pretty scenery, that can be done on any bike. I'm talking about riding that would call for small bike, i.e. with good technicality. CT is 1400 km from Joburg. In 1700 km I can be in Uis with Kaokoland & Damaraland at my disposal for 2 weeks of extra fat cream goodness. Or in 900 km I can have the whole Okavango delta for playground. Or 600 km or of some of the best sand on the planet in Mozambique. Or the whole of Lesotho, Swaziland, etc.

I'm not slagging CT here - sure it is very pretty - just quite keen to understand where the riding there is that can match or even come close to the above.

The riding he is talking about you dont even need a bike.

HAHAHA

Another thing for most of us is time constraints for a tour/adventure .

[Odd Dog]

Just like DSTV, repeat, repeat and repeat and .............

Ride WETFYWT without trying to influence others, over my years there is not a class of bike I have not ridden AND I had a blast on all of them. I just don't get the need for wanting to influence what someone else should be riding.

[armpump]

To me the journey now starts from my garage and back to it when done......no trailer ,van or bakkie involved