The Truth About How Adventure Riders Use Their Bikes

[Dallara]

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I thought everyone here would find this article quite interesting...

http://www.advpulse.com/adv-bikes/the-truth-about-how-adventure-riders-use-their-bikes/

Some great info and graphs in there, like this one...

Again, the link to the article, with more explanation of the graphs and the survey parameters can be found here...

http://www.advpulse.com/adv-bikes/the-truth-about-how-adventure-riders-use-their-bikes/

Honestly, the results kind of surprised me.

Dallara




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[Rasher]

I think the lack of 600 - 900cc bikes highlight a gap in the market, the V-Strom is a good road bike, as is the Triumph 800, but only BMW have a sensible bike that is capable on and off road - if it was not a BMW it would be what I would have recommended for the Mrs.

The stats did interest me, although one persons Extreme may be considered tame by others, in the UK we do not really have any of the shown choices, obviously pavement, but maintained gravel / fire trails do not really exist in the UK and we never had many "unmaintained dirt roads" once upon a time there were some ancient rights of way "Byways" that fit here, but about 90% of them have been closed to motorised traffic on the last 30-40 years.

Many people in the UK buy Adv bikes for a type of road not listed in the poll - "Unmaintained pavement", this pretty much describes any minor road in the UK, where budgets have been cut year on year in real terms since the 1970's roads have deteriorated badly.

Despite traffic increasing massively in the last 40 years the road maintenance budget has never kept up - I expect in another 40 years many of our roads will have converted themselves into unmaintained dirt roads.

 

[Checkswrecks]

The results surprised me too, until thinking a little about all the factors which would skew the results. Then it makes sense, because the basic data is so skewed. How?


1. Not a big web-site and one that only enthusiasts would find and. That would help skew toward new bike owners, as your typical guy with a 10 year old KLR or DR behind the garage won't even know about it. Having said this, I'd not seen the site and thanks to Dallara for sharing it.


2. Respondent limits. Only a small percentage of people will answer any poll. This alone cuts the sample to those who are more outspoken or responsive.


3. Self-reporting perceptions. People's impressions about what they do is usually way off. Jeep did an actual survey and found that very few of their vehicles ever did more than a dirt road, yet the surveys all show that owners think they NEED the vehicles because they are so adventurous. Face it, we all think we are the greatest and do all sorts of manly things. ::025::


4. Perception of conditions. As Rasher wrote, one man's driveway is another man's nightmare.


5. Insufficient data. 3 questions to draw insight from? Really?

 

[Dirt_Dad]

I tend to agree with Checkswrecks. I've done a fair number of adventure style gathering of all stripes. Both model specific, and general community. My observation, although anecdotal, does not support the results of Extreme Trails and Single Track in the 40s. My personal experience is when I mention leading a ride that is a bit more technical than just standard fire roads my potential rider list plummets. However, when I posted a route called "Easy Dirt" I saw a large percentage of people select that option.

I have no problem believing the average number of days people ride off road...as long at that means off pavement. But if they are taking true off road, I'd be in the 1-3 days a year...maybe even less on my Tenere.

Regardless, interesting web site. I never knew about it and it looks to have some great info. Even the headlines on the front page were all article that immediately interested me. Thanks for posting that, Dallara.

 

[trikepilot]

Most of us ride in a vacuum in the sense that we ride what we ride without any barometer as to how the terrain we ride stacks up to the relative ability of the rest of the ADV population.

I had this discussion with DirtDad awhile back when he joined me in WV for some fun on the WR's. Granted it was wetter than normal but I still could not honestly quantify to DD how "hard" or "difficult" our ride would be since I have no measuring stick to compare to. It is stuff that I ride all the time in all conditions - and quite often on the Tenere - so I assumed that it was very doable or borderline easy on the WR's. It was only once we were done that I was able to determine even some shade of gray in regards to the relative difficulty thanks to DD's input. I think I would need to get more riders of varying skill levels out there before I could get a consensus that would make me comfortable with rating the difficulty of the ride. So riders' naivete - myself included - can often lead to over or under reporting the level of difficulty of our ADV riding.

Like the results of the Jeep survey above, I highly suspect that most ADV bikes - and especially the 800+cc bikes - rarely see true offroad action.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

It is stuff that I ride all the time in all conditions - and quite often on the Tenere - so I assumed that it was very doable or borderline easy on the WR's.

I think on the WR your assessment is very accurate. Our road with 28 water crossings (yes, I counted them in the currently uploading video) would have been ranked as moderate on the Tenere in my book. Not difficult due to the relative lack of elevation change or significant rock. I think the only thing I'd rank as somewhat difficult on the Tenere would have been the single track we took through the woods on your "short cut." The heavier bike there would have been more work.

But I do concur with you point. "Extreme" riding is a very personal interpretation. What may be a hair raising ride for one, may not even be noticed by another.

CW said people are bad at assessing what they are doing. I know I'm slow to think I'm doing anything extreme. After taking a Learn to Race Baja course with some real riders, I came away with my tail between my legs. I'm many levels below what truly good riders can do. On my best day, I live in the moderate range.

 

[trikepilot]

28? Is that all??

They were easy crossings that in retrospect I'd have no problem taking the Tenere through. But riding that road onsight for the first time in those conditions, I was more than happy to have the WR under me!!!

 

[RED CAT]

On some other post on here, someone said Yamaha did a survey and that only 12% took their S10s off pavement. Not sure to what extent but I think Yamaha must have only surveyed Europe. I'm sure in N.A. that number is much higher just due to the dirt roads available. I know myself that I do about 30% off pavement and that's the max I can do because I live in a city and doing pavement getting to dirt is involved. That number would be much higher if I had a choice cause riding grave/dirt roads is so much more interesting and adrenalin inducing than pavement on an S10. Thanks Yamaha for the big grin factor.

 

[Mark R.]

Interesting. I am not sure what to make of the results, but I am pretty sure it was not a scientific, randomized poll.

My non-scientific observations about ADV bikes look kind of like this: I got back into ADV riding with a 2008 KLR 650, and then my Tenere early last year. I ride all over central New Mexico, and in 7 years of riding out there, actually on forest roads, etc, I have seen 4 other motorcycle riders the entire time. (Also, BTW, no Jeeps or any fancy 4X4 vehicles of any style, EVER). I also look at ADV bikes I see when I am out and about, and maybe 1 in 20 has tires that are even moderately appropriate for gravel roads. Additionally, most of the ADV bikes I see are spotless.

My conclusion is that less than 5% of ADV bikes ever see more than a gravel driveway. JMHO. YMMV.

 

[Rasher]

I think many people will count a short section of dirt track as a "day" off-road.

I have never done a day off-road (pretty impossible where I live) but where there is the odd dirt track I know if near me I tend to shoot down it, typically these ashort sections of less than a mile.

As to difficulty, some people would find a dirt track you could drive a sportscar down easily quite difficult, or just a bit scary, especially if they still have 59 payments left on a £12k motorcycle.

Last year we did a Honda Enduro day in Wales, OK we had pukka bikes (CRF 250's / 400's) at our disposal - and more importantly the bike was not mine and I knew it would crash well (and cost me nothing to do so)

I was shocked at how easy it made what looked like very difficult sections seem, even my Mrs (who at the time had only been riding 6 months and covered about 1,000 road miles) managed the day with just a couple of low speed drops. Equally surprising was how some rufty tufty experienced male bikers did seem to find it quite tough.

Had I not been on a guided trip I would not have dreamed of trying some of the sections, I would have taken a look and deemed them too difficult (even if I was on the same bike) however I now know what a pukka dirt bike can do (i.e. most of the work so a chump like me can cross "difficult" terrain)

A problem I still have is I have no idea what the S10 is capable off (in my own hands) and never want to take any risks of damaging an expensive bike, I would like to try the Yamaha school at some point just to get to ride (drop) someone else's S10, the only problem is I had so much fun on the dirt bike I really want to have another go on one of them.

 

[trikepilot]

I have no idea what the S10 is capable off (in my own hands) and never want to take any risks of damaging an expensive bike, I would like to try the Yamaha school at some point just to get to ride (drop) someone else's S10, the only problem is I had so much fun on the dirt bike I really want to have another go on one of them.

Rasher -

Two comments...

this is why a good many Tenere riders here have something smaller, lighter, more nimble, and more disposable as their secondary or "dirt" bike. I fell into the WR250R camp for my "little bike" but there are many other good ones.

With the proper armor on the Tenere (and you the rider) and a healthy sense of self-preservation, you can take the Tenere to surprising places. I have dropped, abused, and otherwise tried to kill my Tenere more than I ever should have and it has never skipped a beat. She has the marks to prove it, but they are only cosmetic. The bike is way hardier that you give it credit for - when armored properly! The bigger issue is picking the bike up or even worse you getting hurt - thus see first comment above.

 

[XtreemLee]

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bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla,bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla,bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla,bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla,bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla,bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla,

Honestly, the results kind of surprised me.

Dallara

Really your surprised? I'm not I would say it a rather obvious outcome...

 

[jimsgone]

Thanks for the link dallara, some interesting articles! ::012::

 

[scott123007]

Regardless, When 21 percent of the respondents say that they have not ridden their motorcycles "on pavement" anytime in the last three years, I smell "kaka del Torro" if you know what I mean, if you want to consider that survey accurate.

 

[Salmon Sam]

The premise of the article is important, though:

"But if this stereotype about how “most” Adventure Riders use their machines persists, it could influence the design direction of future models. We’ve already seen it happen to SUV’s. They started out as lighter, rugged, off-road capable vehicles. Over the years more luxuries were added until they became too bloated and heavy to be of much use off-road."

I think that the ST strikes a perfect balance between being an asphalt sport bike and an off-road dirt bike. Compromises all the way round. If it is just for image, does that mean that future iterations will be more damageable gizmos and gadgets and comfort-aids, and less dirt worthiness? The image of at RTW machine vs. substance? Are we already seeing that with cruise control and ES? I would hate to see it evolve into a pretender like ... oh ... I won't accuse any other bike of being that ... at least in public.

Thanks, Dallara. I always appreciate your insights and experiences, and greatly enjoy your exchanges with others who I guess ... not so much.

 

[Ramseybella]

How many folks do you think over inflate their idea of Off road trail riding?
To be honest ever since I replaced the knobby's with Dual sport rubbers I have no intentions of climbing rocks for some time unless the rocks are planted firmly into the trail.
What is truly the definition of Adventure riding honestly? To me everyplace I have not been to is an adventure.
I like see a road be it paved or dirt trail and I take it as far as my common sense will allow me to.

The spirit is willing but the bones will break as well as my insurance payment for the hospital!!

 

[Koinz]

Ok, I admit it. I bought mine primarily for touring and I have been up and down the east coast. Some day when I have more time I'll venture further west.
If I come across an occasional dirt packed road I'll take it. Maybe I'm a poser, but I hate Starbucks.
I have smaller bikes with knobbys for the real trails.

 

[Salmon Sam]

Hey, I don't think we have to be THAT concerned with how technical the off-road experience has to be. It is a continuum of road surfaces from perfect asphalt to goat paths and everything in between. It's silly and pointless to try and see what level of machismo constitutes adventure riding. To me, it is adventure riding if you take the Tenere anywhere where you wouldn't normally take an FJR or some other pure street bike. Not that you couldn't do that (Nick Sanders RTW on an R1??!!), but I wouldn't risk an FJR on many gravel surfaces that I now go on. The ST is built to take more punishment (gravel washboards to mega ruts) and be more versatile. I am enjoying the challenge of seeing how technical I can go with the beast and to me it is the potential of what I can sense it can do that defines it as an adventure bike. I would hate for it to ever get more "sissified" for the masses.

Yeah, Western North America rocks. Love it out here. This was a ride, an hour away from Seattle last weekend, accessed by blasting up the interstate at 80 mph. Even managed to fall into a snow bank. This bike rocks. It IS an adventure bike and I plan to see where I can take it.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Now that's a good looking road.

 

[Salmon Sam]

Yeah, but this happened. No harm. Trying to avoid some brush. Would this constitute "adventure riding"? It wasn't that technical, although the ABS did kick in a couple of times when I didn't want it to.