Get your motor running
Palpitations and trepidation: these are my principal reactions when facing a river crossing on a motorcycle. No matter where you are in the world, once you venture off the beaten track, you can be certain of two things: at some point, you are going to have to cross a river; and when you do so, you will get wet.
The thought of crossing a river on a motorcycle is enough to make some riders retrace their route and travel kilometres in another direction to find a dry crossing. Rivers come in many shapes and sizes, and all create problems for the two-wheeled adventurer. A rider’s first river crossing is a tense affair. For me, it came in a remote part of Iceland. With no bridges for hundreds of kilometres, it was a simple choice of get on with it or turn round and give up. I got on with it.
Safety is of paramount importance when attempting to ford a river. Blasting across a tributary in a shower of spray looks good on film, but it isn’t the ideal method for riders wishing to complete a journey in one piece.
I will normally walk across first to determine the best entry and exit point (not always directly in line with the road), as well as the depth across the entire route. I want to ascertain the state of the riverbed and to search for hidden rocks that could knock the bike over and into the water. At best, this could result in a flooded engine; at worst, a bike washed away. I usually push it across in all but the shallowest water, sometimes with the engine running and in gear. I haven’t dropped a bike in the water – yet – but have often come close to doing so. River crossings remain my least favourite activity.
Choose your ride
The choice of suitable machines for motorcycle expeditions is huge and somewhat daunting. Although a purpose-built adventure bike will take you virtually anywhere you want to go, almost any kind of motorcycle will usually suffice.
It’s a myth that one has to spend thousands of pounds to go on a motorcycle adventure. You only have to look at the plethora of small, lightweight bikes used as daily transport across the developing world to see how successfully a simple machine can cope with the most arduous of conditions. In 2006, I completed a 2,000-kilometre double-crossing of the interior of Iceland on a 125cc Hartford motorcycle. The bike was built in Taiwan, cost £1,400 new, and performed exceptionally in conditions that riders of larger machines avoided.
Your choice of motorcycle will be a matter of compromise. You have to balance your requirements for economy, reliability, comfort, weight, agility and simplicity. If you’re a solo rider, the machine is your lifeline and you need to be comfortable riding it, pushing it, lifting it, and repairing it.
There are several factors to consider when choosing a motorcycle. The true adventure rider will be off-road for large portions of their journey, so a machine that can deal with this is essential. Road-touring bikes are often large and comfortable but come with the penalty of extra weight and limited off-road ability. They are ideal for long-distance ‘tarmac touring’, but are simply not designed to cope with a corrugated track in the Sahara.
By contrast, a trail bike is designed for off-road use, but is less smooth and relaxing to ride on tarmac. Trail bikes have greater ground clearance, longer suspension travel, larger (21-inch/533-millimetre) front wheels and a stronger construction than touring models. They do, however, have their problems. They are designed to be ridden while standing, so the seats are often narrow and uncomfortable for long journeys. In addition, the seat is often high off the ground, which is not ideal for short riders. A trail bike has a small fuel tank, so you must either replace the original with a larger capacity one or carry additional fuel in cans strapped to the bike.
Although most motorcycle manufacturers produce a range of bikes suitable for adventure riding, only a few specialise in the field. With the popularity of adventure motorcycling in continental Europe, it’s not surprising that BMW and KTM are recognised as leaders, with stiff competition coming from Honda and Yamaha.
An additional factor to consider is the manufacturer’s distribution network and the availability of spare parts for repairs. The more complicated your machine, the more difficult it may be to get parts in some regions. I firmly believe in the ‘light is right’ approach: I ride a lightweight Hartford VR125H in extreme conditions and when riding with a support vehicle.
I prefer a larger 650cc BMW 650GS when travelling on my own, as it has a greater range and can carry a generous load.
Suited and booted
What you wear is also a matter of personal choice and compromise. The harsh reality of adventure motorcycling is that a fall is inevitable. Whether or not you survive the fall uninjured will often depend on what you’re wearing. You should definitely consider specialist attire as it provides much greater protection than regular outdoor gear. For example, the best motorbike jackets are waterproof and windproof, with removable inners for hotter climates. Most importantly, they have integral flexible body armour to protect the spine, shoulders and elbows. Fabrics are tear-resistant to protect you from being flayed alive should you crash at speed. They also have a myriad of exposed and concealed pockets for you to keep all essential items safe and secure. After your bike, your jacket will become your best friend. It’s worth paying more for quality.
Gloves are often overlooked – a great mistake. Leather gloves are by far the best, as this material provides outstanding protection against grazes and cuts should you fall. Specialist designs are available, but avoid lightweight motocross gloves: they are designed to give excellent grip and to be very flexible, but they are for use on grass and mud, and they offer no abrasion protection on gravel and tarmac. I happily use British Army Northern Ireland patrol gloves. Made from leather with extra protection on the back of the hands, they are ideal in all conditions and can also be worn when not riding.
In most countries, a helmet is mandatory. I would never consider riding anywhere without one.
It has become something of a convention to wear the motocross-style helmet: in hot weather, this type of helmet is cooler than the alternatives. The accompanying goggles are better at keeping out dust than full-face visors. However, this arrangement offers less protection in cold conditions. Consequently, several helmet manufacturers, such as Bell, Arai and BMW, now produce motocross-style helmets that also have pull-down visors. These are expensive but worth every penny.
Boots are the final item for consideration. Very few boots are designed specifically for adventure riding, and normal motorcycle boots for road riding are simply not tough enough.
The motocross boots favoured by many riders may offer outstanding protection when on the bike, but aren’t designed for walking long distances if your ride breaks down or if, like me, you like to explore on foot. The Italian firm Diadora produces an excellent compromise that offers the protection of a motocross boot with some of the comfort and flexibility of a walking boot.
Your connection to the road
Take special care with your choice of tyres. Often overlooked, they are essential safety items. After all, they are your only contact with the ground. Most manufacturers produce motorcycle tyres for all types of terrain. It’s essential you choose correctly: a desert tyre will be no good in mud, while a tyre used for grass racing won’t be effective on gravel. The wrong tyre choice will severely restrict your travel options.
Learn how to change a tyre and how to repair a puncture: a flat tyre in the middle of a remote region can have dire consequences. Touratech carries a wide range of puncture repair kits. If running on tubeless tyres, several aerosol cans of instant repair foam (now widely available from retailers such as Halfords) are a useful backup.
Learning to ride
There are many training schools across the country. Most people with a full car licence will have provisional entitlement to ride a 125cc machine on ‘L’ plates after completing a compulsory basic training course. Riders from the age of 17 can take the test on a 125cc machine but, if they pass, will be restricted to motorcycles of 33 brake horsepower or less for two years before they can ride any machine. Alternatively, from age 21, learners can follow the direct access scheme to learn and take the test on a larger machine. On passing the test, riders are eligible to ride any machine straight away.
A motorcycle theory test is compulsory even for holders of a car licence. Specialist off-road training is less widely available, but as the skills needed are so different from road riding, such training is essential before you head off around the world.
Optional extras
Once you have purchased your motorcycle and clothing, it’s quite possible to spend as much again customising your machine with a variety of ‘bolt-on’ additions. Touratech is the acknowledged leader in this field. Its catalogue covers every conceivable item of kit. The more you add, the greater the expense, the more there is to go wrong and the heavier your bike becomes. Resist the temptation to fit every possible bit of kit and only choose items that are really going to help you.
GPS, regarded by so many as essential, is no substitute for good map and compass skills. That said, simple handheld GPS devices can be clamped to your handlebars. For a journey of any great length, panniers are essential – but whether you use soft or hard panniers is again a matter of preference. I use a mixture that provides me with the flexibility of detachable soft panniers and the security of a metal-top box.
Whatever bike you ride, and whatever equipment you add, there is something about a motorcycle adventure that is exhilarating. Travelling by bike allows you to cover similar distances to a car, while your exposure to the elements and the terrain enables you to get much closer to the people and countries you travel through. It’s exciting, occasionally frightening and always enjoyable.
Don't forget...
…a small piece of flat wood to place under your bike stand to stop it sinking into soft ground. There is nothing more embarrassing than seeing your heavily laden machine slowly topple over as the stand sinks. It’s also very heavy to pick up again.
Richard Jeynes has been involved in many kinds of expeditions and outdoor activities. He’s the director of Trailquest, a company that specialises in organising motorcycle expeditions and providing training for those contemplating their own bike adventures. Visit www.trailquest.org.uk for more information
Stockists and information
Aussie Shop: 0845 643 0896; www.theaussieshop.co.uk
BMW Motorrad: 0800 777 155; www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk
Pure Hydration: 08705 820 000; www.aquapuretraveller.com
Diadora: +39 0423 915 335; www.diadora-racing.it
EDZ: 0870 410 6112; www.edz.biz
Hein Gericke: 0800 165 165; www.hein-gericke.co.uk
Jetboil: +1 888 611 9905; www.jetboil.com
Michelin: 0845 366 1550; www.michelin.com
Motolug: 01706 874 300; www.bikelug.co.uk
Touratech: 01639 841 765; www.touratech.co.uk
Trailquest: 01579 362 849; www.trailquest.org.uk
Yamaha: 01932 358 000; www.yamaha-motor.co.uk
All prices quoted are recommended/suggested retail prices
August 2008
The thought of crossing a river on a motorcycle is enough to make some riders retrace their route and travel kilometres in another direction to find a dry crossing. Rivers come in many shapes and sizes, and all create problems for the two-wheeled adventurer. A rider’s first river crossing is a tense affair. For me, it came in a remote part of Iceland. With no bridges for hundreds of kilometres, it was a simple choice of get on with it or turn round and give up. I got on with it.
Safety is of paramount importance when attempting to ford a river. Blasting across a tributary in a shower of spray looks good on film, but it isn’t the ideal method for riders wishing to complete a journey in one piece.
I will normally walk across first to determine the best entry and exit point (not always directly in line with the road), as well as the depth across the entire route. I want to ascertain the state of the riverbed and to search for hidden rocks that could knock the bike over and into the water. At best, this could result in a flooded engine; at worst, a bike washed away. I usually push it across in all but the shallowest water, sometimes with the engine running and in gear. I haven’t dropped a bike in the water – yet – but have often come close to doing so. River crossings remain my least favourite activity.
Choose your ride
The choice of suitable machines for motorcycle expeditions is huge and somewhat daunting. Although a purpose-built adventure bike will take you virtually anywhere you want to go, almost any kind of motorcycle will usually suffice.
It’s a myth that one has to spend thousands of pounds to go on a motorcycle adventure. You only have to look at the plethora of small, lightweight bikes used as daily transport across the developing world to see how successfully a simple machine can cope with the most arduous of conditions. In 2006, I completed a 2,000-kilometre double-crossing of the interior of Iceland on a 125cc Hartford motorcycle. The bike was built in Taiwan, cost £1,400 new, and performed exceptionally in conditions that riders of larger machines avoided.
Your choice of motorcycle will be a matter of compromise. You have to balance your requirements for economy, reliability, comfort, weight, agility and simplicity. If you’re a solo rider, the machine is your lifeline and you need to be comfortable riding it, pushing it, lifting it, and repairing it.
There are several factors to consider when choosing a motorcycle. The true adventure rider will be off-road for large portions of their journey, so a machine that can deal with this is essential. Road-touring bikes are often large and comfortable but come with the penalty of extra weight and limited off-road ability. They are ideal for long-distance ‘tarmac touring’, but are simply not designed to cope with a corrugated track in the Sahara.
By contrast, a trail bike is designed for off-road use, but is less smooth and relaxing to ride on tarmac. Trail bikes have greater ground clearance, longer suspension travel, larger (21-inch/533-millimetre) front wheels and a stronger construction than touring models. They do, however, have their problems. They are designed to be ridden while standing, so the seats are often narrow and uncomfortable for long journeys. In addition, the seat is often high off the ground, which is not ideal for short riders. A trail bike has a small fuel tank, so you must either replace the original with a larger capacity one or carry additional fuel in cans strapped to the bike.
Although most motorcycle manufacturers produce a range of bikes suitable for adventure riding, only a few specialise in the field. With the popularity of adventure motorcycling in continental Europe, it’s not surprising that BMW and KTM are recognised as leaders, with stiff competition coming from Honda and Yamaha.
An additional factor to consider is the manufacturer’s distribution network and the availability of spare parts for repairs. The more complicated your machine, the more difficult it may be to get parts in some regions. I firmly believe in the ‘light is right’ approach: I ride a lightweight Hartford VR125H in extreme conditions and when riding with a support vehicle.
I prefer a larger 650cc BMW 650GS when travelling on my own, as it has a greater range and can carry a generous load.
Suited and booted
What you wear is also a matter of personal choice and compromise. The harsh reality of adventure motorcycling is that a fall is inevitable. Whether or not you survive the fall uninjured will often depend on what you’re wearing. You should definitely consider specialist attire as it provides much greater protection than regular outdoor gear. For example, the best motorbike jackets are waterproof and windproof, with removable inners for hotter climates. Most importantly, they have integral flexible body armour to protect the spine, shoulders and elbows. Fabrics are tear-resistant to protect you from being flayed alive should you crash at speed. They also have a myriad of exposed and concealed pockets for you to keep all essential items safe and secure. After your bike, your jacket will become your best friend. It’s worth paying more for quality.
Gloves are often overlooked – a great mistake. Leather gloves are by far the best, as this material provides outstanding protection against grazes and cuts should you fall. Specialist designs are available, but avoid lightweight motocross gloves: they are designed to give excellent grip and to be very flexible, but they are for use on grass and mud, and they offer no abrasion protection on gravel and tarmac. I happily use British Army Northern Ireland patrol gloves. Made from leather with extra protection on the back of the hands, they are ideal in all conditions and can also be worn when not riding.
In most countries, a helmet is mandatory. I would never consider riding anywhere without one.
It has become something of a convention to wear the motocross-style helmet: in hot weather, this type of helmet is cooler than the alternatives. The accompanying goggles are better at keeping out dust than full-face visors. However, this arrangement offers less protection in cold conditions. Consequently, several helmet manufacturers, such as Bell, Arai and BMW, now produce motocross-style helmets that also have pull-down visors. These are expensive but worth every penny.
Boots are the final item for consideration. Very few boots are designed specifically for adventure riding, and normal motorcycle boots for road riding are simply not tough enough.
The motocross boots favoured by many riders may offer outstanding protection when on the bike, but aren’t designed for walking long distances if your ride breaks down or if, like me, you like to explore on foot. The Italian firm Diadora produces an excellent compromise that offers the protection of a motocross boot with some of the comfort and flexibility of a walking boot.
Start the slideshow (10 pictures)
Your connection to the road
Take special care with your choice of tyres. Often overlooked, they are essential safety items. After all, they are your only contact with the ground. Most manufacturers produce motorcycle tyres for all types of terrain. It’s essential you choose correctly: a desert tyre will be no good in mud, while a tyre used for grass racing won’t be effective on gravel. The wrong tyre choice will severely restrict your travel options.
Learn how to change a tyre and how to repair a puncture: a flat tyre in the middle of a remote region can have dire consequences. Touratech carries a wide range of puncture repair kits. If running on tubeless tyres, several aerosol cans of instant repair foam (now widely available from retailers such as Halfords) are a useful backup.
Learning to ride
There are many training schools across the country. Most people with a full car licence will have provisional entitlement to ride a 125cc machine on ‘L’ plates after completing a compulsory basic training course. Riders from the age of 17 can take the test on a 125cc machine but, if they pass, will be restricted to motorcycles of 33 brake horsepower or less for two years before they can ride any machine. Alternatively, from age 21, learners can follow the direct access scheme to learn and take the test on a larger machine. On passing the test, riders are eligible to ride any machine straight away.
A motorcycle theory test is compulsory even for holders of a car licence. Specialist off-road training is less widely available, but as the skills needed are so different from road riding, such training is essential before you head off around the world.
Optional extras
Once you have purchased your motorcycle and clothing, it’s quite possible to spend as much again customising your machine with a variety of ‘bolt-on’ additions. Touratech is the acknowledged leader in this field. Its catalogue covers every conceivable item of kit. The more you add, the greater the expense, the more there is to go wrong and the heavier your bike becomes. Resist the temptation to fit every possible bit of kit and only choose items that are really going to help you.
GPS, regarded by so many as essential, is no substitute for good map and compass skills. That said, simple handheld GPS devices can be clamped to your handlebars. For a journey of any great length, panniers are essential – but whether you use soft or hard panniers is again a matter of preference. I use a mixture that provides me with the flexibility of detachable soft panniers and the security of a metal-top box.
Whatever bike you ride, and whatever equipment you add, there is something about a motorcycle adventure that is exhilarating. Travelling by bike allows you to cover similar distances to a car, while your exposure to the elements and the terrain enables you to get much closer to the people and countries you travel through. It’s exciting, occasionally frightening and always enjoyable.
Don't forget...
…a small piece of flat wood to place under your bike stand to stop it sinking into soft ground. There is nothing more embarrassing than seeing your heavily laden machine slowly topple over as the stand sinks. It’s also very heavy to pick up again.
Richard Jeynes has been involved in many kinds of expeditions and outdoor activities. He’s the director of Trailquest, a company that specialises in organising motorcycle expeditions and providing training for those contemplating their own bike adventures. Visit www.trailquest.org.uk for more information
Stockists and information
Aussie Shop: 0845 643 0896; www.theaussieshop.co.uk
BMW Motorrad: 0800 777 155; www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk
Pure Hydration: 08705 820 000; www.aquapuretraveller.com
Diadora: +39 0423 915 335; www.diadora-racing.it
EDZ: 0870 410 6112; www.edz.biz
Hein Gericke: 0800 165 165; www.hein-gericke.co.uk
Jetboil: +1 888 611 9905; www.jetboil.com
Michelin: 0845 366 1550; www.michelin.com
Motolug: 01706 874 300; www.bikelug.co.uk
Touratech: 01639 841 765; www.touratech.co.uk
Trailquest: 01579 362 849; www.trailquest.org.uk
Yamaha: 01932 358 000; www.yamaha-motor.co.uk
All prices quoted are recommended/suggested retail prices
August 2008
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