I am, frankly, the luckiest guy on earth. This being Motorcycle Mojo\u2019s touring issue, it is chock-a-block of far-flung destinations visited and remote corners of the Earth adventured. With the exception of the Far East and Australia, I have visited many of them \u2013 most, if you expand the definitions of \u201cdestination\u201d and \u201cadventure\u201d to include similar ports of calls and journeys. For a boy from Nowhere, Northern Quebec, whose childhood dream was to just make it to Ontario, it\u2019s been one helluva ride.<\/p>\n
I say that not to boast \u2013 okay, just a little \u2013 but rather establish the bona fides in what I am going to say next: the biggest mistake made by two-wheeled adventure seekers when they set out into foreign territories is renting\/buying\/borrowing too big a bike. And, as expected, that miscalculation is transferring our bigger-is-better mentality to arenas where that mantra simply doesn\u2019t hold.<\/p>\n
My first experience with this phenomenon was on a tour of Mexico\u2019s famed Baja Peninsula (and, yes, all you old-timers, I got to visit Mike\u2019s Sky Ranch) with a gentleman named Chris Haines. Haines was a Baja racer of some repute \u2013 he\u2019s won his class in the Baja 1000 15 times! \u2013 a vocation he morphed into leading guided tours that essentially emulate the famed Baja 1000.<\/p>\n
Being a coward, I opted for the smallest dirt bike Haines recommended, Kawasaki\u2019s truly amazing KLX250. The three gentlemen I shared the tour with \u2013 forever remembered in my hippocampus as Larry, Curly and Moe \u2013 chose much larger 650s. By the end of the second day, one of them had ended in hospital \u2013 and, from personal experience, I can tell you that you really don\u2019t want to test Third World medical systems \u2013 another had quit the tour and the third continually retarded our progress despite riding the most powerful bike in the group.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not a mistake made by just beginners. I have been lucky enough to join the elite of motorcycle journalists on a number of BMW GS-related adventures \u2013 Morocco\u2019s Atlas Mountains and the deserts of Namibia being the most incredible. Based on my past experience, I was one of the only ones who opted for BMW\u2019s lesser GS, the F700\/800\/850 (fellow Mojoer and the eminently sensible Costa Mouzouris being the only other), most of my fellow journalists \u2013 who really should know better \u2013 choosing 1150\/1200\/1250 GSes.<\/p>\n
Inevitably, almost to a man (and the occasional woman), they regretted their choices. Big boxers may indeed boast more power, better suspension and superior electronics, but when you\u2019re so tired that you\u2019re literally seeing in black-and-white \u2013 picking up 270 kg of lardy flat twin 10 or 15 times in a day will do that to you \u2013 you will (take my word on this) beg for a lighter motorcycle, no matter how crude or underpowered. I have literally seen motorcycle journalists \u2013 experts all, supposedly \u2013 lay a big 1250 on its side and sit in a sand wash until someone came to rescue them.<\/p>\n
The lesson here is that if your route involves serious off-roading, you want the smallest motorcycle that can make the journey. Yamaha\u2019s new 700 T\u00e9n\u00e9r\u00e9 and KTM\u2019s 790 Adventure R look to capitalize on the market, but if you really want the ultimate go-anywhere, do-anything tool, Kawasaki\u2019s KLR650 should not be ignored.<\/p>\n
Nor do you have to go dirt-donking to make this mistake. In my estimation, the ultimate on-road destination in the world is the Swiss\/Italian Alps. Riding the serpentine passes in this region \u2013 home of the famed Stelvio Pass as well as the lesser-known but even more exciting Neufenen, Susten and Grimsel passes \u2013 is a fantasy come true. The switchbacks are endless, the pavement billiard table-smooth and the local constabulary won\u2019t even blink if you drag a foot peg.
\nAnd it\u2019s no place for a sport bike. Understandably, the most popular motorcycles are adventure tourers, the big GS coming into its own here. Superbikes with clip-ons are rare, usually ridden by out-of-touch numpties yet to figure out that narrow handlebars and restricted turning radii are not fun when you\u2019re spending most of your time in first gear.<\/p>\n
Even here, lighter is better. Yes, I know that if you\u2019re taking milady along as passenger, you need as much cargo volume as you can get. But even then \u2013 and please take my word on this \u2013 you\u2019ll want the lightest option with the lowest seat possible. I once spent a week in the Alps with She Who Needs Three Types of Hair Conditioner aboard a K1600 and, as fine a motorcycle as it may be, even Herself insisted we needn\u2019t ride anything that big again. Indeed, while speed is not the essence of alpine touring \u2013 okay, not the whole essence \u2013worth noting is the weapon of choice for the locals is a single-lung 690 Duke. That might not be practical for two-up touring, but take that as an indication of how tight these roads really are.<\/p>\n
In fact, in all my years of motorcycle touring abroad, I have never once wished I had a heavier, more powerful motorcycle. Yes, there are limits to this \u201ctread lightly\u201d mantra \u2013 a Rebel 300 isn\u2019t going to pass muster on a German autobahn \u2013 but, nonetheless, my advice is that when trying to choose a bike for your next adventure, let curb-weight specifications be your guide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am, frankly, the luckiest guy on earth. This being Motorcycle Mojo\u2019s touring issue, it is chock-a-block of far-flung destinations visited and remote corners of the Earth adventured. With the exception of the Far East and Australia, I have visited many of them \u2013 most, if you expand the definitions of \u201cdestination\u201d and \u201cadventure\u201d to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1957,1876],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n