650 or 1200 for peak BOATS

power2learn

Guest
I got a 1200 this Christmas - and am delighted with it. It's mainly for taking me on a 500 mile a week commute, but living on the edge of the Peak district, I've started some gentle exploring of local BOATs.

A couple of days ago, I checked out the Roman road from Ringinglow to Fox House. Just as I was setting off, a couple of guys came down on KTM 450s that looked about a 1/4 the size and wieght of the GS. As the going got rocky, I started thinking I'd be better off on something like that: lighter, lower, cheaper. After a short while, it occured to me that an early 650 GS might be a more sensible proposition for this off roading than a bike that a) I depend on to get to work 120 miles away, and b) is more expensive than any bike I've ever owned.

Anyway - what's the consensus- the amazing 1200, or a lighter, nimbler 650, for trogging around the trails in the peak?

p.s. another thought that occurred when the going got rough was 'you really shouldn't be doing this alone'. Are there others near to Ringinglow / Hathersage that I could explore some gentle trails with?
 
Good as F650's are, one thing they are not is light!

193 Kgs with fuel etc. is 425 lbs! (1200GS s 225 Kgs).
 
Get yourself a 'pogostick' - i.e. a KTM, Gas Gas, DRZ, Husky, etc... :thumb
 
Sheffielder...

Spent many a happy hour driving greenlanes in my landy, still got marked up maps for huge sections of North Wales, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire etc etc.

Haven't done so much for a few years now so probably out of date.... I've considered taking my R1200GS on the lanes... but same reasons stop me doing it!

Hope you managed to get sorted and be happy riding whatever you end up with....

My old offroad club always recommended going out with at least two vehicles but never more than five otherwise you upset the ramblers... I generally went alone, although my little truck 'was' fully equipped for competition use.

Tony.
 
P2L
There are plenty of us using the bigger GSs on the trails of the peaks.
Keep a look out here for the next run if you want company.
Check out some of the past trail reports in this section.
 
[

Anyway - what's the consensus- the amazing 1200, or a lighter, nimbler 650, for trogging around the trails in the peak?

p.s. another thought that occurred when the going got rough was 'you really shouldn't be doing this alone'. :nono Are there others near to Ringinglow / Hathersage that I could explore some gentle trails with?[/QUOTE]



Hey up Pal :thumb
I live in Chesterfield
If yer want I will show you a few easy trails , I would be glad of the company
Giz a ring
01246 297959
Cheers
Mick
 
hi there,if the new n e r c bill goes through there wont be any trail riding in the peakdistrict. so id hold on to your money for a bit.the house of lords are only waiting for her queenship to stamp it through and thats it . if it goes through there will only be 3 lanes you can ride
 
Yes, but once the Bill goes through it will only be as illegal to ride the hundreds of miles of footpaths and bridleways as it will be illegal to ride the legal trails. If you know what I mean. So the nerc Bill actually opens up the countryside for us off roaders (although we'll all have to ride illegally :confused: ).
 
hi. thats ok if you want your bike siezed by the cops. im the chairman of the peakdistrict group of the trailriders fellowship.so im supposed to ride legally.the worst part about the bill is that its the legal trail riders that it effects not the knob heads that ride where they like.
 
knob heads that ride where they like.
Click to expand...

Which is then, what we will have to become - as opposed to knob heads in government that do what they like if it suits.
 
???

I just had a quick search through the NERC bill at http://www.defra.gov.uk/rural/pdfs/ruraldelivery/bill/bill-final-180505.pdf

The main bit I can find is:
Ending of certain existing unrecorded public rights of way
(1) An existing public right of way for mechanically propelled vehicles is
extinguished if it is over a way which, immediately before commencement
(a) was not shown in a definitive map and statement or was shown in a
definitive map and statement only as a footpath, bridleway or
restricted byway

Wouldn't that exclude BOATS, as they are shown on definitive maps? I guess there must be another bit somewhere that I have missed.

Can anyone point to the specific problem in the bill, and if so, have folk in the forum set up a petition / standard letter that we can send to local MPs etc.?

P.S> Mick, thanks for the offer - I'll give you a ring (before it's too late :)
 
tonyq6551 said:
hi. thats ok if you want your bike siezed by the cops. im the chairman of the peakdistrict group of the trailriders fellowship.so im supposed to ride legally.the worst part about the bill is that its the legal trail riders that it effects not the knob heads that ride where they like.
Click to expand...

Tony, thanks for mentioning the TRF (http://www.trf.org.uk/ ) - not heard of this before. Sounds like a good organisation.

I know you can get the odd louts tearing it up on bikes or 4x4s, but it seems to me that most folk out in the country, walkers, horse-riders, climbers, bikers and drivers treat the countryside and each other with a good deal of respect.

Making it illegal for anyone to take a bike or car out on most BOATs seems an extreme way to deal with problems that might be caused by a minority in some instances. The environmental damage caused by road and air travel must be far more extreme, but I haven't heard of any bills suggesting a blanket ban on these activities!

Is the bill really likely to reduce the trails in the peak to 3, and if so, what are folk / can folk do to try and oppose it - or is it too late now?
 
p.s. another thought that occurred when the going got rough was 'you really shouldn't be doing this alone'. Are there others near to Ringinglow / Hathersage that I could explore some gentle trails with?
I'm within easy reach of Ringinglow/Hathersage and would be happy to join you and Mick
 
timeandtide said:
p.s. another thought that occurred when the going got rough was 'you really shouldn't be doing this alone'. Are there others near to Ringinglow / Hathersage that I could explore some gentle trails with?
I'm within easy reach of Ringinglow/Hathersage and would be happy to join you and Mick
Click to expand...

Haven't ridden it for some years, used to be in the TRF when I had my XR200 and DR350. But have often thought of doing it on my GS as it's only a few miles from home but not sure of it's condition now and didn't fancy getting stuck on my own. So if anyone doing it I'm up for it.
 
We may as well call an overdue Peak section meeting and all do it........
 
Mark Rodgers said:
We may as well call an overdue Peak section meeting and all do it........
Click to expand...

Well, sounds good to me.

I've been going for the 'little and often' approach myself - practicing on a few local trails, just getting in 30 - 60 minutes exploring a couple of times a week for a couple of weeks.

These little trails could string together quite nicely, probably take an hour, perhaps two at most: starting at Fox House, taking the Roman Road (mainly sandy / muddy tracks, few long deep puddles to splash through) to Ringinglow, 'real roads' through Ringinglow to the top of Clough Lane (quite steep, stony descent), loop through Forge Dam and onto up Ivy Cottage Lane (muddy track with a small stream running down it), and up Trap Lane (short and steep, can be very muddy, stream crosses it at the bottom), and back onto Ringinglow Road. Sorry to say that's about the extent of my experience so far.

Anyway, I was thinking of having a bash at that sequence on Saturday afternoon, perhaps around 1 or 2pm if anyone wants to join me - or more experienced folk might want to suggest some better routes.
 
I'm going to have a couple of hours on these routes tomorrow. I'm aiming to set off about 1pm, leaving from the bottom of the Roman Road - the gate near Parson House outdoor centre, about 500 yards up the road (A6187) from the Fox House Inn. I'll try to turn up about 15 minutes early, in case anyone would like to come along.
 
Well, no sign of any other GSers, but did hook up with a bunch of folk on some smaller off-road bikes ;) right at the start. The Roman Road was fine - though no way I could keep up with these guys :eek: - I think they were just gobsmacked to see this big bike up there with them at all.

I then followed them on on some much smaller trails over at Owler Bar - very muddy but good fun. Only dropped the bike in two muddy pits! Still, when I'd got both axles under the mud and was clearly going nowhere, one of the guys kindly helped me push the bike out of the knee-deep mud - should have warned him not to stand behind the rear wheel though!

Anyway, some photos at http://web.mac.com/power2learn/iWeb/Site/

Lessons learned:
a) smaller & lighter is definitely better for this stuff
b) really don't go on your own - there were two times when the bike bogged down and I would just not have got out on my own.
c) next time I want to go with a group of GSers who have got their bikes through these tracks before... :thumb
d) If I want to go to the Africa or the Ukraine, (or anyway more than 50 miles away) the GS is the bike to have; if I just want to go round some local trails, I might be better to not buy some adventure type wrap around bars, but spend a similar amount of money on a very old DT175 :nenau .
 
Looks like you had fun!

Ho ho ho
DSCN1136.jpg
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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