So I have taken the leap of faith and brought myself an R1200GS. After spending the past 20 years tucked down on the tank of predominantley one form of ZZR or another I have evolved into an upright human.
I know this sounds really stupid coming from someone who has been on bikes since a child but up until 6 months ago I had never realised that adventure biking existed. I would zoom past fields and lanes etc and though I had an urge to explore them I knew full well that where there is no tarmac there is no Sports tourer. I have never really been a reader of motorcycle things and would often ride out alone.
All these things combined led to me losing some interest in motorcycling and my last ZZR sat in the garage for nearly twelve months unridden when it ran out of MOT. I got bored of powering down tarmac with a green blur either side of me and then dutifully telling anyone I spoke to that the scenery was amazing down this road when in truth I could describe little more that the road layout and white lines. I got bored of riding huge distances stopping only to fill up and then power on again in the pursuit of reaching my destination. I got bored of riding out alone, even when physically with others the aim was always to get from A to Z as fast as possible and with stopping as little as possible, it was not a sociable experience.
So I parked my bike up and took months out from riding at all. I started to ponder my situation considering whether I had hit a form of Bikers wall which would lead me to sell my bike and take up a more responsible hobby like bowls or something. Whilst I was walking around the Bowls shop looking at rail upon rail of brown slacks and turtle neck jumpers I realised that I had lost interest in straight road riding and not life itself so I left the brown slacks as quickly as possible and made my way home.
An idea had sprung itself into my mind, some years earlier I had been given a full set of off road strap on body armour from a guy i knew who was retiring from the activity and this set of armour was brand new a spare set he had acquired. Whilst I like to think of myself in good shape for my age ( I am mid 40s ) I was very well aware that throwing myself into the MotoX arena when the closest thing to off roading I had ever experienced was pulling my machine onto a pavement to save walking so far was likely to end in several plastercasts and of course I didnt want to upstage all the youngsters who had been doing 360s since before they had found the underwear section of Kays catalogue ( does Kays catalogue even exist anymore? ).
What I had tried previously was green laning in a Range Rover I used to own and I had really enjoyed the experience. What had stopped my getting into it properly at the time was the amount of scratches I had put down the side of my Rangey but I started to wonder if green laning was a possibility on a motorbike. So I started to hit google pretty hard looking into this idea. Google got worried that someone else was using my account and kept trying to change my searches from green laning motorbikes to naked women sprawled on motorbikes which was far more in line with my usual google searches. After hours of trying to stop looking at naked women sprawled on motorbikes I found that actually my radical idea of green laning on bikes was not as revolutionary as I first thought and that people had been doing this for years.
So now I was excited ..... So i closed down all the pictures of naked ladies and realised that I was still excited by the pictures of riding off road and the freedom that this style of riding offered. Next step was to decide what kind of bike to buy.
I looked at true off road bikes 400cc scramblers and the like, I realised that to get a decent one would cost me 2-3k. I then considered how I would get this strictly off road bike to the green lane sites and back again so I considered a van for transport, but something didnt fit with the idea of not being able to ride on the road in between these sites and the more I got enthused by the idea of bikes again the more I realised that I didnt want to be permenantly off road I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted to be able to use my bike for green laning and taking it to places that I had never been able to take my road bikes but I also wanted to ride to and from these places and I still harboured desires to tour the UK and the continent. This was when my google searches led me to adventure bikes.
For those who are still reading and have not got bored of my very long first post or been distracted by googling naked ladies sprawled on motorcycles, I understand that it will be a shock to you that I had no idea what an adventure bike was but its true. I had just never come across them before, I did not know anyone who owned one, my riding circle mostly had sports bikes, and like I said earlier I have never spent hours on the internet looking into motorcycling.....I always got distracted
So now I spent hours upon hours reading everything I could about adventure motorcycling and adventure bikes. I soaked in all of the fresh ( to me ) ideas of track and trail riding through the British national parks. The secretive world ( I still cant find a straightforward map ) of green laning and the deeply buried passion for me to tour the UK and Europe on a bike. The stories I read of peoples experiences convinced me that this was my future not just as a way to enjoy a ride a couple of times a month but that this was a lifestyle that really appealed to me and my general sense of adventure.
My decision was made, this was for me. I just had to pick a bike.
OMG how is it possible that I never knew what an adventure bike was when there are so many of them out there, every manufacturer makes them and not just one of them they all seem to make 4 or 5 different ones. I was looking at 100s of different bikes and variants to consider, its truly overwhelming. Luckily I am a practical man and I simply started with a list of serious requirements for me personally. the list was as follows:
Able to actually perform off road - I hate this whole SUV market that has appeared with everyone thinking they are driving a 4x4 that can climb mountains only to get grounded when 6 snow flakes hit the ground.
Comfortable on long distances
Powerful enough that I can safely overtake - Genuinely my mindset has changed from wanting the fastest motorcycle on the road but im still going to overtake and I dont want to become a bonnet decoration in doing so.
Big - Im 6ft 2 and 15 stone , I have green eyes and love quiet nights in ( Crap, sorry wrong website ). I have ridden pretty bikes before that are all small and cute but when I sit on them I feel like one of those chavs riding a 110 pit bike down the high street. Its gotta be sizeable and feel substantial.
Looks - Now this one shows an insight into my shallow ego. Sure the point of this exercise is to find a bike that allows me to be happy and find fullfillment and looks shouldnt feature into that BUT why oh why can i not look cool as shit when in doing it...
This was my main list and some additions to it got added the more I read on this forum and elsewhere including chosing shaft drive over chains wanting a bike that had reliability and parts availability etc.
Is anyone actually still reading this? Wow
So im sure by now as you read my list of requirements you mentally ticked off all the important aspects with a yes next to the R1200GS that you own and love, God I really hope you did but if not its too late because Yes folks I have as a mentioned 3 hours ago at the beginning of this unneccesarily long post. I have brought and paid for my R1200GS. Its a 2009 plate in Grey and Black with full Vario luggage a proper fitted tank bag and what I can only assume was Gods first Sat Nav as its nearly as big as the top box. It is in good nick for its 41K mileage previously owned by an IAM member so has obviously been thrapped TF LOL. I pick it up next weekend as they are giving it a service and full MOT etc.
I am so happy about it, I feel like its a completely new lease of life. I followed the advice of a member on this site and I deliberately didnt test ride it. It will be so different to what I am used to that I didnt want to be put off by a short test ride with no time to properly adapt and embrace those differences. I am sure that this adventure lifestyle is what im looking for and so as I mentioned 4 hours ago I have taken that leap of faith.
Thank you for sticking with me and reading this.
P.S ( OMG really? a P.S, after the longest most boring post ever....)
I am based in Coventry in the West Midlands and I am keen to hear of any groups or events etc within a reasonable distance from me.
Thanks again Trojan
I know this sounds really stupid coming from someone who has been on bikes since a child but up until 6 months ago I had never realised that adventure biking existed. I would zoom past fields and lanes etc and though I had an urge to explore them I knew full well that where there is no tarmac there is no Sports tourer. I have never really been a reader of motorcycle things and would often ride out alone.
All these things combined led to me losing some interest in motorcycling and my last ZZR sat in the garage for nearly twelve months unridden when it ran out of MOT. I got bored of powering down tarmac with a green blur either side of me and then dutifully telling anyone I spoke to that the scenery was amazing down this road when in truth I could describe little more that the road layout and white lines. I got bored of riding huge distances stopping only to fill up and then power on again in the pursuit of reaching my destination. I got bored of riding out alone, even when physically with others the aim was always to get from A to Z as fast as possible and with stopping as little as possible, it was not a sociable experience.
So I parked my bike up and took months out from riding at all. I started to ponder my situation considering whether I had hit a form of Bikers wall which would lead me to sell my bike and take up a more responsible hobby like bowls or something. Whilst I was walking around the Bowls shop looking at rail upon rail of brown slacks and turtle neck jumpers I realised that I had lost interest in straight road riding and not life itself so I left the brown slacks as quickly as possible and made my way home.
An idea had sprung itself into my mind, some years earlier I had been given a full set of off road strap on body armour from a guy i knew who was retiring from the activity and this set of armour was brand new a spare set he had acquired. Whilst I like to think of myself in good shape for my age ( I am mid 40s ) I was very well aware that throwing myself into the MotoX arena when the closest thing to off roading I had ever experienced was pulling my machine onto a pavement to save walking so far was likely to end in several plastercasts and of course I didnt want to upstage all the youngsters who had been doing 360s since before they had found the underwear section of Kays catalogue ( does Kays catalogue even exist anymore? ).
What I had tried previously was green laning in a Range Rover I used to own and I had really enjoyed the experience. What had stopped my getting into it properly at the time was the amount of scratches I had put down the side of my Rangey but I started to wonder if green laning was a possibility on a motorbike. So I started to hit google pretty hard looking into this idea. Google got worried that someone else was using my account and kept trying to change my searches from green laning motorbikes to naked women sprawled on motorbikes which was far more in line with my usual google searches. After hours of trying to stop looking at naked women sprawled on motorbikes I found that actually my radical idea of green laning on bikes was not as revolutionary as I first thought and that people had been doing this for years.
So now I was excited ..... So i closed down all the pictures of naked ladies and realised that I was still excited by the pictures of riding off road and the freedom that this style of riding offered. Next step was to decide what kind of bike to buy.
I looked at true off road bikes 400cc scramblers and the like, I realised that to get a decent one would cost me 2-3k. I then considered how I would get this strictly off road bike to the green lane sites and back again so I considered a van for transport, but something didnt fit with the idea of not being able to ride on the road in between these sites and the more I got enthused by the idea of bikes again the more I realised that I didnt want to be permenantly off road I wanted the best of both worlds. I wanted to be able to use my bike for green laning and taking it to places that I had never been able to take my road bikes but I also wanted to ride to and from these places and I still harboured desires to tour the UK and the continent. This was when my google searches led me to adventure bikes.
For those who are still reading and have not got bored of my very long first post or been distracted by googling naked ladies sprawled on motorcycles, I understand that it will be a shock to you that I had no idea what an adventure bike was but its true. I had just never come across them before, I did not know anyone who owned one, my riding circle mostly had sports bikes, and like I said earlier I have never spent hours on the internet looking into motorcycling.....I always got distracted
So now I spent hours upon hours reading everything I could about adventure motorcycling and adventure bikes. I soaked in all of the fresh ( to me ) ideas of track and trail riding through the British national parks. The secretive world ( I still cant find a straightforward map ) of green laning and the deeply buried passion for me to tour the UK and Europe on a bike. The stories I read of peoples experiences convinced me that this was my future not just as a way to enjoy a ride a couple of times a month but that this was a lifestyle that really appealed to me and my general sense of adventure.
My decision was made, this was for me. I just had to pick a bike.
OMG how is it possible that I never knew what an adventure bike was when there are so many of them out there, every manufacturer makes them and not just one of them they all seem to make 4 or 5 different ones. I was looking at 100s of different bikes and variants to consider, its truly overwhelming. Luckily I am a practical man and I simply started with a list of serious requirements for me personally. the list was as follows:
Able to actually perform off road - I hate this whole SUV market that has appeared with everyone thinking they are driving a 4x4 that can climb mountains only to get grounded when 6 snow flakes hit the ground.
Comfortable on long distances
Powerful enough that I can safely overtake - Genuinely my mindset has changed from wanting the fastest motorcycle on the road but im still going to overtake and I dont want to become a bonnet decoration in doing so.
Big - Im 6ft 2 and 15 stone , I have green eyes and love quiet nights in ( Crap, sorry wrong website ). I have ridden pretty bikes before that are all small and cute but when I sit on them I feel like one of those chavs riding a 110 pit bike down the high street. Its gotta be sizeable and feel substantial.
Looks - Now this one shows an insight into my shallow ego. Sure the point of this exercise is to find a bike that allows me to be happy and find fullfillment and looks shouldnt feature into that BUT why oh why can i not look cool as shit when in doing it...
This was my main list and some additions to it got added the more I read on this forum and elsewhere including chosing shaft drive over chains wanting a bike that had reliability and parts availability etc.
Is anyone actually still reading this? Wow
So im sure by now as you read my list of requirements you mentally ticked off all the important aspects with a yes next to the R1200GS that you own and love, God I really hope you did but if not its too late because Yes folks I have as a mentioned 3 hours ago at the beginning of this unneccesarily long post. I have brought and paid for my R1200GS. Its a 2009 plate in Grey and Black with full Vario luggage a proper fitted tank bag and what I can only assume was Gods first Sat Nav as its nearly as big as the top box. It is in good nick for its 41K mileage previously owned by an IAM member so has obviously been thrapped TF LOL. I pick it up next weekend as they are giving it a service and full MOT etc.
I am so happy about it, I feel like its a completely new lease of life. I followed the advice of a member on this site and I deliberately didnt test ride it. It will be so different to what I am used to that I didnt want to be put off by a short test ride with no time to properly adapt and embrace those differences. I am sure that this adventure lifestyle is what im looking for and so as I mentioned 4 hours ago I have taken that leap of faith.
Thank you for sticking with me and reading this.
P.S ( OMG really? a P.S, after the longest most boring post ever....)
I am based in Coventry in the West Midlands and I am keen to hear of any groups or events etc within a reasonable distance from me.
Thanks again Trojan
