Off roading - help

[ChasF]

The GS is only really suitable for light off-roading. Make sure where you ride is legal and ideally go with someone who has been there before. TRF is good but their rides will be aimed at smaller bikes and not at all suitable for a GS but you may well find someone at your local TRF meets who has a GS or similar, as well as their enduro, and may be able to show you the ropes. Don't know what tyres you have but if they are road orientated trail tyres only go off-road when it's dry. A slightly more 'aggressive' tyre like a TKC80 will help a little if the going gets slippery.

Give it a go and have fun.

[Jelly]

Bloody hell! All this talk of shovels, whistles, taking liquids and not going on your own with a big bike!!!!

All that never really occurred to me, oops.

No one even knew where I was.

I think I'd best review my 'off road' procedures.

Some very good points raised that have opened my eyes.

[royle100]

Would recommend these guys (and maybe closer to home)

http://www.tracksense.co.uk/setrails.htm

Get some Ordance Survey maps of the area where you live and locate the BOATS (Byways Open to All Traffic). Local TRF groups normally meet once a month and have marked up maps available, though see if you can find members with bigger trail bikes.

cheers & enjoy

[herman]

I can only echo all of the above wise words but add that the BMW off road level one is good value for the quality of tuition and you can use a GS,crash it and not be faced with the bill.

[Lancastermick]

The GS is built to off-road. Yes, it's big, but take it off road and you'll be grinning from ear to ear. You'll stop for a brew and won't be able to tear your eyes off the machine as you try and work out how such a big thing can be so capable!

Learn how to pick it up (because you will drop it), put some decent tyres on and just aim for the gaps mate!

That said, are you happy to get it scratched and put a couple of dents in it mate? Cause if you're not, don't use it. You'll spend all your ride worrying, won't focus properly and be more likely to drop it heavily. There are times when you need to commit to a manoeuvre and boot it. That's when you have to have all your focus on the ride, not the shiny paintwork. :huh:

I love it mate...no better feeling.

Are there no ABR trail rides going on around you?

[Browndog]

Hello Another vote for the BMW Off Road Skills Level 1 course. Invaluable in my opinion.
It gives you the basics which will give you the confidence to go off road and gain
experience which is really the only way to improve.
I have heard good reports about the Yamaha training also but haven't done it myself.
The GS can be brilliant off road if you have experience as others have said.

If you have a reasonable size garden or local open space get on the bike and practice slow bike control, standing ALL the time, it gives you much better control.
Spend as much time on the bike as you can

Off road I switch OFF ABS and traction control you can have in off road mode or off altogether. (Depends on how much you like spinning it up :silly: :silly: )

Practice is the key

[Paul Neate]

The BMW off road level one is good value for the quality of tuition and you can use a GS,crash it and not be faced with the bill.

I agree absolutely with Herman -- the training is second to none, and the freedom to really use the GS without having to worry about dropping it is worth the fee on its own.

[dash]

All good advice.

Depending where you are, there's generally more 'easy' lanes around than 'technical' ones, particularly if you go in summer. If you've ever ridden up a gravel track or across a field to get into a campsite, and managed to do this without falling off, then you'll be OK. So pick and choose which ones you do to start with - flat ground and only a few hundred yards tarmac to tarmac. Then work your way up.

The comment about being prepared to drop/scratch/dent the bike is a good one. Not necessarily because you will, but because worrying about crashing tends to result in crashing. I'd had my Tenere about an hour before I first took it off-tarmac, and had my first crash on dirt within about a month - but then that's less than half the value of a GS, I'm not personally worried about the cosmetics, and I know I'm going to keep it long enough that resale value is an irrelevance. So I tend to ride it with gay abandon, and (IMO as a result) don't fall off that often.

Riding alone... I do it all the time these days, but my first few days trail-riding were all in company and on smaller bikes. I don't actually rate "getting stuck under the bike" as a serious risk. I've managed to step or jump clear of every off I've had trailriding. Even racing Hare & Hounds for a year (and crashing a lot) I got my foot stuck under the bike once, and the only reason I was really stuck was that it was on the side of a hill, so my head was about 2' below my feet . BUT - with something the size of a GS, there are going to be places you can get into that it takes two to push it out of, or drop it in ways that it takes two to pick it up.

TRF groups - my local group certainly (East Mids) is all about people driving to the trails in vans with their enduro bike in the back, and they tend (wrongly and quite unwelcomingly) to be quite dismissive at meetings of the idea you might do serious trail-riding on a big bike. If it wasn't for the fact that a) I'm bloody minded and b) I have small bikes as well I'd probably have stopped going by now. Other groups may vary. It's still quite good to go along and get your maps marked up . One day I'll turn up to a ride-out on the Tenere and either make them, or myself look silly


Oh and remember, it's fun

[ChasF]

Perhaps the ABR 'Rough Roads' group should take on the sort of TRF role but aimed at the 600cc plus adventure bikes.

I personally think everyone looses some enjoyment when the bikes are mixed because a challenging lane on a 1200GS is a doddle on a KTM exc.

[exrm193]

Stick to the road...like this one in the French Alps