Solo touring and off road (e.g. tet), small ADV bike suggestions

[Brenhden]

I have a rally, I did a 2000 mile tour of the black forest last year with full camping gear including a 500 mile day. I got it specifically for the TET. I did a £130 ecu upgrade which added a bit of motorway power but it was fine before. Tank range is a bit less than you want...

There is no perfect touring/off road bike. You could look for a older KTM690 but I wanted something bombproof.

Many thanks for the reply @Brenhden. Thats a mammoth journey, including the 500 mile day... fair play! If you could share some more on the ECU upgrade that would be great. Also, any advice on luggage and what you did to get all your kit on (camping stuff etc.) would be appreciated!

ECU upgrade was from Japan, it's from a 2015 CBR250R, I got the details from the ADV 250Rally page.

I got some throw over soft luggage but it's not good enough to recommend it's 20l on each side and needs no luggage rack. I took an Aldi waterproof holdall on top but for trail riding I use a kitbrick bag as it's smaller and super tough. All luggage held tight in place with rok straps.

Hope that helps.

[minkyhead]

tough one to call ..a lot depends i think on the route chosen and they type of riding you intend to do ... the one thing ive found on the 250s is that when im on me own i feel more confident that i can manage them when it gets real tricky ..and being practical i can turn them around when i need to on single tracks ..and deffo pick em up massivly easier loaded in them muddy off camber drops ect

..road work is a pretty small part of me hols ...i live in lancashire and i can easily hit plymmouth in just 5 hours ..on me 250s so being honest i dont see the point of lugging a 200kgm bike around for just a small part of the journey ..i doubt a big 1200 would gain much more than 35/40mins if it tailgated every sales rep on the way ....i think you can get more frustrated on a big bike on amotorway than a small one at times .....
i huess you can flip it over and say whats the point of using a 250 unless you want to get a bit more off the beaten track ...always hard to figure out ...im dead happy with me 250s im in no hurry ....you could whats the piont of flogging a 250 long distance to do firetracks ...and then flip it over and say whats the point of rushing down somwhere on a 200 and odd kgm bike to not want to ride it where you really want to go

good luck whatever you choose

[gspod]

tough one to call ..a lot depends i think on the route chosen and they type of riding you intend to do ... the one thing ive found on the 250s is that when im on me own i feel more confident that i can manage them when it gets real tricky ..and being practical i can turn them around when i need to on single tracks ..and deffo pick em up massivly easier loaded in them muddy off camber drops ect

..road work is a pretty small part of me hols ...i live in lancashire and i can easily hit plymmouth in just 5 hours ..on me 250s so being honest i dont see the point of lugging a 200kgm bike around for just a small part of the journey ..i doubt a big 1200 would gain much more than 35/40mins if it tailgated every sales rep on the way ....i think you can get more frustrated on a big bike on amotorway than a small one at times .....
i huess you can flip it over and say whats the point of using a 250 unless you want to get a bit more off the beaten track ...always hard to figure out ...im dead happy with me 250s im in no hurry ....you could whats the piont of flogging a 250 long distance to do firetracks ...and then flip it over and say whats the point of rushing down somwhere on a 200 and odd kgm bike to not want to ride it where you really want to go

good luck whatever you choose

Summed up nicely. I read a quote recently on The HUBB: You cannot compare a journey on a big bike with a journey on a small bike - they are different beasts altogether.
Since you’re 6 foot May I recommend the Yamaha WR250R. The tallest but lightest and most powerful of the current batch of 250 trail bikes with long service intervals and a reputation for good reliability. They don’t sell them officially in this country any more (too expensive) but are very popular in the States and Oz. I bought mine second hand and they do come up occasionally- also known to hold their value so a good investment if you want to go bigger in the future.

In Europe it’s a lot to do with time. It would be lovely to ride down through France, Spain and Portugal, off road on a 250 but I’d want 2 months to really enjoy it. Otherwise you can have a very pleasant road ride down to Aragon and enjoy some lovely big bike friendly trails on a 1200gs etc....

As for luggage - I haven’t done any long trips on the WR but lots of people use Giant Loop.
Good luck

[fatowl]

Have you thought about a BMW G310GS ? With decent tyres, they can be made quite good off road, and they have a bit more power than a CRF for the tarmac.
Here's a good read about Jenny Morgan on the TAT with one...
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=47461&sid=6a7659f4 ... 799c99ec25

[minkyhead]

on balence as a solo rider and a novice to off road the smaller class of bike would be meuch better to start on ..its alot easier for anyone novice or not to hussle a 250 over tough stuff and not just for the weight ,,the low 1st gears and generel unstallability of the 250 class makes things hole lot easier ..and you can get away with a lot of stuff you cant on the bigger taller bikes

alternative is to buy a tatty 250l and bang a 300r engine in it ... suspension fairing ect ect ....ive got around a total of 3.5 grand in me 13 plate crf to buy and update ...over four years its nothing at all and ill still get three for it all day long ..but i wont be selling it ..so as aplus it dont get any cheaper to run

im waiting for the yanks to sort out the efi for me klx250 so i can make it a 351 .. failing all that if were going the 250 route id deffo go for the new 17 on engines in the crfs as 6th gear is much more viable longer distance ..i have a klx250s and if i were to choose id go honda and bite the rearshock bullet ..i actaully think the klx has the edge on knarly trails but the honda has a lot more options when it comes to aftermarket ,and the rally is really a a nice bike on the tar and more capable than any of the 650 class bar the 690 ....to be fair the rally is or feels like a mini tenere ..ive run a tenere for 7 years and i personally prefer the rally ill take the payback in performance over the 60kg weight saving every time

pity they didnt put that 300 engine in them but its easy to do and 17 on 250 engines are bringing top money on ebay so you could make 500 quid easy on the swap

i dont use motorways that often but when i do the 300 is well able to cruise in the 70s ...tops out around 88 mph but im not interested in that at all ,,,,, i was gutted when i saw the 450ls spec and price ...but this little bike has been all over the place on long trips 27000 miles and it just laps it up ....i dont think ill bother with a bigger bike again

[Wonkyconk]

I'd say yam 250r also, tough little bikes.
I'd also spend some money on some training days and get that confidence up.

[daveuprite]

Just a suggestion, which may not suit you, but anyway....

As most of us are agreed, any do-it-all bike will be a compromise and almost always bad at one thing. The comfy distance bikes are no good on tight nadgery trails and the nimble off-roaders are no good at covering the miles at speed in comfort.

So personally my other bike is a van. I've done years of bike touring, track-time, racing etc and in these days of speed cameras etc. road-bikes just aren't really my thing any more. So I concentrate on having a proper bike for the dirt and for all the trails within about 50kms of home. Then anything further afield, including longer trips down to Spain, I just chuck it in the van. And thereby get to take big heavy fluffy duvets, an entire kitchen and a proper big mattress. OK this method means I have to keep returning to the van, but at least I don't have to weigh the bike down with stuff for a long trip and I always have a light bike that can tackle the difficult stuff wherever it is.

Right now I use a Beta 450RR Factory enduro bike but in future I might go to a Beta 390RR (which has a more luggy, long-stroke engine) and then another version of the van/bike method would be to use the van to kiss away the dull motorway mileage, park the van up somewhere and then do 4 or 5 day off-road touring circuits with a small tent and throw over soft luggage.

In the case of the Beta 390RR and 500RR, they both have a split engine, with separate gearbox and engine oils, adding up to 1.7 litres. With a longer-range IMS tank and a softer seat they are both well suited to long-distance off-roading - as long as you can do without spending hours at over 75mph. Some are calling the 390 the modern-day DRZ (but with more power, massively better suspension, 6 gears and 110kgs).

And if you don't believe me (which is a fair conclusion), read this:

https://advrider.com/f/threads/beta-dua ... 0.1198210/

[Xascent]

What about a 125, pictured here in the Pyrenees. Made the trip from the Midlands to the S.France back up through the Pyrenees, along the west coast and back home. Self contained camping adventure.




Why is this photo not showing, new here need advice.

[WIBO]

Welcome....

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[Xascent]

Thanks