Small bike Touring / Adventuring

[peterekins]

you don't ride somewhere to start your trip, you start your trip the moment you get on your bike.

That's it, by jove i think you've got it

There is something in it being the journy and not the destination, but if I've got just a week off work, I don't want to be limited too 200 miles radius from my house.
And if it was just about the journey why don't people just ride around their home town instead of wanting to go different places, so it is about the destination..up to a point.

[Stray Dog]

I think some people underestimate what a small bike can do.
For instance I did a 2000km tour in 10 days on a 50cc moped.
A 125cc can easily cope with a 200mile a day trip.
In fact I intend to do exactly that in June when I take my MSX125 down to the Pyrenees.

I would however agree if you want to get somewhere and only have a week to do it
then a 125 probably isn't the best.


Dog

[Tonibe63]

you don't ride somewhere to start your trip, you start your trip the moment you get on your bike.

That's it, by jove i think you've got it

There is something in it being the journy and not the destination, but if I've got just a week off work, I don't want to be limited too 200 miles radius from my house.
And if it was just about the journey why don't people just ride around their home town instead of wanting to go different places, so it is about the destination..up to a point.

I agree with you there Peter.
We want to go back to Scotland this year which is 500 miles each way just to get to the start which is a day each way if 2up on the GS. If my Wife wants to ride her 125 then I will get a smaller bike to fit both in the back of the van and drive up to Oban, leave it there for 5 or 6 days whilst we tour the Islands using campsites or B&B's. It's the only way for us if on a time limit. It will still be an adventure for us as my Wife has never ridden in Scotland and neither of us have done the Islands.

[optimisery]

Route planning becomes a real skill to ensure avoidance of fast roads and big towns. In fact it becomes a chore more than a fun ride.

As a new rider on a 125, I'm really enjoying the route planning aspect, for me it beats the usual 'choose the fastest' a-b route by car. I'm having a whale of a time just discovering all the little roads and villages that are on my door step that I've never seen before

I really do hope the novelty doesn't wear off...

But as freeloadeur says..

I don't think anyone on a small bike is that happy when the majority of the traffic is going as fast or faster than their maximum speed

Whilst I'm bimbling around the back roads thinking life doesnt get much better, my heart sinks when I need to join a fast road as it's becoming a normal occurance to have some %@&! either bullying me to go faster or overtaking dangerously. For this reason I've decided that for my own safety I'm going to upgrade my bike later in the year, to a massive 250cc.

[Ginger]

Its all about fun and state of mind.

I do touring on my big Beemer but also enjoy the less travelled lanes on my C90. I am planning a trip from the north either late summer or early spring.
Hire a van from down here in Stoke on Trent, chuck three C90s in and drop it off at Wick airport then ride all the way home down the west coast and avoid all the major routes.

Please, someone tell me that this is not an adventure, cos I'll tell you you're wrong !!

[Freeloadeur]

Celia, I have a suspicious feeling that a 250cc won't feel that different, a lot of them aren't that much faster than a 125cc, whether that's due to gearing or lower red lines I'm not certain. I get the feeling that you need to jump to a 400cc to really notice a difference.

I could be wrong though.

EDIT: A 400cc? What was I thinking last night? Must be sleep deprivation, recommending such a big bike. Celia ignore me a 250cc will be fine. Mind you, you might consider a sprocket swap first, it's a lot cheaper and can make quite a difference to the speed you can wring out of your bike. I've gone one tooth bigger on the front sprocket of my Derbi and now see 5mph added to the top speed. It does mean ever so slightly worse acceleration and occasionally having to change down on long hills but it's added a little feeling of security on fast dual-carriageways.

[fatowl]

Although I also have bigger bikes, I like my CG125 (which I got for comuting to work). With a small bike it's more of an adventure. It's more fun bimbling down small lanes that would be really hard work on a big bike. Down here in Devon, we have LOTS of tiny roads to explore. As Tonibe63 said, you can take it long distances in your car, and then explore when you get to your destination. Much more time to gawp at the scenery and smell the daisies!

[Fun Lovin Criminal]

I think some people underestimate what a small bike can do.
For instance I did a 2000km tour in 10 days on a 50cc moped.
A 125cc can easily cope with a 200mile a day trip.
In fact I intend to do exactly that in June when I take my MSX125 down to the Pyrenees.

I would however agree if you want to get somewhere and only have a week to do it
then a 125 probably isn't the best.


Dog

How do you find the msx? Thinking of getting one as a second bike.

[optimisery]

Celia, I have a suspicious feeling that a 250cc won't feel that different, a lot of them aren't that much faster than a 125cc, whether that's due to gearing or lower red lines I'm not certain. I get the feeling that you need to jump to a 400cc to really notice a difference.

I could be wrong though.

EDIT: A 400cc? What was I thinking last night? Must be sleep deprivation, recommending such a big bike

:laugh:

Well being in a position to only own 1 bike at a time, a 400cc is just not going to be economical enough for me, for either bimbling about or for my ultimate RTW goal. My maths are shoddy but I worked out the fuel difference between a 125cc and a 250cc over 25k miles would be around £1k, I guess that would double on a 400cc.

If I can get something that can keep me and some kit steady at 70mph without loosing too much power up hills I would be more than happy. Yes I'm still not going to be fast enough for some idiots, but would feel a little safer / happier being able to keep up better.

I might have felt differently with a an upper end 125cc like the Derbi Adventure / Vanderero. It looks like by buying a newer YBR I done myself out of 2bph, meaning it tops out at around 55, 60 if there a bit of wind hmy:

[Freeloadeur]

Yet more thoughts. I have a feeling that a lot of the issues we've mentioned about playing in the fast lane are unique to the UK. We're on a small island with lots of cars and not a lot of space between towns and cities. I was planning a route up to the HU Curried Sheep Meet at Haggs Bank from London and almost inevitably at some point I'm going to have to use a dual-carriageway to bypass town centres particularly around Manchester/Leeds/Bradford etc. Thanks to the way our road network's been bodged together there don't appear to be alternative routes.

But I used to live in France where there's more space between things and there you can easily find alternatives to the motorways which still allow fairly brisk travel without either constant slowing down for urban speed limits or having a truck up your bum as you potter along at 50-55mph.

So while a 125cc might not be ideal in parts of the UK because you have to take the really round about route to avoid being a rolling roadblock, a quick hop across the Channel and everything changes. Get out of Europe and everything really slows down.

Maybe they're not the best for our 2 week travel where we want to get somewhere and then explore, but if plans extend to getting away from everything for months on end I think a 125cc can be hard to beat. And you can blend in with the locals far easier too.