Interesting Online Commentary Re: Adventure Motorcycling

[exgman]

I spotted this tonight (10/29/24) while looking around the Internet. Here's the Link: https://jalopnik.com/i-think-im-done-with-adventure-motorcycling-1851683286

 

[skibum69]

Good little article and it's hard to argue with the logic. Happily I have more bikes than just my Adventure bike(s) so I can pick and choose how and what I ride.

 

[omega man]

When people ask- or infer, that my F800Gs is a dirt bike….. I respond that it is an adventure bike…. Asphalt, dirt roads and the like.
Somebody coined the quote- “There is no such thing as a quarter-ton dirt bike”. I was well aware of that from my enduro days.
I like the overall GS style. The F800Gs is a good bike……that needs a Russell seat.
OM

 

[bigjohnsd]

I read the article as well, and I agree.
Perfectly happy with my "Do-It-All" R1250 GSA - it does everything this 73 YO rider should do off the pavement and is a great LD touring bike as well. At this point, I can still lift it when it invariably tips over, though I've only dropped her once in a parking lot in Montana.

 

[CaptCF]

Never thought I'd get another adv bike after I sold my AT 3 years ago, but have been pleasantly surprised by the GS I picked up this spring. I used to say that it was the bike I liked to ride to where I wanted to go, but when I got there I always wanted to be on another bike (e.g. dirt - a dual sport, twisties - a sport bike). The problem with a purpose built precision tool is that it's not that great outside of the specific environment it was designed for so unless you have good offroad riding close by or live right next to a track or abandoned twisty roads it can be a pain getting to and fro and using a track/dirt weapon slabbing to the good stuff gets old real fast. The last few years I had my dual sport thumper I stopped riding it to where I wanted to ride it and just started trailering it, but that also gets old pretty fast. Yeah, they are SUV-like but there's also something nice about a good all-rounder that you can just point west and trundle down whatever you might happen to come across.

 

[CaptCF]

Somebody wrote a rebuttal/response to the original article - https://jalopnik.com/adventure-motorcycles-are-good-actually-1851685403

 

[yinfiss11]

I started on a Honda Shadow 21 years ago, moved to R12CLC, then K12GT, then C14, retro cruiser, then Transalp, R11RT, Vespa and now 310GS.
I prefer roads not off road and parked my bottom on lots of bikes. I found the only bike that I feel comfortable on is an Adv bike.
I may find myself taking a dirt road in the future but being in West Central Fl those are now hard to find.

 

[mikegalbicka]

You could ride through what is left of our orange groves

 

[PGlaves]

More than 50% of the country's population lives in areas where I - after 900,000 motorcycle miles - don't consider desirable places to ride a motorcycle. When it takes 20 or 30 miles and maybe an hour or more to get out of the congestion to ride a neat fun road - who wants to do it?? To those of my friends and fellow members who do so, my hat is off to you. I do know that I am an outlier, living 53 miles from a grocery store, 25 miles from a gas station, and 250 miles from a BMW dealer. But still, if I lived in a major city I would have quit riding years ago. When it is supposed to be fun, and it isn't fun, folks just don't do it.

 

[omega man]

More than 50% of the country's population lives in areas where I - after 900,000 motorcycle miles - don't consider desirable places to ride a motorcycle. When it takes 20 or 30 miles and maybe an hour or more to get out of the congestion to ride a neat fun road - who wants to do it?? To those of my friends and fellow members who do so, my hat is off to you. I do know that I am an outlier, living 53 miles from a grocery store, 25 miles from a gas station, and 250 miles from a BMW dealer. But still, if I lived in a major city I would have quit riding years ago. When it is supposed to be fun, and it isn't fun, folks just don't do it.

Yeah….. Good explanation!
OM

 

[mjfink420]

More than 50% of the country's population lives in areas where I - after 900,000 motorcycle miles - don't consider desirable places to ride a motorcycle. When it takes 20 or 30 miles and maybe an hour or more to get out of the congestion to ride a neat fun road - who wants to do it?? To those of my friends and fellow members who do so, my hat is off to you. I do know that I am an outlier, living 53 miles from a grocery store, 25 miles from a gas station, and 250 miles from a BMW dealer. But still, if I lived in a major city I would have quit riding years ago. When it is supposed to be fun, and it isn't fun, folks just don't do it.

Urban living and adventure motorcycles aren't generally a great mix. Of course, it's also why the meme of 25 GS's parked in front of Starbucks is so funny because, if you live in an urban area, Starbucks might be the only destination that's not 3-4 hours of riding.

I live in a rural area and, until I moved here, despite my interest in motorcycles, I never bought one. Riding in suburbia or even worse, in cities, sounded like about as much fun as a root canal. We had to renovate our rural home, so we had a period of about 5 months before we moved in, about 3 months into that, there was a motorcycle in the garage (of the rural property).

I live in an area where an adventure bike kind of makes sense, but, even for me, it's quite a long ride until you get to some good dirt. We have some dirt tracks and off road areas nearby, but, for them, a full on dirt bike makes a lot more sense. I can absolutely see the appeal of a go anywhere bike but most people don't live in an area where they can do much "go anywhere". Most of this country lives in cities, most cities are a LONG drive from good dirt (with some exceptions, Las Vegas, Denver, some CA cities).

I don't think it's so much that big adventure bikes don't have a place in the world, it's more that most people don't live in a place where adventure bikes make a lot of sense.

 

[r0ckrat]

Riding in-city must be a younger man's game. There are many many reasons for it. One of the biggest is availability of parking. Another is time to target location. Even with the time to get geared up, it's still much faster for me to get anywhere, and to be able to park closer to the target location, that it would ever be in a small car (easiest to park) or anything like any of the monster vehicles everyone seems to prefer these days. And it can be more fun with the right attitude, as well as a constant learning endeavor. That, and being about 40 minutes from several of the best moto roads/areas that exist in the US, in several directions, just makes life a joy for me.

Ocean beach to 6000+ ft elevation in 1-2 hours with half that time spent in glorious mountain curves? You betcha!

 

[CaptCF]

^^ THIS. I was a moto commuter from Northern VA to DC for over 10 years rain, shine, cold, whatever. I think I averaged just a few days a year where I didn't ride (ice) during that period. My reasons were speed and cost. Driving would incur $300/mo parking plus paying about the same amount in tolls each way or taking a much slower non-HOV route to save the toll charges. On the bike I had free parking for almost all of those years and zero toll charges since motorcycles can ride in HOV and Express lanes for free. I only had to pay for parking the last year or two because we moved into a new building, but I worked out a deal with the parking garage guys to pay half and park in a specific corner. I'd still be doing it if I were still commuting. My weapon of choice for most of those years was an F700GS and an AT DCT.

 

[PGlaves]

As I said, "To those of my friends and fellow members who do so, my hat is off to you."

 

[oldcamper]

There are probably many reasons for the decline …

I think Americans are just more averse to discomfort these days. If you’re going to do much riding there will be times when you are uncomfortably cold, hot, or wet. When I began riding in the sixties we were more used to it, as many houses and cars did not have air conditioning, and many houses were drafty in winter. Now our houses are well insulated and some cars even have heated seats. But it’s not just motorcycling, many other outdoor activities in the US are experiencing declines. Around here golf courses are being redeveloped into high density housing, and football and ice hockey are played indoors. Campgrounds that used to be mostly tent sites are now mostly setup for motor homes. As a people we have become accustomed to comfort 24/7, and an outdoor activity like motorcycling just doesn’t fit well with that.

Another factor is cost of ownership. We used to maintain and fix our own stuff, and it was simple enough that owners manuals were written with that expectation. Motorcycling gets to be a lot more expensive when one is forced to a dealer for even routine maintenance, and I think word is getting out just how expensive that can be. Many younger folks just don’t have the disposable income to readily afford $500 tire set changes, to say nothing of $3,000 alternator replacements. Motorcycling may just not be worth the expense for many these days.

It will be OK. There will likely be motorcycles around for as long as most of us here are able to ride, and younger generations will simply find other activities to pursue and enjoy. It was great while it lasted, though!

 

[PGlaves]

The companies that produce light to middle weight bikes that are fairly simple and inexpensive will continue to sell motorcycle to new and/or younger riders. The companies that insist on touch screens, wonder wheels, driveshaft checks at 12K miles, and 600 pound motorcycles for $25,000 won't do so well.

 

[mjfink420]

Another factor is cost of ownership. We used to maintain and fix our own stuff, and it was simple enough that owners manuals were written with that expectation. Motorcycling gets to be a lot more expensive when one is forced to a dealer for even routine maintenance, and I think word is getting out just how expensive that can be. Many younger folks just don’t have the disposable income to readily afford $500 tire set changes, to say nothing of $3,000 alternator replacements. Motorcycling may just not be worth the expense for many these days.

I think this is a lot of it. Particularly when you mix in more urbanization, now even if you have the skill to do the job you might not have a place to do it. If you ride a lot of miles/yr, as many of us do, the costs aren't insignificant. I go through at least a few rears and 1 or 2 fronts per season, that's 1000-2000/yr in tires. Oil changes are cheap because I know how to do it and have the space at home, but my S1000 needed the valve service this year, that was almost 2000 bucks.

And this year, I got into track riding; which is just "add a 0" level motorcycling. I'm going to do an "end of my first season" post one of these days adding up the costs.. I shudder to think what that's going to be, and that's with keeping the bike shiny side up the entire season. Thousands and thousands of dollars, absolutely no doubt, and that's just consumables (not the bike/gear/etc).

The only way motorcycles are cheap is if you keep them in the garage. Or if you compare them to boats or planes.