The experience of taking off for a motorcycle adventure – what is the fascination? And by adventure I don’t just mean off-road, an on-road trip is 100% still an adventure, because whatever awaits you will be unexpected and something to remember. Cambridge dictionary puts it well – ‘an unusual, exciting, and possibly dangerous activity, such as a trip or experience, or the excitement produced by such an activity.’ I’d say that’s motorcycling in a nutshell.
From one night away, to a week gone bush, a trip around our great country or the ultimate in the unknown.. an overseas adventure. However, this adventure dream is not the case for all motorcyclists. Most who have raced at an elite level have zero interest – Yarrive Konsky, Motorsport Director at Honda Australia looked at me like I had two heads when I asked if he ever just went for a ride. Stark’s National Sales Manager Mike Sleeter (former pro Motocross racer) can not, for the life of him understand the appeal. I asked MotoGP’s Marc Marquez, he said “no no, not at all would I ever just go for a ride.”
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Sleeter explained that the leisurely pace we amateurs set does not induce or create the thrill and endorphins that most racers require and that makes total sense. But interesting though, they can’t seperate the racing from the other forms of entertainment motorcycling can provide. Stopping to smell the roses, pootling down the less trodden track to experience a country, a culture, a view only accessible by two wheels. A few people we do have on our side is Motocross and Supercross legend Jeff Liesk and of course MotoGP’s Daryl Beattie with his DB Adventures. They appreciate the full body and mind experience. Perhaps it’s an age thing? I’ll check back in with Marquez once he hits 50.
There does have to be something said for Long Way Round phenomenon and its direct correlation with the adventure motorcycle market taking off. Adventure bikes boomed around the 2004 mark because what Charley Boorman and his little known buddy Ewan McGregor did was shine light on this relatively foreign concept. The ultimate mode of adventure travel. And made it look hard, but not impossible and a helluva lot of fun.
So why do we succumb to the call of the open road? While freedom is undoubtedly a driving force, there exist deeper motivations.
Firstly, it’s a surprisingly social activity. Even though you spend much of your time alone in a helmet. Have you ever been approached by locals asking about your journey in your Camry hire car? No. Roll up with a head of helmet hair, dust in every crevice and a few stickers on your panniers and hey presto, you have new friends wanting a chinwag. The characters you meet will blow your mind. The hospitality of these people is endless. They want you to stay at their house, eat their food, meet their family, just because you are travelling on two wheels. There’s a level of vulnerability and risk you assume with this mode of transport that is obvious to everyone and for some reason it resonates. You become a mystery, a beacon for adventure and perhaps you are just doing what so many wish they had the kahuna’s to get out there and do. You’re like a modern day Indiana Jones, going where many are too terrified to go, taking weeks, a month or even a year off to fly by the seat of your kevlar. Journeying to places without signal, without atms, without English and without tourists.
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Secondly, there’s something incredibly invigorating about being so exposed and alert to the elements. Your full concentration is required at all times. But having said that you also need to relax. There’s scenery to take in, smells, sounds, temperature, and the array of discomforts like hail, rain, wind and blistering sun. You learn to accept and appreciate these discomforts that seem rare in our comfortable worlds where we pick the temperature, our exposure to sunshine, smells and sounds. Motorcycles also allow you the freedom to go where cars and 4WD cannot drive, in full wilderness across all kinds of terrain. Not to mention it’s a fairly cheap method of transport.
And lastly, it’s incredibly character building. There is a 110 per cent chance you will run into trouble, never have I ever met a rider who just takes off, has a drama free trip and returns home with everything intact. It’s not a ‘let’s jump in the car, chuck your bags in, blast the heater and head off for the weekend’ kind of experience, ever. It doesn’t matter how new your bike is, whether the sun is shining or if it’s just you on the road. If you’re out there for more than a day, you must expect the unexpected. I think that’s where a large portion of the thrill comes from. We are so organised and in control of so many things in our lives. It’s doesn’t matter how well you plan a motorcycle trip, it’s best not to because it wont go to that plan. The best approach is be as prepared as physically possible within your means (ie you can’t pull together a support van with mobile mechanics), without taking a tool shed with you and sort the rest out when it happens. Your toughest days on a motorcycle, where the stacks and flat tyres are endless and you find yourself rolling into town at 11pm without accomodation in the rain, will be your most prized stories that you tell, again and again, till the day you die.
My most recent trip, Sydney to Melbourne, sounds boring huh? Pat Peck (Dad) on a Yamaha Super Tenere and I on a Honda Africa Twin, took off for six days of gravel mixed with a little tarmac. We got one flat on the first day, brand new bike with brand new tyres. Luckily we hadn’t booked any accomodation because our whole journey was disrupted, on day one. Instead each day we’d stop for lunch, have a google as to what looked half decent within our tight budget and book it on the fly. Who knew when our next flat was on the horizon. Or when a storm might catch us and we’d need to stop. Together Dad and I have done Africa, Sri Lanka, Colombia and Mongolia so Sydney to Melbourne was a fairly low key operation but we had the time of our lives and could have kept going for another week.
The adventure doesn’t start when you hit the road. It’s the packing and preparation (great or small) of your bike. It’s the research on where you’d like to go, keeping an open and flexible mind. It’s also becoming a rain cloud whisperer, keeping a keen eye on the radar, potentially having to leave a day later or earlier.
Then depending on your flavour motorcycle and possibly your tyres, you will hit the tarmac, the gravel or single trails. Perhaps a combination of both depending on whether you get lost or pull together a well thought out plan of roads. Even better if you can find a local to show you the ultimate roads and this is best done on location. You roll into town, find a spot for dinner, pull out your physical map (far better than a google map which won’t work when you run out of signal or get into the non-road gravel areas. Or you can download some killer mountain biking/hiking map apps). Then you just wait till someone comes over and starts chatting, it’s like catnip to a local.
So now you’re a tad keen, but where to start?
It can be done solo, in a small group, with a partner or through an organised group like Himalayan Heroes. Or perhaps you want to know how to do it yourself? To learn how to set the bike up, connect with the right people, learn about the nuances of riding in Australia and across the globe then I have to perfect resource for you – Horizons Unlimited – your one stop shop for all things moto adventure.
There are plenty options, and we can give you all the tips, but that’s a story for another day…
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