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Off-Road - I'm just glad I made it out!

11K views 28 replies 17 participants last post by  Jungle Phantom 
#1 ·
"Light off-road use", I said to my buddy before we took that turn. I'm just glad I made it out! Told the wife that I'd be home around 4 pm. I was only 6 hours late... It took hours to travel just a couple of miles. The Versys-X kept up with the KLR through the mud, rocks, and creeks, but I won't be trying it again! I lost count of how many times we laid them down...









 
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#2 ·
These bikes are not dirt bikes. Sure, a semi-professional rider can make it look easy with suitable tyres and the confidence to keep his speed up.
In such conditions tyres and momentum are paramount. "light offroad use". :surprise: Yeah, right.
No adventure tourer is really intended for mud or deep sand despite what some Youtube videos might show. Stick to the dry and firm tracks. A patch of mud is fine, or a patch of sand - but not the bottom of a gully that turns into a creek when it rains. :wink2:
 
#4 ·
A patch of mud is fine, or a patch of sand - but not the bottom of a gully that turns into a creek when it rains. :wink2:
We thought patches of mud was all there would be. It began to get worse, but thinking that we didn't have much further to go, we didn't want to turn back and go through what we had already struggled through. Problem is, it kept getting worse! It was exhausting! My friend's GPS said that it was a county road. Turns out, there was no road at all in most places!
 
#10 ·
GOOD description!

I was planned to ride an enduro in QC (MANY years back) on my TT500, but on the way to "Grey Rocks" where it was to start, it was raining enough that I "bailed", offering my services to the organizers in any way they could use me. I ended up towing riders out of mud-holes, then back to pavement - thank God for 500cc four-stroke TORQUE...!
Later I learned that there was STILL at least ONE expert class bike in a mud-hole on the FIRST leg, and it was NOT removed till about two weeks later when a 4x4 could get in, to it.

The better solution for roads you were on
I THINK the "...better solution for roads you were on..." would be at home in the garage, feet up on a milk-crate, "tunes" in the background, a chilled 'adult-beverage' in the hand....

:clap:

:yeahsmile:
 
#11 ·
At least you can skip going to the gym for a week or so. Looks like you got a good work-out already in....
 
#13 ·
arbuk7t, I salute you Sir. You and your friend will be telling and retelling that story till the end of your days.
Thanks, but I hope that is the only story to tell. I went golfing a couple of days ago, and when I saw a little mud and standing water by a cart path, I had a horrific flashback.

Here's some icing on the cake that I forgot to mention. About half way through, my boot began to fall apart! So, for at least the last couple of hours in the mud, water, and rocks it was my sock foot that got to feel it. Great times!

 
#14 ·
Come on now. Fess up. That's a boot you caught when you went fishing.
 
#19 · (Edited)
...With decent off road tires, this bike isn't half bad at offroading.
Back in the '60s, we rode whatever we had, WHEREVER we wanted to go....

I rode my '62 Triumphs (Thunderbird and T120 Bonneville), all over the place on 'whatever' tires were on it (NEVER had knobbies...), and that included trails.

Then in about '75 was I visiting my brother, and took his Honda 500 4 cylinder for a ride (which INCLUDED riding UP a ski-hill in the summer...).
 
#20 ·
I do off-roading with KLX300 and crf250. For the trails, I am taking, going with Versys 300 would be a suicide, even with grippy tires; it is just too wide. I am always surprised that some bikers take those heavy adventure bikes, like Tiger 800 off-road. Ok, if you are really good, you can make it alive, but where is the pleasure in it?
 
#22 ·
The pleasure is doing something that you are not supposed to be able to do! I have a crf 450L as well, but, the versus x300 with shinko 804/805's does just fine. If you're not falling, you're not trying, is sort of our unofficial motto. Stock tires and mud is a recipe for disaster.
 
#23 ·
I also believe that the pleasure is what you make of it. The Versys X is an awesome little bike, the gets you amazing places if you enjoy it while doing so, or at least in retrospective. If not, everyone is totally free not to do so.
 
#26 ·
Well, last weekend, we were on a section of the MABDR up by state college doing expert sections, so....yeah, it can get it done. Is it the best, no, but, I hung with my buddies on their Africa Twins. And as my skills have improved, the ease of the rocks and water holes kind of surprises me. A lot of it is attitude and confidence, get those two down and you are well on your way to good off road skills.
 
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