I'm hoping I can get the experiences of people who have actually traveled the world. I was looking through videos on YT and noticed a lot of angry people around the world. I especially noticed these mood changes in forests. So, my questions and requests for your experiences are as follows - Are there maps (worldwide) that show 'federal' land or motorcycle permitted riding? What countries are the worst for off-road riders? Are 'private property' signs required worldwide? I always hear/read about how surprisingly nice people are around the world. Then I see these videos (yes I understand people publish them to get 'likes' and/or make $$ sometimes) and question those statements. Any personal experience is appreciated.
You will have to give or at least describe some examples of the situations you've seen on YT. All we have to go on right now is that videos have shown angry people in the woods and then you ask about maps that show where you can ride worldwide. Your question is too ambiguous for a start and asking for "worldwide" doesn't really engage anyone to feel like putting any input in. If you are able to be more specific I'm sure you will get some more useful responses.
Where you can and can't ride tracks or off road will vary from one country to another, there is a big difference even between England and Scotland and you would have to look up local laws in each country. Generally most people are very friendly but do get pissed off when you trespass on their private property without permission or ride where motor vehicles are banned. Depending on where you are headed you might not need to seek out dirt road as some main roads will be unsurfaced.
I'm talking about videos in Germany of loggers with guns coming out to encounter riders on tracks and looking through their stuff. [My point of view was limited in the video so maybe there were 'No Trespassing' signs] Now, I have no experience to judge whether the riders knew they were in an illegal area or not. [My point of view was limited in the video so maybe there were 'No Trespassing' signs] My initial question, I believe, was clear enough in the sense that it was asking whether there are maps (like Butler[?]) that show for each country where a person can legally ride a 'dual sport' motorcycle? If one must do their due diligence and research local areas before riding in said area, that would make trip planning much more difficult and time consuming. Mark, that brings up a more vague question about Europe. Do most countries in Europe require land owners to mark the boundaries of their property with 'No trespassing' signs? Fencing is the most common way to mark it in the US and Mexico. There are crazy people everywhere (maybe that's what the videos are ultimately showing) but I'm more curious about general travel experiences and encounters with said 'nut jobs'. I know here in Mexico there are certain places you don't ride because someone has set up their pot plantation or meth lab. Or some militant faction of a cartel has taken over a town or region, so best avoid those areas. But these areas are few and far between. Ultimately I guess my question is 'How do you know?'. Just do your research before and when you arrive and hope for the best? Again I appreciate the replies.
Off-roading is, for the most part, illegal in all of Germany and Austria. Signage is generally very clear indeed - pictographic even. When it comes to Europe and the UK, 5 minutes (tops) of web-time per country will give you what you need. As for the videos, would you mind posting a few? I'd like to see them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9re24Idl88 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShiO4LLBy4A CW, glad to know. I doubt I'll ever go to Germany or Austria but good to know.
my 0.02: Local people are generally friendly or very friendly almost everywhere, but since there are billions of people on this planet, it is always possible to find an exception. But how people respond to you, depends first and foremost on YOU; if you are friendly to them, they are most likely to be friendly to you as well. The same thing, if you act in an unfriendly manner. Regards off-road riding, staying on permitted areas probably helps a great deal. These areas can be sparse in some parts of Central Europe, for example.
Thanks for the replies. One thing I've noticed is the websites that supposedly have the maps in some countries that show where you can ride are not maintained very well. Many links I found for the UK are dead. enduroland uk seems to be one of those. I guess I can always just look for trip reports on ADVRider and follow those
In the USA, it is not so simple to find a map like that. Basically, you look on Google Maps at the area you want to ride. If you see a US Forest, OHV area, or private track you can get maps for those areas. Private roads generally are not shown on Google Maps, but sometimes you can find dirt roads that run along public right-of-ways along canals or rivers using the aerial view. Even public roads are sometimes blocked by "shitty people" though. When I first moved to Sonora, the local motorcycle shop gave me a map of the area. I got about 2 miles down a promising looking road before coming face to face with a huge guy holding a shotgun across his arms, and a huge dog at his side. He just calmly said "the road is closed". but, but... "the road is closed, he repeated". This pizza boy found another way home.
The best off road maps of Britain are from Ordnance Survey, I use the Landranger maps for planning my dirt road riding which are 1-50,000 scale and show all rights of way which include byways and unmetalled roads both of which you can legally travel on with a motor vehicle. People here will get angry if you are riding dirt roads where you shouldn't or even riding like a twat where you can, as for anyone pointing a gun at you if it happened in the UK they would possibly go to prison just for doing that without even pulling the trigger, if the off road vigilantes are allowed to do that in Germany it is a very sorry state of affairs. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/
HCH, Ya he, or his buddy, was cooking up a batch in the motor-home or trailer parked at the end of the road. Mark, I think in most countries that would be illegal. Unfortunately I think the state of affairs in most countries right now is aligned with the philosophy that the criminals have more rights than their victims. thanks for all the replies.
In the Nordics aside from Denmark (thus Norway, Sweden, Finland), the "Every Man's Right" principle means that you can put up as many signs as you want but you cannot prohibit public access to your land, aside from your immediate yard surrounding a home. Thus in cities the principle does not apply. In the countryside you are allowed free access to walk across land regardless of ownership. You can camp for a night using leave-no-trace principles but you cannot have a fire, cut wood, or hunt. You are allowed to collect berries and mushrooms growing wild in the forest. As a general point, off road motorcycling is prohibited as far as I know, except on private land with permission of the landowner. However, there are so many gravel backroads and logging roads to ride. If they aren't gated, you can normally go in.
Go anywhere in Canada... can go across country and never see pavement. Pretty safe too.. except for all the fucking mosquito's.
Links!? I habe severe doubts: In Germany no guns are allowed for unauthorized people (like police, military ...). You need a special education, passed test and authorisation for weapeons of every kind. Already pulling a gun is considered using (threatening) and every case has to be investigated even if done by an policemen. A private unauthorised citizen pulling a gun wents to jail. But in fact Germany is a dense populated land where parks and forests are for recreation purposes and not for beeing plowed by motorists. And although negative signing is popular, this is not neccessary by law, because any not positively signed street is not a street with driving lanes. And every vehicle must use the driving lanes and nothing else (without explicit permission; but bicycles have additional benefits in jurisdiction).
i think they're trespassing but the response isn't called for https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgD4NiBJycs the problem in the UK is a lot of people don't know where they're walking i.e. UCR (unclassified road), BOAT (byway open to all traffic) and when they do come across a motorbike they assume they're trespassing.
Numerous occasions in South America where the land is fenced up pretty tight I'll ask for permission to pitch my tent for the night. I always was cordially offered much hospitality. Only once in a remote area of northern Peru was I ever spooked. It took a couple of ferry crossings to get in there and there were some local unofficial militia road blocks requesting donations. I gave them a few Sols. They were armed with single shot shotguns, fairly rustic looking outfit, they were nice enough. There are some places in Guatemala, Honduras, Bolivia, and Ecuador best avoided.
Every country that has restrictions on who can own guns has a faction that ignores it. Is there no crime, organized or other, in Germany? I bet Trefall will tell us that private citizens have restrictions on gun ownership in Mexico as well. It does not mean Mexico is totally safe.
