Are you really an ADV rider?!

Dude puts his chin bar where his boot goes? IN 2020?

In 2020, surviving is highly over-rated.

I’ve ridden all over the country on various bikes. Some for work, some for pleasure. Good weather, bad weather, etc. Been in a few pickles, (The heavy snow in WY was nice.) and seen some shit go sideways. (Having to outrun a tornado in OK at dusk was a hoot, as was taking shelter in a car wash from an impending tornado in IA .) Most of it pre-ADV. I also spent years racIng MX and off-road all around the country. But I guess if it’s not on Instagram, it didn’t really happen. The experiences are mine, and I didn’t do them for public consumption. And I’m cool with that. Prefer it that way, actually. Some ride for approval, I ride for me.

I’ve never worried about what I rode, its gear ratio, its farkles, how cool I look in my gear, what brand of gear, if my boots were waterproof or not, how much horsepower my bike(s) had, if I had traction control, or if my tires had good reviews. I also hate kale. And hell, even now I haul my smaller bikes in their own portable base camp. (My last big bike trip was a Lake Superior loop in 2013. Didn’t do a Ride Report. Sorry, not sorry. And doubt I ever do another big bike trip. BTDT.) So no, I guess I’m not a real ADV rider. But don’t worry about me. I’ll be ok.

Loved the videos but just think how much more fun that would be with 50 pounds of camping gear strapped on the bike!

Liked most of that except.....

I demand waterproof boots!

Waterproof boots make great buckets after a deep creek crossing

I've never understood hanging a helmet there. Unless you like mud inside your helmet.

Maybe it's a security feature after the chin strap glues itself to the exhaust?

There's a man who's never stepped in dog shit while riding.

Bull shit

After 250k miles on a pair of RTs, I switched to a GS. After 135k miles I've rarely been off the pavement. However, although I've given up some weather protection I don't think I"ve given up any comfort because I find the ergonomics to be better on the GS.

When I found this site I thought I was going to be an Adventure rider but soon enough discovered that after ten years of hiking and Jeeping pretty much every month of my thirties that I was tired of the constant effort required for “getting out there”.

The truth is, there is no place in the lower 48 you can go where someone hasn’t already been... and most likely someone was there last week while you were at work. It’s only an adventure to you because you spent all week working under fluorescent lights dreaming of being somewhere else. Anywhere away from your weekly grind is an adventure even if it is someone else’s weekly grind. (Do you really think the Dalton is an adventure to someone who drives it on a regular basis?). Perception and reality are subjective. We can talk a molehill into being a mountain if we desire.

I love nature as much as anyone but I’ve become sensitive to the idea that “if everybody goes to paradise - it ain’t paradise no more”. In my lifetime I’ve witnessed some beautiful natural settings become trashed by both overuse and too much love. Does everybody really need to move to Colorado, Moab, or western Montana...to live either part time or full time to get their nature fix? In the early 70’s Tread Lightly and Leave No Trace were a constant public message. It seems now the current message is Leave No Mountain Undeveloped.

With all that in mind - when I found that my ass liked the seat of an 800 lbs Harley better than the ADV bike I farkled - I was ok with limiting my adventures to the pavement. I had taken my Jeep off-road enough to know that what Garrison Keillor said was true: “Four wheel drive just allows you to get stuck somewhere you otherwise wouldn’t have gone.” I suspect the same applies to ADV bikes.

I’m no ADV rider. But I also have nothing against those of you who are. You are a good lot as are most riders, even those pirates.

Adventure is simply getting out of your comfort zone - physically, mentally, emotionally, and hell - maybe even spiritually. Just try not to tear up any shit that ain’t yours while you’re out there.

Its been a weird year obviously. But the ADV rider definition is probably a spectrum. While my loops of Oliveria and Peekamoose may not rate as an epic ride report, they are themselves pretty epic roads. I probably did a half dozen dirt or fire roads this year so maybe 50 miles of dirt and - partially because things were shut down everywhere - my wife came along so we did them 2 up. I think we rode to close to half a dozen waterfalls out in the woods as well. In all honesty pretty much every bit of dirt we did you could drive grandmas Buick on but just the funky places and view they led us to made it adventure-ish. I am also lucky in that the Catskills are out my back door so even short rides are for me what many in the city dream about.

So, I am on the mild end of that ADV spectrum but to my Harley/chopper riding friends I am considered a little bit nuts and they have referred to me as a " real rider" who gets his bike dirty and changes his tires more than they change their oil. Mountain passes, waterfalls and well graded dirt roads have been my refuge this year, a godsend for my mental health.

Yeah, well said. As soon as something becomes an us/them thing, as soon as it's a label I have to qualify for, as soon as it's a pretext for d*ck waving or an excuse to judge people, I'm out. Been that way all my life. Adventure is 100% contextual.

Adventure riding.

A motorcycle tourist riding where others already live, work, and play.

Lol, that's true. I often think of the real Adventurers that forged the routes and trails I enjoy. Different breed of folks.

Wouldn't they be considered explorers rather than adventurers? But then again, I'm sure native Americans were roaming those places for 1000's of years prior.

Adventure is going some place that's new..... to me. Who cares if someone else was there yesterday?

I just learned my seat height isn’t high enough and wheels are too small to be an adventure rider

Doesnt matter to me. I was just commenting on those who paved the paths we follow.

Only someone that has never ridden a motorcycle a long distance to remote locations would think that. Sad.