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Sancho - Memberno it isnt.
I did an enduro about 10 years ago (the off-road motorbike version) physically the hardest thing I've ever done
Proper enduro riding [b]will [/b]wreck you, but that's at the far end of the spectrum. Plenty of fun to be had on tamer trails/green lanes if you go at a steady pace. A big trailie style bike like the Honda Africa Twin would suit a big lump like you perfectly (no offence like). Half decent both on* and off-road.
*not really, but you'll hardly be scratchin' 😀
Oh here we go, because I try to explain to Tony that riding a dirt bike on some easy trails isnt going to be as demanding as riding a mountain bike which it isnt, then you make a **** assumption that I cant ride a dirt bike on any difficult trails.
Ive been racing Clubman enduro for the last fifteen years across the UK and Europe.
Stu get back in your box and keep your stupid mouth shut.
Im trying to give Tony some advice and have offered some support.
Try being a bit constructive rather than ****ing off behind your keyboard.
See this bloke riding up a rocky climb - how hard is it to do this? Looks great fun tbh - is that something you could do after 6 months riding or is it way beyond that?
(Think Alan Partridge is spectating - Dan! Dan!)
how hard is it to do this?
VERY.... very very very.
Stu's just tossing his knob cos he's got a couple of ISDE medals and wants everyone to know how tough he is. 😉
Truth is, it's like mountainbiking- the guys that ride the Great Divide, puffer et al could spout on here about how tough mountain biking is, but really, that's just the extreme.
Get yourself a trailie, scout out some maps, join a club and have a Sunday bimble. I imagine all you want to do is get out there in the hills, see some scenery and yak with mates. Not too demanding on you, just stick to the easier stuff.
Steer clear of heavier bikes- odds are you're going to either have to pick the bike up one day, or else try and manhandle it somewhere you can't ride, but otherwise just have a go and see what you think- as usual the doom mongers are full of shit.
Ton
It's like everything else, offroading can be as hard or easy as you want it to be. I would regard myself as pretty unfit and can state quite categorically that there are trails I could take very easily on an enduro bike that would have me puffing like a billy goat on the mtb. With your condition (and probable mindset) it will be very difficult for you not to get carried away but as long as you keep yourself in check it would be no problem to plant your bum on the seat and take it easy.
I think your main issue might be finding enough access in your area to keep you interested but it is much easier to link what is available with an engine!
Oooo someones a little uptight today. 😆
you make a **** assumption that I cant ride a dirt bike on any difficult trails.
Ive been racing Clubman enduro
So I was right then.
LOLZ @ vinnyeh.
Bronze, silver and gold as it goes. 😉
Lol at the Partridge soundtrack 😆
This thread isnt about you, you dick, its about Tony and his interest in trying some off road motorbiking.
No-one cares about your abilities.
Try putting something forward and practical to the OP
Now now now.
No need for insults. 😆
Go **** yourself
😆
Most enlightening.
Uh oh - degenerating into willy waving and insults.
Like MTBing offraod motorcycling is a huge range. Get a pootling about bike and pootle about on easy trails then its not that hard work. Race or try to ride tricky terrain at race pace it is.
It depends what Ton wants to do. I assumed it would be about getting out into the countryside - so easy green lanes pootle. I didn't think he wanted to race enduro. So soft small and especially LOW bike makes it all easier
So soft small and especially LOW bike makes it all easier
Have you seen the size of Tony? No offence like Ton. 🙂
That isn't going to work very well.
comparativly so SSWT perhaps. Meaning no need for a ten foot tall 60 bhp enduro bike
Meaning no need for a ten foot tall 60 bhp enduro bike
That'd make a crap enduro bike for anyone.Even Knighter. 😉
TJ's right.
Racing enduro (or MX - I did three years and was utterly shattered in all the time I was doing it) is astonishingly hard work, and costs a load. You've got the bike, the repairs, the travel, the need for a pressure washer/trailer/van etc. I spent £10k in 3 years and was scratching around in the bottom third of the field a lot of the time.
Green laning, on the other hand, requires nothing more than a low-powered road-legal bike (TTR 250 a good and cheap call) and an ability to smile when you crash, which you will. Only really works if you have good riding nearby, otherwise you'll spend hours riding to your start point.
Stu
if you cant be constructive on this, try not saying anything.
Get down from your smug little world and engage with the OP, and other people trying to be practical for the post.
I'm quite interested in this, having health problems which limit my mountain biking pretty severely a lot of the time. I can see racing Enduros etc being really hard, but I've seen quite a few motorbikes on trails in the Lakes when out mountain biking - can't see how it's that strenuous in comparison on similar trails.
Of course those trails would never be interesting enough for some of the heroes on here (:swoon:), but might well be what Ton would like to do.
I've noticed though that a lot of them are quite slow on descents (even I often overtake them), are they just beginners, or are the bikes not as manouverable due to extra weight or something?
Sorry I didn't realise you were a moderator.
😆
I'm sure Ton could work out where to ask if he wanted any real advice.
As far as I can see, he is getting advice Stu but he isn't about to go racing,leave mud plumes in his wake or try to be the next Lampkin - he just wants to get out there and enjoy the countryside on two wheels.
If you, with your vast experience and knowledge, could recommend a bike that would suit him, that would be really useful.
If you, with your vast experience and knowledge, could recommend a bike that would suit him,
I'd recommend that he goes on the TRF forum or similar and asks people of similar build.
I'd also recommend trying to find the local offroad clubs and talking to people face to face.
They're generaly quite a friendly bunch.
I think it might help if Tony were to be a bit more specific about what he wanted to do on the bike.
I think Tony has given up on the idea judging by his reply on page 1.
It's a shame as I would have thought there are loads of offroad routes he could do in his area, which with the right bike would be a lot less strain than an hour on an mtb, especially if you consider his other option was an electric bike.
Maybe the best way would be if someone could offer a ride on private land to test the water? There is an offroad day training down his way for £160 all-in but I can't remember the name of the company........
<runs off to Google>
Woody, that is what I have been trying to offer Tony from the start, a session at Tong to try it out.
Having done a bunch of enduros, hare & hounds and green laning, I'd say that off road is physical but in an utterly different way to mountain biking. Mountain biking is a lot about drive and a little about chucking the bike around. Off-road motorcycling is about standing up, moving your weight about and muscling heavy bars about.
Yes, it's hard work to chuck the bike around on an enduro course and I've seen 186 on a heart rate monitor in the first lap of an enduro, but it was before I learned to ride properly and a bit of skill saves a lot of effort. My first hare and hounds was then the most strenuous thing I'd ever done - I was battered - but this was due to sitting on the seat all the way round and standing a heavy DRZ400S back on its wheels a thousand times. Watch really good riders and they seem to float over the scenery, skipping over the whoops, flicking round berms and generally conserving energy.
The DRZ was my first bike and weighed 130kg or more and I suffered with it for a year until I got a 200cc two stroke KTM. For you, I'd suggest something light, but not the lightest - the newest KTM 250 EXC-F four strokes are a few (as in 2 or 3) kilos more than the two strokes, at around 105kg but include electric start. On a two stroke, when you wrestle the bike back upright, you have to kick the crap out of it to start it up. Electric start saves you this effort but you still get a kicker if you drain the battery.
Get tuition as this will teach you to stand, put your weight forward, use the throttle selectively and drive the bike round berms and flat corners in the correct way. It will save a ton of effort if you learn this before doing any enduros. And do hare and hounds (group start, as many laps as possible in a time limit) as a taster before you try time-carded enduros (individual starts, arriving at checkpoints exactly on time, ie not late and also not early, which tighten up as the race progresses).
But I like your idea of doing an off-road school on their bikes and in their kit as a taster, first. Google the Yamaha Off Road School (Wales or the South East), Wheeldon Farm off road school in Devon (indoors as well as out - good in winter/crap weather) or Ady Smith's KTM off road school in the Midlands (Rugeley, I think).
Good luck and have fun.
Ian
Sancho - missed that post of yours 😳
Sounds ideal - can I come and play too 😉
Well if I can get hold of Tony I was going to suggest a session at Tong, of easy fire roads and stuff to get used to riding and have a laugh.
My friend has just got herself a CRM 250 and is starting to love it.
I'll bring the Rally bike too so we can get a bike that fits tony too.
a quick thanks for all the advice everyone, it has all been taken onboard.
Ed, thanks for the offer of a try out mate, greatly appreciated, and i will be intouch.
also, a mate who has ridden for 30 yrs or so reckons a wr250 would be a ideal 1st bike for me to start with, to do some green lane and forest track riding.
If I still had an offroader (sold the 660 Tenere in May) I'd be there like a shot. Size wise the Yamaha might have been ok for Tony but a bit too heavy for traily stuff.
Wish I hadn't sold it now 😥
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Well I am sure singlespeedstu knows a bloke called Brian Eland, an enormous human being, well big Bri is very quick and I have seen him abuse some some tiny bikes. I must know Singlespeedstu I think.
Ton I was going to suggest getting into BMW GS's loads of people take them to all corners of the world and you can spend a fortune on them with shiny bits 😆 Check out this site http://ukgser.com/home/
Gary Lager believe me very very difficult but Esselgrunt has ridden the Scot so best ask him.
Sorry to resurrect this one but hey ho...
Ton, I bought this (Montesa 315) about 2 months ago:
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Cost a whole £500 and apart from being a bit rattly (common with these bikes) it's well used but absolutely solid. Same money as an average hardtail.
I've litterally just go off it having had a little play in the field going over some pallets and stuff. Will probably have a go at an organiased trial next year - but I'll be pants!
Great machines for having around especially if you've got somewhere nearby to play.
Cube are bringing out an electric mtb.
There will be one at the 'Puffer.
If I was looking for a motorbike for trundling around offroad, I'd get an old British trials bike with a nice heavy flywheel, and strong enough for a big bloke.
I'd value the advice from an ISDE rider before any others.