This thread is the perfect example of marketing leading people to think and believe these big adv bikes are great Offroad. Yes they can be great in the right hands, but all those YouTube vids you see of a AT, GSA, or 1090 etc, etc, are generally being ridden by extremely accomplished riders who have learnt to ride Offroad from years of practice. They make it look easy, because they are very, very good, and generally very fit and have the right tyres fitted.
How many people have bought into the idea of trail riding from what they’ve seen on YouTube etc, spent shedloads of cash on a big adv bike, only to realise all the pitfalls of doing so on a big heavy adv bike the first time they try it, dream over
, back to reality and enjoying what you’ve got in an environment your comfortable with
. There’s nothing wrong with that, yes the riding gods amongst us like to criticise and belittle those who buy these bikes and then not use them for what they were designed for (they are road bikes that can be taken Offroad, not Offroad bikes that can be used on the road).
There’s nothing wrong with aspiring to take your adv bike down trails, but be realistic with what you are capable of, prepare yourself the best you can before attempting to and be totally honest that your pride and joy is going to end up on its side at some point and these big adv’s don’t crash well (recently I read a guy that had a fall on the TET and caused thousands of pounds of damage). I’ve been riding trials bikes for 20 plus years, have dabbled at MX a few times and I like to think I’m a pretty competent on a road bike too (I’m certainly no expert), but have zero interest in taking my ATAS Offroad, I bought it because it’s a comfortable great touring bike.
We all like to think we could do it, but in all honesty we’ve got nothing to prove or gain, taking a big heavy adv Offroad, why risk the potential damage and injury when you can buy a proper trail bike for a fraction of the cost and enjoy your ride without the worry.
I don’t wish to insult your ability or knowledge, or be condescending in any way, we all have our own wants and wishes in life and if your desire is to go trail riding on your AT, good for you, but I do think it would be a very good idea to book yourself into the Honda adv school so you can learn a few techniques (on a AT Dct) and Chuck their bikes on the ground whilst learning before doing it on your own AT dct. I believe they will be getting the CRF450L in soon too, so you could sample one of those at the same time. Yes I know it’s not cheap, I think a 2 day course is £600, but you’ll learn a lot and won’t get a huge repair bill at the end if you bin it a few times.
I really hope whatever you choose to do (I think you already know), that you get to enjoy your bike, there’s nothing wrong with the dct (Dave Thorpe prefers it over the manual gearbox from what I’ve read), but like anything, it requires a period of learning and adapting to get the most from it.