Gravel riding….

[Anonymous]

#2028

Gravel riding ???What's so damn fun about gravel riding ???!!! I've tried it on a few ocasions ; first with my 1150 GS, and now with my 1200 GS.And although it is admittingly a bit better with the 1200,  I think it still sucks big time:The beast wallows around, shakes it's head, and generally only reluctantly wants to gowhere I want to go. I've read the advise on different websides- Stay calm ( yeah right)- stay relaxed ( yeah right again )- steer with the throttle ( are you kidding ??!!! the last thing I want is open the throttlewhen the pig start moving)- look ahead to where you want to go ( oh, yeah ? , and what about that big pot hole  justin front of me ?? !!!)- enjoy the scenery  (......)I force myself every year to do it once or twice., went across the Corromandel, wentto Ragland , and although  I get a bit more relaxed after a few miles, I still sweat like a pig,have visions of the bike throwing that last final wobble, and fear the next blind cornerbecause some local nutter will come hooning around it in my direction, and I don't dare tobrake hard, or make sudden direction changes . So ,as you might have guessed by now : I generally do not enjoy it  (understatement) ,and kiss the tarmac at the end of the ordeal.Track days ?  I don't need those ! I need gravel riding days with instructors..and preferably on somebody else's bike.....

[Jim Young]

#7617

I would tend to agree with you, gravel does nothing to me, trail rides yes but gravel no. but each to their own.

[Dave Ross]

#7618

I will throw in a gravel  ride every now and then, depending on the interest. These rides will be additional to the normal lunch or club rides. However, you will still be riding your own bike :-). If you are wobbling, then you are probably going to slowly. You could try softening your suspension settings and letting a bit of air out of the tyres. Ride standing up this will lower the centre of gravity. It took me ages to get used to the fact that the bike will move and squirm under you, but they usually don't just fall over. riding through less developed areas has a charm on its own.

[Anonymous]

#7619

The thing is, though, fellas, that some of us are just hardwired to want to, “See what's round the next corner.”Doing that on my little Jappas was sometimes slippery and exciting, on my GS650 Katana (a farm bike in road drag, big pussy thing) no problem at all, and on the K100LT sometimes interesting, even moreso with the Librarian on the back. With the R-eleven-hundy-Ess I spend a lot of my time concentrating on relaxing the bits that are tightening up (except, of course, the sphinctre muscles), letting the bike move underneath me, and wondering just how much it would cost to replace a rocker cover and all the lights and plastic on one side of the bike.But I still need to know what's around the next corner.....................

[Anonymous]

#7620

Gravel riding is an art you do not learn it over night. It takes time and respect of the different conditions to gain the skills to ride gravel. The 1150gs is a great bike to ride on gravel as well the 1200gs. Even the 1200rt is fine on gravel as well. Any one can ride on sealed roads. There are only so many sealed roads. If you add gravel in, this opens up a lot more of NZ with some of the most interesting places not many get to see.The only gravel roads I have found to be a bit tricky at times is some of the South Island roads. Most of the North Island roads have had most of the gravel cleaned off as well have a very hard base.Wellington is enjoying the trips they are having on gravel and looks like they are building a great team of gravel riders.I have said before and have offered my time and experience to help those who would like to learn the skill of riding gravel. I think I have some reasonable skills for this kind of riding, but you will have to ride your own bike.How many times have you seen in the news papers riders killed on gravel roads. You may get hurt but not killed as the speed is a lot less.

[2bjr]

#7621

Hear hear 😀 😀You can at least enjoy it while you can.

[Murray]

#7622

Wellington is enjoying the trips they are having on gravel and looks like they are building a great team of gravel riders.

Yup, nice thing about down here is a number of like minded people, not all register members either. As Dean points out, you only get good at riding gravel with practice, and as Bwucie notes it doesn't really matter what bike you're on, most are capable over gravel if you know what your doing - although I've not yet found a bike quite as good as the HP2  😀 The other thing I like about down here is the amount of experience everyone brings to the rides differs and helping each other out with advice and whatnot is not seen as too precious.Boetje - as a starter for ten, next time you're thinking of a gravel run, and the sweat starts up, take a deep breathe, relax, then check your bike setup (tyres, suspension, etc) - wallowing and shaking of head are not indicative of the 1150GS and 1200GS in anything other than very deep gravel or sand.CheersGarry

[Xan]

#7623

I used to do Adventure riding but I gave it up, as I couldn't maintain the skill (if there was any  😳 ) and that is because I only did it a couple of times a year.I have given up skiing, too for the same reason. I have never graduated from beginners because I don't ski often enough.I tried to practice or simply tried to get used to ride on a gravel road.I felt that it was much more comfortable to ride the same gravel road on the way back, compared to riding on the way.If I rode a gravel road every week, I could get used to it and I might even enjoy it.A person who loves riding gravel roads told me before that he likes the feeling of sliding on the corners of a gravel road...  🙄If you want to enjoy gravel roads, perhaps, you need to ride more often.

[Anonymous]

#7624

We have great gravel rides down here, not because we love gavel but the places and challenge of getting there make it so much fun.As you gather experience with rough surfaces you also reduce the chances of slippery corners or over cooking a turn  on the road from turning into distaster.For some it is the feeling of a big piece of grunt squirming around uder your bum of course as we get older self preservation kicks in and moderates our maddness.Come and join us some time.Cheers Pete.

[Anonymous]

#7625

I have done lots of gravel and off road riding in South Africa on my 650GS since i started riding July 06 and just love it – but only after mastering the skills of “look up – stand up – open up” you can then achieve what you envisage to be the impossible. The tuition was provided by a 3 day BMW off road course run by highly trained instructors.  I certainly could never have progressed without this training. So maybe you should approach BMW NZ about training.I have just returned from a fantastic 4000km trip in 10 days to attend the SA Annual BMW Gathering - covering tar, gravel, rocks! etc and the most fun and interesting part was the gravel and off road riding as you get to see the most beautiful areas plus of course the challenge!  However, the downside of the gravel is that it chews your tyres!   

[Dave Ross]

#7626

I have just returned from a fantastic 4000km trip in 10 days to attend the SA Annual BMW Gathering - covering tar, gravel, rocks! etc and the most fun and interesting part was the gravel and off road riding as you get to see the most beautiful areas plus of course the challenge!  However, the downside of the gravel is that it chews your tyres!   

Sounds like you've had a great trip. Would you mind sharing some pictures with us?

[Brian TANNER]

#7627

Gravel rules ! Give me a long stretch of the dirt over tar seal anyday !  In Feb my wife and I did the Molesworth in both directions, the Rainbow plus as many other dirt/gravel roads as we could on our trip aroound South Island (incl NZ Adv Ride).  Total of 6000km with app 2000km on gravel.  Pretty bloody awesome. Check out http:/kiwiland.typepad.com/  for photos but beware there are a lot !R

[Dave Morris]

#7628

whats gravel 

[Dave Ross]

#7629

whats gravel 

You need to get out more  😀

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