Brake Magazine is an entirely online Adventure Motorcycle publication that tests and reviews bikes, aftermarket parts, kit and then brings you honest and informative reviews, touched with a little bit of cool riding along the way.
I’m an older rider. I’m 6’3” tall and around 225Kg, so no lightweight. I test rode a Desert X today but it wasn’t for me. Firstly, Ducati Glasgow were really helpful and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending them. They made me feel like I wanted to buy a bike from them, no BS, just constructive information. I found the Desert X way too soft on the front and disconcertingly unstable at speeds above about 85mph on the road (which I never do of course). I can’t imagine the bike with a top box as tank slappers could be a risk, something I’ve not said about a bike since my RD350 in 1976. The seat was uncomfortable and the riding position odd for me. The bike was fast and turned in like a bloodhound. There was a lot of valve gear noise that came up through the fairing and dominated the sound of the full Termi system to the extent that I wondered why anyone would pay the premium for it. The front brake is ferocious and requires a one finger pull in anything but emergencies. That, compared with the ‘dive to the centre of the earth’ sensation from the soft front end, makes riding in traffic a challenge. My conclusion was that the Desert X might be a weapon in the hands of the best riders but isn’t remotely suitable for me with my mainly road use and occasional green lane expeditions. The final zero for the Desert X was the fuel consumption. It reported a range when completely full of 147 miles and I used 3.5 litres to do about 30 miles. I bought a Triumph 900 Rally this afternoon. Similar power to the Ducati but in a different league in terms of usability for me. For the same test circuit the Triumph used 2.2 litres of fuel. You can have an auxiliary tank at huge cost to give the Desert X a similar range to the Triumph however it is then not possible to fit any luggage other than a sailing bag over the pillion seat. Specified to my fairly basic needs the Desert X came in at just shy of £20k. I paid less than £15k for the fully loaded Triumph.
New subscriber here. Question- why do you pause comments on videos that have great discussions going on? I really wanted to ask some people some questions in that itchy boots clutch vid.
The comments got paused on that video because a lot of them were out of hand and a bit dark. While some discussions were great a lot of them were personal attacks on me and in Norally and opening the RU-vid app to see comments like that wasn’t super fun ☺️
In psychiatry, stilted speech or pedantic speech is communication characterized by situationally inappropriate formality. This formality can be expressed both through abnormal prosody as well as speech content that is "inappropriately pompous, legalistic, philosophical, or quaint".
I'm such a sick masochist for stuff like this that i'd absolutely kill it with a smile on my face the whole way. I've got massive core strength, endurance and i can ride open desert in full send mode all day long. I've done plenty of 500 mile open desert days easily. But i don't have the resources to go do Dakar. Baja might be possible someday but i'd like to find some semi-local weekend events.
I watched your episode explaining the gearbox and how an easy and quick solution can be provided in certain circumstances to make the bike moveable.. Itchy Boots... Thank you very much.. I learn from your explanations, even though some of them are difficult for me. But I am learning little by little... A new subscriber from Saudi Arabia... Greetings 💐🇸🇦
When someone on reddit calls someone else an incel. Like. No offense. But I assume almost anyone using a platform like reddit is probably not getting laid much.
Weird! I'm watching Lehto's Law but all the comments are from a motorcycle channel. I'm wondering where this comment ends up. If you can see this, let me know what channel you're watching.
Great video, I can say that after testing BMW, KTM, Aprilia, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Husky; these two(in the vid) were the ones that actually gave me the best on/off road feeling, welcoming my inexperience. Only 1% of the users will actually bring any ADV bike to the AfricaEcoRace or similar, so no actual point on having a super specialized machine when your skills are no match fo it, ride humble!!! 🤗
Look up ahead not down look through corner grip the bike with legs keep arms soft not to tight cover brake and clutch lever and enjoy your ride some time s to slow onto corner can unbalance u not that u shoud be flying into corner s my older brother said too me ride your ability this is true but u won't improve your skill with that logic i don't mean be reckless but u can improve by riding faster
@@BrakeMagazineno doubt. Countersteering existed when bicycles were invented. Keith did write, IMO, the best books on the subject. The school is in its 44th year! Ryan filmed those videos while attending the school at The Ridge in 2022.
You know one question - SUPER important to me - that I see nobody on my screen ever talk about? Warranty, reliability (OK, you touch on that one but not enough) AND how the manufacturer responds to their customers when the engine goes POOF. In the United States KTM (to pick on my favorite orange elephant) provides a laughable one year warranty. That’s all we get from the Austrians. After that, and you will enter a Twilight Zone episode (Google it if you’re too young to know what that is). A process that is painful, mostly unmapped, and littered with dead ends. I’ve been through such a situation will not buy another KTM because of the above three criteria. So if you know, let us know who deals with their (non-influencer, racer, or otherwise well known) customers in a way that is reasonable to most and who most likely delivers a scooter that is highly likely to not go kaput on a long ride (weeks). Thanks! PS: and that’s when I saw the pinned comment. 😂
@@BrakeMagazine Yes, please explain how a 12v connection makes an ADV capable of ADV riding And while you're at it, how were bikes without it still able to do so The fact that too many ADV bikes come with _way_ too soft suspension to actually reach their 'Adventure trail *purpose* ' while being advertised as such, is an issue moto-journalist should *Chastise* the manufacturers for (same as the lack of any skidplate on the Transalp, WTF?), not lamenting the absence of a £10 USB plug as if 'that' diminishes the capability of a bike
I feel like you've got a bee in ya Bonet over something here, and I'm not really sure why. Is a 12v essential to riding. No. Is it useful? I think it is for most people. GPS, phone, heated clothing, portable toasty maker. Power is useful and it costs nearly nothing to include in the cost of the bike, and Honda cut a corner. They cut a few more with the handgaurds, a big one with the protection. Sure, you can ride around the world without 12v power. You can go to the moon without 12v power if you want, but it's kinda irritating to be having to add simple things to a £10k bike, just to use modern tech. I don't think any of this is a hot take. If you're still traveling with a map and compass good for you man, but we defo don't need sassy comments. The point was to bring awareness that most people are not going to buy the base model and if they do, they're probably gonna spend a fair bit of money to make it match V-Strom or as I said in the video 'reach it's potential'. I did chastise them for no skid plate and made a point of adding my own. As for the suspension, that depends entirely on what you're doing it and what your expectations are. To quote you "how were bikes without it still able to do so'. I called the suspension what it is; fine. Have a nice day.
I think I could easily choose my next bike if only I could ride them first. Even in a huge metropolis where I am I can only find a multistrada to rent, but not the V2S or others (norden/tuareg) Im interested in. Sigh.
As Chris Burch says, this applies in the “attack” position, which applies both in hard/technical off-roading or road racing. Indeed, road racer also adopt that elbow out position.
Better at what? It completely depends on what you wanna do. If I wanna ride all the way across Europe, an XR will never be as pleasant or as comfortable. What’s right for you isn’t right for everyone.
I watched multiple times. Useful drills and I like the format. The third time through I realized I was studying your video/audio as much as the drills. The way you switch camera angles, zoom in and out and change mic sources is subtle and engaging. Your scripting is also excellent. I’ll be practicing more than riding skills from your videos. Well done!
I have practiced something different on a mountain bike, coasting down a slope backwards and trying to maintain bicycle balance. It takes brake action using front or rear (not both) brake and balancing the bike.
