This is worth watching all the way through. The ubiquitous Chuck Baldwin takes a chance, gets into a predicament, and then works his way out of it. I can only imagine the "dislikes" are from veteran bikers who have conveniently forgotten their past misadventures. As you can see, he learns from his mistake so you won't have to, and I'm sure he'll be back to tackle it again and show you'all how it's done right (no pressure, CB). "Never give up, never surrender!"
I am not the type to leave comments, but... There is nothing negative I observed and am compelled to comment, hopefully for the benefit of rider here and all possibly reading this. I have the same bike, and also Africa Twin. One is 340lbs and other is 550lbs wet and with gear. I was in similar situations with AT, and it is not fun but one has to find away in all situation especially when alone. Svartpilen is one of the lightest bikes, and I was surprised why rider had so much trouble pulling it up. There are few different ways to pick up the bike, I would have tried using the handle bars, but first you want remove the extra weight off the bike which he did. Also, you want to put the tike in a gear so it does not roll on you. Then you want to make sure it is on surface where it is not gonna slide off either. Taking your gear off is always good, and being a bit in shape is a necessity for any type of lifting bikes and off roading. Again, pretty shocked that the rider could not manage 340lbs bike. He surely would be stuck with the likes of VStroms, KLR's, not to mention Africa Twins. Someone mentioned the weigh of the bike as gear and standing on pegs. This is low handle bar bike and standing up would not particularly help. I think what would help would be if he had some speed to it. This would allow the bike to push through and even when drifting would make his way. Finally, I have never seen bike being pulled from the rear. Not sure why he didn't push it forward or try riding forward without gear, or even walking backwards. The ground was not quick sand or mud, and unless there is someone holding the bar, I don't think pulling it back in this situation was the best way, it did work, but after it fell. Advice, if I may, do some strength training (push ups, situps, squats), lighten up the load until you get good on sand and rock, try out less challenging roads first, add more speed to your ride, learn few ways and practice how to pick up the bike. And most importantly, learn from your mistakes and never give up. Good job otherwise, lots of lessons and lot of people sharing their experience. The bike is great and it can do the road you took it no problem. In most cases it is the rider that is the limitation.
Glad you shared this man. So many people are so scared to try new things because they might be bad at it, and are terrified of people seeing them be bad at something. This is RU-vid at its realest. The reality of trying new things is failure but as long as you are a student of your mistakes you will always be better next time. I hope you get back out there man. 👍🏼👍🏼 appreciate the realness and confidence.
Thanks man. Much appreciated. Just been getting back on the bike a bit lately. I got a Jeep Wrangler a year and a half ago and have been tackling much more challenging roads than this, even for a Jeep, so the 'Pilen has taken a back seat, as well as filming my escapades. Hope to get behind the camera again soon!
Good for you for giving it a try! Ok, here are some tips: 1) Get rid of all the heavy luggage. 2) Ride with a buddy. 3) Especially if riding alone, be sure to file a complete detailed ride plan of your *exact route* with someone. Ideally, carry a satellite beacon like a SPOT or InReach. 3) Stand on the pegs, don't sit. In the sand you control the bike by gently shifting your weight between pegs. 5) If you can, lower the tire pressure some for off road. 6) Go try it again!
All great advice. Thanks, Carl. Yes, I felt very alone once I stopped and couldn't go forward -- which is why I turned tail and headed back to the road once I got unstuck. I spent a bit of time researching SPOT and alternates but didn't pull the trigger, mainly since I wasn't expecting to leave the road on this trip. I mentioned in my audio, which may not have been too clear, that I think a class in offroad riding might be a good idea. My heroes Ewan McGregror, Charley Boorman, and Noraly (#ItchyBoots) all took offroading classes prior to or during their adventures, and I think I should too, rather than crash my bike out of ignorance.
few things to consider next time u go off-road 1- try not to go alone 2- keep it light as much as you could 3- try to learn some off road skills, pulling ur bike is very exhausting 4- keep sharing those videos they r great 5- enjoy it to the max
First of all, thanks for sharing this. When you're not use to drive off road at the beginning you feel as you are going to fall at every minute cause the bike don't behave like on tarmac. The bike don't follow your command as precisely as you are use to. And that is the first advice, don't be looking what is right in front of you, look as far as you can, and try to be relaxed, gently showing the bike where you want to go, but with no tension. the bike will move a little bit around but it will follow your command, it takes time to get used to this sensation of not having 100% control, but you will get it. if you face at technical part, stand on the pegs, it will be so much easier to control de bike just by moving your weight gently. Sometimes you need to rev the bike a little more and get some speed to go trough sand or mud. You got this, just go out and practice, you will start to get the sensations and will improve your ability. That is a great bike
Buys adventure type bike. Covers it with adventure type gear. Drops it first time off pavement lol. Idk if anyone mentioned it yet, but when you first got stuck you should have let some air out of your tire. You’d have gotten better traction. You should see the places I take my 401. Makes this look like a Walmart parking lot lol.
No doubt. It was my first time offroad on a motorcycle and I happened to keep my camera running the whole time. It was moto-camping road trip. I had no idea I'd be going offroad, but saw the OHV trail sign and made a u-turn and headed down it.
i ride a gsxr1000 and my mrs has just bought one of these and im absolutely buzzin to ride it. i had my first offroad experience and tried an indoor electric dirtbike track and was immediately humbled haha! look forward to dropping it and fixing it for her in the years to come! Great upload mate. subbed.
Thankyou for sharing. Its great for me because I am a beginner riders and want to try stuff like this and in my brain it looks so easy but in reality it takes a lot of skill. Great video!!!
Well done for getting out there! Finding a local place near you with easier off-road terrain can be a time-saver for practising luggage-free. Even just unsealed roads, firmer paddocks etc. Thanks for sharing your uncomfortable experience. You've just initiated invaluable training for newbies.
For anyone watching this thinking about getting a Svartpilen: it can definitely negotiate this kind of terrain, luggage or not. Hell, even 250cc bikes can do it, but you will need to learn proper technique for off-road conditions. Get comfortable standing up and revving the shit out of the bike if it's necessary, you are not at the asphalted city roads anymore.
watch this is much better than watching staged processed, movie like video of ppl going offroad.. Chuck is real! it was a thrill to watch. I hope he took that lesson on someone elses bike, to come back again and tackle this tricky sand.
I mean... the comments here aren't horrible but honestly... the way to learn is to get out and do. For the most part anyway. Good on ya for givin her a go.
Very nice video, youtube lacks videos of people starting this kind of hobby. On another note I was planning to buy Svartpilen 401, and occasionally ride it off-road, but this video made me reconsider that :D
I honestly believe you should never go off road alone even if you are the best driver... also good rule never go off road with a bike that is too heavy for your strength level and technique. Even seasoned off road riders drop their bikes. Good work never give up ;p
It saddens me to see such a pretty bike fell, but then im pretty used to it, having droped in some way or other everysingle bike ive had, just keep at it dude!
At the 9min mark I was willing you to keep the side stand down and just lean the bike over and pivot it around to the direction you wanted to go...argh but no you go back to pulling the rear end again and I was waiting for you to drop it again. Hopefully you have discovered this technique in the meantime.
Still have it, but got a Jeep Wrangler and that's what I've been hitting the outdoors off-road in for the last year and a half. The bike has been mellowing in the garage but I'm starting to ride her again. Other big life changes have altered what I do with my weekends too...
You do know that you can use the clutch and throttle while standing beside the bike, don't you? Next time just get off the bike first and ride it up standing next to it walking beside it, okay bro, till the wheels fall off.
NICE TRY MAN!, KEEP TRYING.... IN LOOSE TERRAIN YOU HAVE TO KEEP THE SPEED AT ALL TIMES... NOT TO FAST, NOT TOO SLOW...ITS JUST THE RIGHT RYHTM & KEEP THE MOMENTUM/INERTIA, YOU GET AFRAID IN A MOMENT AND LOOSE THE SPEED/INERTIA, THAT WAS THE CAUSE OF THE BACK WHEEL GET BURIED... GOOD LUCK! CHEERS FROM ARGENTINA
I have the same bike and if i ever do off road in Australia I will probably be the same Although I would probably buy a Royal Enfield Himilayan ro reduce the trouble. Live and learn. Good video.
I still may buy a Himalayan at some point. Love that bike -- at least from what I've seen Noraly, AKA Itchy Boots, do on one. I was back and forth but ultimately realized I'd be on the street 99% of the time, so went with the Svartpilen.
@@ChuckBaldwinOutdoors I saw the video where she reviewed it and mentioned that she had one pannier full of spare parts but didn't really need most of them. Plus she had the first gen so I can only assume it's got more reliable since then. Same here, I have two bikes already so I can only justify a Himalayan if I am planning a big multiweek outback trip. Funiily enough I actually did a couple of days riding in Nepal on a Royal Enfield Classic 500.
I have to admit, this was a little hard to watch. I hope you try again because that bike looks like it could take those back roads and I'm sure you would have fun - try practicing using a little more momentum to get up the soft hills.
Agreed. Momentum would have helped a lot. But once I was down and realized how easy it would be to get stranded -- alone -- I headed back to the tarmac.
This was hard to watch. Especially for such a nice bike. If it was Tao or something it wouldn't be so bad. But best of luck man. I've been riding a klx250 for quite a bit, love my bike but this is a really nice bike 👍
Fortunately there was no damage at all. It tipped over softly. I definitely don’t want to mess it up so I’ll take it on fairly easy trails, especially at first. Rides awesome on the street!
That is one good looking machine. I am looking for the ultimate bike; which I can’t never find. Meanwhile the garage is filling up; and wife is screaming at me. So it’s not all bad. 😜
Thanks for sharing! For only one night a backpack and the tent should be enough. I’m guessing that’s where it went wrong, meaning the bike was too heavy.
How much weight do you think you've added with the extra gear? Do you think that contributed to the drop or do you think it would have been the same without it? I know the suspension doesn't have much travel and the clearance isn't great either. I want to buy this as my first bike but I do want to do light off-roading which this seems to be, but it looks like it may be to much for the bike to handle and I am wondering if I should just get a cheaper dual sport instead. What would you suggest from your experience with the svartpilen? Thanks.
I wanted to weigh all the gear, but I put it away before I thought to do it (probably around 30 lbs). I think dropping the bike had more to do with my lack of experience -- and speed -- on the trail, as well as it being mostly sand and rock. I don't know from my own experience, but on terrain other than sand, the bike should handle light offroading pretty well. There are some other videos out there of it being abused through some trails and it looked awesome. When I thought about my next bike long, before knowing the Svartpilen existed, I thought of DPs, but I could not find a single one that wasn't so ugly I wanted to own it, not to mention the much higher seat height on all of them. Just now, I was looking at the BMW F800 GS, which Kinga from #OnHerBike rides, and even that has a seat height of 32.3" with the Low Suspension Option. It also costs twice as much, used. This bike is an absolute dream on the road, and if it's your first bike, I don't think you can go wrong with it, unless you are much shorter than me at 5'8, but you'd have the same issue with any other DP too. It's super light at under 350 lbs, which is why I was eventually able to pick it up once I, literally, wrapped my arms around it the right way. That said, if it's your first bike, you might want to get something used for less than a grand because you are almost sure lay it down at some point, hopefully while going pretty slow.
@@ChuckBaldwinOutdoors Thanks for the reply I really appreciate it! I have seen some videos of others off-roading the bike the only one that really impressed me had a bit of custom parts but nothing crazy. This would be my first bike but I do know how to ride a little I learned on a Honda cm 400 which is about the same weight and I myself am around 5'8 closer to 5'9 with long inseams I actually went and sat on the new model and couldn't quite flat foot it but came really close. I felt that for the price I would just take the risk of dropping it which I hope not too but it's relatively inexpensive and would spend around half of the price on a used motorcycle anyway so I figured I'd risk it and hopefully grow on it instead of dropping it lol only thing holding me back rn is the inability to get a license due to the current lockdown etc Thanks again! Hope to see more videos soon !!👍
I like your spirit and see where inspiration comes from, keep on going and you'll be able to manage even such trails! Though, I'd recommend you to try to search for info on the trail before going to it. Pirelli's are good tires, but they are not for such a loose surfaces, definitely need more knobbies (but remember, the more tire suited for off-road, the less it suits for pavement). Rest of tips was already given in other comments. Other than that, there is one thing about video that concerns me... I think you using internal microphone of gopro, or media mod's mic? My advise is to get external mic or separated recorder with good mic for voice record during ride to make voice more distinct from all other noises and sounds. Voice is a very important part of the video, so it's very important for voice to be clear and not monotonous. That should attract more people to the channel.
I agree entirely with your audio comments. Since this video, I added a mic inside my helmet, along with the GoPro Media Mod. It also sounded terrible. Turns out the Media Mod sucks and rarely works as intended. I learned this recently when none of the audio that was miked inside my car, with camera outside, was recorded on a Southwest National Parks road trip with my kids. I returned the Hero 8 GoPro to Costco, sold the slightly used Media Mod on eBay -- and my DJI Osmo Action should arrive tonight. The mic adapter arrived yesterday. Thanks for all the tips! It's pretty funny. When I have the camera on, I talk to you, the audience, the whole ride, every ride -- like I'm a crazy person talking to myself! So it would be nice if it was legible. I spent a lot of time, as-is, equalizing the audio to get it as clear as I could and reduce the competition of the engine.
Hahaha! Not really. I got OUT of there. Can't wait to go back sometime -- but I bought a Jeep so all my time on and offroad is in the Jeep right now...
There's an REI Half-Dome Plus 2-man tent on the bike in the video. It's too big though. I'd try to find an ultra light 1-man tent or bivy sack. I'm carrying a super light summer sleeping bag too. amzn.to/2ZQsl0z
I did not lower the tire pressure since I did not have any way to re-inflate them and my trip was 99% on the road. I will next time. I’ll do a lot of things differently next time!
Dam dude it looks like you could have just hoped of and reved the bike out without you on it, that whole pulling it backwards and having the bike fall looked really unnecessary
That was painful to watch. Lol! Gotta give a lot of credit to him for posting the video because that was pretty embarrassing on a lot of levels. Great job trying tho. Cant pussy foot the throttle. Just give her the onion when going thru questionable spots where you think you might get stuck. Speed is your friend. Same thing when getting it unstuck. Let her rip! Not sure why he made it look so hard to handle the bike. The beauty of the Svartpilen is that it’s not too heavy or hard to manhandle around. I can pick up the rear end and swing it around on mine. Get stuck just pick up the ass out of e hole and then give her hell. Gotta have way more throttle when taking off on a hill and especially when wanting to get out of a bad spot
HI chuck i just like yr bike, i would like the same svartipilen with same travelling setup ! where can i found your lateral bags ?, marque SUV ??? U drive alone is so cool, like a real man (ahah), also whats happening with the ground ? your speed select doesn't work, i dont handerstand
Thank, man! There's a link to the saddle bags in the description. Love them -- waterproof, spacious, fit nearly any bike -- even the naked Svartpilen -- and relatively inexpensive. Not sure what your last question means... Waterproof VUZ saddlebags that will fit just about any bike: amzn.to/3ehTcbV
Well, I've heard this bike was notorious for being difficult to find its neutral. I guess it's true. By the way, does the "super moto" feature work at all? Or you didn't use it?
Finding neutral isn't any more of an issue than my previous bikes. I wouldn't let that stop you from getting one. I don't know about the super-moto feature.
I agree that finding neutral is tough when compared between this bike and the Yamaha fz07. But you don’t really notice because you are so focused on going through all the gears all the time between stop lights 😂. I don’t think the super moto does anything. I’m not expert on it thought but I can’t tell a difference
@@ChuckBaldwinOutdoors did you have ABS turned off ? Couldn't tell. This bike does great on packed dirt and fire roads. Going to start posting soon. I cruise in julian and descanso CA usually.
I am rewatching this vid for the 10th time and still don't understand what actually happened. Seems like you got stuck on not too rough terrain, somehow digging the rear wheel a bit. Maybe the camera doesn't do it justice, but it doesn't seem too bad? What happens next I don't understand at all. Why don't you for example try to swing the body and the bike back and forth a bit and add more power? Why don't you step next to the motorcycle to make it lighter? When you pull the bike back a bit, why don't you get back on it, but rather pull it further and drop it? You must have expected that it will drop, right? Why you didn't remove all the baggage before that pulling operation? And lifting the bike seemed like a huge struggle despite this being the lightest bike on the market actually. I understand you may be inexperienced, so am I, but this seems like common sense thinking. You can get into situations like this many times in the future. I am a bit worried, because I was looking for some videos of Svartpilen off-road, and this video makes it seem like you should avoid any terrain at all costs..
Nah this dude needs to avoid off-road completely. I appreciate him posting it I guess, but it's definitely why buying a bunch of gear doesn't make you a better rider.
Yeah I was moto camping, happened to find an offroad trail and headed it down it without experience, preparation, or another biker with me. Once I got stuck, I realized how stupid I was riding off-road in a desert by myself. I filmed it all and let you see what happened.
There is no rack, just the oh-shit handle that comes with it. The bag is tied to the frame and held in place by tension. There's a link in the description to the bag but it's currently unavailable.
This guy really should have stayed on the highway. If you go off on a trail make sure to stay out of the center. At least on this trail, where four wheel vehicles have been through. The center was very soft
For sure. If the primary purpose of the rise was off-roading, I'd only have a backpack on, but this was a moto-camping trip in which I stumbled upon some off-roading trails and decided to check them out -- totally unprepared.
If you mean the bike, I agree. $5000, compared to double that for a 700cc bike, almost seems like they're giving them away! So much fun for the money. And plenty quick enough for me at this point.
@@ChuckBaldwinOutdoors yes the bike is, right now, great value , but i was referring more to your willingness and enthusiasm to finish what you started. finding your way with the machine where you were - not trying to look cool but simply sharing your experience and not giving up.
@@allanedwards1067 And then I'll get another set of probably something else. The stock ones were antennae-style and you could only see your shoulder in them. They're not perfect but they are better.
The irony is that RU-vid is full of tutorials on off road riding skills! I hope you utilize some of those before your next solo journey. I appreciate the sharing of this but all it is is what not to do. So not much value
No damage, except to my pride, which obviously wasn’t hurt enough that I didn’t put the entire escapade on RU-vid for everyone interested in Svartpilena to see.
At the time the available accessories were extremely limited. They may have some decent options now, but I kinda dig my saddlebags. Planning to pack much lighter next time.
I'm a do it and figure it out yourself kinda guy. Course, I shattered my arm sailing a 36' sailboat I bought 20 years ago. Live and learn. Repeat until death.
