Great video Ian and you come across really well mate. I rode a cheap Chinese 125cc bike all the way through France to the Pyrenees Mountains ten years or so ago and it coped really well and there was some rough gravel roads too. Quality was an issue with the electrics though and I lost the power to the main headlight. The only other issue was speed. There's not a lot of fun to be had ragging a 125 bike with lorries up your arse for miles on end. I would say that so long as you can cruise at a speed faster than the lorries can then pretty much any bike is fine for adventure touring. I would also say that the bike needs to be as simple as possible. Less to go wrong. Air or air/oil cooled is perfect because if you spear a water cooled pipe or radiator, you're screwed. With an oil cooled bike you just need to carry an oil cooler delete kit. All these mega bucks BMW GS's have so many electronic gizmos on them that they are waiting to fail, to say nothing of the weight of these bikes. I think the 411 Himalayan's tick all the boxes and even the Bullets too. The Indian Army of the 1950's and 60's ran those over all sorts of terrain.
Thanks Ian, I really enjoyed that. I do agree that a lot of these big adventure bikes are a fashion statement. I think adventure riding is more a state of mind anyway. In Australia we also have those well off people who live in the inner city picking up their kids in massive 4WDs. In Melbourne they're called 'Toorak Tractors' Toorak being a posh area of Melbourne. Great petrol guzzling monsters of things!
Very enjoyable Ian. I'll be glued to every one of these sessions. I wonder whether the poor fuel consumption on the CF Moto 450 is down to the very low gearing? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure someone said it's geared at 10mph per 1000 rpm in top? So 60mph is a dizzy 6000rpm. Thats identical to my Kawasaki z250 from 43 years ago. That used to do 68mpg on a day ride to Skegness. Why can i still remember that after all this time. Im currently enjoying 103 mpg every time from the Classic 350. Happy days.
Adventure bikes are definitely a fashion accessory mate . I bought a 2016 V-Strom 650 for $5600 Australian and did 20000 kilometers around Queensland and NSW. I was so impressed by the V-Strom I traded my old strom for 2023 V-Strom 650 with lots of extras and 2 years of factory warranty left for $13000 that's $7500 pounds 💷 so cheap.
What makes an Adventure bike ? It has to look agressive . It has to be tall . It has to have 3 alloy boxes . It has to be over 1000cc . The rider has to look cool in Adv gear . The rider has to wear a $1,000 helmet . Only then will a rider have enough " street cred " to travel to Starbucks for a soymilk latte and mingle with the rest of the herd . Then back home before it rains .
I have my NC750x DCT pcp £120 UK Pounds per month, it's not the cost it's time, and like you I had heart attack recentley, but going back 35 years I had a cx500 shaft I rode all arround Black forrest the bike cost me £200 wish I would of kept it, it had 67k when I bought it ex courier bike👍
Hello Ian, Very interesting and informative video this one. On your question about adventure bikes, I always find that term rather confusing because in my day that style were simply referred to as trail bikes and in my mind I would say that all bikes are adventure bikes because every ride is an adventure, that can't be said for cars as those are just a box to convey the occupants from A to B whereas a motorbike becomes an extension of your anatomy every time you sit on it.
I knew a guy back in the 90's who went to a rally every weekend and commuted to work on a Honda CG125. He also toured Europe on it. You can guess my opinion. I know a Guzzi 1100 California can go just about anywhere with tarmac but that bloke on his 125 could literally go anywhere.
Hello Ian, I am convinced that adventure can be lived with a small engine, it all depends on what you want to bring with you, have total or minimal comfort at the bivouac stop, travel on paved roads or in the forest. For me, the most important thing is to do what you love with what you have, to see other landscapes, to meet people, to change the air even for a short time! It is always a pleasure to go out with the motorcycle that you love, it becomes a member of the family and builds beautiful memories 😉Thank you for sharing and see you soon 🙂
I have just come from a 4500 km tour on a 300 cc chinese bike, voge 300 rally. 95 km/h on the motorway cruise is the sweet spot for this engine regarding vibration. On winding mountain roads it is more than adequate. In my country it is half the price of RE Himalayan . So no brainer.
For me an adventure bike is one that I can ride anywhere, and carry whatever I need. Also I would prefer fuel efficiency and a bike I can easily control and lift if it falls over. So I would rather have a well equipped inexpensive small cc bike over a brand new Honda VFR 1,200 for many reasons. When recently climbing the Andes, my Himmy got into a steep rocky mountain road and began sliding backwards towards the side which was a deep drop off. Luckily the bike went down, but unfortunately the tank was facing down the slope. It was leaking precious fuel and luckily I had help spinning the bike uphill on the crash bars and lifting it, but I was exhausted from the weight and wishing I had a light 125cc to finish the trip with. I could not imagine anyone doing what we did on a larger ADV bike. The crash bars and pannier racks took all the scratch damage from the rocks, and the tractor torque helped me slowly climb the steep rocky and slippery inclines but could a V-Strom of any size do the trip? I doubt it. So the bigger the bike, and the faster the bike, the less off road adventure fun you will be having. For my riding conditions, I am happy staying below 450cc. If I lived in the US with long flat interstate rides, I might go with a larger bike.
The CFmoto 450MT is the company's original engine design, but they have likely designed it using Kawasaki engineering whom they have had a close relationship with over the years. From the days of the original H2 triple, Kawasaki was known for speed and adrenaline first where Honda was known for longevity. I never had a kawi that I kept track of gas mileage, just time between gas stations which was usually pretty quick. I sold my Ninja and now enjoy a relaxed cruise on my Himmy through the countyside. And I really admire what the Chinese have done with their bikes, but along with relaxing, I enjoy passing the gas stations when I get to them. If I were young and looking for cheap excitement, I would jump for the CFMoto bikes, but where I am at today, the RE bikes better fit my personality and needs.
Some interesting points you make here. People's opinions on build quality are quite subjective, I've taken my friends CFMoto apart to fit accessories, and under the skin I was shocked at some of the fittings and wiring harness routing. The whole adventure bike thing has become a fashion as the manufacturers put their bike range into categories, personally I've had this style of bike since my first TransAlp 600 in the late 80's, then called Rally Touring, I found it very comfortable and suited my 6' 2" frame. I've had this style of bike ever since. The Indian BSA's are a problem for owners in the UK at the moment if you want to sell one, new they are heavily discounted and dealers are reluctant to take them in as part exchange, even Superbike factory won't take them!
What is an ADV motorcycle, one that gets you there and back in one piece without breaking down. When I bought my last bike I bought I was looking for a late 5oo Bullet (understanding pushrods with old triumphs and no cam chains etc) but was shocked at the second hand prices, and ended up with a 18 mnth old scram 411 (2000 miles) for a lot less than what people were wanting for late 500 bullets. (thank goodness for EBAY and the ability to buy spares from India for a fraction of UK prices) A motorcycle will go anywhere within reason, its more down to the riders ability than the motorcycle itself. do you think the TEC cam is a worthwhile investment or should I be happy with a 70 MPH motorcycle that uses very little fuel, with reasonable off road ability just struggling in the mud with the 19" wider front tyre wanting to wash out? sorry for the essay, Regards Don
I've done both those mods to my 411 and it does make a noticeable difference in acceleration from 60-70mph (there is a little bit extra across the rev range generally), which is where the stock engine was quite weak. Really, it only matters in traffic near bigger towns / cities where you are beating it out with the tin cans. On country roads I still cruise at the same speed.
Oh, I could write a novel on this topic but I'll keep it short. I have owned 21 motorcycles so far, Japanese and German, but unfortunately never an English one. Because Lucas is the inventor of darkness. The Japanese ones were good but not always, as they say, of very good quality but you could always repair the motorcycles yourself with technical knowledge because only minimal electronics were installed, which is what I prefer. That's why you can still find functioning motorcycles that are over 40 years old. Motorcycles from 2015 onwards are much more complicated, which is mainly due to the electronics. Today everything is combined with the ECU of ABS, speedometer and more, so I think the industry is no longer producing sustainable vehicles. But the consumer wants to have all the electronic crap on the box for the time being, the manufacturers fool you into thinking that everything is important and make a fortune. I think they calculate a lifespan of around 10 years! The Big Adventure Bikes aren't really suitable for off-road use because they're far too heavy. Most people use them as highway bikes, then attach thick aluminum panniers to the bike and think they're now an adventurer. In my eyes, they're nothing more than image motorcycles that nobody really needs. You'll see that in a few years you'll be able to get these vehicles for very little money because the owners can't maintain them themselves and the annual service costs more than 500 euros. Now you should start doing the math, is it worth it! Adventure Bike used to be called Enduro. In Germany: GS, = off-road sport, DT=Dirt Track, FT=Flat Track You see, advertising and marketing needs new names otherwise you won't be able to sell anything.Maybe in a few years you will also install a poop container under the seat. Fun mode! greetings from germany
can't blame shipping from china - simply can not, i just received some products that i orders 8 days ago and it arrived today - some simple hard drives, not expensive items.... they /CF don't have the parts to send and it is that simple - this will ease up i reckon but they need to catch up, they are losing money hand over fist ANY bike is an adventure bike - the bike you have is an adventure bike, you just have to allow it to be, FFS this is what we used to do and we didn't need specific bikes OR EVEN specific gear such as hard packs or fitted luggage etc, we just packed as much shit as small as possible and got cracking, i still do it this way
I bought my f650gs in UK in 2019 for 2600 quid, rode around UK camping then went to Normandy and done war sites, then Italy, Albania and home to Kosovo. Then went to Macedonia and Albania again several times, sold it 2 weeks ago for 2800 euros, never even blew a bulb or had a puncture, these people that buy a 25k gs just because its the thing to do make me laugh, most of them dont get past Starbucks.
I think there are important political stuff about bikes in general. Like the so called green transition and the alleged ban of ICE engines years down the line. The Chinese system of doing long turn things is a bit different, sometimes the big picture is lost because a certain group of people are charged with the task of building a good bike, but other are for the supply and manufacturing and the link is a bit broken. Other thing is if something happens there, they will shut down the brand over night without any care about the customers all over the world. So, there is a bit of uncertainty down the line.
You have to think about it. The Chinese bikes look good, but the backup, support and long term reliability isn't proven yet. Geopolitics can change everything. At least with Enfield's they seem to have a decent dealer network, although having said that, my local dealer went out of business last month. It wasn't a solus dealer, they did other brands, just weren't selling enough bikes to keep the doors open. The air cooled Enfields are about as simple as it gets, which may bode well for keeping them running if parts got scarce. Maybe a local shop has a better chance of making something or a workaround of some kind. There are also Hondas, just look after it and fingers crossed nothing much goes wrong.
The 450 MT is the best selling bike in Australia at the moment. I test rode it and the RE 450 , I thought the MT was excellent and RE 450 was 🤔 hmmm ... absolutely 💩💩🐢
Adventure bike is any bike that takes you on an adventure. It's a marketing term to convince people that they need this bike to do anything other than pavement riding. So called adventure bikes are not as good as true dirt bikes in the real off road stuff and they are not as good on any roads as a true street bike. They are a compromise at best and are the result of the manufacturers creating a class of motorcycle that, in my opinion, should not exist because it is not required. Plenty of scramblers and dual purpose bikes out there that can do the same thing only better. To me an ADV bike is an over weight and oversized dual purpose dirt bike. If I am going to put long hours on the road it's sure not going to be on an ADV bike. If I am going to do any off road dirt riding it's sure not going to be on an ADV bike. S0, where am I going to use it? I've watched too many people on big ADV bikes with luggage and passenger almost lose it just taking off from a stop light. to me they are not practical and not really safe for average riders.
