What is Off-Road Motorbike Riding?
Off-road riding in its simplest form is the concept of taking a motorbike off the tarmac road. There are a few different disciplines that are worth talking about. Each discipline has vastly different motorbikes, and one of the keys to enjoying the off-road experience is to get the right motorbike for the discipline you are trying to do. This is also one of the biggest downfalls that people have when trying to get into the off-road scene, they have the wrong bike for the wrong job.
A road motorbike is not fun off-road. The wheels are too small, the suspension is too hard, and the seating position is all wrong.
For a detailed description of the different disciplines within off-roading, check out below.
| ADV | Dual Sport | Enduro | Motocross |
| Tarmac | Hybrid | Off-Road | Off-Road |
Why Go Off-Roading?
Generally, people consider small bumps in a tarmac road an uncomfortable inconvenience, so why would anyone want to take a motorbike off-road?
Off-roading is much like surfing, ice skating or any other extreme activity that has the phenomenal feeling of floating.
With the correct motorbike and the correct skills, a driver will reach a point where they float over the bumps in the road instead of sinking heavily and uncomfortably into them.
Apart from the wonderful feeling of gliding over bumps, off-roading has a steep learning curve to master and it is easy to see yourself improve with each ride. There is always something new to learn, and with each skill you master, it improves the entire floating experience that you will have. Just when you feel like a god that is floating on the mud, along will come an even better rider who floats at double your speed. Suddenly you realise, you still have a lot to learn!
Even with friends, there is an element of competitiveness involved, comparing yourself to your fellow riders and trying to figure out why you are getting stuck in the mud, but they are not. Why is your friend gliding over the bumpy road at double your pace seemingly with all the grip in the world? Whilst you plod along crashing every 5 minutes.
Competition is friendly though, and in off-road circles, everyone is there to help. Maybe you have mastered a skill better than your friend, but he has mastered a different skill better than you. Everybody is there to learn, and it is possible to learn skills from all levels of riders.
The different disciplines within off-road riding
Adventure riding (ADV)
This is the concept of long-distance journeys, usually over days or weeks. The idea is primarily to be on the road, but the motorbikes should have some off-road capabilities to head off down mud tracks and gravel roads.
The ADV market is a fast-growing segment, and within this fast-growing segment is a lot of false advertising. ADV motorbikes tend to be 700+cc and weigh over 150KG.
These motorbikes often have big pannier setups with lots of boxes. The motorbikes are too heavy for a truly enjoyable off-road experience. They are mostly designed for a long distance holiday that is focused around primarily tarmac or gravel roads. There is plenty of room to store your entire house and its furniture within the gigantic pannier setup that came with the ADV bike.
ADV Motorbikes to note - BMW GS, Suzuki Vstrom, KTM Adventure, Kawasaki Versey
Dual Sport Riding
This is the concept of having a 50/50 motorbike when it comes to off-road and on the road capabilities. Generally, these motorbikes look like proper off-road machines, they weigh around 150KG. They tend to be between the 250cc and 700cc power bracket.
Dual Sport Riding is the idyllic dream, a motorbike that can do the road and the off-road. However, in the real world, dual sport motorbikes fall short in performance for both disciplines. You can load them up with alot of luggage, but adventure boxes don’t really fit on the dual sport. The boxes would also be weighing a huge percentage of the total weight so overall performance of the machine takes a big hit with luggage.
You can take them deep into the jungle and into “extreme terrain”, but very quickly you will find the motorbike is still too heavy. Rather than gliding over the bumps, you find yourself acting a bit like a tank and bulldozing your way through the terrain in a cumbersome manner.
It works, but the experience is limited by the motorbike that is being pushed a little bit beyond what it was designed for.
Dual Sport Motorbikes to note - Honda CRF-L series, Suzuki DRZ S, Suzuki DR 650, Honda XR series.
Enduro Riding
Enduro is a competition format where riders compete in an endurance event lasting several hours. They are covering distance over impossible terrain. The Enduro motorbike weighs around 110KG and they tend to have optimized engines with relatively high maintenance schedules. However casual riders (you and your friends), are unlikely to be pushing the machine to its limits and therefore the maintenance schedules can be mostly ignored or at the very least extended.
The Enduro motorbike is the motorbike you need to have a truly enjoyable off-road experience. The gap between a 110KG Enduro Bike and a 150KG Dual Sport is night and day when it comes to off-roading. Enduro motorbikes range between 300cc and 500cc. Enduro motorbikes are designed and focused with off-roading in mind. They are not road machines, however, most models (4 stroke) can be used on the road as a means of getting from A-B. The entire world of riding a motorcycle is suddenly flipped upside down. Enduro motorbikes are horrible to drive on the road, but an absolute pleasure to take off-road. Hard to imagine? You won’t understand until you try!
The Enduro motorbike is 90% off-road machine with around 10% road capabilities. You will do anything in your power to limit driving on the road. Instead, you will always be looking to find the next mud track to rocket down
Enduro Motorbikes to note - KTM EXC series, Husqvanas in general, Honda CRF “X” series, Beta motorbikes in general.
Motocross
Motocross or MX, is the discipline of racing around a designated track. These motorbikes are designed with nothing but speed and power in mind. They weigh around 90KG, and are stripped down to the bare minimum to save weight. No electric start, no lights etc. Motocross motorbikes can be 150cc up to around 450cc. They have optimized engines that are rockets in a box that literally explode themselves to pieces over a short amount of time. The maintenance schedule is high and fast, nearly as high and fast as the motorbike. They can’t be driven slowly, and they can’t really be taken onto the road.
Check out the MX Gear Chrunix guys use in the muddy Vietnam terrain
Don’t let the engine capacity numbers fool you
Reading the different disciplines above would suggest that motocross bikes are the least powerful (150cc-450cc) and adventure motorbikes are the most powerful (1200cc). However it is the opposite, and it is all down to the design and optimization of the engine and the overall weight of the motorbike.
Adventure motorbikes are designed to last long distances, the engines have low maintenance cycles and there is no optimization within the engine.
The motocross bike on the other hand has frequent service intervals and an engine that explodes with just a few hours of use.
The order of the CC and power is in the reverse when looking at off-road motorbikes.
In terms of power (or scary power at your fingertips), the order goes
This is the exact opposite to what the “CC” numbers would have you believe.
How to choose an Off-Road motorbike
First off, Adventure motorbiking is not off-roading. Forget the posters, forget the magazines and forget that mud-splattered 1200cc giant with metal boxes that you just saw on Instagram.
Adventure motorbikes don’t go off-road, at least not in the pleasurable sense. There is no gliding over bumps on a 1200cc BMW GS 1200.
If you wish to carry your house of luggage and have a motorbike that can take bumps on a tarmac or gravel road in its stride, then the ADV motorbike is for you.
If you want to learn how to off-road or get into the off-road scene, then it is time to move your eyes away from the eye candy of the ADV scene.
The motocross motorbike can also be ignored unless you are sitting nearby a motocross track. The maintenance schedule will break your bank and ultimately scare you away from off-roading. The motocross motorbike is scary to drive with untamable power, and they can’t be driven slowly.
Offroad Gear for Vietnam
Turn your eyes toward the Dual Sport and Enduro motorbike. Everyone should start with a Dual Sport motorbike. They can be bought for around $3000 or less worldwide and the maintenance is low. They give a very reasonable glance at the off-roading world and it is likely to satisfy most riders for at least two years into their off-road careers.
As your skills progress and you go from being the guy asking questions on Facebook forums, to the guy answering the questions on Facebook forums. You might start to find your rock steady Dual Sport is starting to hold you back. When this day comes, it is a tough day. You now love your archaic low-performance dual sport, but it is now time to show the world what you can really do. This is when you start looking at the Enduro motorbike.
The Enduro Motorbike costs money. Most models are around $10,000+ new, comparing to the dual sport $6000+ new.The maintenance and parts for Enduro motorbikes almost doubles that of a dual sport. Even picking up a second-hand Enduro motorbike for cheap, may quickly hurt the bank balance as you start to plough money into expensive replacement parts. You may have the best motorbike for the job of off-roading, but with every penny that you spend, it may deter you from the off-road scene. Ultimately, to own an Enduro motorbike, you should have invested some time into off-roading. By this point, you should love the sport and you will keep driving regardless of how much it sends you into debt. To save your money, you need to start learning about off-road maintenance and carrying out the bulk of the work yourself.
The alternative is to buy the motorbikes new and to sell them off within two or three years of ownership. This is creating an expensive hobby, but it can work out cheaper and is more convenient in the long run.
Making friends and going to places that others can’t get to
It won’t be long until you have a circle of friends to go off-roading with. Whether it is weekend trips or the occasional two week holiday to remote parts of the world. Off-roading is one of the fastest and safest ways to learn how to drive a motorbike. Crashing is frequent, but the speeds are low enough not to do major damage. Learning how to control a motorbike on the road, on the sand, in the mud and on the clay all have different techniques. It is a bottomless pit of fun questions and answers to learn. There will become a point in time when you stop getting stuck in the mud. Suddenly you start gliding over the mud, and find yourself in a position to go on roads that take you into areas of the world that few ever get to experience.
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