I’d feel like the ‘all the gear and no idea’ man and would feel very self conscious turning up anywhere as a ‘wobbler’ on such a machine but I’d hope for a friendly welcome anyway.
Just massively looking forward to the whole thing!
No worries on that score, the trials scene is by and large welcoming and patient with new riders and plenty of people are happy to be genuinely helpful when it comes to understanding techniques too
One thing I'd say is don't worry too much about having fancy trials tops and trousers - a comfy helmet and trials boots are the only special bits needed, I still mostly ride in stretch jeans and t-shirts and use cheapy Mechanix gloves more than the proper "off road" ones I have.
They do, kinda. Funnily enough when I was struggling with making turns on steep slopes at low speeds for trials I went out on my old MTB and practiced the same movements a few times and it really helped wrap my head around which way the bike pulls as you turn and where to put your body.
Anyhow, welcome and good luck with your project - remember that if you're riding regularly you'll be adding to any cosmetic damage so don't worry too much about making your bike perfect
The reason for recommending the Fantic is because it's one of the best performing twinshocks when bone stock, the 200 is a good beginner machine and the 240 has lots of grunt for it's size. Being a Yamaha fan is why I got my TY (my favourite bike as a teenager was my DT100), and a fully upped TY175 is a very competitive machine ... don't get me wrong, I *love* my TY but it's cost me about 3 times what I thought it would so far and there's about another grand and a half it needs to be 100% fettled (though that includes all the work to get it road registered here, which is substantial for an old 2-stroke).
I got a TY175 that was stock and hated it. Then I just threw money at it until it felt a little bit like a modern trials bike. And it still wants more money spending on it, and it's still about 15kg heavier than a modern bike, lol.
My advice if you want a twinshock would be to just get a Fantic 200 or 240 and keep it stock. However technology has really improved trials bikes and newish ones can be got for cheap and will give a nicer riding experience even if they're not as nice to look at ... depends what you want from the experience TBH.
How many days can you ride a sand dune before you get to "done that" status?
Morocco is very popular for practising round-the-world adventure riding, apparently there's enough variety in the desert that it's entertaining but you're out into the proper off-the-grid world too ... so it wasn't folly to want to do the trip!
Funnily enough me and my other half were talking about biking down to Morocco earlier today - we'd take Rieju Tangos, they have a 300km range if you're taking it easy But then we haven't even ridden the Pyrinees properly yet, so might be getting ahead of ourselves ... long distance trail riding opportunities are the norm all over the Iberian Peninsular!
I dunno, at my current count of 12 I feel like keeping on top of maintaining them all nicely is far beyond my grasp ... ideally I'd like to just have 3, lol (road, trail, and trial)
Are you finding the Bultaco a bit of a blast from the past after all that (comparatively) modern machinery?
Your Land Roving friend was either lucky or chose his route well, then - carnet problems have hit lots of round-the-world bikers in all kinds of places.
Welcome, fellow owner of too many (or maybe not enough) motorbikes - what did you cross the Sahara on? (I'm interested in proper adventurous riding, though I can't do any proper long distance stuff due to health problems)
We moved from Basildon, Essex, to west Wales. Its real rural out here, but its all farmland. Where I was born and spent the 1st 40 years of my life was in South Wales, and by God, there was no limit to the access of decent grounds. Living on the edge of the Beacons national park had its advantages, as well as its downsides.
Mmm, I bought my TY from a guy in Wales who had lots of rideable land near his house (just up the mountain was a World Trials Championship course from the '80s, he said), it's a pity that everything in England got crushed by the enclosures act, rambler's association, and all 'round nimbyism. It took me a while here to get used to the fact that as long as you're not on the actual fields themselves you can go pretty much anywhere here
Good motorcycling spaces on and off road was part of our country choice and house buying criteria, along with garage space ... there's a reason the Gasgas and Montesa factories aren't far from here, lol
But seriously, compared to living in a tiny 1 bedroom flat in South East England, our quality of life has gone through the roof even after our income more than halved.
Better late than never?!
in Introduce Yourself
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No worries on that score, the trials scene is by and large welcoming and patient with new riders and plenty of people are happy to be genuinely helpful when it comes to understanding techniques too
One thing I'd say is don't worry too much about having fancy trials tops and trousers - a comfy helmet and trials boots are the only special bits needed, I still mostly ride in stretch jeans and t-shirts and use cheapy Mechanix gloves more than the proper "off road" ones I have.
Good luck with your new hobby!