Discussion
KTMsm said:
I presume you mean guys in enduro gear
Most of my TRF group wear it green laning, average age is probably late 50s and around 10% compete in Enduros
If its cold I wear road bike gear but if its hot I wear enduro gear - I do the odd practice day
The gear is just protective and cool (as in not hot)
The stuff I love riding on is like the Trail was last year - fast and easy. I don't enjoy damaging myself or the bike and have no delusions of becoming an enduro champion
Not what I meant. But that's interesting. From your posts in the Adventure Bike thread I thought this would be a little tame for you and your TRF crew.Most of my TRF group wear it green laning, average age is probably late 50s and around 10% compete in Enduros
If its cold I wear road bike gear but if its hot I wear enduro gear - I do the odd practice day
The gear is just protective and cool (as in not hot)
The stuff I love riding on is like the Trail was last year - fast and easy. I don't enjoy damaging myself or the bike and have no delusions of becoming an enduro champion
Killboy said:
Not what I meant. But that's interesting. From your posts in the Adventure Bike thread I thought this would be a little tame for you and your TRF crew.
It isn't a very popular show with the TRF I'd guessimate less than 10% will goPersonally I just wanted to ride around the countryside, the kind of thing you see the guys in Australia, USA etc doing 50mph+ on mud lanes / roads
The problem is we hardly have any, certainly not around here, hence why you see so few UK off road / TRF riders on Adventure bikes
I enjoy the odd practice day - mostly because there's no roads or gates !
Edited by KTMsm on Wednesday 21st June 08:06
KTMsm said:
Personally I just wanted to ride around the countryside, the kind of thing you see the guys in Australia, USA etc doing 50mph+ on mud lanes / roads
Book a few days in Spain with Trailworld, Mark will take you around some awesome dirt roads, you won't see tarmac all day if you don't want to 
Alex@POD said:
Book a few days in Spain with Trailworld, Mark will take you around some awesome dirt roads, you won't see tarmac all day if you don't want to
I know loads of the guys go to France, Spain, Portugal, Bulgaria... they all have what the ads promised us 
But I just like disappearing off by myself for a few hours
Alex@POD said:
Very surprised (in a good way) at the last minute guest/speaker they've just announced, invited by popular demand!
Setting off in a couple of hours, I can't wait.
I haven't even looked at the speakers list yet Setting off in a couple of hours, I can't wait.
I thought I'd plan all that tonight
As we're banned from the trail, this year I thought I'd spend more time trying to get some inspiration
Although last year the most inspiring guy was someone I bumped into in the car park, whilst admiring his rat look adventure bike, lovely bloke, who ran free tours in India - he just asked for a charity donation
Been meaning to do a world trip for 20 years, there's nothing to stop me, I just keep thinking next year...
before you know it, you're too old to go
KTMsm said:
Alex@POD said:
Very surprised (in a good way) at the last minute guest/speaker they've just announced, invited by popular demand!
Setting off in a couple of hours, I can't wait.
I haven't even looked at the speakers list yet Setting off in a couple of hours, I can't wait.
I thought I'd plan all that tonight
As we're banned from the trail, this year I thought I'd spend more time trying to get some inspiration
Although last year the most inspiring guy was someone I bumped into in the car park, whilst admiring his rat look adventure bike, lovely bloke, who ran free tours in India - he just asked for a charity donation
Been meaning to do a world trip for 20 years, there's nothing to stop me, I just keep thinking next year...
before you know it, you're too old to go
My dad died suddenly earlier this year before he took that trip he was always planning. Routes all plotted in his sat nav and everything..
Yep, this place is massive, I'm already struggling to find my van, and it's not even a third full yet!
I just love the random encounters as you walk along, Nick Sanders telling random passer-bys about his bikes and promoting his film, Lyndon Poskitt just chilling outside his stand... its pretty cool.
Also, the contrast between manufacturers. BMW and Ducati have a whole bunch of bikes out, people sitting on them with their beer, etc... KTM directly across the way is all penned off and the bikes almost out of sight
I just love the random encounters as you walk along, Nick Sanders telling random passer-bys about his bikes and promoting his film, Lyndon Poskitt just chilling outside his stand... its pretty cool.
Also, the contrast between manufacturers. BMW and Ducati have a whole bunch of bikes out, people sitting on them with their beer, etc... KTM directly across the way is all penned off and the bikes almost out of sight
KTMsm said:
If you're wanting a ride out, I hope you're in the queue
If you miss out the shortest queues are on Sunday morning
You're making it sound worse than it is, i managed to book on 3 things today. Sure you need to be early, but as they only book for the morning, then at 11ish take bookings for the afternoon, you have more chances...If you miss out the shortest queues are on Sunday morning
Alex@POD said:
You're making it sound worse than it is, i managed to book on 3 things today. Sure you need to be early, but as they only book for the morning, then at 11ish take bookings for the afternoon, you have more chances...
I was simply trying to be helpful as many are told booking opens at 8 and if you got there at 8, typically you're too lateKTM off road, books for the day as did the TRF
Yamaha and some others took AM and PM bookings
I wish it was standardised and a better system than queueing for an hour
I got up at the crack of dawn and queued for over an hour to get booked on a 1250 GS. (I'm not a morning person)
I couldn't face it again, so just rode my own bike everywhere.
I don't see any reason why it couldn't be booked online (Apart from the fact the internet onsite is very dodgy). There's only "X" amount of slots and when they are gone they are gone.
Having said that I'm not being critical of the event it was a bloody good event, and the organisation involved is off the scale, and generally I would say it was very, very good.
I couldn't face it again, so just rode my own bike everywhere.
I don't see any reason why it couldn't be booked online (Apart from the fact the internet onsite is very dodgy). There's only "X" amount of slots and when they are gone they are gone.
Having said that I'm not being critical of the event it was a bloody good event, and the organisation involved is off the scale, and generally I would say it was very, very good.
Just got home, what an excellent weekend. I guess I must have got lucky, I queued a good while but I don't think for as much as an hour in a single go.
I did avoid the bigger queues to be fair, and only booked on the offroad rides on the Friday, as I wasn't feeling 100% on Saturday or even today. The lady at Ducati said if I wanted my pick of the bikes I should start queueing at 6!
In any case, most manufacturers offered the PM slots at around 11, and the first morning slot around 5pm the previous day, so i managed quite a few:
Triumph Scrambler 1200 and T7 World Raid on Friday, Versys 1000 and 1290 SuperAdventure on Saturday, then 1250GSA and Indian FTR 1200 today
I also went out on a TRF ride and rode my bike around the trail today.
Great talks, pub quiz was funny, music was good, ale was cheap, food wasn't (tasty though!). I'm probably going to make this an annual event.
I did avoid the bigger queues to be fair, and only booked on the offroad rides on the Friday, as I wasn't feeling 100% on Saturday or even today. The lady at Ducati said if I wanted my pick of the bikes I should start queueing at 6!
In any case, most manufacturers offered the PM slots at around 11, and the first morning slot around 5pm the previous day, so i managed quite a few:
Triumph Scrambler 1200 and T7 World Raid on Friday, Versys 1000 and 1290 SuperAdventure on Saturday, then 1250GSA and Indian FTR 1200 today
I also went out on a TRF ride and rode my bike around the trail today.
Great talks, pub quiz was funny, music was good, ale was cheap, food wasn't (tasty though!). I'm probably going to make this an annual event.
The whole thing was great as usual (will probably post a full review later). With a few caveats regarding test rides.
The tall guy running the Indian rides had a massive stick up his arse. Clearly ex-police (although a lot of the ride leaders are, and most are fine), he took all the fun out of the experience, going on and on about the "rules" in a really bossy manner, spending ages on the briefing and making a big fuss of breathalysing people. Was quite aggressive in telling me to take my GoPro off just as we were about to set off, on the bike with engine running. Him, sticking his finger right on the GoPro lens: "That needs to come off." Me: "Nobody told me that before?" Him: "Well I'm telling you now."
From what I can gather there's one insurance company that some of the bigger manufacturers use which have gone way overboard with the process. Indian and Kawasaki had a very similar hardcore approach with breathalysing and banning GoPros and minute details in the briefing like an insistence on adjusting the brake lever to match your current bike. WTF? I'd be interested if others had a similar experience elsewhere.
If anyone from Indian is reading this, your test ride guy's approach achieved the complete opposite to building brand loyalty. I've since received an email from them with moody shots of cool guys in denim and leather carrying guitars and riding Indians - whereas in reality your brand is being ruined by a lanky old authoritarian ex-copper, determined to screw any fun out of a test ride, and that rather bitter experience is all I will associate your brand with - forever, basically. At the end I half-complained that it was a bit of a short ride (about 15 minutes, whereas most big manufacturers do 30-40 mins), and he happily explained that because of the length of time it takes to do the briefing and breathalyser there isn't much time left for the ride. Facepalm moment.
Big thumbs up to Honda and Moto Guzzi for being big manufacturers and not going down the patronising route, and having skilled ride leaders who really do ride progressively and don't treat everyone like children. Honda have always been good like this (I think the ride leaders including Mick Kinghorn are still ex-coppers but they actually have a bit of their soul left), and Guzzi was superb in that regard. As a consequence I have a big hard-on for a Hornet and V100 Mandello, both excellent bikes, similar in many respects, and I know what they can do because I was allowed to test them with a bit of freedom. The V100's engine was particularly special. Want.
And on the subject of breath testing, of course I'm not condoning drink riding, but we're all grown ups and we should be trusted to make the right choices. I had a late night on Friday and had a lie in and a chilled morning on the Saturday instead of going out on a bike at the crack of dawn, and I'd like to think everyone else has the same sensible approach.
I think I would probably avoid any manufacturer doing the breathalyser/no GoPro combo next time - they're going down the wrong path, spoiling their brands with all the authoritarian faffery.
The tall guy running the Indian rides had a massive stick up his arse. Clearly ex-police (although a lot of the ride leaders are, and most are fine), he took all the fun out of the experience, going on and on about the "rules" in a really bossy manner, spending ages on the briefing and making a big fuss of breathalysing people. Was quite aggressive in telling me to take my GoPro off just as we were about to set off, on the bike with engine running. Him, sticking his finger right on the GoPro lens: "That needs to come off." Me: "Nobody told me that before?" Him: "Well I'm telling you now."
From what I can gather there's one insurance company that some of the bigger manufacturers use which have gone way overboard with the process. Indian and Kawasaki had a very similar hardcore approach with breathalysing and banning GoPros and minute details in the briefing like an insistence on adjusting the brake lever to match your current bike. WTF? I'd be interested if others had a similar experience elsewhere.
If anyone from Indian is reading this, your test ride guy's approach achieved the complete opposite to building brand loyalty. I've since received an email from them with moody shots of cool guys in denim and leather carrying guitars and riding Indians - whereas in reality your brand is being ruined by a lanky old authoritarian ex-copper, determined to screw any fun out of a test ride, and that rather bitter experience is all I will associate your brand with - forever, basically. At the end I half-complained that it was a bit of a short ride (about 15 minutes, whereas most big manufacturers do 30-40 mins), and he happily explained that because of the length of time it takes to do the briefing and breathalyser there isn't much time left for the ride. Facepalm moment.
Big thumbs up to Honda and Moto Guzzi for being big manufacturers and not going down the patronising route, and having skilled ride leaders who really do ride progressively and don't treat everyone like children. Honda have always been good like this (I think the ride leaders including Mick Kinghorn are still ex-coppers but they actually have a bit of their soul left), and Guzzi was superb in that regard. As a consequence I have a big hard-on for a Hornet and V100 Mandello, both excellent bikes, similar in many respects, and I know what they can do because I was allowed to test them with a bit of freedom. The V100's engine was particularly special. Want.
And on the subject of breath testing, of course I'm not condoning drink riding, but we're all grown ups and we should be trusted to make the right choices. I had a late night on Friday and had a lie in and a chilled morning on the Saturday instead of going out on a bike at the crack of dawn, and I'd like to think everyone else has the same sensible approach.
I think I would probably avoid any manufacturer doing the breathalyser/no GoPro combo next time - they're going down the wrong path, spoiling their brands with all the authoritarian faffery.
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