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One of the many reasons I love living up here!

This is Northern California, specifically in the Sierra Nevada Mountains East of Sacramento. Thanks for tuning in!

No sir - this is Carmel Valley Road heading West towards Carmel-By-The-Sea. That said, we've got numerous roads here in the Sierra Nevada outside of Sacramento that rival this one, if you favor these sorts of 2-laneish, poorly paved, gnarled stretches of tarmac. I personally love roads like this one!

@@TwoWheeledBooBear Ahhh yes! I miss those roads!! I live in Coastal Carolina now and let me just say that the roads here are boooohhhhring, other than the retirees trying to kill you all the time 🤣🤣🤬🤬

@@rjsalameh haha I can see that being a thing. I used to live in North Georgia, and while there are some fantastic roads, it pales in comparison when compared to what we have on offer here.

Yea the trails are closed right now due to the moisture. Earlier in the season they were still open though! After this next bout of rain we have coming, I expect they'll open up for the rest of Spring - hopefully by May 1! Trail 4 is a local favorite for riding the big bike though - looking forward to when they open back up!

Different strokes - personally I appreciate and enjoy the challenge of doing this on a bigger bike. This trail for my skillset on a 350 is plainly boring as it offers little challenge. Regardless, this is all more or less in my back yard, so when I want to get a good cardio treatment in, I can just pop over there any given afternoon! Cheers and happy trails.

I've had it almost dead on 2 years - I picked this one up the day they hit dealers/were available for sale in the US market haha Unquestionably yes, over a 790. And honestly, for my needs, over an 890 R as well. The 890 R is undoubtedly a bit more powerful and a bit faster, but I honestly don't need a reason to go any faster than I already do. As far as the suspension goes on the 890 R, it's definitely better than the Tuaregs kit, but that's nothing $1500 can't solve, and this would still cost significantly less. The Tuareg has the better chassis feel IMO, especially on pavement/in the twisties, and the motor runs much more smoothly. The LC8C produces a lot of bar and footpeg buzz/rumble - not the case on the Tuareg. On the whole, I'm extremely satisfied with this bike. 15200 miles and many more to come!

@@TwoWheeledBooBear thank you for the quick and detailed answer! That’s quite the endorsement. I don’t know how to go fast. I just want a bike that will make me a better rider and give me confidence to try new things. I am trying to sell my 2020 R 1250r so I can buy the Touareg!!

Yea it's definitely one of my favorites out here! I'll have to do a whole/continuous loop of it soon to show how it changes on the opposite side. This ravine section is all rocks and ledges with lots of steep climbs and descents - the other side is largely packed forest floor that has an awesome flow to it. When you take a ride down here, I'll take you over to those trails haha

Feel free to reach out any time if you're looking for a guide! I know the area fairly well and am always down to get out and ride.

@@TwoWheeledBooBear thanks man, will do!

It depends entirely on the turn, speed, and a lot of other factors. That said, I counter steer 90-95% of the time to initiate the first part of a turn. If I'm standing, I use a combination of counter steering and steering with foot/peg pressure/by peg weighting. That aside, those skills are second nature to me so it's not something I really think about anymore. At first you have to constantly remind yourself what to do as you're approaching and navigating turns, but in time it becomes muscle memory. After that, your vision becomes the next priority - which is to say, focusing on line choice, and keeping your vision high. The skills you gained previously in how to navigate turns etc. simply follow. If you're finding it difficult to get comfortable enough on the bike to gain those skills, a few drills can help. Firstly, I learned to get comfortable standing by forcing myself to stand all the time, initially on pavement. I'd canyon carve whole stood up - the extra traction gave me more confidence and the skillset came very quickly. The next thing that took me a while to master was keeping my feet on the pegs, as is the case with most riders. You've really got to work to force your comfort zone to be driving the balls of your feet into the pegs, at the very least with one foot. Both feet dangling off the side of the bike means wasted energy and wasted traction. A drill you can do to practice this is to find a small hill and go as slowly as possible up it, while stood on the pegs. Then work into that slaloming back and forth as you go up the hill, trying as hard as you can to keep feet on the pegs. Dabbing is okay, as long as you immediately return to the pegs. Do the same thing while seated until your default becomes peg weight rather than waddling. I've been riding for about 4.5 years now and I've found the quickest way to get better is to find your limits, and then push them slightly as often as possible, and throw a little bit of play into your riding whenever the opportunity allows. This means jumping your bike off of rocks whenever you can, practicing J turns, donuts in the dirt, riding an adventure bike in single track etc. - as long as you can do so moderately safely and in a controlled fashion. Unfortunately you've got to be willing to potentially go down/bump your knees a few times to get better. If you're ever in Northern California, feel free to hit me up. I somewhat regularly put together free rides up here, and when I'm not doing that, I'm always willing to get out for a short rip 🍻

Thanks! It's nice having this part of California right outside my front door! 😁

Northern California, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains 🍻

I bought it primarily as a weekender/adventure dual sport. That said, I've done a few multi thousand miles trips on it now - most recently from Northern California to Southern Utah, followed by a few hundred miles of dirt before returning home. It handles 75-80 GPS confirmed on the freeway all day without issue, and with plenty of power leftover to pass etc. all while loaded with a few days worth of gear, camping equipment, etc. In short, it does very well as a midsized tourer.

Thanks, I genuinely appreciate that. I've still got a lot to learn but I make it a point to consider myself forever a student and am always mentally reminding myself of fundamentals (vision up, weight pegs etc.)

Yea it's difficult to not be a blabbering idiot on these bikes. It's sort of funny how three completely different machines can all have such similar results, as I'm sure both Rob and Al were experiencing the same bout of giggles.

Easier said than done - unfortunately my mic setup was pretty garbage by then so the video was overpowered by wind noise/static when moving at speeds more than a few MPH. It's vastly improved now though, so my latest videos are a bit better. I'm also pretty crap at editing 😅

It did - yes. I honestly think the Pirelli Rally Scorpion STR is underrated. I hear a lot of complaints about it as a standard tire, but frankly found them more than adequate in 98% of my riding. There were very few situations where I longed for a grippier tire. And yes, the North Fork of the American is gorgeous. Royal Gorge especially! The Tuareg is a damn fine bike and I'm sure you'd love it up that way.

Apologies for the (super) late reply - this track is off of Gold Lake Highway in the "Lost Sierra." The newly released "NorCal BDR" route goes right past it!

Invisible!

I do, but I can't in good conscious recommend it. The arms snapped the first time I hit 80mph on the bike. I ended up reusing the deflector itself but built my own custom arms using ram mounts and some back plates I designed and had waterjet from carbon fiber blanks. If you're still interested despite the cheap/poor build quality let me know, and I'll be happy to link you.

Cheers Marcio. I'm personally not a big fan of the MotoZ lineup just because I like retaining the true dual purpose ability of my bike. Their tires are unquestionably the best money can buy for the dirt, but their road manners have always left me disappointed. I currently have a 2nd gen KLR with a 685 big bore, a Royal Enfield Himalayan, and the Tuareg. I had and sold a KTM 990. Having ridden the 900 Rally Pro, the Tuareg will be a massive upgrade for this sort of riding. I honestly hated the Tiger though I think on a long pavement pound of 800KM, it would probably be more comfortable. That's not to say that the Tuareg is uncomfortable, but the Tiger is clearly designed more for the road than not whereas the Tuareg was designed to handle some truly gnarly terrain while also being extremely playful on road. 4,800 problem free miles currently and love it more and more every day. And to be clear, the OE tires aren't bad - they just don't like slick stuff which is no surprise as they're an 80/20. Shinko 705s are going on next week as they're my favorite 70/30.

@@TwoWheeledBooBear Thank for the reply champ have a great day

Northern California in the Sierra Nevada mountains!

It already has been tested on road? I'm not sure what your question is. I just finished a 4 day, 1400 mile trip where I kept cruise control set at 80mph for about 1,000 of those miles - it's perfectly competent at riding long sections of super slap, and it's plainly divine in the twisties.

I suppose it depends on your needs. If you are gonna spend a lot of time in the dirt on anything more than a graded gravel road, the Tuareg is a vastly superior machine. I spent some time on a 900 Rally Pro and honestly didn't much care for it. The Triple is an incredible engine, but its character doesn't go well with slow/technical riding. Can it be done? Sure. Is it the right tool for the job? I'd argue no. Now if you're gonna be spending large amounts of time in the saddle, riding cross country etc. and hitting gravel roads/exploring FS roads etc. on the way, it becomes a pretty ideal machine.

Big difference, yes - it creates laminar flow over the top which results in smooth/clean air that doesn't buffet against your helmet.

Yea they're cheap off of Amazon. I honestly wouldn't recommend them. I wanted something to give me better coverage until better products are on the market (SW-Motech, Barkbusters etc.)

No issues so far and I ironically have both of those bikes.

It'll do it and more! I ended up getting the Heed Crash protection - very impressed with the build quality at any price - the fact that the upper and lower bars combined ship to your door for 300 is just a bonus.

Very good assessment - yes, it has loads of tractor factor while also having a ridiculously punchy mid/top end. It's about as close to perfection on wheels as I've ever experienced if I'm perfectly honest.

My nearest dealer is a bit over an hour out but, at 2350 miles clocked now, I've yet to have a need to bring it in. I performed my first service and will be performing all subsequent services as well. Basically for me the dealer is for warranty claims, and so far the bike is proving to be quite reliable.

Quite a few options already, yes. Heed, Hepco & Becker, and SW Motech all make crash protection for it and GIVI/Kappa are right behind them.

Nice, thank you, I'm sure it's costly tho. Oh and I forgot to say, I really enjoy watching you riding this bike, nice content keep it up 👍

@@uti_s1471 thanks! Surprisingly the aftermarket options aren't all that pricey. The Heed bars are 190 euro (195 USD) and if you add in the lower crash bars to protect the engine case, the total hover right at about $320 shipped. Hepco and Becker's upper crash bars are about 330-350 shipped, and unsure about the cost of SW-Motech. Depending on what GIVI releases I may quickly find myself reselling the Heed kit, just because I've really liked the other products I've gotten from GIVI in the past

@@TwoWheeledBooBear Nice, its not that bad I suppose, it's probably worth it! Both saving the plastic and making it easier to pickup would be a big advantage. I don't know if second hand value is something to consider for later on these bikes, as you said I don't wanna drop a new bike but it's unavoidable and it's a learning process that requires some tough love I presume.

@@TwoWheeledBooBear One last question: Do you have heated grips? If so, Aprilia or aftermarket? I feel this is essential on every bike.