I agree with him 100% Adventure motorcycles are really great bikes. Amazing what they can do in the rights hands. They are heavy. Dirt Bikes are under 300 lbs, many 250 lbs & in real technical areas you got to love the power and the light weight of these bikes. Just different tools for different jobs. Remember he is keeping both motorcycles. Smart.
on last june I went from France to North Kapp;driving through sueden,finland to north cap,and back along Norway;I drove 9800kms;no biker will tell you that is boring 3/4 of the time,they think they are great adventurers,so they will not admit the truth!but I can tell you by experience,that except in Norway ,it would be better to drive with a car and tow the bike behind ,so you can enjoy when it's worth to do it.
Personally a 701/690 is ideal to ride to trails within 150km and use a van trailer to go beyond that but still use the 690 platform so distance isn’t too much of a concern once I’m there. A 701 should be kept light, I don’t understand why everyone wants to add rally towers, just buy a T7 if you really want to travel further.
A van/trailer and a 690/701 is a great combination. Regarding the tower, I added one because of how cool it looks (love the rally look), but I wouldn't add one now because of weight, fully agree.
Ah, never a dull moment! Agree with others here that you ought to have some cooling down time before making your next move…but I don’t think many people ever regret buying a van. So useful for so many scenarios, not just riding trips but maybe camping with the family too? All the best with whichever way you go. Just remember, the more you ride that little husky, the more the T7 will feel like an ocean liner!
I think it's definitely wise to wait on this decision, seems to me that you get back from one big trip, decide that your bike is inadequate then spend a bunch of money trying in vein to make the setup better. Ryan F9 Brett tacks and Chris Birch have all shown us that adv's can be whipped offroad alongside most enduros if you're willing to practice lots. Even in the slow and wet stuff
Absolutely, good point. Not doing anything just yet, but I'm pretty sure there's a van in my future. Sure these big bikes can be whipped offroad, I had a blast with it even in the mud. This is mostly about bikes being uncomfortable when traveling far, and not them not being capable in the dirt. Thanks for commenting Hunter.
It's so funny how we struggle to find exactly what we think we need only to discover that, we missed it again. I have had a bunch of bikes in the last 5 years and tried to find just the perfect balance. Right now I am running a BMW f800gs and a Suzuki DR650. I hope this new setup works for you. I bet you end up on a BWW 1300GS within a year! Thanks for the videos.
You can ride just about anything just about anywhere... it's all a matter of what sort of ride you want and what sort of riding you do. Light is definitely more important as the offroad gets more challenging, but the tradeoff is that you may miss the comfort during those periods of tarmac or nice dirt road riding. There is no unicorn... just different kinds of horses. I personally think it will take 4 bikes to make me happy, the 701 Enduro and Multistrada I already have and I need a Streetfighter v4s and 701 SM to round out the bikes that fit my riding style. Others may prefer a 350excf instead of the 690, or a cruiser of some kind...
Interesting thoughts. I sold my Aprilia Toureg 660 because I was uncomfortable riding alone in the woods with such a heavy bike. I have a truck to get my Honda 450L to the trails but find it to be another barrier - loading the bike in the back. Would prefer just to ride a lighter bike to the dirt. Next solution is a Kove 450 Rally. It has wind protection, ABS and I read that it does well on the road (less vibration than most single cylinder bikes). Hopefully, the Kove will be delivered in August. It seems like a lighter PR7 but better.
Hey Michael! So if I understand you correctly it’s the loading itself that is challening? Why? Yeah I know you’re waiting for the Kove, hope it turns out as awesome as everyone says. My T7 is your future Kove, something that can be ridden to the local trails, but I still need a setup for those far away trips, that I want to do several times a year. Van is also very useful for local enduro riding.
@@JohannesDalenMC It's the ramp, the tie-downs, the getting into riding gear/out of riding gear. It's the dread that when I get back to the truck that it might be stolen or vandalized. Granted, if the distance is as great as you traveled on your Spain adventure, I would definitely consider those minor annoyances. I think you're on the right track for your use case. It's also nice not having to pack so much onto the bike if you have a camper to sleep in. The van seems like a good idea - hate biking on highways and would prefer the comfort of a van/truck if I had to do serious miles on them.
Some good points, I've seen it time and time again people move to the van and offroad biased bike from the "adv" style. And it makes sense, when your bike is more offroad capable it puts wear and tear on the tires and ect. it is hard to stomach riding XXXX thousand km with an offroad biased tire just to have it rounded off by the time you get there, uncomfort is another aspect that takes getting used to. And that's the nice part about this sport, you can change your mind and operation on how your adventures go. As someone who has traveled a lot on a 250 with a stock seat (for reference my longest trip on the 250 was 21 days, tapped out with 700km days on the 250, some I gained as many as 40km. Point being I personnaly can manage the 600+km days no issue comfort wise with the midsize adv bike, so comfort is less of a factor for myself), I would like to chime in with one of the over-arching points that were missed in the video.. When you take a 4 wheeled vehicle to a destination you miss out on the visceral experience of motorcycle travel, as what you have is a vehicle trip with offroad for the main bit. Part of the "adventure" or freedome you get with these bikes, is how you get there. The people you meet along the way, the scents of the road, the problems you need to overcome, the temperture changes, the feel of nothing infront of you but road and handle bars, and I could go on =. Motorcycle travelers know what I'm talking about. When you take a truck somewhere, you tune out and dissosiate with the world outside of your bubble. Not to discredit truck trips with the bike in tow to get to point A to point B. For example I've done one trip where it was short notice, offroad trails at the end and I just needed to crush out 1500km or so to get there. I took the truck and made it in the one day which allocated more time for riding offroad, but holy S*** looking back I do no remember a minute of that drive being fun or desirable looking back.. For some the destination is the prize. Where they meet the people, and get the riding they want. And we can be honest, the fe 350's just are too difficult to long travel realistically with a condensed timeframes. I'm not sure if you touched base on your intention with the t7 on if you would sell it to fund the van.. but you did mention turning the fe to be more adv capable. And I think you should think about it more. By running more road oriented tires, you'll essentially need to do a tire change any time you wish to race the bike compared to explore ride with it, largly to give you the edge on the track, but there will also be other things to spend time on if you go the one bike route. Mirrors setup change, turn signals will be ruined at races, gearing if you get into hard enduro, plate holders, taillights. At the end of the day it will involve more time transitioning the bike between ride if you want to do both hard offraod and adv stuff in the same month, and that's less time on the bikes more time in the garage (or away from the fam). Another factor that I also have to remind myself (owning a medium sized gas truck in NA, not sure how your EU vans compare) but I can buy sooooo many tires for the price that is tacked on when taking a truck on an extended road trip, for me its more budget running 300 dollar rear tires for 5000km, than it is to take the truck out to a place a couple trips. But having a two bike stable is far more benifical for what I think you intend to do. Hard offroad on one, adv capable on the other. When you try to bridge the two you start to make compromises such as dumbing down the offroad capability, or making it more easy for offroad use. If anyhting my reccomondation would be, keep both the bikes, and find a beater travel vehicle for when you want to race in other countrys or far away. Kei truck, ute, cheap van or pickup, and or find friends that will be interested in carpooling. And take the t7 on less direct more twisty road options even if it tacks on an extra half day or what hav you. I find 90km/h is more enjoyable than 120 wether it be my 250, 790, or a 1200gs that I tried once. I do genuinly think it would be a mistake getting rid of the t7 for a van if that was what you were thinking.. Food for thought if tires were your main issue over comfort, If I were to have to ride 4000km to start my offroad. I would send it on the tires that I had on the 790 or use some take offs of something that could safetly get me there.. and buy a knobber rear tire when I got close to the offroad event, hoon it on the offroad and then roach it off on the way back home. That all depends on the situation though. I do think that tire you showed on the t7 isn't for you, you need something without that center strip for the terrain you intend to ride, even at the cost of milage. Right now I have the 790 that does it all. Hard single track for dirtbikes, dualsporting, adv riding, ect. It's always been best in my experience to do the road trip, ditch the luggage and then ride the trails, come back for the luggage and then continue onwards. If I intend to do a hard offroad loop, just gotta pack lighter. If I do 500km of road and then 100 of single track, I'm packing more comfortably and then ditching the weight somewhere. And the 250 is for high consequence offroad or riding when I drop the bike too many times to count. I would love to get a race ready little bike, but I dont think it will replace the 790 for versatility when I want to ride somewhere far away.. My channel has a good example of riding the mid size adv bike hard and then also traveling with it or the 250 overloaded for longer trip comfort.. Just my two cents! As someone who's tried the truck trip with bike in tow a few times and didn't like it in comparison to proper dualsport/adv travel. Cheers
I came to this conclusion years ago, even for local rides. My wife and my friends do not ride offroad. I bought a used rust bucket van, a klx300 dual sport as well as a klx300 supermoto (2 bikes). I can SM around town, with my wife (she rides yamaha 1100 classic) and our street friends. Alone for a backroads rip or errands. While >saving wear< and tear on my dual sport bike and offroad tires. Then I can use the van to haul to further trail rides on the DS, camping ect. Then when the ride is done, I change to some comfy shorts for the drive home in air conditioned or heat comfort.
I bought a ktm 690 to load into a pickup bed while towing a camper. This will enable traveling long distances and sleeping in comfort while having a bike for day trips. It makes sense if exploring the destination is the priority over the experience of traveling by motorcycle.
I too was into buying a van for traveling, but i ended with a ford expedition, i went that route because i felt that it could take me more into remote areas of camping since it has better suspension, from factory but I also wanted something very minimalist as far as coversion goes, but recently on my last adventure I discover that the best trails are the walking trails so maybe my next adventure will be on a ford focus that gives me 35mpg instead of 17 on the expedition, and just carrying an mountain e-bike on the back after all the thing that is permanent is change . Cheers!
Yes, with e mountenbikes now, you are much more open to "offroad" in europe and the way you drive to the trails is so or so on road...I think, you are a bit ahead to johanes :D
Wow, Johannes, again? 😊 I'm a T7 owner and I love that (fat) bike to bits. To be frank, I'm glad I'm poor, I don't really have many choices, I can't afford to pick and choose, I need to make do with what I have. And to be honest, it's fun, I think that the main thing for me is to see what things I can live without but still be self-reliant.
Hehe, the fat T7 isn’t going anywhere 😁 I also love my T7, it’s such a great alrounder. But, it didn’t cut it for my long distance travel wishes, so a van to go with the two I have will make it much better.
This is the way. I got the PR7 hoping that it'd be a bit more comfortable than my WRR for highway riding, but it really isn't. With the van you can cover so much distance with ease, and you always have a place to sleep. I'm currently searching for one too, but they're all so bloody expensive!
Yeah they are expensive, but especially for me here in the north, having a second car in the family is nice when it's snow on the roads (two bikes are no good when there is..), and also to transport my bike to the enduro track. With several applications I think the steep price is easier to swallow 😁
Hmm, so I've convinced you about sleeping on the campsites with showers, usefulness of intercoms, and now that lighter bike is the way to go - I'd say that a pretty successful trip ;) Exploring challenging trails is where I have most fun. Sure, you can attempt it on a heavy bike, but lighter bike gives you way more confidence and less to worry about - you see a really knurly trail and you go "sure, I'll give it a go!" Thus, I'm happy to put up with slower motorway ride on my CRF250L, in exchange for greater confidence on the trails. And realistically - did you during our trip through Pyrenees thought that you could ride any part of the TET quicker on a bigger bike or have more fun on a bigger bike? I know we laughed about enormous 24hp power of my bike ;), but at no point during our trip I though I needed more. If anything, I wish I had bigger mirrors so I could see where you guys are... :P
From the moment I saw you disappear in the muddy section I realized I was on the wrong bike, but I just couldn't give that to you too, you'd be completely full of yourself for the rest of the trip 🤣 Haha I'm just joking, you raised several good points on this trip. Watched a video from Wales by the way, looks really gnarly, can't wait!
Intercom is what makes a trip with a wingman the most fun with..indeed :-) Cannot imagine anymore to drive without it. My wingman and myself are looking at a 300L at the moment...curious to experience who Lightweight Adventure feels like ;-) With a wingman and an intercom there is no distance that cannot be ridden !
Sorry mate, the discomfort and grind is part of it all so you do choose twisties to get you places but you also have to suck up some blacktop miles. It's all part of the challenge and adventure. Having a van is completely missing the point for me. It would also be prohibitively expensive for most people on your channel I would suspect. A side reason we ride bikes is they are way cheaper than cars. If you want to 4 wheel drive a car you need something like a Toyota land cruiser and they start at 5 times the price of my adv bike before you've set them up with sliding camp kitchens et.. I live in a country where I have to ride a good few hours to get to the fun stuff and a day and a half including a channel crossing to get to the really fun stuff so one option we looked at was transporting the bikes down there and back. So instead of buying a whole rig to live in, you transport your bike to the country or state you want, fly or train there, then off you go. This is especially good if time is against you, like you said with your kid, or work doesn't allow you heaps of time off. Costs a bit more and you kind of miss out on 'the journey' and meeting all the people along the way etc but one way of saving time and arse pain. We didn't do it and chose twisties and channel crossing and had an awesome time. We also caught up with old friends along the way and met new ones. Each to their own, of course, and that's what works for us just that if you make it all too comfortable you're not really having an adventure. A couple of hacks we've learnt (and are still learning): Picking up your bike is technique. Chris Birch has a good episode on this in his Say No to Slow series (thousands of other people too on yt but Chris the best I've seen). Small is definitely better for technical but it's all relative. Every bike and rider has its limits so the challenge is in there. Your 350 is awesome compared to the T7 but it's a slug compared to a trials bike for example. If your gig is super technical maybe try out trials..looks like cool fun. Tyres: Centre strips are shit for mud, the EO7 Plus are much better and more aggressive. Got 10k kms out of last rear. Had E09's too which did about 5k but are really knobby and great off road. Alternative is to ride down on road biased tires and change them out when you get to your destination. There are bike shops everywhere or courier them ahead. Requires a bit of organisation though, for me it's ride the knobbies down and look after them on the tarmac (accelerating hard rips them on big bikes with lots of torque so ride down like a pussy on the straight bits, have fun on the twisties). Riding with lots of gear also screws the balance and weight of your bike so another thing we do is hole up for a few days in one location, drop everything off the bikes and do day explores from that base. Nice coming back to something set up too or even an air bnb with a freakin spa pool. Yes mate! Usually a tent tho :( Last thing, I think you just need to harden up a bit with the bike travelling. Noraly does the world on little bikes, Charlie on big ones, there will be discomfort, but that just makes the fun bits off road that much more epic. A van would be really good for competition of course so they def have their place. You could also kit it out for family holidays and strap a dirt bike on a carrier at the back.
Oh I'm right with you mate, discomfort and struggles makes the good times so much better. This was beyond discomfort for me though, it was torture 😅 Just to be clear with the van, I'm talking about the cheapest van possible that would do the trick, and throw a mattress in the back. No fancy camping van at all, there's no way I could afford that. Thanks for sharing your hacks as well 🙂
Hi mate, i use to have a gs, then an africa twin, still to heavy, then a T7, too heavy when you are on your own and want to explore new tracks..so sold it to my ultimate 701. i have a jumper citroen , i drove to south of spain from Bordeaux with 2 bikes in the belly, cross on the ferry with the bike, did 3000 + kms on tracks mainly. This is for me the best set up for distance wriding, confort, and fun. where ever you go you have no doubt if you will be able to challenge the track. With the raide garage extra tank, the fuel capacity is not a problem…what a great bike it is ! Pascal
I use a bike trailer, much cheaper than a van and fits 2 bikes. I´m in Romainia now, brought the T7 and the KLX250S. I fold part of the rear seat in the car (XC70) and i can sleep great on the air matress and no need to put up the hammock. But a Van is more convenient for riding around for sure, my brother uses a Van for his racebike, but it only fits one bike. The T7 with E07+ was defeated by wet grass so i had to turn around ;) The T7 solidifies it´s position as a road explorer and travel bike. Every time i back it out i feel like it´s to heavy. For me lower vibration is the main reason for the adventure bikes. The KLX250S is a gem on these tight flowy trails here, only around town or open stretches i feel i want a 500 EXC to hooligan a bit. I really like the Anakee Wild tires for mixed riding. Sometimes i think of a 701 just to only have one bike, but i still think that one is a bit to big, 500 EXC ticks the boxes for me except for vibration.. where´s the twin cylinder 600 EXC? You sort of confirms what Pavlin at motorcycle adventures say, superslabbing on the highway just ruins your trip and travel energy for days after. If you want to ride dirt bikes in Portugal, ship the bike and fly in. My biggest superslab was from Gothenburg to Munich on one day on a RnineT Scrambler, a seat with similar comfort as the FE350. Just torture and the alp twisties afterwards wasn´t as pleasing as without that sore butt ;)
Joannes, I like the way you're thinking. Last year I rode half of the the New Mexico Back Country Discovery Route on my 2017 KTM 500 EXC-F, and it absolutely dominated the off road sections. My nephew and his buddy provided rider support with their Ford Raptor pickups Our group was turned back last year due to forest closures from wild fires in northern New Mexico. This year, I finished the NMBDR solo on my 2022 Yamaha T7, and while it is a competent ADV bike, the weight with luggage was too much. I too went down on the bike and struggled to pick it up...this wouldn't be a problem on the KTM. For me, the tool of choice for riding the Back Country Discovery Routes in the the western United States would be my KTM 500 or another single cylinder dual sport bike. Having rider support with a 4x4 pickup following behind serves as a sweeper in case of a mechanical problem or injury, and the bike can be loaded in the back of the truck. Plus, as you mentioned, being able to ride in comfort on the way out and back home is nice. I like your concept of the van to haul the bike and to sleep. Good job on the video brother. -Paul, Arizona, USA
Hello there Paul, thanks a lot for watching and commenting! I agree, the T7 and several other "middleweight" adventure bikes are very capable, so much that they almost trick you into thinking you can go on a solo travel like your NMBDR trip. The big issue is when you fall over in an awkward place or get trapped under the bike. It is when they stop you realize how heavy 200kg is. Riding alone with such a big bike is risky, has to be done with at least one other rider. Thanks for your kind words Paul, ride safe my friend.
yes mate good advice i have a transit van and a crf250 which fits nicely inside and theres still enough room to sleep in it with the bike strapped down.
Transporting a light bike to the dirt destination is a great option. But you don’t need to buy an expensive Mercedes van straight away. I use a $300 rack on the back of my car. With that money saved, put that towards petrol, gear and accommodation. Sleeping in the van next to your muddy bike after a fun day riding in the rain is over rated. Cheers
You can fly in comfort, rent a bike, let someone else help handle logistics and fly home. Simple. If you strip it back to basics, you enjoy the social aspects and the trails. Otherwise it keeps going.... believe me. A camper van olus bike. A 4x4 camper to access more remote areas. Etc. 😢😂
I love that you keep exploring what the ideal setup is for you. It has given your channel an interesting theme. It’s fun to see what happens next. I say go for it if you can. I would probably rent a van for a trip first to try it out before I invested money, but life is meant to be lived and trying new things is how you do it in my opinion. Looking forward to seeing more of where the journey leads you. 👍🏾
it make sense that you set up everything to your unique situation... no time to travel to nice location more days and desire to enjoy offroad rides... yes Chris Birch and others can ride offroad almost anything but they are few out of thousands and not everybody has some motocross experience... so your van idea makes sense... me, I am complatating using a normal car and a small trailer 1x2m...
I agree. I have an fe350s and its great offroad and the challenges of enduro is what really makes me feel alive. Trailering my bike to the fun trails is my plan for now. There is no unicorn bike but if you like challenging enduro with a light bike that can also go on the road when needed the fe350s is a contender for unicorn bike.
Thanks for chiming in James, cool to hear that someone else is using a 350 too. Have you done any mods to your bike to make it ready for dual sporting? I’m gearing it back to stock, filling the tires with air and balancing them out, will then take it out for a street spin and reassess - will make a video about the testing 😊
Hi johannes, for very long stretches to the destination your choice is great. Relaxed on the trail with a light Bike and fresh tires instead worn out tires and stressed driver ... I´m waiting for the next Vid`s, cheers!
I think your reasons are very valid. You don't have the luxury to spend weeks travelling so this makes a lot more sense. I think a middle weight is the way to go for 100% best if you have plenty of time to travel. I have a T7 world raid and it makes sense for me. A light weight bike will be so much better for you I think and have a van means you can enjoy your adventures in more comfort.
hey mate..wondering why a man who can lift a T with just one arm is thinking like this ;-) but - totally understand your points especially the long distance from where you live...light is fun to ride as you experienced in portugal - but - the T is a gorgeous bike at the same time...hard to decide i guess...fully understand the long distance you need to take before the adventure begins hence I like the idea of a remote base where you e.g. fly to and travel from there...easier to install than to build your van...cheaper as a van - and a van means long boring distance travel and traffic, too ! Maintenance, costs..hazzle when in need of repairs..a storage box in southern germany does not cost that much and from there you can go in every direction...think about it - a base like this can even be moved easily to another country :-) Nice idea for myself I just realize..hehe..finally one must admit that the T7 is not a TET made for bike...there are riders out there who can and do it - even if they can´t they do it ;-D but the weight eats up the fun for sure quite fast we all know. Curious to see in which direction you develop yourself and what will be the future of your T7 and where its used for - good luck Johannes and ride safe :-) Rgs from germany Michael
Hey Michael! Interesting to think about actually, I bet I could deadlift the weight of the T7 20 times on a barbell in one go, but if the T7 is leaning slightly downwards It's completely impossible 😅 I agree the T7 is a beautiful bike and I intend to keep it, this van I'm talking about is an addition to my two bike garage, not something I will sell a bike to get. It will be hard financially, but I'll figure out a way. Good point regarding hassle with a van as well, definitely lots of maintenance and expenses with a car.
Mate, I am already there!!! Started on a DR650, then purchased a Triumph Tiger 1200. This was an amazing luxury bike, but every time I looked at an off road, I just thought no, waaaay to heavy. Then purchased a Husqvarna TE300 2016!! And this opened my eyes to hard enduro!! So good…. So, have recently purchased a FE501, and I can say it is amazing. Have done long full day rides with the Kriega OS Dirtbike base… so good. Moving forward, keeping the 300 and 501, likely selling the DR to purchased a triumph T120…. Thanks for the great videos… stay well. And if your ever in Australia, you are welcome to come stay and ride with me in the Gippsland High Country!!!
Hey there Scott, thanks a lot for chiming in! Yeah I can imagine going from a Tiger 1200 to a TE300 opens ones eyes for offroad riding for sure. I like the 501 too, would be better than my 350 for this application, but both bikes are excellent - so incredibly light! Appreciate that my friend, Australia is high on my list of countries to visit and ride for sure. Likewise if you come to southern Norway :)
@@JohannesDalenMC all good mate, forgot to mention, like you are thinking, I have a base station to work from now. My wife is into Horses, so we have a fancy new custom horse float that we had modified to take bikes as well… an amazing set up!!! Ride in comfort in the car, came in the float, ride all day and come back to a cold beer, shower and warm bed!!! Just saying
Johannes, Greetings from Australia. You make a lot of sense. I experience the same problems. I want to explore areas far away, but need to waste time (and money) getting there. A van makes sense!
You've only just got back from your trip, and are feeling a bit bashed up, understandably. Give it 2 weeks and then re-evaluate your thoughts. Unless you have unlimited time on your hands, which with a young family you don't, then any choice is always going to be a compromise.
I see your point. I have both a street legal enduro and a 690 on a diet, have competed in hobby class enduro for 30 years. The most fun on singletrack or technical roads is the enduro by far, the 690 can do it with knobby tires but does not make me smile as the enduro in technical riding as even the 690 feels too heavy, the most fun on twisty tarmac or gravel is the 690 by far, i have not yet ridden a bike on long trip motorways that made me smile, so covering this part by a van seem like a good idea, arriving well rested mentally to explore the selected part of the world.
@@JohannesDalenMC Why not rent a trailer in the meantime, bring your family and Husky and join the enduro competition Stångebroslaget in the forest north of Linköping Sweden July 8 th. Perfect level for hobby riders, nice and wide track, nice area for a weekend vacation with lakes and campsites, stay in tent or Hostel. Perfect challenge for you if you like to add a bit of extra adrenalin on your channel😎
I am thinking in that direction as well I rode my ktm 890 adv r from the netherlands to the pyrenees and it was…*ok*…., but it was the start of the trip, after playing in the pyrenees, the ride back was brutal, so much so, that a year later I am not really doing longer trips because of the highway riding. And yes as a dad my time is limited as well. I am seriously considering a ktm 500 and a van to replace my ktm 890 adv r. Would be nicer for big trips, but, perhaps not so much fun on local rides.
Having been all over Europe already on solo trips with my 2009 KTM 990 Adventure R, I totally agree with you. It's not fun riding on endless straights (read: Croatia) but it'd be a hell of a lot easier to have a van with my KTM 500 EXC. Much safer, less costly and you can even save on accommodations! Thanks!
I have a VW Caddy i can sleep in and a hanger and i use a ATV (quad) (Cforce 1000 , 2023 model ) and drive to all cinda places in Denmark, Sweden and Norway and it is very nice and relaxing and do maybe 2 day trip's with the ATV and camping in a tent, fishing and have a good time then back to the car and continue it some of the same as you do axept i have a hanger after my little Caddy hehe!
You can allways take the T7 on a Van with proper off road tyres... :D There's a couple of things you need to consider with a van, in traffic in summer in some countries could be a nightmare you can loose day or more of ridding, parking a van even in a small country like Portugal to do the TET even if you park it in the center, to go to the start or came back to the van on the Husky will be worse then the road you have made to get to Spain... But even if you want to go that path, before you buy a van, make your math and see if it will be better to ship the bike, and get a plane or other kind transportation. there's a guy here in portugal doing the TET, he left the bike in country X, get a plane to home to work, and then again when he had more spare time got a plane again, to spare another more couple of weeks doing the TET. If you decide to try again with the T7 before you go, try to contact a shop on the country of destination to change tyres when you arrive.
I agree with you 100% mate. I have a 4wd ute that I can carry my bike on with a roof top tent. The advantage of this over a van is that I can get to much more interesting and remote spots with my vehicle, and I can also have capacity to venture into the bush in my 4wd to rescue bikes if need be (if the terrain allows for this of course). This is how I approach 'adventure touring'. I can send you a picture of my setup if you're interested?
Hey there Bill! Your setup sounds excellent, an offroad worthy car as well increases your range. I'm thinking about putting a roof tent on my future van as well, so the whole family can go on trips together - much easier to get this purchase approved by the financial department (wife) when it can be used for family things 😆 Are you happy with the roof tent? And yes please, I'd love to see your build - my email is in the description box under each video. Thanks!
Hei Johannes! If I were in your position I would angle this question more philosophically and in that way calmly. What do you want to achieve from your trips? Be so specific as you can be. What is your goal, what paths do you want to tread? I say this because I think we resemble. In my case I’m often overwhelmed after long trips. My mind (and my heart) needs time to digest the experiences, but in the meantime my head begins spinning and doubting. So then it is best for me to focus on the experiences, to be proud of myself and thankful. Maybe it helps. Ha det bra!
One thing to note about sleeping in a van with a dirtbike. its really hard to get the small of gasolin not to spread everywhere. ( Aspen worked great for me on this point. ) Would not recomment going to a "real" enduro. 10hr between oilchanges are gonna get anoying if you ride multi day in anyform. Dont forget about the engien rebuilds @ 150hr. forks and shocks @ 50hr if money is no object get back on the 701 or drz, alot more resonable service. then the FE350. Or consider going 2stroke. not as tight oil changes. other that i think the saying light is right is good. always nice to have the "safetynet" of a light bike if you want to ride more techincal.
That’s my set up. An FE350s and a van (4x4 Mercedes Sprinter). Lots of 3 day weekends camping all over the deserts and mountains of California. Don’t have to ride a bike through the horrendous traffic of the greater Los Angeles area.
That's sweet Luke, thanks for sharing! You ever felt the 350 to be not "enough" for this setup? Crazy to even ask as the bike is incredibly powerful for a 350, but I'm comparing it to a 500 and the occasional road sections I have to cover on the different TETs. Perhaps you don't have too much tarmac in the deserts and mountains of Cali? Sounds freaking epic either way!
@@JohannesDalenMC I’m surfdirtbike on the platform with the instant photos so you can see mine with a Baja Worx windscreen. A photo of my van too. I’m almost always riding by myself and the desert roads have virtually no traffic on them so being limited to 60 mph / 100 kph is not a problem. My tarmac transfers are usually only 30-40 minutes, 1 hour the longest. There’s enough power off road but its limited for highway speeds. I think a 500 will be my next bike. I often ride a 4-6 hour loop in one area, load up in the afternoon, drive and check out places from my van for one or two hundred miles or so, find a place to camp and do it again the next day. I rarely have much of a plan when I leave my house and I make last minute direction changes often. Having a van allows you to drive away from high heat, freezing temps, windstorms or rain to ride somewhere else with better riding conditions within 2-3 hours. And…I have 2 wheel sets, one with tubes for rides that include tarmac and a set with NitroMousse for rides with less than 20 minutes of tarmac. Looking forward to seeing your new set up!
I feel like a van is a good way to go. I've been looking into trucks/SUVs and trailers ever since borrowing my father's to go to Moab. It's a much more comfortable way to travel and you can bring a lot more equipment without having to burden yourself and your bike down.
Exactly! A trailer would do, but our car is a Leaf without the hitch, so I think a van is what I'm after. I really like the idea of having a dry and secure place to sleep as well.
You are saying all the same things I did last year 😆 A big recommendation to the van solution! I have lived in mine for over 2 months now! :) would love to own that husky!
My vote would go to Van and T7 combo. Yeah, T7 is heavy in some cases (mud and soft muck) but it shines otherwise. Short transport sections up to 300km you can do bike only and more than that I would do van and bike riding on funt trails. Keep 350 for single track tight woods trails.
oh yes - soon a 690/701 will be back in the game. light enough to have fun on the tet 200km on the street isn‘t a challenge etc I think I wrote this when you sold your beautiful Husky anyway your journey moves on
@@JohannesDalenMC I learned the bike has to fit to our lifestyle. When I had time to ride with my wife to sardegnia my bikes were always capable to do so. Comfort for my wife and fun for both of us. Since my Baby is born, I carry a 690R Enduro on the rear carrier to Sardegnia for having fun. once a year I go alone for enduro/ADV riding to France, I jump on my 690 and ride relaxed on sideroads to the south to spend one week on the bike. at the moment there is no better bike for me. btw - a CxxBER ECU will fix the issue of a jerkey trottle perfectly imho.
Hi buddy from Greece. Great videos and I wish you have the best trips wherever you go!! Absolutely agree with you. ADVs can't take you anywhere! I got a 250 XR which I greatly enjoy off-road and an FJR 1300 for long distance tarmac traveling. 12 consecutive hours onit and I was fine and am not that young. I am 44. I know a sport tourer is not at all capable off-road but I absolutely hate cars. I don't know if I could travel even really large distances in a car even if it's more comfortable. I would still get an mid-weight ADV like a Tiger 900 for this kind of distances.
Max 8h of highway for me on a bike haha. But even an hour of highway I hate. Still a heavier adv bike like my 890 is still my preffered way of riding even with a car for highway stuff. I’ve had a transporter which could fit my bike inside, a big transit camper which i could stand up in and now I own a vw caddy. My transporter could fit a bile but having a bed + a bike inside isn’t ideal as your bike will be full of mud so combining that with a sleeping area sucks. I’ve done about 500k km travelling by van, bigger vans and 4x4 and i really like my vw caddy atm. Small for everyday use , big enough to just throw a mattress in + a trailer on the back for my bike. Or when we travel further we out a rooftoptent on top and keep the van space for stuff. So I would suggest to look into a setup like the caddy or vw transporter with a rooftoptent or pop top. That way you have a really usefull size of a car and you keep sleeping and bike gear separately! Also for your next trip check for trains. In Europe there’s some night trains you can take with your bike aswel!
Excellent tip regarding the tent that goes on the top, that's something I want to research further as well before I make a decision. A dirty bike in the same place I sleep is a potential issue, absolutely. Thanks a lot for chiming in my friend!
Hi! What you say is important for riders, in my opinion. Light adv bikes or dual sports are sometimes addressed for beginners and I guess because of that some people go for the so called mid weight adv bikes. You are probably a bigger and stronger dude than most, yet you were not able to lift one of the lightest bike in the category. What chances do I have then? Well, got a lighter bike. Idea of a van + bike + bed (+ small fridge and a beer) is a dream come true. I would say go for it if you can. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for chiming in Borys. I have some thinking and researching to do, but I'm liking the idea - now that you mention a fridge and a beer too? Yes please! 😁
It certainly does - I always try to make it clear that this is what works for me and not tell anyone how to do it, as there isn't a correct way, just like you pointed out. Appreciate the kind words my friend!
Hi Johannes firstly I just wanna say I tip my hat off to you major Kudos an respect for looking at a solution that suits you :) As my mum just said (we always watch your channel shes motorcycle mad like me) the world would be boring if we were all the same. I've recently had a few people having a go on a forum after asking some questions on the Norden an Africa Twin. I think in life it's cool to try new things or different approaches be a bit like saying only eating chicken, then saying you don't like beef but you've never tried it :) hence it's good to try new stuff or just riding the same road eating the same meal etc for the rest of your life. I'm on a 300 Rally at the moment (had some bad luck with recent bikes dad an I ended up rejecting two 390 adv's for refunds at 147 an 269 miles with issues inc displays. Which then lead me back onto a 1200gs (had to sell that due to mitigating circumstances 2 months after getting it) lead me to a Himalayan which was a disaster rejected at 500 miles an the dealer completely agreed an I had a refund in 7 days. Now I'm on the 300 Rally, it's been great for trying some green laning in England but now I'm moving to Northern Scotland rather than Devon (no unsealed roads) I wont have the time to ride 7 hours+ to the nearest one an I've not really enjoyed it not the right style of riding for me it's been good to try though and experience (done track riding in the past on supersports). I think it all comes back to the adventure riding being such different things under that umbrella I've sussed out I just like similar to what you mentioned long distance travel seeing new places but for me rather than the goal being tricky riding I enjoy the curves clicking the big miles and some light gravel roads my dream trip being the Nordkapp, Norway an Iceland with dad next year. For me it's looking like the Norden (bit nervous after our ktm experience so far) or an Africa Twin. One thing springs to mind with the GSA I used to have in 2015 my lil cousin an I rode across the country an he was on a Harley 9 hours in a thunderstorm I was comfy he really struggled, when we got there the GSA was a pain on the tiny off camber junctions even hanging off the seat where as his harley was fine we covered a thousands of miles in a short time. When I bought the 1200gs I really appreciated the lower seat height over the 1200gsa I'd had before lot's off different flavours to try off all the fun. When I had a 650xt I did a 600 mile day on it up an around Scotland it was great the 300 rally on a 300 mile day was alot more hard work. It's took me a while to sus out what I like an those opinions might change again an that's ok. I agree though if racing a van is really handy great for when you are tired after a days riding. Sorry for the ramble but I find your channel inspiring an think it's great that you will say what you think about changing ideas alot arn't like that now an it's cool that you are keep it up.
Hello there my friend and thank you so much for a fantastic comment. Appreciate the ramble and I'm honored to hear you find my shenanigans inspiring 🙂 First off, say hi to your mom from me, awesome that she watches too. You are absolutely right, the only way to really find out if something is for you or not, is to try it yourself. One can read about new things on the internet, bikes, cars, places to live, but only to a certain degree - in the end you have to experience it yourself. Thank you again for a great comment, had me smiling from ear to ear!
@@JohannesDalenMC no problem at all Johannes :) glad you enjoyed my lil ramble will do itl make her day 👌👍 Happy riding and adventures my friend :) an Greetings from the UK 🇬🇧 look forward to following the journey as it develops. Be interesting to see the direction you end up taking, one thought if you do Check some vans out on vans I was a litho printer an occasionally had to do long trips in a few always used to volunteer for them if we were quiet, worth checking the seats out some of the transit ones were agony on the passenger side they also varied quite a bit with cabin noise. Ramp wise for the bigger bikes we used one by the ramp people. Was amazing even for big 1980s Suzuki muscle bikes. The last dealer who collected my GS had a pull down one the size of the back of the van was amazingly easy to load the bike. Happy adventures 👍
Yes, the T7 is too heavy for challenging terrains. Better off-road tires can help but your concern about using them to cover long distances on the tarmac is a valid one. Smaller bike on highways is not the way to go. I think there are three options here, a) either you follow your van plan with a smaller bike or b) you stop following enduro bikes with your T7 on narly tracks and instead find your joy in twisties on smaller roads and basic/medium off-roading or c) do both a and b.
I think a 450l would be perfect, since it already has pretty much all the things you would need to do to a 500, but comes at a weight penalty. I'm going to stick with my 350 for now, because I use it for enduro riding. If I wanted a 450l I'd have to sell the T7 which I really don't want to, like it for everything besides highway. Happy to hear you're liking your 450l Paul :)
Hi Johannes. I'm a scrawny, never been very strong/fit, 65-year-old. I ride a KLR 650 with lots (too much) gear. I can lift it but just barely and and sometimes need to offload gear to lift it. I'm focusing on shedding gear weight and increasing my strength. But a van with a much lighter bike m8ght be in my future 😊.
i think a van for getting to the destination, makes some sense. If you don't have time to enjoy the trip, and have to speed to your destination, then it would make some sense to have an easier way to get there, then a bike you'd enjoy more, dirt bike, or dual sport, for the destination itself.
I fully get your point, at the end of the day, it really depends what you are looking for. If you want different types of ride, adv/travel vs vs hard off-road/enduro, then you need two bikes, or a transformer 😀
TET riding/exploring is fun in it's own way, but the idea of taking a van down to a place with great offroad riding and having a proper offroad machine to play around on, and a bed to sleep in at night, makes a lot of sense to me. If I ever wanted to go on a more traditional adventure I still have the T7 🙂
You have finally arrived at what I have come up with after much analysis and thinking. I like the lightness of hard enduro so much (I have a WR450) that any compromise for the possibility of traveling more comfortably on asphalt somehow did not pass. I even rejected the 690/701 because it's not much better than the 450o on road(1 cilinder), and it's worse off-road. T7, which somehow manages on black, but rejects in heavier terrain and mud. (I tried, but the moment I couldn't lift it out of the mud by myself decided). Only I'm considering a trailer instead of a van. Why should I buy and pay for another car when I already have one with hook. The trailer will also be much cheaper. I know you can sleep in the van and travel faster.
"Happy" to hear there's more people out there with the same struggles, hehe. If I already had a car with a hook I'd get a trailer, but the one car we have is the wifes and it's a Leaf with no hook. I'm looking at a used van for not too much money, definitely not going to invest in something luxurious or expensive.
I think you need a Honda Goldwing with knobby tires, but your right the T7 is a heavy beast of road. I switch between my T7 and ktm500exc. The T7 makes the ktm feel weightless,
Don't discount a larger/high top van. With a Transit sized van there's not so much room when the bike and a bed-sized platform are in there (I have a T4). It's do-able, but with a larger van you can get the bike in and still have some space to sit, relax and get at your stuff. I'd suggest hiring or borrowing a couple of vans and giving them a try. You don't really want to get changed, fed and relaxed with your bike outside in the dark, then have to get out and get the wet/muddy thing up a ramp and jam it next to your bed 😁
Try a bike-crane - one brand is called moto-winch but there are others. It's made from dural so really light. I have made myself one at-home and it already helped me in mud. Even off-camber it can help a lot. Also there are techniques like a rope between trees and twisting the rope to lift the bike etc. But I agree highway is boring, I modified my Dakar with high-way pegs, some music into my ears with good in-ear headphones, sheepskin for comfort, hell you can even watch a movie on your phone if it's reasonably in your view (might be dangerous I wouldn't recommend it) or at least listen to your favorite show/movie. Or you can try train for your bike and you fly in your destination (expensive usually). I'm planning my solo-trip to Georgia next year (3000km there, 3000km back) on my bike, so hopefully I won't be killed by boredom the time I get there. But also the thrill and expectation keeps you awake and not bored, every minute you are closer to your dream destination. The way back will be the worst I think 😂 Also wonder how I will manage Georgian roads, there are sometimes crazy (deep mud, crazy drivers, roads taken away, river-crossings etc.), it will definitely be one-in-a-life-time experience. I heard that when coming into Turkey you need to have 1 driver per 1 vehicle so your van thing won't work, it's nuts I know but those are the rules. Sometimes you can be quite surprised on these non-EU borders.
Hi Johannes. Ironically, a friend has recently been on a 12000 mile trip around Europe and North Africa on his GS1250 adventure (he travels huge distances regularly and has done for years). But after this last trip, which he is still on, he has decided that the GS whilst incredibly comfortable is just way too heavy for the tougher trails. So, he, too, is thinking about changing to a Husky 450 and van combo for the exact reasons you suggest. Keep up the great content, my friend. All the best, Ben 🇬🇧
Hey Ben, thanks a lot for sharing! Wow that is some serious miles covered by your friend, impressive. I'm happy to hear he's "seen the light". I'm all for having big ADV bikes for certain trips, but if you ever find yourself on a tricky trail by yourself, you can get in serious trouble. On this trip to Spain we met a guy on a big KTM adv bike, 30 minutes later he came back in obvious pain on his way to the hospital. He attempted a U-turn on tarmac and stopped at balance point, tipped over with the bike and smashed his shoulder. Can happen on any bike of course, but.. Thanks for the kind words Ben 🙂
Interesting video, have you considered ship your motorbike down to South by some freight company ;) ? Saves time, tires and some costs. But of course, adv camper is great as well if you can afford it. Good luck with your future travels.
You could have taken a ferry to Spain (Santander or Bilbao?), or fly and rent a bike locally for a few days. I am also exploring options, I have the same issue. Riding from UK to south of Europe is boring.
What you explain is when your journey is not your adventure, but the destination is. No point using a bike as a transport vehicle in that scenario... The bike as the only transport is only good when the journey itself is the adventure... --- Why not just start trial riding?
@@JohannesDalenMC - yes of course, you can never know until you have tried, ..and our interests and possibilities also change with time and especially when you have a family.
I think a good solution is to get a trailer for the T700. The solution you're considering is good, but only if you're interested in driving exclusively on off-road trails and in very difficult conditions where a larger vehicle like the T700 can't go. For example, in my country Greece, there are many forest roads where you can go with the T700, and in general, you can do everything except for the very challenging technical parts. A trailer is a good option for me and the T700, unless you specifically need the difficult technical aspects, in which case your proposed solution is the right one.
Thanks for chiming in Georgios! The only car we have is the wifes Leaf, which doesn't have a hook either, that's why I'm looking at a van. In terms of where I want to go, I think to events or places with more technical riding is starting to appeal more and more to me over the "easy" gravel riding of most TETs, so a van is porbably the way to go. For TET Greece I'll put my T7 in the back of the van 😁
Haha, yeah that's even heavier! Well, with a super tenere you kind of know that your bike is very heavy. The T7 is so capable when it's moving it's almost tricking you into situations you shouldn't be in 😅
@@JohannesDalenMC Im from Macedonia and curently leaving in USA ,my firs bike was honda nc750x and i realize is under power . 1200 yamaha super tenere is perfect choise for you .i will nevet go from horse to donky.
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Makes total sense*😂 You are keeping the T7 You’re getting a van You’re getting a off-road machine. That’s a dream set up!! Wish I could have something like that! Well done * for those that can afford it😂. But the video is not about finan
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Ok… maybe to add something to it without knowing you personally. If you are a normal middle class guy give it a few weeks. This is a hell lot of investment to make. Also the on going costs, additional space, insurance… No doubts if you are only looking at the motorcycle as your passion. Amazing set up. I also have 2 small children, a wife, a full time job. Even if I can financially afford this set up, I wouldn’t do it. It conflicts with the rest of my life. Only you know the answer. Just the fact that you are able to consider such an Amazing set up it’s something that should give you joy. It’s truly a privilege to be appreciated. Great video and whatever you choose I wish it brings you a lot of joy!!
We passed you on the TET ( sadly your friend had crashed and was hurt). On this trip i started on michelin trackers which were amazing. They wore out so i bought anakee wild which wear better but the grip was not there
Hey Nathan - thanks for reaching out, I’m happy to report that he’s doing fine. Yeah with all the rocks down in Spain the tires wore quick! Which bike were you on?
@@JohannesDalenMC I was on the first 701, im sorry I didn't realise your friend was hurt until I was past you and one of our group spoke to you. Glad he's on the mend
Many people I ride with van camp with their dirt bikes and I truck my dirt bike everywhere I ride it(even though the bike has a street legal registration). My concern for you is going to foreign countries and unfamiliar areas with the idea of finding "difficult terrain" on a dirt bike may be an issue. Unless you know exactly where you're going, when you can be there and where you can put up near trails it might be impossible find what you're looking for. Or you might get stuck riding your dirt bike fruitlessly around doing many more road miles and hours than you intended. You want to know discomfort, spend a few hours road riding that FE350 in enduro gear... 😉
I think a van with a bike would make for a more comfortable trip. Having a "home" to sleep in at night in a new environment just changes a trip for the better. Having a place you belong to matters just as much as finding new places to belong in if you get my drift. I did not mean to make that philosophical. Great video and cant wsit to see what you have in store. A van build series would be really neat
I think that makes perfect sense, Sarj, a familiar ‘home’ even when far away from my actual home adds comfort. I too think a van build would be awesome, an easy, budget one 😁 Thanks for watching and chiming in!
I was just going to comment and say you need a van 😂 I have a Transit Custom long wheel base with 2 options for carrying bikes; either inside or on a light single axle trailer (which makes virtually no difference to the drive or fuel economy etc). The van has a partial conversion so a fold out bed, fridge etc. Note that with the fold out bed in place there is not a great deal of room. If it was a light dirt bike then you could probably just strap it to the opposite side of the van. For most duties I would just take the trailer as it’s quicker to load and leaves plenty of room in the van. I’d suggest that this size of van is best. Anything smaller and you probably won’t have enough space inside for what you need and anything larger and it’s expensive on long trips.
Thanks for chiming in James, exactly these kinds of comments I was asking for! I've seen a few long version of these vans and I think they're the perfect size. For some strange reason I like the idea of having my bike inside the van (strange when I've never tried..). What kind of bike(s) do you have and would you say you'd be able to fit a dirt bike and a mattress in the back of your Transit? Again, thanks a lot for chiming in :)
I've been racing hard enduro for a couple of years. You would be surprised, that even these bikes you can drop in situations, where you won't be able to lift. There is a long road ahad of you:)
I think your plan is intriguing and honestly sounds like a ton of fun. That being said, I really don't think all mid weight adv bikes are created equal. T7 is a top heavy girl. There are a lot that wear that weight better off road. Either way I wish you the best and can't wait to see what you come up with.
Why I have a GS 750, best of both, 19 inch front for road, stick spokes on and all good. Ive done thousands of miles on trips, and never felt sore or drained, really depends on what style bike you ride, if i did a trip on my sportbike I'd be dying from back pain. Remember some rope and a ratchet to get the bike up if you are on your own. Taking a van on foreign plates, they are known to be stolen and broken in to. So be aware of that issue.
How about a pick up 4x4 e.g Isuzu D Max or a Toyota Hilux there’s many traveling/camping/storage solutions check out Iron they also make a fun family recreational machine…!!!
hello i've been through a very similar process as you, and I've come to the conclusion the best thing you can buy for a motorbike is a van to put it in. I managed very well in a vw T5, with the bulkhead removed and a captains chair . top tip of the day .... don't ride through cow shit before you bed down for the night !!
I was never tempted by the idea of travelling long distances on tarmac on any motorcycle. 2 weeks ago I took my Tenere on a trailer to italy. I took it down some gnarly trails and straight up the skislopes, cause I knew that if I would brake anything I would still get back home. I personally like the challenge of pushing the Tenere to its limits, although I know I am not even close to it's limits😅 I haven't seen any trail or track that I thought would be impossible to tackle on the T7. And I am always pleased by the comfort my T7 offers after a day of riding being a tall dude. Also, keep in mind. Any luggage on a lighter bike will much more drastically change the handling than it would on a heavier bike. You are adding a lot more weight in comparison. Just my 2 cents😉 Ooh and I am working on a video of that Italy trip btw🫣
The part with "knowing I would still get home" is something I'm increasingly valuing when thinking about longer trips, good point. I know you like pushing your T7, and I do too to a certain degree. I usually never come across a trail that is too hard for the T7 in terms of technicality, but on this very trip to Spain there was drop on the side of a few single tracks that were so steep that would easily total the bike if I slipped. Heart rate went through the roof on those sections 🤣 Looking forward to your video from Italy!
Welcome to the dilemma...no mater the choice, it is not perfect. Sometimes good enough is almost perfection! 😁 I too will be going Van + Skinny bike but not until I retire in 3 years. In the meantime, I will put many, many BDR runs and about 80K miles on my 2022 1250GS. This will be my last Rhino. Love the channel. Keep up the good work!
Do you intend to keep the GS and get a van + lighter bike, or sell it? For a ‘perfect’ setup I think there has to be a street oriented bike for daily commutes locally and some adventure trips - that’s why I’m keeping my T7 even though I’m going for the van + dirt bike setup. Thanks a lot for the kind words, appreciate the support 😊
Keep the T7 at home and find a nice place in Portugal for the Husky. Cheaper and quicker to fly which gives more time on the Husky and of course more time with your family. Bet you would save money too.
It’s a good suggestion, but I use the Husky weekly at enduro practices. I could take the T7 to those, but that would result in more than just a broken bike 😅
@@JohannesDalenMC Sell the T7 and get another enduro for home. I too had a T7 but was way too heavy for this 70 yr old fart. Got something that i would enjoy more and pick up. Takes time but you will find a sweet spot.
Hello, If I can figure out how to attach pictures, you will see, that you are not crazy to put a bike and a mattress in can! 😂 We have a Renault Master L3, H2 with a Queen size mattress, under which I load two big bikes. Just returned from a trip to the Alps... Worked fine and my wife liked very much. Radostin
Oh Johannes How much I can feel your pain and thoughts - the two of us definitely have similar first world problems 😊 I keep to my 701 as I have only the bucks for one bike and the 701 is a great commuter. I well know the problem of highway travelling, as I live 100kms away from the Alps where the fun usually begins. So even a day trip normally has 200km of flat and boring roads. But a small windshield does the job, up to 120km/h (Switzerland speeding fines are terrible!) it's quite comfy to sit. I am relieved you did not switch motorcycle again after your Pyrenees trip but take an alternative approach: the van. Because I can confirm all you said about weight after a week of offroading in Sardiny. And I have half your strength and am probably 20 years older. So I just have bought a second-hand Fiat Ducato (recommended is the 7th generation as it stil has the Iveco engine). Will transform it in a minimalistic camper, no shower, no toilet, no kitchen. Just a garage for our two 701's, enough space to store all the stuff, heating, a table with two seats for rainy hours and a large bed. And everything is modular and being abke to be dismounted within 1-2 hours to jave an empty van for other purposes. The idea behind is to be able to spend the nights on camping grounds and to longer offroad trips and then come back to the van and use it for the highway leg back home. Maybe it gives you the impulse of being able to share your time with your family on your trips if you go for a larger van. Daytime a bit separate, Daddy doing his thing, but the rest of the time cosy family life on the camping ground or even out in the wild if you go for a fully equipped motorhome with a bike garage. Greetings from the South
Definitely a first world problem 😁 Nice, a 701 and a Ducato sounds like a sweet setup, and your suggestion regarding combining riding with family makes a lot of sense, definitely something I'll take with the wife about. Cheers my friend!
hello Johannes . if you are looking for a honda crf450l. I probably have one for sale. it would be new with 25km on the odometer absolutely as good as new from 2018. Many greetings from Germany. Olivier
Hello Oliver, thanks a lot for reaching out. I'm not really after one to be honest, it's an interesting bike, but I'd probably get a 501 before the 450l. Out of curiosity - why are you selling it? Thanks again for letting me know, greetings to you too kind sir :)
hello Johannes . Thank you for your answer. good question why do i want to sell it . I'm honest. I watched Too Much Pol tarres and other videos and thought it couldn't be that difficult to ride this enduro But unfortunately it looks easier than it is. I'm not the youngest anymore either. but back to the crf450L. That's a great machine but unfortunately a bit too poisonous for me. She's really fast on the gas. unfortunately it is too intense for me. many can now write what a soft guy. but i am a bmw gs guy. You can't make a racing horse out of an old horse. it really only has 25km on the odometer, so it's like new. the quality is great. Oh well . apart from this. your videos are awesome. and man has to gain his own experience. Thank you Johannes
you said it right, a car is more comforteble on the highway. and indeed nothing is going to beat that. jet, you are opting for a van.. I use a car and trailer, because posesion of a vehicle is heavyly taxed where i live. the speed is lower than a van..it's a tradeoff but before you sell your T7 once again, remember the a fast adv like the T7 is only interesting in europe or noth america. the rest of the world has a far lower speed limit, if it can cruse at 80 or 90km/h, it will be perfect. after my trip to mongolia, i concluded: fly and drive. you get what the locals have, they have spare parts and if it breaks..you have insurance. unless you want to do that a lot..than you ride your own bike aroud and rent space to leave it behind for some weeks/months
Car and trailer is a good option too, I just like the thought of a van with a bed in the back. Taxes and insurance on cars are very expensive here too, so I feel your pain. Fly and ride was something I had in my notes for this video but failed to mention, that's a good point too. It's what I've done for my trips to Portugal and I liked that a lot. For places outside Europe that's the only option in my opinion, would never ride my future van that far. And I'm not selling my T7 this time, there's a place for a big adventure bike for commuting and certain trips for sure. Thanks for commenting :)
I have a camper van with garage for my bikes. It’s the perfect combo. I can go to local races spend the night in comfort or I can go long distance taking my bike on an adventure. Makes sense having your own portable hotel waiting at the end of your ride.
Makes sense Johannes. As you are progressing with your skills, your needs are changing so why not go with what will be good for now? Having a set-up that might be good for 10 years time makes it sub-optimal right now. Change is good anyway :) AND you can stash much needed food, spare fuel and have a toilet and shower facilities right there with you. I wonder if my better half should watch this video before I spring the same idea on her.... I chuckled at the new mistress versus the old hag bit :):)
Always pros and cons to every approach. Personally the thought of a multiday trip on a dirt bike would fill me with dread... hard seat, no cush drive, small tank, weak subframe, ridiculous oil change intervals.
Completely agree. TE300 is my love. Throw it in the back of the truck. Street legal, but I'm no fan of riding with cars for extended periods of time. Riding at length on roads and highways is mind numbing. Can pack for overnights with ease. And then can seriously do some desert riding, racing, enduro etc... and of course, pick my bike up with ease!!!
Horses for courses isn’t it Johannes? If a van is a viable option for longer tips then I would be all over that…and you’ve still got the option of a larger bike in the T7 in reserve anyway.
My honest opinion is that you’ll never have a bike for both, enduro and adventure ride are completely different activities, my advice is keep both machines and practice a lot the technique during the weekends and also do the races you mention, cause that will make your progression most faster. After you really nail the enduro technique in a smaller bike, you’ll realize that you’ll have a lot of fun on the t7.
Thanks for chiming in Joao, I always want honest opinions 🙂 As I said in the video, I'm not selling my T7, this van & dirt bike setup is an addition to my garage. So if I'm leaving for an enduro event I will take the van and FE. TET closer to home the T7 is a great bike. Good point regarding getting better at enduro and its carryover to the bigger bikes - I can already feel a huge difference after a couple of months of enduro riding!
@@JohannesDalenMC Yeah definitely, if you really focus in learning the correct technique to handle a small bike in enduro or hard enduro, like clutch control, balance, hill climbing, braking, cornering, .... you'll be able to carry those skills on to a big bike and have a lot of fun. I have a few friends that sold their enduro bike and got T7's or Nordens and they ride almost anything. I always rode enduro bikes, last year I decided to go to a big offroad event in Portugal called "Lés a Lés Offroad" it's a 3 day trip from top to bottom of Portugal, I didn't want to go on my 2 strokes cause it's 1000kms in 3 days, so I bought an old XT600, I had never ridden a bigger off road bike, so I was a bit afraid of not being able to ride it in more difficult situations, but no, from the moment I jumped on it was instant fun, if you got the technique it's all the same. When you decide to come to Portugal give me a shout! Cheers:)
I agree with him 100%
Adventure motorcycles are really great bikes. Amazing what they can do in the rights hands. They are heavy.
Dirt Bikes are under 300 lbs, many 250 lbs & in real technical areas you got to love the power and the light weight of these bikes.
Just different tools for different jobs.
Remember he is keeping both motorcycles. Smart.
on last june I went from France to North Kapp;driving through sueden,finland to north cap,and back along Norway;I drove 9800kms;no biker will tell you that is boring 3/4 of the time,they think they are great adventurers,so they will not admit the truth!but I can tell you by experience,that except in Norway ,it would be better to drive with a car and tow the bike behind ,so you can enjoy when it's worth to do it.
Personally a 701/690 is ideal to ride to trails within 150km and use a van trailer to go beyond that but still use the 690 platform so distance isn’t too much of a concern once I’m there.
A 701 should be kept light, I don’t understand why everyone wants to add rally towers, just buy a T7 if you really want to travel further.
A van/trailer and a 690/701 is a great combination. Regarding the tower, I added one because of how cool it looks (love the rally look), but I wouldn't add one now because of weight, fully agree.
@@JohannesDalenMC have a look at 4K parti speciali :):)
Ah, never a dull moment! Agree with others here that you ought to have some cooling down time before making your next move…but I don’t think many people ever regret buying a van. So useful for so many scenarios, not just riding trips but maybe camping with the family too? All the best with whichever way you go. Just remember, the more you ride that little husky, the more the T7 will feel like an ocean liner!
I think it's definitely wise to wait on this decision, seems to me that you get back from one big trip, decide that your bike is inadequate then spend a bunch of money trying in vein to make the setup better. Ryan F9 Brett tacks and Chris Birch have all shown us that adv's can be whipped offroad alongside most enduros if you're willing to practice lots. Even in the slow and wet stuff
Absolutely, good point. Not doing anything just yet, but I'm pretty sure there's a van in my future.
Sure these big bikes can be whipped offroad, I had a blast with it even in the mud. This is mostly about bikes being uncomfortable when traveling far, and not them not being capable in the dirt. Thanks for commenting Hunter.
It's so funny how we struggle to find exactly what we think we need only to discover that, we missed it again. I have had a bunch of bikes in the last 5 years and tried to find just the perfect balance. Right now I am running a BMW f800gs and a Suzuki DR650. I hope this new setup works for you. I bet you end up on a BWW 1300GS within a year! Thanks for the videos.
You can ride just about anything just about anywhere... it's all a matter of what sort of ride you want and what sort of riding you do. Light is definitely more important as the offroad gets more challenging, but the tradeoff is that you may miss the comfort during those periods of tarmac or nice dirt road riding.
There is no unicorn... just different kinds of horses. I personally think it will take 4 bikes to make me happy, the 701 Enduro and Multistrada I already have and I need a Streetfighter v4s and 701 SM to round out the bikes that fit my riding style. Others may prefer a 350excf instead of the 690, or a cruiser of some kind...
Interesting thoughts. I sold my Aprilia Toureg 660 because I was uncomfortable riding alone in the woods with such a heavy bike. I have a truck to get my Honda 450L to the trails but find it to be another barrier - loading the bike in the back. Would prefer just to ride a lighter bike to the dirt. Next solution is a Kove 450 Rally. It has wind protection, ABS and I read that it does well on the road (less vibration than most single cylinder bikes). Hopefully, the Kove will be delivered in August. It seems like a lighter PR7 but better.
Hey Michael! So if I understand you correctly it’s the loading itself that is challening? Why?
Yeah I know you’re waiting for the Kove, hope it turns out as awesome as everyone says. My T7 is your future Kove, something that can be ridden to the local trails, but I still need a setup for those far away trips, that I want to do several times a year. Van is also very useful for local enduro riding.
@@JohannesDalenMC It's the ramp, the tie-downs, the getting into riding gear/out of riding gear. It's the dread that when I get back to the truck that it might be stolen or vandalized.
Granted, if the distance is as great as you traveled on your Spain adventure, I would definitely consider those minor annoyances. I think you're on the right track for your use case. It's also nice not having to pack so much onto the bike if you have a camper to sleep in. The van seems like a good idea - hate biking on highways and would prefer the comfort of a van/truck if I had to do serious miles on them.
Some good points, I've seen it time and time again people move to the van and offroad biased bike from the "adv" style. And it makes sense, when your bike is more offroad capable it puts wear and tear on the tires and ect. it is hard to stomach riding XXXX thousand km with an offroad biased tire just to have it rounded off by the time you get there, uncomfort is another aspect that takes getting used to. And that's the nice part about this sport, you can change your mind and operation on how your adventures go.
As someone who has traveled a lot on a 250 with a stock seat (for reference my longest trip on the 250 was 21 days, tapped out with 700km days on the 250, some I gained as many as 40km. Point being I personnaly can manage the 600+km days no issue comfort wise with the midsize adv bike, so comfort is less of a factor for myself), I would like to chime in with one of the over-arching points that were missed in the video.. When you take a 4 wheeled vehicle to a destination you miss out on the visceral experience of motorcycle travel, as what you have is a vehicle trip with offroad for the main bit. Part of the "adventure" or freedome you get with these bikes, is how you get there. The people you meet along the way, the scents of the road, the problems you need to overcome, the temperture changes, the feel of nothing infront of you but road and handle bars, and I could go on =. Motorcycle travelers know what I'm talking about. When you take a truck somewhere, you tune out and dissosiate with the world outside of your bubble. Not to discredit truck trips with the bike in tow to get to point A to point B. For example I've done one trip where it was short notice, offroad trails at the end and I just needed to crush out 1500km or so to get there. I took the truck and made it in the one day which allocated more time for riding offroad, but holy S*** looking back I do no remember a minute of that drive being fun or desirable looking back.. For some the destination is the prize. Where they meet the people, and get the riding they want. And we can be honest, the fe 350's just are too difficult to long travel realistically with a condensed timeframes. I'm not sure if you touched base on your intention with the t7 on if you would sell it to fund the van.. but you did mention turning the fe to be more adv capable. And I think you should think about it more. By running more road oriented tires, you'll essentially need to do a tire change any time you wish to race the bike compared to explore ride with it, largly to give you the edge on the track, but there will also be other things to spend time on if you go the one bike route. Mirrors setup change, turn signals will be ruined at races, gearing if you get into hard enduro, plate holders, taillights. At the end of the day it will involve more time transitioning the bike between ride if you want to do both hard offraod and adv stuff in the same month, and that's less time on the bikes more time in the garage (or away from the fam). Another factor that I also have to remind myself (owning a medium sized gas truck in NA, not sure how your EU vans compare) but I can buy sooooo many tires for the price that is tacked on when taking a truck on an extended road trip, for me its more budget running 300 dollar rear tires for 5000km, than it is to take the truck out to a place a couple trips. But having a two bike stable is far more benifical for what I think you intend to do. Hard offroad on one, adv capable on the other. When you try to bridge the two you start to make compromises such as dumbing down the offroad capability, or making it more easy for offroad use. If anyhting my reccomondation would be, keep both the bikes, and find a beater travel vehicle for when you want to race in other countrys or far away. Kei truck, ute, cheap van or pickup, and or find friends that will be interested in carpooling. And take the t7 on less direct more twisty road options even if it tacks on an extra half day or what hav you. I find 90km/h is more enjoyable than 120 wether it be my 250, 790, or a 1200gs that I tried once. I do genuinly think it would be a mistake getting rid of the t7 for a van if that was what you were thinking.. Food for thought if tires were your main issue over comfort, If I were to have to ride 4000km to start my offroad. I would send it on the tires that I had on the 790 or use some take offs of something that could safetly get me there.. and buy a knobber rear tire when I got close to the offroad event, hoon it on the offroad and then roach it off on the way back home. That all depends on the situation though. I do think that tire you showed on the t7 isn't for you, you need something without that center strip for the terrain you intend to ride, even at the cost of milage.
Right now I have the 790 that does it all. Hard single track for dirtbikes, dualsporting, adv riding, ect. It's always been best in my experience to do the road trip, ditch the luggage and then ride the trails, come back for the luggage and then continue onwards. If I intend to do a hard offroad loop, just gotta pack lighter. If I do 500km of road and then 100 of single track, I'm packing more comfortably and then ditching the weight somewhere. And the 250 is for high consequence offroad or riding when I drop the bike too many times to count. I would love to get a race ready little bike, but I dont think it will replace the 790 for versatility when I want to ride somewhere far away.. My channel has a good example of riding the mid size adv bike hard and then also traveling with it or the 250 overloaded for longer trip comfort.. Just my two cents! As someone who's tried the truck trip with bike in tow a few times and didn't like it in comparison to proper dualsport/adv travel. Cheers
I came to this conclusion years ago, even for local rides. My wife and my friends do not ride offroad. I bought a used rust bucket van, a klx300 dual sport as well as a klx300 supermoto (2 bikes). I can SM around town, with my wife (she rides yamaha 1100 classic) and our street friends. Alone for a backroads rip or errands. While >saving wear< and tear on my dual sport bike and offroad tires. Then I can use the van to haul to further trail rides on the DS, camping ect. Then when the ride is done, I change to some comfy shorts for the drive home in air conditioned or heat comfort.
I bought a ktm 690 to load into a pickup bed while towing a camper. This will enable traveling long distances and sleeping in comfort while having a bike for day trips. It makes sense if exploring the destination is the priority over the experience of traveling by motorcycle.
I too was into buying a van for traveling, but i ended with a ford expedition, i went that route because i felt that it could take me more into remote areas of camping since it has better suspension, from factory but I also wanted something very minimalist as far as coversion goes, but recently on my last adventure I discover that the best trails are the walking trails so maybe my next adventure will be on a ford focus that gives me 35mpg instead of 17 on the expedition, and just carrying an mountain e-bike on the back after all the thing that is permanent is change .
Cheers!
Yes, with e mountenbikes now, you are much more open to "offroad" in europe and the way you drive to the trails is so or so on road...I think, you are a bit ahead to johanes :D
Wow, Johannes, again? 😊 I'm a T7 owner and I love that (fat) bike to bits. To be frank, I'm glad I'm poor, I don't really have many choices, I can't afford to pick and choose, I need to make do with what I have. And to be honest, it's fun, I think that the main thing for me is to see what things I can live without but still be self-reliant.
Hehe, the fat T7 isn’t going anywhere 😁 I also love my T7, it’s such a great alrounder. But, it didn’t cut it for my long distance travel wishes, so a van to go with the two I have will make it much better.
This is the way. I got the PR7 hoping that it'd be a bit more comfortable than my WRR for highway riding, but it really isn't. With the van you can cover so much distance with ease, and you always have a place to sleep. I'm currently searching for one too, but they're all so bloody expensive!
Yeah they are expensive, but especially for me here in the north, having a second car in the family is nice when it's snow on the roads (two bikes are no good when there is..), and also to transport my bike to the enduro track. With several applications I think the steep price is easier to swallow 😁
Hmm, so I've convinced you about sleeping on the campsites with showers, usefulness of intercoms, and now that lighter bike is the way to go - I'd say that a pretty successful trip ;)
Exploring challenging trails is where I have most fun. Sure, you can attempt it on a heavy bike, but lighter bike gives you way more confidence and less to worry about - you see a really knurly trail and you go "sure, I'll give it a go!" Thus, I'm happy to put up with slower motorway ride on my CRF250L, in exchange for greater confidence on the trails.
And realistically - did you during our trip through Pyrenees thought that you could ride any part of the TET quicker on a bigger bike or have more fun on a bigger bike? I know we laughed about enormous 24hp power of my bike ;), but at no point during our trip I though I needed more. If anything, I wish I had bigger mirrors so I could see where you guys are... :P
From the moment I saw you disappear in the muddy section I realized I was on the wrong bike, but I just couldn't give that to you too, you'd be completely full of yourself for the rest of the trip 🤣 Haha I'm just joking, you raised several good points on this trip. Watched a video from Wales by the way, looks really gnarly, can't wait!
Intercom is what makes a trip with a wingman the most fun with..indeed :-) Cannot imagine anymore to drive without it. My wingman and myself are looking at a 300L at the moment...curious to experience who Lightweight Adventure feels like ;-) With a wingman and an intercom there is no distance that cannot be ridden !
Johannes, have a look at “Lew’s dirtbike days” youtube videos of Wales and the Lake District in the UK it will make you want to ride there👍😀
Sorry mate, the discomfort and grind is part of it all so you do choose twisties to get you places but you also have to suck up some blacktop miles. It's all part of the challenge and adventure. Having a van is completely missing the point for me. It would also be prohibitively expensive for most people on your channel I would suspect. A side reason we ride bikes is they are way cheaper than cars. If you want to 4 wheel drive a car you need something like a Toyota land cruiser and they start at 5 times the price of my adv bike before you've set them up with sliding camp kitchens et.. I live in a country where I have to ride a good few hours to get to the fun stuff and a day and a half including a channel crossing to get to the really fun stuff so one option we looked at was transporting the bikes down there and back. So instead of buying a whole rig to live in, you transport your bike to the country or state you want, fly or train there, then off you go. This is especially good if time is against you, like you said with your kid, or work doesn't allow you heaps of time off. Costs a bit more and you kind of miss out on 'the journey' and meeting all the people along the way etc but one way of saving time and arse pain. We didn't do it and chose twisties and channel crossing and had an awesome time. We also caught up with old friends along the way and met new ones. Each to their own, of course, and that's what works for us just that if you make it all too comfortable you're not really having an adventure.
A couple of hacks we've learnt (and are still learning):
Picking up your bike is technique. Chris Birch has a good episode on this in his Say No to Slow series (thousands of other people too on yt but Chris the best I've seen).
Small is definitely better for technical but it's all relative. Every bike and rider has its limits so the challenge is in there. Your 350 is awesome compared to the T7 but it's a slug compared to a trials bike for example. If your gig is super technical maybe try out trials..looks like cool fun.
Tyres: Centre strips are shit for mud, the EO7 Plus are much better and more aggressive. Got 10k kms out of last rear. Had E09's too which did about 5k but are really knobby and great off road. Alternative is to ride down on road biased tires and change them out when you get to your destination. There are bike shops everywhere or courier them ahead. Requires a bit of organisation though, for me it's ride the knobbies down and look after them on the tarmac (accelerating hard rips them on big bikes with lots of torque so ride down like a pussy on the straight bits, have fun on the twisties).
Riding with lots of gear also screws the balance and weight of your bike so another thing we do is hole up for a few days in one location, drop everything off the bikes and do day explores from that base. Nice coming back to something set up too or even an air bnb with a freakin spa pool. Yes mate! Usually a tent tho :(
Last thing, I think you just need to harden up a bit with the bike travelling. Noraly does the world on little bikes, Charlie on big ones, there will be discomfort, but that just makes the fun bits off road that much more epic.
A van would be really good for competition of course so they def have their place. You could also kit it out for family holidays and strap a dirt bike on a carrier at the back.
Oh I'm right with you mate, discomfort and struggles makes the good times so much better. This was beyond discomfort for me though, it was torture 😅
Just to be clear with the van, I'm talking about the cheapest van possible that would do the trick, and throw a mattress in the back. No fancy camping van at all, there's no way I could afford that.
Thanks for sharing your hacks as well 🙂
Hi mate, i use to have a gs, then an africa twin, still to heavy, then a T7, too heavy when you are on your own and want to explore new tracks..so sold it to my ultimate 701. i have a jumper citroen , i drove to south of spain from Bordeaux with 2 bikes in the belly, cross on the ferry with the bike, did 3000 + kms on tracks mainly. This is for me the best set up for distance wriding, confort, and fun. where ever you go you have no doubt if you will be able to challenge the track. With the raide garage extra tank, the fuel capacity is not a problem…what a great bike it is ! Pascal
Hey Pascal! That sounds like a sweet setup - happy to hear it works well for you. Can’t wait to get a van myself. Cheers my friend!
I use a bike trailer, much cheaper than a van and fits 2 bikes. I´m in Romainia now, brought the T7 and the KLX250S. I fold part of the rear seat in the car (XC70) and i can sleep great on the air matress and no need to put up the hammock. But a Van is more convenient for riding around for sure, my brother uses a Van for his racebike, but it only fits one bike.
The T7 with E07+ was defeated by wet grass so i had to turn around ;) The T7 solidifies it´s position as a road explorer and travel bike. Every time i back it out i feel like it´s to heavy. For me lower vibration is the main reason for the adventure bikes.
The KLX250S is a gem on these tight flowy trails here, only around town or open stretches i feel i want a 500 EXC to hooligan a bit. I really like the Anakee Wild tires for mixed riding.
Sometimes i think of a 701 just to only have one bike, but i still think that one is a bit to big, 500 EXC ticks the boxes for me except for vibration.. where´s the twin cylinder 600 EXC?
You sort of confirms what Pavlin at motorcycle adventures say, superslabbing on the highway just ruins your trip and travel energy for days after. If you want to ride dirt bikes in Portugal, ship the bike and fly in. My biggest superslab was from Gothenburg to Munich on one day on a RnineT Scrambler, a seat with similar comfort as the FE350. Just torture and the alp twisties afterwards wasn´t as pleasing as without that sore butt ;)
Joannes, I like the way you're thinking. Last year I rode half of the the New Mexico Back Country Discovery Route on my 2017 KTM 500 EXC-F, and it absolutely dominated the off road sections. My nephew and his buddy provided rider support with their Ford Raptor pickups Our group was turned back last year due to forest closures from wild fires in northern New Mexico.
This year, I finished the NMBDR solo on my 2022 Yamaha T7, and while it is a competent ADV bike, the weight with luggage was too much. I too went down on the bike and struggled to pick it up...this wouldn't be a problem on the KTM. For me, the tool of choice for riding the Back Country Discovery Routes in the the western United States would be my KTM 500 or another single cylinder dual sport bike. Having rider support with a 4x4 pickup following behind serves as a sweeper in case of a mechanical problem or injury, and the bike can be loaded in the back of the truck. Plus, as you mentioned, being able to ride in comfort on the way out and back home is nice. I like your concept of the van to haul the bike and to sleep. Good job on the video brother. -Paul, Arizona, USA
Hello there Paul, thanks a lot for watching and commenting!
I agree, the T7 and several other "middleweight" adventure bikes are very capable, so much that they almost trick you into thinking you can go on a solo travel like your NMBDR trip. The big issue is when you fall over in an awkward place or get trapped under the bike. It is when they stop you realize how heavy 200kg is. Riding alone with such a big bike is risky, has to be done with at least one other rider.
Thanks for your kind words Paul, ride safe my friend.
yes mate good advice i have a transit van and a crf250 which fits nicely inside and theres still enough room to sleep in it with the bike strapped down.
Transporting a light bike to the dirt destination is a great option. But you don’t need to buy an expensive Mercedes van straight away. I use a $300 rack on the back of my car. With that money saved, put that towards petrol, gear and accommodation. Sleeping in the van next to your muddy bike after a fun day riding in the rain is over rated. Cheers
You can fly in comfort, rent a bike, let someone else help handle logistics and fly home. Simple. If you strip it back to basics, you enjoy the social aspects and the trails. Otherwise it keeps going.... believe me. A camper van olus bike. A 4x4 camper to access more remote areas. Etc. 😢😂
I love that you keep exploring what the ideal setup is for you. It has given your channel an interesting theme. It’s fun to see what happens next. I say go for it if you can. I would probably rent a van for a trip first to try it out before I invested money, but life is meant to be lived and trying new things is how you do it in my opinion. Looking forward to seeing more of where the journey leads you. 👍🏾
Happy to hear you find it interesting, it's a constant search for sure, and I love documenting it and discussing with you guys as I go 🙂
it make sense that you set up everything to your unique situation... no time to travel to nice location more days and desire to enjoy offroad rides... yes Chris Birch and others can ride offroad almost anything but they are few out of thousands and not everybody has some motocross experience... so your van idea makes sense... me, I am complatating using a normal car and a small trailer 1x2m...
I agree. I have an fe350s and its great offroad and the challenges of enduro is what really makes me feel alive. Trailering my bike to the fun trails is my plan for now. There is no unicorn bike but if you like challenging enduro with a light bike that can also go on the road when needed the fe350s is a contender for unicorn bike.
Thanks for chiming in James, cool to hear that someone else is using a 350 too. Have you done any mods to your bike to make it ready for dual sporting? I’m gearing it back to stock, filling the tires with air and balancing them out, will then take it out for a street spin and reassess - will make a video about the testing 😊
Hi johannes, for very long stretches to the destination your choice is great. Relaxed on the trail with a light Bike and fresh tires instead worn out tires and stressed driver ... I´m waiting for the next Vid`s, cheers!
I think your reasons are very valid. You don't have the luxury to spend weeks travelling so this makes a lot more sense. I think a middle weight is the way to go for 100% best if you have plenty of time to travel. I have a T7 world raid and it makes sense for me. A light weight bike will be so much better for you I think and have a van means you can enjoy your adventures in more comfort.
hey mate..wondering why a man who can lift a T with just one arm is thinking like this ;-) but - totally understand your points especially the long distance from where you live...light is fun to ride as you experienced in portugal - but - the T is a gorgeous bike at the same time...hard to decide i guess...fully understand the long distance you need to take before the adventure begins hence I like the idea of a remote base where you e.g. fly to and travel from there...easier to install than to build your van...cheaper as a van - and a van means long boring distance travel and traffic, too ! Maintenance, costs..hazzle when in need of repairs..a storage box in southern germany does not cost that much and from there you can go in every direction...think about it - a base like this can even be moved easily to another country :-) Nice idea for myself I just realize..hehe..finally one must admit that the T7 is not a TET made for bike...there are riders out there who can and do it - even if they can´t they do it ;-D but the weight eats up the fun for sure quite fast we all know. Curious to see in which direction you develop yourself and what will be the future of your T7 and where its used for - good luck Johannes and ride safe :-) Rgs from germany Michael
Hey Michael!
Interesting to think about actually, I bet I could deadlift the weight of the T7 20 times on a barbell in one go, but if the T7 is leaning slightly downwards It's completely impossible 😅
I agree the T7 is a beautiful bike and I intend to keep it, this van I'm talking about is an addition to my two bike garage, not something I will sell a bike to get. It will be hard financially, but I'll figure out a way. Good point regarding hassle with a van as well, definitely lots of maintenance and expenses with a car.
Mate, I am already there!!! Started on a DR650, then purchased a Triumph Tiger 1200. This was an amazing luxury bike, but every time I looked at an off road, I just thought no, waaaay to heavy.
Then purchased a Husqvarna TE300 2016!! And this opened my eyes to hard enduro!! So good….
So, have recently purchased a FE501, and I can say it is amazing. Have done long full day rides with the Kriega OS Dirtbike base… so good.
Moving forward, keeping the 300 and 501, likely selling the DR to purchased a triumph T120…. Thanks for the great videos… stay well. And if your ever in Australia, you are welcome to come stay and ride with me in the Gippsland High Country!!!
Hey there Scott, thanks a lot for chiming in! Yeah I can imagine going from a Tiger 1200 to a TE300 opens ones eyes for offroad riding for sure. I like the 501 too, would be better than my 350 for this application, but both bikes are excellent - so incredibly light!
Appreciate that my friend, Australia is high on my list of countries to visit and ride for sure. Likewise if you come to southern Norway :)
@@JohannesDalenMC all good mate, forgot to mention, like you are thinking, I have a base station to work from now. My wife is into Horses, so we have a fancy new custom horse float that we had modified to take bikes as well… an amazing set up!!! Ride in comfort in the car, came in the float, ride all day and come back to a cold beer, shower and warm bed!!! Just saying
Johannes, Greetings from Australia. You make a lot of sense. I experience the same problems. I want to explore areas far away, but need to waste time (and money) getting there. A van makes sense!
You've only just got back from your trip, and are feeling a bit bashed up, understandably. Give it 2 weeks and then re-evaluate your thoughts. Unless you have unlimited time on your hands, which with a young family you don't, then any choice is always going to be a compromise.
I see your point. I have both a street legal enduro and a 690 on a diet, have competed in hobby class enduro for 30 years. The most fun on singletrack or technical roads is the enduro by far, the 690 can do it with knobby tires but does not make me smile as the enduro in technical riding as even the 690 feels too heavy, the most fun on twisty tarmac or gravel is the 690 by far, i have not yet ridden a bike on long trip motorways that made me smile, so covering this part by a van seem like a good idea, arriving well rested mentally to explore the selected part of the world.
Exactly, I spent the first two days of this trip recovering from the highway riding down to France.
@@JohannesDalenMC Why not rent a trailer in the meantime, bring your family and Husky and join the enduro competition Stångebroslaget in the forest north of Linköping Sweden July 8 th. Perfect level for hobby riders, nice and wide track, nice area for a weekend vacation with lakes and campsites, stay in tent or Hostel. Perfect challenge for you if you like to add a bit of extra adrenalin on your channel😎
I am thinking in that direction as well I rode my ktm 890 adv r from the netherlands to the pyrenees and it was…*ok*…., but it was the start of the trip, after playing in the pyrenees, the ride back was brutal, so much so, that a year later I am not really doing longer trips because of the highway riding. And yes as a dad my time is limited as well. I am seriously considering a ktm 500 and a van to replace my ktm 890 adv r. Would be nicer for big trips, but, perhaps not so much fun on local rides.
Having been all over Europe already on solo trips with my 2009 KTM 990 Adventure R, I totally agree with you. It's not fun riding on endless straights (read: Croatia) but it'd be a hell of a lot easier to have a van with my KTM 500 EXC. Much safer, less costly and you can even save on accommodations! Thanks!
Next up - "why I am selling a the van and buying a boat". :)
Seriously though - I agree with you. Highway is a chore.
Haha excellent suggestion Alexander, adding that to my list of videos to make. Dirt bike on a boat, perfect! 😆
I have a VW Caddy i can sleep in and a hanger and i use a ATV (quad) (Cforce 1000 , 2023 model ) and drive to all cinda places in Denmark, Sweden and Norway and it is very nice and relaxing and do maybe 2 day trip's with the ATV and camping in a tent, fishing and have a good time then back to the car and continue it some of the same as you do axept i have a hanger after my little Caddy hehe!
You can allways take the T7 on a Van with proper off road tyres... :D
There's a couple of things you need to consider with a van, in traffic in summer in some countries could be a nightmare you can loose day or more of ridding, parking a van even in a small country like Portugal to do the TET even if you park it in the center, to go to the start or came back to the van on the Husky will be worse then the road you have made to get to Spain... But even if you want to go that path, before you buy a van, make your math and see if it will be better to ship the bike, and get a plane or other kind transportation. there's a guy here in portugal doing the TET, he left the bike in country X, get a plane to home to work, and then again when he had more spare time got a plane again, to spare another more couple of weeks doing the TET.
If you decide to try again with the T7 before you go, try to contact a shop on the country of destination to change tyres when you arrive.
I agree with you 100% mate. I have a 4wd ute that I can carry my bike on with a roof top tent. The advantage of this over a van is that I can get to much more interesting and remote spots with my vehicle, and I can also have capacity to venture into the bush in my 4wd to rescue bikes if need be (if the terrain allows for this of course). This is how I approach 'adventure touring'. I can send you a picture of my setup if you're interested?
Hey there Bill! Your setup sounds excellent, an offroad worthy car as well increases your range. I'm thinking about putting a roof tent on my future van as well, so the whole family can go on trips together - much easier to get this purchase approved by the financial department (wife) when it can be used for family things 😆
Are you happy with the roof tent? And yes please, I'd love to see your build - my email is in the description box under each video. Thanks!
@@JohannesDalenMC I've emailed you.
Hei Johannes! If I were in your position I would angle this question more philosophically and in that way calmly. What do you want to achieve from your trips? Be so specific as you can be. What is your goal, what paths do you want to tread? I say this because I think we resemble. In my case I’m often overwhelmed after long trips. My mind (and my heart) needs time to digest the experiences, but in the meantime my head begins spinning and doubting. So then it is best for me to focus on the experiences, to be proud of myself and thankful. Maybe it helps. Ha det bra!
One thing to note about sleeping in a van with a dirtbike. its really hard to get the small of gasolin not to spread everywhere. ( Aspen worked great for me on this point. )
Would not recomment going to a "real" enduro. 10hr between oilchanges are gonna get anoying if you ride multi day in anyform. Dont forget about the engien rebuilds @ 150hr. forks and shocks @ 50hr
if money is no object get back on the 701 or drz, alot more resonable service. then the FE350. Or consider going 2stroke. not as tight oil changes.
other that i think the saying light is right is good. always nice to have the "safetynet" of a light bike if you want to ride more techincal.
That’s my set up. An FE350s and a van (4x4 Mercedes Sprinter). Lots of 3 day weekends camping all over the deserts and mountains of California. Don’t have to ride a bike through the horrendous traffic of the greater Los Angeles area.
That's sweet Luke, thanks for sharing! You ever felt the 350 to be not "enough" for this setup? Crazy to even ask as the bike is incredibly powerful for a 350, but I'm comparing it to a 500 and the occasional road sections I have to cover on the different TETs. Perhaps you don't have too much tarmac in the deserts and mountains of Cali? Sounds freaking epic either way!
@@JohannesDalenMC I’m surfdirtbike on the platform with the instant photos so you can see mine with a Baja Worx windscreen. A photo of my van too. I’m almost always riding by myself and the desert roads have virtually no traffic on them so being limited to 60 mph / 100 kph is not a problem. My tarmac transfers are usually only 30-40 minutes, 1 hour the longest. There’s enough power off road but its limited for highway speeds. I think a 500 will be my next bike. I often ride a 4-6 hour loop in one area, load up in the afternoon, drive and check out places from my van for one or two hundred miles or so, find a place to camp and do it again the next day. I rarely have much of a plan when I leave my house and I make last minute direction changes often. Having a van allows you to drive away from high heat, freezing temps, windstorms or rain to ride somewhere else with better riding conditions within 2-3 hours. And…I have 2 wheel sets, one with tubes for rides that include tarmac and a set with NitroMousse for rides with less than 20 minutes of tarmac. Looking forward to seeing your new set up!
I feel like a van is a good way to go. I've been looking into trucks/SUVs and trailers ever since borrowing my father's to go to Moab. It's a much more comfortable way to travel and you can bring a lot more equipment without having to burden yourself and your bike down.
Exactly!
A trailer would do, but our car is a Leaf without the hitch, so I think a van is what I'm after. I really like the idea of having a dry and secure place to sleep as well.
You are saying all the same things I did last year 😆
A big recommendation to the van solution!
I have lived in mine for over 2 months now! :) would love to own that husky!
My vote would go to Van and T7 combo. Yeah, T7 is heavy in some cases (mud and soft muck) but it shines otherwise. Short transport sections up to 300km you can do bike only and more than that I would do van and bike riding on funt trails. Keep 350 for single track tight woods trails.
A van is always useful! And often your friends thinks that as well... But yeah, I think that it is a brilliant solution! Go for it!
oh yes - soon a 690/701 will be back in the game.
light enough to have fun on the tet
200km on the street isn‘t a challenge
etc
I think I wrote this when you sold your beautiful Husky
anyway your journey moves on
Hehe, well, I've learned to never say never (especially in public (RUclips))
An excellent bike, and a great bike in combination with a van.
@@JohannesDalenMC I learned the bike has to fit to our lifestyle.
When I had time to ride with my wife to sardegnia my bikes were always capable to do so. Comfort for my wife and fun for both of us.
Since my Baby is born, I carry a 690R Enduro on the rear carrier to Sardegnia for having fun.
once a year I go alone for enduro/ADV riding to France, I jump on my 690 and ride relaxed on sideroads to the south to spend one week on the bike.
at the moment there is no better bike for me.
btw - a CxxBER ECU will fix the issue of a jerkey trottle perfectly imho.
I have a basic Sprinter Crew van, a cot and a street legal Beta 300. No regrets.
Hi buddy from Greece. Great videos and I wish you have the best trips wherever you go!! Absolutely agree with you. ADVs can't take you anywhere! I got a 250 XR which I greatly enjoy off-road and an FJR 1300 for long distance tarmac traveling. 12 consecutive hours onit and I was fine and am not that young. I am 44. I know a sport tourer is not at all capable off-road but I absolutely hate cars. I don't know if I could travel even really large distances in a car even if it's more comfortable. I would still get an mid-weight ADV like a Tiger 900 for this kind of distances.
Thanks for the kind message my friend - wishing you a great and safe riding season!
Max 8h of highway for me on a bike haha. But even an hour of highway I hate. Still a heavier adv bike like my 890 is still my preffered way of riding even with a car for highway stuff. I’ve had a transporter which could fit my bike inside, a big transit camper which i could stand up in and now I own a vw caddy. My transporter could fit a bile but having a bed + a bike inside isn’t ideal as your bike will be full of mud so combining that with a sleeping area sucks. I’ve done about 500k km travelling by van, bigger vans and 4x4 and i really like my vw caddy atm. Small for everyday use , big enough to just throw a mattress in + a trailer on the back for my bike. Or when we travel further we out a rooftoptent on top and keep the van space for stuff. So I would suggest to look into a setup like the caddy or vw transporter with a rooftoptent or pop top. That way you have a really usefull size of a car and you keep sleeping and bike gear separately! Also for your next trip check for trains. In Europe there’s some night trains you can take with your bike aswel!
Excellent tip regarding the tent that goes on the top, that's something I want to research further as well before I make a decision. A dirty bike in the same place I sleep is a potential issue, absolutely. Thanks a lot for chiming in my friend!
Hi! What you say is important for riders, in my opinion. Light adv bikes or dual sports are sometimes addressed for beginners and I guess because of that some people go for the so called mid weight adv bikes. You are probably a bigger and stronger dude than most, yet you were not able to lift one of the lightest bike in the category. What chances do I have then? Well, got a lighter bike. Idea of a van + bike + bed (+ small fridge and a beer) is a dream come true. I would say go for it if you can. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for chiming in Borys. I have some thinking and researching to do, but I'm liking the idea - now that you mention a fridge and a beer too? Yes please! 😁
Great points man! I think often times it comes down to what works for each person in the end. Love your channel!
It certainly does - I always try to make it clear that this is what works for me and not tell anyone how to do it, as there isn't a correct way, just like you pointed out. Appreciate the kind words my friend!
Hi Johannes firstly I just wanna say I tip my hat off to you major Kudos an respect for looking at a solution that suits you :)
As my mum just said (we always watch your channel shes motorcycle mad like me) the world would be boring if we were all the same. I've recently had a few people having a go on a forum after asking some questions on the Norden an Africa Twin.
I think in life it's cool to try new things or different approaches be a bit like saying only eating chicken, then saying you don't like beef but you've never tried it :) hence it's good to try new stuff or just riding the same road eating the same meal etc for the rest of your life.
I'm on a 300 Rally at the moment (had some bad luck with recent bikes dad an I ended up rejecting two 390 adv's for refunds at 147 an 269 miles with issues inc displays.
Which then lead me back onto a 1200gs (had to sell that due to mitigating circumstances 2 months after getting it) lead me to a Himalayan which was a disaster rejected at 500 miles an the dealer completely agreed an I had a refund in 7 days.
Now I'm on the 300 Rally, it's been great for trying some green laning in England but now I'm moving to Northern Scotland rather than Devon (no unsealed roads) I wont have the time to ride 7 hours+ to the nearest one an I've not really enjoyed it not the right style of riding for me it's been good to try though and experience (done track riding in the past on supersports).
I think it all comes back to the adventure riding being such different things under that umbrella I've sussed out I just like similar to what you mentioned long distance travel seeing new places but for me rather than the goal being tricky riding I enjoy the curves clicking the big miles and some light gravel roads my dream trip being the Nordkapp, Norway an Iceland with dad next year.
For me it's looking like the Norden (bit nervous after our ktm experience so far) or an Africa Twin.
One thing springs to mind with the GSA I used to have in 2015 my lil cousin an I rode across the country an he was on a Harley 9 hours in a thunderstorm I was comfy he really struggled, when we got there the GSA was a pain on the tiny off camber junctions even hanging off the seat where as his harley was fine we covered a thousands of miles in a short time. When I bought the 1200gs I really appreciated the lower seat height over the 1200gsa I'd had before lot's off different flavours to try off all the fun.
When I had a 650xt I did a 600 mile day on it up an around Scotland it was great the 300 rally on a 300 mile day was alot more hard work. It's took me a while to sus out what I like an those opinions might change again an that's ok.
I agree though if racing a van is really handy great for when you are tired after a days riding.
Sorry for the ramble but I find your channel inspiring an think it's great that you will say what you think about changing ideas alot arn't like that now an it's cool that you are keep it up.
Hello there my friend and thank you so much for a fantastic comment. Appreciate the ramble and I'm honored to hear you find my shenanigans inspiring 🙂
First off, say hi to your mom from me, awesome that she watches too.
You are absolutely right, the only way to really find out if something is for you or not, is to try it yourself. One can read about new things on the internet, bikes, cars, places to live, but only to a certain degree - in the end you have to experience it yourself.
Thank you again for a great comment, had me smiling from ear to ear!
@@JohannesDalenMC no problem at all Johannes :) glad you enjoyed my lil ramble will do itl make her day 👌👍
Happy riding and adventures my friend :) an Greetings from the UK 🇬🇧 look forward to following the journey as it develops. Be interesting to see the direction you end up taking, one thought if you do Check some vans out on vans I was a litho printer an occasionally had to do long trips in a few always used to volunteer for them if we were quiet, worth checking the seats out some of the transit ones were agony on the passenger side they also varied quite a bit with cabin noise. Ramp wise for the bigger bikes we used one by the ramp people. Was amazing even for big 1980s Suzuki muscle bikes. The last dealer who collected my GS had a pull down one the size of the back of the van was amazingly easy to load the bike. Happy adventures 👍
Yes, the T7 is too heavy for challenging terrains. Better off-road tires can help but your concern about using them to cover long distances on the tarmac is a valid one. Smaller bike on highways is not the way to go. I think there are three options here, a) either you follow your van plan with a smaller bike or b) you stop following enduro bikes with your T7 on narly tracks and instead find your joy in twisties on smaller roads and basic/medium off-roading or c) do both a and b.
In this instance, I'd be on a KTM 500/Husky 501/ CFR450L for sure. Just did a 600 mile trip on my CRF450L in the US and it was amazing.
I think a 450l would be perfect, since it already has pretty much all the things you would need to do to a 500, but comes at a weight penalty. I'm going to stick with my 350 for now, because I use it for enduro riding. If I wanted a 450l I'd have to sell the T7 which I really don't want to, like it for everything besides highway. Happy to hear you're liking your 450l Paul :)
Hi Johannes. I'm a scrawny, never been very strong/fit, 65-year-old. I ride a KLR 650 with lots (too much) gear. I can lift it but just barely and and sometimes need to offload gear to lift it. I'm focusing on shedding gear weight and increasing my strength. But a van with a much lighter bike m8ght be in my future 😊.
i think a van for getting to the destination, makes some sense. If you don't have time to enjoy the trip, and have to speed to your destination, then it would make some sense to have an easier way to get there, then a bike you'd enjoy more, dirt bike, or dual sport, for the destination itself.
Yes, regional exploration on a Transit - DS. Why not!
I think Itchy Boots uses a container - mostly.
I fully get your point, at the end of the day, it really depends what you are looking for. If you want different types of ride, adv/travel vs vs hard off-road/enduro, then you need two bikes, or a transformer 😀
TET riding/exploring is fun in it's own way, but the idea of taking a van down to a place with great offroad riding and having a proper offroad machine to play around on, and a bed to sleep in at night, makes a lot of sense to me. If I ever wanted to go on a more traditional adventure I still have the T7 🙂
You have finally arrived at what I have come up with after much analysis and thinking. I like the lightness of hard enduro so much (I have a WR450) that any compromise for the possibility of traveling more comfortably on asphalt somehow did not pass. I even rejected the 690/701 because it's not much better than the 450o on road(1 cilinder), and it's worse off-road. T7, which somehow manages on black, but rejects in heavier terrain and mud. (I tried, but the moment I couldn't lift it out of the mud by myself decided).
Only I'm considering a trailer instead of a van. Why should I buy and pay for another car when I already have one with hook. The trailer will also be much cheaper. I know you can sleep in the van and travel faster.
"Happy" to hear there's more people out there with the same struggles, hehe.
If I already had a car with a hook I'd get a trailer, but the one car we have is the wifes and it's a Leaf with no hook. I'm looking at a used van for not too much money, definitely not going to invest in something luxurious or expensive.
@@JohannesDalenMC nissan Leaf, I forgot what country you are from...;-) if you are looking for a soft seat for your 350 I recommend seatconcepts
I think you need a Honda Goldwing with knobby tires, but your right the T7 is a heavy beast of road. I switch between my T7 and ktm500exc. The T7 makes the ktm feel weightless,
Don't discount a larger/high top van. With a Transit sized van there's not so much room when the bike and a bed-sized platform are in there (I have a T4). It's do-able, but with a larger van you can get the bike in and still have some space to sit, relax and get at your stuff.
I'd suggest hiring or borrowing a couple of vans and giving them a try. You don't really want to get changed, fed and relaxed with your bike outside in the dark, then have to get out and get the wet/muddy thing up a ramp and jam it next to your bed 😁
Try a bike-crane - one brand is called moto-winch but there are others. It's made from dural so really light. I have made myself one at-home and it already helped me in mud. Even off-camber it can help a lot. Also there are techniques like a rope between trees and twisting the rope to lift the bike etc. But I agree highway is boring, I modified my Dakar with high-way pegs, some music into my ears with good in-ear headphones, sheepskin for comfort, hell you can even watch a movie on your phone if it's reasonably in your view (might be dangerous I wouldn't recommend it) or at least listen to your favorite show/movie. Or you can try train for your bike and you fly in your destination (expensive usually). I'm planning my solo-trip to Georgia next year (3000km there, 3000km back) on my bike, so hopefully I won't be killed by boredom the time I get there. But also the thrill and expectation keeps you awake and not bored, every minute you are closer to your dream destination. The way back will be the worst I think 😂 Also wonder how I will manage Georgian roads, there are sometimes crazy (deep mud, crazy drivers, roads taken away, river-crossings etc.), it will definitely be one-in-a-life-time experience. I heard that when coming into Turkey you need to have 1 driver per 1 vehicle so your van thing won't work, it's nuts I know but those are the rules. Sometimes you can be quite surprised on these non-EU borders.
Hi Johannes. Ironically, a friend has recently been on a 12000 mile trip around Europe and North Africa on his GS1250 adventure (he travels huge distances regularly and has done for years). But after this last trip, which he is still on, he has decided that the GS whilst incredibly comfortable is just way too heavy for the tougher trails. So, he, too, is thinking about changing to a Husky 450 and van combo for the exact reasons you suggest.
Keep up the great content, my friend. All the best, Ben 🇬🇧
Hey Ben, thanks a lot for sharing! Wow that is some serious miles covered by your friend, impressive. I'm happy to hear he's "seen the light". I'm all for having big ADV bikes for certain trips, but if you ever find yourself on a tricky trail by yourself, you can get in serious trouble. On this trip to Spain we met a guy on a big KTM adv bike, 30 minutes later he came back in obvious pain on his way to the hospital. He attempted a U-turn on tarmac and stopped at balance point, tipped over with the bike and smashed his shoulder. Can happen on any bike of course, but..
Thanks for the kind words Ben 🙂
Interesting video, have you considered ship your motorbike down to South by some freight company ;) ? Saves time, tires and some costs. But of course, adv camper is great as well if you can afford it. Good luck with your future travels.
That manly Viking spirit is so lost on today’s youth. Won’t take the long boat wait for the cruise ship. 😂😂😂😂😂😂
You could have taken a ferry to Spain (Santander or Bilbao?), or fly and rent a bike locally for a few days. I am also exploring options, I have the same issue. Riding from UK to south of Europe is boring.
What you explain is when your journey is not your adventure, but the destination is.
No point using a bike as a transport vehicle in that scenario...
The bike as the only transport is only good when the journey itself is the adventure...
---
Why not just start trial riding?
Well put and I agree. But I had to try to figure that out for myself, learning as I go.
@@JohannesDalenMC - yes of course, you can never know until you have tried, ..and our interests and possibilities also change with time and especially when you have a family.
I think a good solution is to get a trailer for the T700. The solution you're considering is good, but only if you're interested in driving exclusively on off-road trails and in very difficult conditions where a larger vehicle like the T700 can't go. For example, in my country Greece, there are many forest roads where you can go with the T700, and in general, you can do everything except for the very challenging technical parts. A trailer is a good option for me and the T700, unless you specifically need the difficult technical aspects, in which case your proposed solution is the right one.
Thanks for chiming in Georgios! The only car we have is the wifes Leaf, which doesn't have a hook either, that's why I'm looking at a van.
In terms of where I want to go, I think to events or places with more technical riding is starting to appeal more and more to me over the "easy" gravel riding of most TETs, so a van is porbably the way to go. For TET Greece I'll put my T7 in the back of the van 😁
you are complenning about yamaha T7 ,what abot my yamaha super tenere .im 5'10 and 61 kilogram weight.
and 55 ears old
sorry years
Haha, yeah that's even heavier! Well, with a super tenere you kind of know that your bike is very heavy. The T7 is so capable when it's moving it's almost tricking you into situations you shouldn't be in 😅
@@JohannesDalenMC Im from Macedonia and curently leaving in USA ,my firs bike was honda nc750x and i realize is under power . 1200 yamaha super tenere is perfect choise for you .i will nevet go from horse to donky.
Makes total sense*😂
You are keeping the T7
You’re getting a van
You’re getting a off-road machine.
That’s a dream set up!!
Wish I could have something like that! Well done
* for those that can afford it😂. But the video is not about finan
Ok… maybe to add something to it without knowing you personally.
If you are a normal middle class guy give it a few weeks.
This is a hell lot of investment to make. Also the on going costs, additional space, insurance…
No doubts if you are only looking at the motorcycle as your passion. Amazing set up.
I also have 2 small children, a wife, a full time job. Even if I can financially afford this set up, I wouldn’t do it.
It conflicts with the rest of my life.
Only you know the answer. Just the fact that you are able to consider such an Amazing set up it’s something that should give you joy. It’s truly a privilege to be appreciated.
Great video and whatever you choose I wish it brings you a lot of joy!!
We passed you on the TET ( sadly your friend had crashed and was hurt). On this trip i started on michelin trackers which were amazing. They wore out so i bought anakee wild which wear better but the grip was not there
Hey Nathan - thanks for reaching out, I’m happy to report that he’s doing fine.
Yeah with all the rocks down in Spain the tires wore quick! Which bike were you on?
@@JohannesDalenMC I was on the first 701, im sorry I didn't realise your friend was hurt until I was past you and one of our group spoke to you. Glad he's on the mend
No worries Nathan, thanks. Did the rest of your trip go well?
@@JohannesDalenMC mostly thanks, there were some weather issues and a bit of ongoing covid for good measure!
Many people I ride with van camp with their dirt bikes and I truck my dirt bike everywhere I ride it(even though the bike has a street legal registration). My concern for you is going to foreign countries and unfamiliar areas with the idea of finding "difficult terrain" on a dirt bike may be an issue. Unless you know exactly where you're going, when you can be there and where you can put up near trails it might be impossible find what you're looking for. Or you might get stuck riding your dirt bike fruitlessly around doing many more road miles and hours than you intended. You want to know discomfort, spend a few hours road riding that FE350 in enduro gear... 😉
Johannes- hey. you uploaded gorgeous video-wor~kadios!😎
I think a van is a very good option to consider in your particular circumstance.
I think a van with a bike would make for a more comfortable trip. Having a "home" to sleep in at night in a new environment just changes a trip for the better. Having a place you belong to matters just as much as finding new places to belong in if you get my drift. I did not mean to make that philosophical. Great video and cant wsit to see what you have in store. A van build series would be really neat
I think that makes perfect sense, Sarj, a familiar ‘home’ even when far away from my actual home adds comfort.
I too think a van build would be awesome, an easy, budget one 😁 Thanks for watching and chiming in!
I was just going to comment and say you need a van 😂 I have a Transit Custom long wheel base with 2 options for carrying bikes; either inside or on a light single axle trailer (which makes virtually no difference to the drive or fuel economy etc). The van has a partial conversion so a fold out bed, fridge etc. Note that with the fold out bed in place there is not a great deal of room. If it was a light dirt bike then you could probably just strap it to the opposite side of the van. For most duties I would just take the trailer as it’s quicker to load and leaves plenty of room in the van.
I’d suggest that this size of van is best. Anything smaller and you probably won’t have enough space inside for what you need and anything larger and it’s expensive on long trips.
Thanks for chiming in James, exactly these kinds of comments I was asking for!
I've seen a few long version of these vans and I think they're the perfect size. For some strange reason I like the idea of having my bike inside the van (strange when I've never tried..). What kind of bike(s) do you have and would you say you'd be able to fit a dirt bike and a mattress in the back of your Transit?
Again, thanks a lot for chiming in :)
@@JohannesDalenMC keep in mind if your van is longer than 6m you'll have to pay double for any ferry crossings (I've found that out in Norway)
@@papawhisky2935 yup. The Transit Custom LWB is only 5.3m
I've been racing hard enduro for a couple of years. You would be surprised, that even these bikes you can drop in situations, where you won't be able to lift. There is a long road ahad of you:)
Sounds impossible because they are so light, but I’m sure you’re right 😆 Can’t wait to experience this first hand!
I think your plan is intriguing and honestly sounds like a ton of fun. That being said, I really don't think all mid weight adv bikes are created equal. T7 is a top heavy girl. There are a lot that wear that weight better off road. Either way I wish you the best and can't wait to see what you come up with.
I will document each step of it Jorge, and if it worked out or not - from the van build to an adventure itself 😊 thanks for watching!
Why I have a GS 750, best of both, 19 inch front for road, stick spokes on and all good. Ive done thousands of miles on trips, and never felt sore or drained, really depends on what style bike you ride, if i did a trip on my sportbike I'd be dying from back pain. Remember some rope and a ratchet to get the bike up if you are on your own. Taking a van on foreign plates, they are known to be stolen and broken in to. So be aware of that issue.
Good point regarding the plates, and I'm happy to hear your 750gs works well. Thanks for chiming in :)
Hvor kan du kjøre enduro i Kristiansandsområdet?
Kjerlingland heter det, rett utenfor Lillesand. Akkurat nå er banen stengt pga ekstrem tørke, men åpner igjen når regnet kommer.
How about a pick up 4x4 e.g Isuzu D Max or a Toyota Hilux there’s many traveling/camping/storage solutions check out Iron they also make a fun family recreational machine…!!!
I like your plan. Go for it.
All I needed to hear 😉 Gracias!
hello
i've been through a very similar process as you, and I've come to the conclusion the best thing you can buy for a motorbike is a van to put it in.
I managed very well in a vw T5, with the bulkhead removed and a captains chair .
top tip of the day .... don't ride through cow shit before you bed down for the night !!
Hi Ian!
Removing one chair is genius, never thought about that. And the cow shit, well, it makes sense too, haha 😆
I was never tempted by the idea of travelling long distances on tarmac on any motorcycle.
2 weeks ago I took my Tenere on a trailer to italy. I took it down some gnarly trails and straight up the skislopes, cause I knew that if I would brake anything I would still get back home.
I personally like the challenge of pushing the Tenere to its limits, although I know I am not even close to it's limits😅
I haven't seen any trail or track that I thought would be impossible to tackle on the T7. And I am always pleased by the comfort my T7 offers after a day of riding being a tall dude.
Also, keep in mind. Any luggage on a lighter bike will much more drastically change the handling than it would on a heavier bike. You are adding a lot more weight in comparison.
Just my 2 cents😉
Ooh and I am working on a video of that Italy trip btw🫣
The part with "knowing I would still get home" is something I'm increasingly valuing when thinking about longer trips, good point.
I know you like pushing your T7, and I do too to a certain degree. I usually never come across a trail that is too hard for the T7 in terms of technicality, but on this very trip to Spain there was drop on the side of a few single tracks that were so steep that would easily total the bike if I slipped. Heart rate went through the roof on those sections 🤣
Looking forward to your video from Italy!
Welcome to the dilemma...no mater the choice, it is not perfect. Sometimes good enough is almost perfection! 😁 I too will be going Van + Skinny bike but not until I retire in 3 years. In the meantime, I will put many, many BDR runs and about 80K miles on my 2022 1250GS. This will be my last Rhino. Love the channel. Keep up the good work!
Do you intend to keep the GS and get a van + lighter bike, or sell it? For a ‘perfect’ setup I think there has to be a street oriented bike for daily commutes locally and some adventure trips - that’s why I’m keeping my T7 even though I’m going for the van + dirt bike setup.
Thanks a lot for the kind words, appreciate the support 😊
@@JohannesDalenMC Oh I won't have this bike, 😁but I will have something highway viable...
you know you will sell it in 5 months. Good thing is that you are learning to sell bikes!
5? That's too long, more like 2 😉
@@JohannesDalenMC keep the good work!
Motovan for the win. Love my moto van. Get a 501 that's the unicorn bike. I love my 501.
Looks like a great approach Johannes! I bet it's going to be awesome, cant wait to see! ;)
Cheers, Viking! :) 💪 👍
Cheers my friend, hope all is well Miha 😊
Keep the T7 at home and find a nice place in Portugal for the Husky. Cheaper and quicker to fly which gives more time on the Husky and of course more time with your family. Bet you would save money too.
It’s a good suggestion, but I use the Husky weekly at enduro practices. I could take the T7 to those, but that would result in more than just a broken bike 😅
@@JohannesDalenMC Sell the T7 and get another enduro for home. I too had a T7 but was way too heavy for this 70 yr old fart. Got something that i would enjoy more and pick up. Takes time but you will find a sweet spot.
Hello,
If I can figure out how to attach pictures, you will see, that you are not crazy to put a bike and a mattress in can! 😂 We have a Renault Master L3, H2 with a Queen size mattress, under which I load two big bikes.
Just returned from a trip to the Alps... Worked fine and my wife liked very much.
Radostin
Oh Johannes
How much I can feel your pain and thoughts - the two of us definitely have similar first world problems 😊
I keep to my 701 as I have only the bucks for one bike and the 701 is a great commuter. I well know the problem of highway travelling, as I live 100kms away from the Alps where the fun usually begins. So even a day trip normally has 200km of flat and boring roads. But a small windshield does the job, up to 120km/h (Switzerland speeding fines are terrible!) it's quite comfy to sit.
I am relieved you did not switch motorcycle again after your Pyrenees trip but take an alternative approach: the van. Because I can confirm all you said about weight after a week of offroading in Sardiny. And I have half your strength and am probably 20 years older.
So I just have bought a second-hand Fiat Ducato (recommended is the 7th generation as it stil has the Iveco engine). Will transform it in a minimalistic camper, no shower, no toilet, no kitchen. Just a garage for our two 701's, enough space to store all the stuff, heating, a table with two seats for rainy hours and a large bed. And everything is modular and being abke to be dismounted within 1-2 hours to jave an empty van for other purposes.
The idea behind is to be able to spend the nights on camping grounds and to longer offroad trips and then come back to the van and use it for the highway leg back home.
Maybe it gives you the impulse of being able to share your time with your family on your trips if you go for a larger van. Daytime a bit separate, Daddy doing his thing, but the rest of the time cosy family life on the camping ground or even out in the wild if you go for a fully equipped motorhome with a bike garage.
Greetings from the South
Definitely a first world problem 😁
Nice, a 701 and a Ducato sounds like a sweet setup, and your suggestion regarding combining riding with family makes a lot of sense, definitely something I'll take with the wife about.
Cheers my friend!
hello Johannes . if you are looking for a honda crf450l. I probably have one for sale. it would be new with 25km on the odometer absolutely as good as new from 2018. Many greetings from Germany. Olivier
Hello Oliver, thanks a lot for reaching out. I'm not really after one to be honest, it's an interesting bike, but I'd probably get a 501 before the 450l. Out of curiosity - why are you selling it?
Thanks again for letting me know, greetings to you too kind sir :)
hello Johannes . Thank you for your answer. good question why do i want to sell it . I'm honest. I watched Too Much Pol tarres and other videos and thought it couldn't be that difficult to ride this enduro But unfortunately it looks easier than it is. I'm not the youngest anymore either. but back to the crf450L. That's a great machine but unfortunately a bit too poisonous for me. She's really fast on the gas. unfortunately it is too intense for me. many can now write what a soft guy. but i am a bmw gs guy. You can't make a racing horse out of an old horse. it really only has 25km on the odometer, so it's like new. the quality is great. Oh well . apart from this. your videos are awesome. and man has to gain his own experience. Thank you Johannes
you said it right, a car is more comforteble on the highway. and indeed nothing is going to beat that. jet, you are opting for a van..
I use a car and trailer, because posesion of a vehicle is heavyly taxed where i live. the speed is lower than a van..it's a tradeoff
but before you sell your T7 once again, remember the a fast adv like the T7 is only interesting in europe or noth america. the rest of the world has a far lower speed limit, if it can cruse at 80 or 90km/h, it will be perfect.
after my trip to mongolia, i concluded: fly and drive. you get what the locals have, they have spare parts and if it breaks..you have insurance. unless you want to do that a lot..than you ride your own bike aroud and rent space to leave it behind for some weeks/months
Car and trailer is a good option too, I just like the thought of a van with a bed in the back. Taxes and insurance on cars are very expensive here too, so I feel your pain.
Fly and ride was something I had in my notes for this video but failed to mention, that's a good point too. It's what I've done for my trips to Portugal and I liked that a lot. For places outside Europe that's the only option in my opinion, would never ride my future van that far.
And I'm not selling my T7 this time, there's a place for a big adventure bike for commuting and certain trips for sure. Thanks for commenting :)
I have a camper van with garage for my bikes. It’s the perfect combo. I can go to local races spend the night in comfort or I can go long distance taking my bike on an adventure. Makes sense having your own portable hotel waiting at the end of your ride.
Makes sense Johannes. As you are progressing with your skills, your needs are changing so why not go with what will be good for now? Having a set-up that might be good for 10 years time makes it sub-optimal right now. Change is good anyway :) AND you can stash much needed food, spare fuel and have a toilet and shower facilities right there with you. I wonder if my better half should watch this video before I spring the same idea on her.... I chuckled at the new mistress versus the old hag bit :):)
Always pros and cons to every approach. Personally the thought of a multiday trip on a dirt bike would fill me with dread... hard seat, no cush drive, small tank, weak subframe, ridiculous oil change intervals.
Absolutely!
Yeah the 350 isn’t the best option, a 450l would fix several of the ‘issues’ you mention, but the 350 is what I have 😊
@@JohannesDalenMC If only Suzuki would make a new DRZ! I'm sure you'll have fun whatever you decide 🤘😎
Lucky you.
Most of us live the dream on a budget
Completely agree. TE300 is my love. Throw it in the back of the truck. Street legal, but I'm no fan of riding with cars for extended periods of time. Riding at length on roads and highways is mind numbing. Can pack for overnights with ease. And then can seriously do some desert riding, racing, enduro etc... and of course, pick my bike up with ease!!!
Oh I can definitely imagine the TE300 is phenomenal. Sounds like you are all sorted!
Horses for courses isn’t it Johannes? If a van is a viable option for longer tips then I would be all over that…and you’ve still got the option of a larger bike in the T7 in reserve anyway.
My honest opinion is that you’ll never have a bike for both, enduro and adventure ride are completely different activities, my advice is keep both machines and practice a lot the technique during the weekends and also do the races you mention, cause that will make your progression most faster. After you really nail the enduro technique in a smaller bike, you’ll realize that you’ll have a lot of fun on the t7.
Thanks for chiming in Joao, I always want honest opinions 🙂
As I said in the video, I'm not selling my T7, this van & dirt bike setup is an addition to my garage. So if I'm leaving for an enduro event I will take the van and FE. TET closer to home the T7 is a great bike.
Good point regarding getting better at enduro and its carryover to the bigger bikes - I can already feel a huge difference after a couple of months of enduro riding!
@@JohannesDalenMC Yeah definitely, if you really focus in learning the correct technique to handle a small bike in enduro or hard enduro, like clutch control, balance, hill climbing, braking, cornering, .... you'll be able to carry those skills on to a big bike and have a lot of fun. I have a few friends that sold their enduro bike and got T7's or Nordens and they ride almost anything.
I always rode enduro bikes, last year I decided to go to a big offroad event in Portugal called "Lés a Lés Offroad" it's a 3 day trip from top to bottom of Portugal, I didn't want to go on my 2 strokes cause it's 1000kms in 3 days, so I bought an old XT600, I had never ridden a bigger off road bike, so I was a bit afraid of not being able to ride it in more difficult situations, but no, from the moment I jumped on it was instant fun, if you got the technique it's all the same.
When you decide to come to Portugal give me a shout! Cheers:)
Interesting idea let’s see what happens let’s go