[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

A bit blown out of proportion?

Not even the slightest from my experience, had about 18k on the Wego before I totaled it within a year of ownership. This being, with the Wego being one of the better handling scooters in the market.

Overcoming an obstacle is one thing, doing it at speed is another.

Which again brings things back to being a matter of scales.

Fact remains, irrespective of tire size that at speed you cannot overcome an obstacle that is higher than your axle level with the front end pointing at an offset angle, this simply sends you over the handle bar, no questions asked.

[COMMUTER]

Originally Posted by mohansrides

I think that the poll is about what sort of machine you would prefer for touring, and not about what you ride currently.

I am sorry about the ambiguity in my statement. Yes if I have an unrealistic dream garage then I might choose an MTT turbine superbike or Boss Hoss V8 or the Dodge Tomahawk while using a Hayabusa or ZX14R as more practical runabouts.

What I meant to emphasize was the fact that, in reality, the preference is yoked to financial freedom one has to choose.

I do believe that even those who vote for small displacement won't choose the smallest capacity they can find and those who voted for big wouldn't have been riding the biggest bike that they find suitable either.

What I felt to express was that the disciplined road touring solo biker wont be feeling urged to upgrade to the largest bike they can find for enjoying their time on road.

[mohansrides]

Originally Posted by COMMUTER

I am sorry about the ambiguity in my statement. ...What I meant to emphasize was the fact that, in reality, the preference is yoked to financial freedom one has to choose.

I do believe that even those who vote for small displacement won't choose the smallest capacity they can find and those who voted for big wouldn't have been riding the biggest bike that they find suitable either.

What I felt to express was that the disciplined road touring solo biker wont be feeling urged to upgrade to the largest bike they can find for enjoying their time on road.

I understand what you are saying; that in the real world, it is impossible to make decisions outside financial constraints. And I couldn't agree more with you, in fact.

But, if you have read it in entirety, you will notice that this thread is about exactly the opposite of what you have mentioned.... about people's preference for a tourer based solely on their riding circumstances, usage patterns and needs on the road. Certainly the OP started the thread on the premise that given our riding conditions and roads, smaller bikes are much better for touring than bigger bikes. There was no discussion on costs at all.

[COMMUTER]

Originally Posted by mohansrides

about people's preference for a tourer based solely on their riding circumstances, usage patterns and needs on the road. Certainly the OP started the thread on the premise that given our riding conditions and roads, smaller bikes are much better for touring than bigger bikes. There was no discussion on costs at all.

Yeah, I agree I have gotten ahead of myself.

I do believe that though there are distinct pros and cons with both the big and the small bikes, they sum up as being equally weighted when it comes to deriving riding pleasure on long rides.

Big bikes have heat issues with tiny ranges and small bikes have lower average speed with lesser fuel stops.

Big bikes make you stand out while the small bikes help you blend in.

Big bikes might become cumbersome on the bad patches or trite hill trails while the small bikes might make things dreary when faced with endless expressways.

Big bikes may be good when the road opens up and the small bike will be a blessing when it clogs up.

The Indian biking scenario is so varied that, at some point of time, it will make the big bike dude yearn for the small bike and the small bike dude the big one.

Summing up each of their pros give way to help us overlook the cons. This all burns down to the choice being a matter of cost incurred in pursuit of riding pleasure depending on the state of mind, yearning attention or shunning thereof.

[ashwinprakas]

Sharing a couple of thoughts triggered by Commuters post.

small bikes have lower average speed with lesser fuel stops.

This though true on paper, isn't true when it comes to real world conditions as I'd mentioned earlier, hooking up a cyclocomputer and riding a longer route would clarify assumptions, which I'd done for personal reason but didn't document as I didn't feel the need to write about it at the time.

A smaller motorcycle having a longer range also proved itself to be false in my experience when it comes to touring.

During my college days my P220(220cc) and D100 4G(95cc) would do my 800 km's hostel run for the exact same amount of fuel i.e Rs.1350/-, the estimated efficiency would be between 40~50 Kmpl for both motorcycles.

So that would mean that the P220 has a longer travel range as the fuel tank is 15L's compared to the D100's 8L's.

Both motorcycles were in the best possible mechanical condition and were bought new, the D100 4G was later exchanged to get the P220 which I still ride sparingly.

This case doesn't always hold true as during the GQ run(Around 8000 km's) the CT100B consumed fuel of around Rs.9,000/- whereas the Bullet 500 consumed fuel of around Rs.30,000/-, but then only one of the motorcycles mentioned was maintained by myself whereas the other was maintained at the A.S.S, hence other than knowing that the B500 had a new carburetor and other consumables at the time I'm uncertain about other variables.

Big bikes make you stand out while the small bikes help you blend in.

True about that, attention can be good and bad.

Personally on an extended ride where I lack prior experience with the route at hand, I prefer to not even take my saddle/tank bags as they tend to garner unwanted attention.

There used to be a time when I'd ride with an action cam fixed to my helmet, once while stopping to attend natures call a group of curious villagers surrounded us and gave me the scare of my life.

[vikramvicky1984]

Guys have any if you considered Honda navi for city?
I brought out mine from a 8 month hibernation just a day after interceptor 650 test ride. I enjoyed my navi roaming around in traffic like no other- great control and good pickup till 60 kmph (enough for city) and so confidence inspiring. FE is around 35 kmpl.

Interceptor and big bikes maybe test match champions but navi is awesome for t20.

only issue- you appear ridiculous if you are tall. good helmet with tinted visor is your friend

[Romins]

It’s a balance between riding pleasure vs peace of mind and cost of owning and maintenance.

Quote from Shubhabrata's article:

"By extension, the motorcycle in your garage should be able to do it as well. So stop dreaming about heading out and start living that dream. Get the bike serviced, plan a route and just go. That's what motorcycles are for."

Source: Touring test: Royal Enfield Continental GT vs Suzuki Inazuma 250 vs KTM 390 Duke

[kozhissery]

I voted for "Medium" bikes as I don't have the experience of using Huge bikes over a long period to be able to comment if that's the best. I don't have much experience in biking as many of the persons here @tbhp but yes have driven fair amount of kilometres to diverse places to be able to comment. Here is my take on various bikes driven at least 100 kilometres at a stretch.

1. 50CC: Bajaj M50 - Have driven for quite sometime. Great vehicle for zigzagging over towns and roads in Kerala (pot holes). Had driven during my college days, so can't comment on comfort because that was only vehicle that was at my disposal and none others to compare. It was rugged, abuse friendly and could be taken anywhere.

2.100CC: Hero Honda/TVS: CD100SS/Splendour/Samurai. For 50 kms at a stretch it was fine. Once on highways you feel out of breath. If you try to go above 60 continuously, the drone kills you. Advantages are frugal, reliable, abuse friendly.

3. 100CC: Activa. In street driving. Best for small shopping like milk, groceries. The only vehicle of which I don't know if it has brake cables or tires or spark plugs. Just fill and drive. I'd done 100+ kms at a stretch when it was new. This was the first OWN vehicle, others all mentioned above were either cousins or friends/hostel mates. Now a days I cant even image riding it more than 10kms at a stretch. Yes, it is light, you can park it anywhere but riding it on a highway i feel as if sitting on a donkey with its ears as handle bars.

4. 350CC: RE TB350. Have driven to Leh/Bhutan and many other places (with roads and no roads). Till 60-70KMPH it feels stable and lot better than 100CC bikes. Yes I've dropped it quite a few times because of weight. Once the vehicle tilts above a point where I'm sure that I can't hold it, I just let it go. Oh, I've even dropped Activa/Hondas/TVS too. My feeling was that this is the best bike I've driven till I got TB500. Luckily this vehicle has never given me any issue, not even a brake/clutch cable snap or even punctures during my drives.
For side by side comparison, we were 3 (Unicorn, Avenger and me on TB350) persons who drove to Leh from Delhi and back. Actually unicorn was the slowest and which struggled the most on hills. On some of the big Passes we had to wait for this guy and even helped him to cross the streams as the bike would fail to get the power/torque to go over the ditches/stones.
Only problem that I faced was to handle the weight of TB350. Me being short and featherweight, If I needed to push the vehicle it was impossible. I just put in first gear and let the vehicle move. I had to plan the parking which means no soft ground where I'd have to push it back.

5. 500CC: RE TB500. Have driven to many places even Himalayas. I feel most comfortable on this going anywhere. Currently this is my daily ride (even to get a pack of milk if Activa is not available). I take this to office almost everyday (if it does not rain). Feels quite stable till 100 but not comfortable above 90. Sweet spot is between 70-90, where you can cruise and can stop in a controlled manner. As the brakes are the weakest link not very confident inspiring above 80 I don't go above that unless it is very open highways. As the engine vibrates quite a lot above 90 (if you tie a can of curd on the handlebar, by the time you travel 20kms you can get fresh butter), it gets tiring.

During last 2 recent trips I did with my cousin who has Z800 and I could see the grip on braking and so confidence inspiring which made me think of upgrading to a better bike. Not Z800 as I don't like the sitting position. I need something which is upright like my current drive and I feel that I should upgrade to a more powerful bike, but should be light so that I can manage it. Not yet decided as I'm happy with TB500 except when going on long drive on open roads and brakes needs to be lot better.

In short either activa for short distances (below 5km) or TB500 or above for longer distances.

[ashwinprakas]

Hey guys,

Here's a video of the MC magazine folks heading out camping on motorcycles from polar ends of the spectrum, Ari rides a Suzuki VanVan 200 and Zack rides a Ducati Multistrada Enduro 1200.

Rags to Riches! Suzuki VanVan 200 vs. Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro - On Two Wheels

Here's another video of Ryan from Fortnine crossing a desert on the Yamaha TW200 a.k.a TDub, a motorcycle that has been mostly unchanged from the 80's, more like the Honda and Kawasaki 100cc 4T's in India, i.e if you like me is fine with disregarding the existence of SAI.

Crossing the Desert on a Yamaha TW200 - 2018 Review

The VanVan and TW200 are a different class of motorcycles usually referred to as Farm Bikes or Funduro's, they have fat tires and are built with the sole intent of being utilitarian.

Do share your thoughts on the Funduro concept, I for one am excited!

Cheers,
A.P.

[rvd8732]

What would you do when you dream a big touring bike but can't afford one?

Upgrade your existing bike. Let the pictures talk.

[Romins]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Do share your thoughts on the Funduro concept, I for one am excited!

Look at the specs: 2018 VanVan 200

199cc, 4-stroke, air-cooled, single cylinder, Front Disc brake, FI, 5 speed.

Isn't it close to Hero XPulse?

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by Romins

Look at the specs: 2018 VanVan 200

199cc, 4-stroke, air-cooled, single cylinder, Front Disc brake, FI, 5 speed.

Isn't it close to Hero XPulse?

The VanVan 200 is close to a modern motorcycle as it's relatively new being the US variant of the VanVan 125.

The Yamaha TW200 is the one that has remained nearly unchanged for decades;



Which is the case with the Honda Cub motor seen first on the CD100 and still running on the Splendor i3S, second in line would be the Kawasaki motor first seen on the 4S Champion and still being present on CT/Boxer(Export) models.

Other than a couple of cosmetic changes and minor electronic add-ons these machines have remained more or less the same over the decades.

The Xpulse on the other hand is yet to hit the shores and prove its credibility, thought with decent pricing I doubt pedigree would matter much. Fingers crossed!

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by rvd8732

What would you do when you dream a big touring bike but can't afford one?

Upgrade your existing bike. Let the pictures talk.

Congratulations, that is a well kept motorcycle , a treasure these days.
I would take it back to it's original fittings and then have fun on a nice stretch of country roads.

Touring perhaps is not the best use of it's talents.

[Ajaybiz]

So I sold my so called mini GS for a reason.
It does 120 all day without straining the engine and can do up-to 140 with my touring pack. Have done off-road between Dandeli and Badami stretch and power is so low that bike was able to do hardly 100 kmph as full throttle due to rough stretch. Have taken the bike to proper off road track at Kolar Big Rock and did not enjoy as much as I could have enjoyed my Tiger. One close friend of mine liked the bike, took it for weekend ride and that was the last I have seen thr Baby GS.
Conclusion:- I'll never buy a small bike or say anything below 45 BHP at-least, else it has to be below 130 KG dirt bike, touring defiantly I would stick to 800+ cc class and looking forward for something in the range of 1250-1290 cc.
And yes I had done enough of small bikes, can say experience is talking, not just coz I have not ridden them. Please ride big bikes before talking so much about small ones, they are good for their light weight nothing else and one of the best small ADV bike I just sold within 2 months , even tough its around 29 BHP at rear wheel, much more than 100-200 cc "practical" bikes around.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by Ajaybiz

So I sold my so called mini GS for a reason.

I know how you feel, nothing feels as bad as riding the wrong motorcycle.

Though in my case the eye opener was the opposite case.

I clock anywhere from 20~25k km's a year on my motorcycles which includes very less daily running and more highway hauling, during the time I'd had only the P220(Factory Setup) with me my annual running dwindled down to around 5~10k km's per year, which was the least enjoyable year of my motorcycling life so far, I call it The Great Depression of 2016!

Depression was so bad, that I'd even considered the possibility that I'd outgrown riding which though was a blessing in disguise as it prompted me to save up for my dream car, but even that didn't satisfy me and the emptiness was still there until I went for an impulsive buy that reignited the spark and the rest is history, my annual mileage shot up to my previous levels and so did my personal happiness index.

So I guess as already said, different strokes for different folks, which is true in all cases and I hope irrespective of whichever class you ride you're able to clock a healthy mileage and moreover ride at peace.

Because in the end makes no sense whether you get a 100 or I get a 1000 and settle with breakfast/market runs.

Ride Hard, Ride Safe.
A.P.