Let me ask: why is off road so fun? Why do people sell their shiny street motorcycles only to begin a new and completely different two wheel adventure? Is it really so fun to keep falling off your bike, crashing and being dirty and tired all the time?
Indeed, it is very fun and exciting, but not for everyone. There are people who tried off road a few times and resigned. It's definately not for people who dislike physical fatigue or for people who bought an off road bike just because it's popular. This kind of riding is a sport, not just a hobby, no matter if you're pro or amateur, in a forest or on an advanced track. Every single kilometer is a great satisfaction. Off road and street riding are totally uncomparable. In off road you feel every passed meter with all your senses.
Adrenaline rush and competition are big parts of all kinds of motorcycle sports, but off road riding can give you much of the experience that could be very risky in other situations. If you try to seek this kind of emotions on street you can easily become a victim of unaware car drivers. On the other hand in off road there's only you and your skills to blame for failures. It's not likely to get hit by a truck in the middle of the forest or crash because of some stupid pedestrian running across the street. Off road riding makes the driver, his skills, determination and the track to ride the only important factors. You can try the same track many times and it will always feel different. Skill progression is highly noticeable and this surely gives a lot of satisfaction. If you try once, and won't get discouraged by the first problems you will really begin to love this sport.
My next post will be a bit more technical, I'll try to write a little about different kinds of off road motorcycles :)
I never really tried any form of motorcycle riding so it may be hard for me to express my opinion without saying something a motorcycle rider would laugh at, but I will try!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all in the article you tried to explain how much two mentioned ways of riding differ. I must say that in this case I very much agree but since I havent tried any of those things, my way of thinking differs a bit.
How I see it, being in a city, wheter you just live in it or ride in it, may give us some sort of bounadry feeling. Its something we humans made and something we closed ourselves in.
So for example when you suddenly switch from normal motorcycle riding to off road I understand it must bring certain amount of freedom with it. Of course even outside you cant really do just anything (tree smacks most likely hurt) but its definitely more than in the city.
Best way I can relate to it is riding a bike in the forest which I did few times, plenty of space, nothing to bother you and yes I agree, you definitely -feel- you actually made some sort of effort while moving from place to place.
But regardless of that I suppose its still worth keeping in mind that even though there are no 'silly pedestrians' (Got to love those grannies running through on the red light!) there are still plenty of other dangers, wheter its a root covered by leaves, some sort of hole in the ground or....an angry squirell.
But hey, everything worth attention, wheter its sport or something else, carries its own risk with it. Doesnt mean we should sit at home and not try anything!
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I never tried riding a motorcycle, only a...hmm... how it's called in English...A motor-bike? It's a smaller version of a motorcycle with less fuel capacity and of course it's much slower. But the good part is that you can ride it without driving licence just like a normal bike. It's kinda like a scooter buy you sit on a saddle with your legs on both sides while on a scooter you have your legs in front of you.
ReplyDeleteAs for off-road it looks fun, I remember I had a friend who was doing it and used to get chased regularly by forest guards while riding in Kabacki forest. But apart from that I haven't really touch the subject. I'm not a big fan of motorisation and related sports. I guess mostly because I don't have the license. So maybe someday I will feel the same adrenaline rush that pump through your veins while speeding rapidly through uncharted, forest wilderness. But not today.
When I was a little girl, many times I had a repetitious dream: I was driving among cars and motorcycles, and it was very exciting and dangerous. I understand wonderful feeling that only speed and danger can give you. Also, I understand the satisfaction connected with physical effort and winning with your weakness. However, if I hear a sound of a motorbike in a forest, I could kill a rider ;-) I wonder if there are any places, where you can practice this sport and not violate nature...
ReplyDeleteFirst of all - good job!
ReplyDeleteI have some experience with motor-cycling because I own antique motorcycle. It's SHL 125, old Polish motorcycle produced in 1949 with leather seat. It's totally different thing comparing to off-road motor-cycling. This motorcycle doesn't achieve high speeds and can't ride off-road (it's hard without any shock absorber), but it looks and sounds unique. It's more like hobby, a really demanding hobby. Service job consumes quite much money and time. The satisfaction is really worth all this trouble.
I really believe off-road motor-cycling is very exciting, but if I try this kind of sport I will rather choose quad.
I have a rather miserable experience in riding on a motorcycle, but I'd rather ride on the roads.
ReplyDeleteWhen I go to the forest, the mountains, or other wilderness I do not want to hear noise and feel the engine exhaust.
I believe that riding a motorcycle gives a lot of satisfaction, but I prefer a bicycle;)
Never tried riding any two wheel vehicle with an engine. Though I'm sure it's quite a fun. I prefer my car but from time to time I play on my Iphone the game called MotoX Mayhem which is basically an arcade game about off road motorcycling. I'm really good at it, still must admit that proper balancing can be sometimes a challenging thing.
ReplyDeleteAnd definitely streets aren't good place for such sports - situation when a motorcycle suddenly out of nowhere appears in my rear or worse - side view mirror doesn't belong to my favourites.
I've never tried to ride a motorcycling before. I like them but I don't think it
ReplyDeletewould be a good idea for me to ride one becouse I like speed too much. But who know
maybe someday I will try it and I hope it wont be my last day ;].
I also never tried off road motorycling, I have driven motorcycle few times, but I have no licence, so it was only on local road. Few times I was passenger on sport motorcycle riding 160kmh through the city, it`s sick...
ReplyDeleteBut as others I used to ride mountain bike some years ago, even in real mountains and forest, yes it`s really fascinating. So I can suppose that motorcycling is as well.
I tried riding motorcycles off-road just because I wanted to try to ride any with engine of higher capacity but I didn't have driving licence for it so it was safer for others and easier for me to avoid police in forest:) I liked it but I didn't make driving licence for motorcycles, that's why I've chosen quad-bikes (you can drive them with car driving licence). I think it can give you extra adrenaline boost but I prefer to do it from time to time - when you do it too often it becomes boring.
ReplyDeleteI have to confess that I don't have even driving licence. For a question "why, how it's possible" I always answer that I don't have a talent in this case. Frankly speaking I have never tried to do it. Sometimes during my long, long journey to school, when I'm seating in crowded bus which don't really move due to a traffic jam, I imagine that I have no car, no bike but exactly the same, beautiful, fast and dangerous motorcycle as you show on the photo. OH how wonderful the world could be when you have such a great machine:)
ReplyDeleteI don't like motorcycling at all. It's very dangerous - in my opinion you have limited control over this machine, one bad move with big speed and you're propably dead. Besides, offroad motor's are very loud.
ReplyDeleteI have never tried riding a motorcycle, but I plan to get a driving licence for motorcycles. I am not interested in off-road cycles I would rather get it to commute since in Warsaw we have imposible traffic during the rush hours. Off road motorcycling looks fun, but for sure is very dangerous. I leave this sport for more experienced and fearless people.
ReplyDelete