Is adventure riding just 'golf' for old dirt riders?︱Cross Training Adventure

I'm 61 and right into it after riding dirt bikes since 15. Honda XR650L

Since getting back to riding after almost 30 years with no bike i have now seen more of Tasmania in the last 3 years than before 😁👌
have had a F650gs then went and got a DR650 beast but due to illness and other crap sadly have sold both bikes and now ride a old TTR250 and can now still do long rides and single track with out any ware NEAR the pain AND know that i can still lift the bike when i do drop it 🤣🤣
Must say i am LOVING the light little TTR250 😁 but some times i might miss a little bit more power 😉👍
keep well mate 😎🍺
PS for those thinking that they are going to do the ADV thing when retired THINK AGAIN do it NOW as like me crap happens and you might not get to enjoy it 😣🤨

We used to ride 45kms to a street of bars for golfers. At first i thought WTF am i going there for?
....and then they locked the door, someone rang the bell and the clothes came off.
Ban Chang, i remember them when i look up at the night sky.

WAIT!?!?!
Who says adventure riding is for old guys? I'm 26 and picked up an 89 transalp last year. I'm having way more fun than racing harescrambles now. No more pushing it to the limit just chasing that next horizon.

At 72 I’ve been dreading the thought of giving up my dirt bikes.

I'm 40. I started dirt bike riding at 39. There is no way I intend to quit this sport any time soon. Keep the massive grandpa bike guys for the next decade or so.
I'll check back with you later.

After 30 years without owning a motorcycle, I discovered that adv riding existed a few years ago, while trying to get back into dirt bikes. Screw golf!!, and I used to run a golf course. Now, in addition to becoming obsessed with riding adv as much as possible, you chuckle heads have made me obsessed with obtaining a Beta or any 2-stroke, and heading out to crawl up mountain tracks. I guess my transformation is going backwards! I am going to be Grizz-bait for sure.......

My motogolf handicap is ... KLR?

The answer is no. There are older people who still play hockey in the various leagues here in Canada. Not pro but playing in a league none the less.
No one makes fun of them for doing so. Same thing applies to riding.

So how do we calculate handicap? CC? Number of Strokes? IQ?

Golf represents giving up on life itself! Lol 🤣

Humorous and true ~ thank you.

I just don't feel like working that hard for it anymore. Its the most efficient way to explore, just not as deep. Thanks for the video mate!

Enjoy your videos. 40 year road rider, added dual sports 10 years ago on 250s. Just got a 1200GS LC, cool for me and the long rear travel is best for 2 up camping without GoldWing feel. At 64 still will do dual sports on a 250 w knobbies but won't take my GS in many deep gulleys, either along or across, with or without water. Dirt with Michelin Adventure tires, maybe never knobbies on the GS, we'll see.

59 years old. Started riding at 13. Never stopped. Just got an ADV Bike and slowed down.

So true.

Wheres the auzzie fella

Im trying hard to keep riding my Rm250 but after just breaking my wrist 6months ago and now my left foot 2 weeks ago. Im thinking I need to stop doing the hard stuff and enjoy my SUPER ENDURO more, on less extreme tracks !! Adventure riding is so appealing right now while on Endone 😂😂

Far too many work-related injuries to be knocked around on a dirtbike. riding a Dual sport is that happy medium.

Im playing dirtbike golf for long adventure rides. but I still have my dirtbike for the really tricky stuff that I think is more fun.. But they are both fun just in different ways.. I would not put bags (golf equipment) on a dirtbike that would take away the dirtbikeness.
husky 701 and TE300i is the perfect combination for me. 10/10 would recommend.

hey i ride a KTM500exc . KTM 250exc 2 banger and yamaha TW200 , all lic for on road but ride as much off road as i can on all 3 bikes , just turned 62 , just get out and ride !!! .cheers steve/Australia

I started playing "golf" at like 29, best decision I made in my motorcycle career. Sold my k1200rs and xr650r (xr I should have kept) and got the 1200 gsa (a fine bike but boring and slow as frick), then I immediately got an 1190r, more smiles on my stupid face with that beast than I can count. I am selling her today after like 5 years, a very hard day for me today. But I will get probably get a 950 or Dr or xr650l

Golf is just 'flog' spelled backwards and at best, a good walk spoiled.
Missing the cup with a six inch putt can wreck your day whereas a 1st gear stall and fall can provide campfire entertainment for years.
Started riding road bikes in 1983. After riding the Oodnadatta Track with wife and full gear on a Honda CB750 in early nineties, I bought a well used ZL Tenere.
I tricked up the suspension and got an extra pair of wheels. Used her for commuting, trail riding, touring on all roads and the occasional big adventure.
These days, I have my Brazen Hussy (berg) for playing silly buggers but my main bike is the two wheel equivalent of the unbreakable Hilux; a tricked up DR650.
Living in the bush, just getting to and from the supermarket is a joy. Maybe fast; maybe slow but I never tire of bopping along, standing up for a better view and letting the scenery soak in.
60 is a nice cruising speed, not old age.

... Gees, since taking up dirt biker golf I still manage to rack up the injuries, is that because I'm an Aussie or I like to push my old 640ADV just as hard a the smaller bikes I' own.
I bet Barry is enjoying the Aussie comment :-)

Great vid as usual, could you please share with us your video setup?

As a gray hair / no hair (turned 60 this year), I've become more aware of the fact that "old guys don't bounce well". Apply a bit of risk management and you end up riding adventure/dual sport. You get to play in the dirt. Less trips to the ER. Scratch that travel itch. Still riding with your friends. It's all good, just different. And you can still try the odd hill climb or follow a trail into the woods should you feel a bit frisky.

I have not succumbed to riding an adventure bike as of yet, mostly because of the cost. But my street bike is on its way out. I once enjoyed single track riding but being near 70 that is getting to be too hard on me. Even if I don’t fall that much. It takes me too long just to recover. Double track is enough to get me out into the woods and feel the breeze and explore a bit. Thankful to ride at all. Golf seems pointless. You can spend a day chasing a tiny ball and still end up with any thing but a walk in the grass.

A big adventure bike and the slower pace just fits me better than riding at suicide speeds blindly down a single track hoping not to end up eating a tree or flip over a rock. It's more technical skill than twist and pray. I bought a used Honda, ran trails with it for about four months, said screw it, and short sold it. Used the cash to buy a second set of rims and knobbies for my BMW. I just don't see the appeal of what feels like the dirt version of squiding down a trail. /shrug Yeah, I do stupid stuff on an R1250GSA, wheelies, fording, bombing down river bottom sand bars, and whatnot. It's not the same, it feels more mellow. I'm a mellow sort of dude.

I only read the title, and the answer is yes. Or it might be bowling? 🤔

Meh....I love hard enduro and I also enjoy golf occasionally. At 46 there’s room for both in my life. Competitiveness and perfection of techniques are critical in both.

That's IT!!

In my 20’s and 30’s it was all about motocross and enduro bikes, in my 40’s and 50’s it switched to dual sports, now that I’m in my 60’s it’s “adventure” bikes, because there’s not enough ACE bandages, knee and back braces to hold my battered body together to go crashing through the woods any more 🤪👍.

Hi most entertaining video if I may say so. I don't take it seriously however many a true word has been said in jest. You are a smart cookie to put a video like that together now check mine out, I'm 73 this June and punch an Africa twin anywhere you'd like to put it. Stay upright and watch hm who's balls you wash

Sold my golf clubs when I purchased a dirt bike.

I just don't consider myself old yet and until I do I highly doubt I would pick up golf (biker "golf" or actual golf). In fact, I will never pick up golf. Period. Exclamation mark. Heck, I can't even hit the toilet much less a little can in the ground! To be fair, I suck and mini golf and I have never ridden on the road...just scares the shat out of me. I've pulled out in front of bikers and I am always looking for them...what about the other part of the population that doesn't seem to give a damn? Now riding a dirt bike on a golf course, that's another thing! When I was a kid I may or may not have personally known someone who rode on a golf course. That would be wrong if that hypothetical situation ever did occur but it was a blast...or I mean I heard it was a blast.

Adventure bikes are like diapers - they serve best in the beginning and in the end.

After road bike (and an accident) in my twenties I went to adventure bikes and became pretty fast with that 100hp sliding corners far away from home .. Then came the kids & house & being busy all the time etc .. Started thinkin' I might seriously hurt myself riding too fast on trails & back roads .. Now in my forties perfect time for trials & technical enduro, only need a big rock and half hour to hurt yourself and go back home with kids.. In hard enduro races kids can easily watch as they move faster than I ..

Next? I don't know, I thought the trials bike would be the one to ride when can't lift leg high enough to get onto enduro bike but maybe it shall be an adventure again - but for sure it will never be the 'gs' type adventure for me

I bought a baby GS for my 60th birthday for all the reasons you mentioned, but I can't convince myself to think of it as golf. Blech.

Ive got one arm shorter than the other, it works well on anti clockwise trails and left hand berms, and recently part exchanged the wife for another enduro bike, What is golf - and was it around in the 80s?

Hey man, just picked up my DR650 from Brisbane, meet Wyatt From FFRC ( he’s good mates with Steve, whom I bought the DR off of ) probably the nicest bloke I’ve ever meet, humble, but knows his shit inside out, I did 100km on the suspension, faaaaarkin beautiful! The sergeant seat I’ve got on it probably made it that little bit smoother, but man, that suspension! Heard the scuttlebug about a future vid you might be putting out, that’s great man. I reckon that’s an awesome idea. Keep up the great vids man. Ill see you when I circumnavigate Australia.
Hailz legend.

The tipping point was driving 1 hour to then gear up unload and ride 6 hours of same trails then load up, gear off drive home punished from the heat jungle singles ,then the T7 came along end of story at 52 it just makes me smile drifting around dirt back road or ripping down a fire break or farmers trail exploring deeper into forests with 320klm fuel range ,

Dallas: that brings it all into perspective...And yes, at my "advanced" age...I did buy an ADV bike. But still riding my DB, pending the next injury!

Thankfully you didn't say aging dirt bike riders should turn into Harley Dudes, puke-puke.
There is a variance to your premise though. As I got older I went from being a 1200gs adventure rider to a dirt bike rider. I road four times to Alaska, twice solo, before I ever got a dirt bike. For me, as I got older, I wanted my bikes to be exponentially lighter. I am now seriously considering trading my X-Trainer for an E-Start TRS X-Track. I would love to ride to Alaska again but its far less stressful to put my dirt bike on my bumper rack and head to a trail.

longboarding as opposed to regular skateboarding feels like another solid metaphor

I ride adventure bikes anywhere and my wife is a nurse..... my bases are covered 👌🏍🎥😂

Age 45, sold my xt660r and bought myself an older gasgas 200 2-stroker, street legal. Fun as hell, but according to the ball&chain I'm an idiot and should have swapped it for a comfy chair at my age. Tried golf once though, sucked, couldn't wheelie the golf cart.

This idea hits very close to home. I’m 49 and have been riding trails pretty hard for 12 years, with several ER visits. In Sept 2020 I wrecked on my KTM 500 exc very hard and broke 8 ribs, broke my scapula, punctured my lung, and lacerated my spleen. 4 months later, I bought an 890 Adventure R, for all those reasons mentioned in this video. I love my new bike, but not ready to throw in the towel on trail riding yet. At least not for another 2-3 hospital visits.

About a decade ago, Malcom Smith had a bad crash and got busted up pretty bad. Upon reflection, Malcolm said he realized he needed to: "start riding his age." Since Malcolm is a much better rider than I'll every be, I decided to take his advice and "start riding my age." Adv riding allows me to still have fun on two wheels while riding my age (66).

Walking 18 holes with a golf bag on my back is often more taxing for me than a casual ride of same amount of time. 🥵

There a 70+ class out here in our local desert scene. Some of them are still fast.