Today’s edition of “it’s not the bike, it’s the rider” comes to us out of Queensland, Australia, from the Mary Valley Dirt Bike Riders club. It’s not any official club other than a group of friends who get together to go dirt bike riding on the weekends, and it’s obvious they’re a fun bunch. WARNING: THERE IS LANGUAGE IN THIS VIDEO THAT IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK. You might want to turn the volume down before you hit "play" if you are somewhere people do not regularly drop F-bombs.
GO PLAY IN THE DIRT
The more skilled riders wait for the newer ones, they’re supportive and super cheerful. That’s the way it should be in any riding group. These folks are so nice, there are folks in the video comments wanting to ride with them.
That’s not what caught our eye about this particular video, though. There’s a pack of dirt bikes rolling through some really impressive, gorgeous terrain, and it all starts with a hill climb. On a new Africa Twin. Yeah, one of those 1000cc Honda Adventure bikes that was never built to do the things these tiny dirt bikes are doing. The rider on that Africa Twin, though, is obviously skilled and rides it just as hard as anyone.
This is evidence that those enormous adventure bikes can ride dirt without too much of a problem, and it is the skill of the rider that is generally the limiting factor. When you’re attempting this sort of hard-core riding that involves steep dirt climbs and descents, and log-hopping, and water crossings, you definitely want a motorcycle that’s built to the task and not, say, a low-slung bagger with street tires on it. But if you’re a skilled dirt rider, you can pilot a relatively piggy adventure bike through some stuff with confidence.
The best way to learn all of these skills (and street skills, too) is to start out with a small dirt bike and build up slowly. Those of us with no dirt experience will not be able to pilot that Africa Twin the way our hero does throughout the entire video, tackling all kinds of dirt and water crossings and wheelies while he’s doing it. Impressive!
This video ought to inspire you to run out and get your hands on a tiny dirt bike. If this video doesn’t do it, maybe go watch some flat tracking. Dirt riding is super fun and teaches us skills that carry over to street riding while keeping all the consequences relatively low.
Source: YouTube