Adventure Rider Training

There's lots of us out there riding around on 'older' hardware and that's a good thing. My motto is Re-use, Repair then Recycle. For those of us with bikes in the 10-15 year old mark will no doubt experience the odd 'consumable' failure. One such incident that happened recently to me was more than a little rattling, pardon the almost pun.

Trundling along my favourite route from the hinterland where I live to the coast the other day I approached a corner (on the dirt naturally) and went for 1 finger of front brake just to wash of a little momentum, as you do. I curled my index finger around the lever and began to squeeze.....and squeeze...only to be met by a minimal amount of resistance that diminished with every millimetre the lever moved toward the grip!! Eventually the level and the grip caressed in a Bonnie and Clyde type of way, finding pleasure not only in their proximity to each other but also in the look of anguish on the face of their hapless victim IE me! As you know all this happened in about 5/10ths of a second and my cat like reflexes kicked in and I compensated with the rear brake. I was immensely satisfied to feel a good solid pedal much like a manly handshake in its presence.

I rolled to a stop just around the corner in a safe spot and began my search for the reason behind my squishy plumb like front stopper. There was nothing obvious to see. The reservoir was full and clear, there was no fluid leaking anywhere and if the lever was 'grabbed' instead of 'squeezed, there was momentary resistance or 'pedal' as the car monkeys' would say. However regardless of the action, if pressure was applied consistently, Bonnie and Clyde caressed again. Very puzzling. I assumed that there was one of two things going on. Firstly, there must be some air getting in and causing the spongy action OR Secondly, there could be some bypass happening in the master cylinder and venting back into the reservoir. In either case, no fluid loss to the outside world.

There is more Adventure/Dual Sport 'presence' in the manufacturers sector than the media/user sector. There are a number of Dirt/Moto mags covering the segment and thats great, but for those looking to get into Adventure riding and are looking for advice on basic stuff like what bike, what safety gear etc, there is not that much available. Particularly if your not involved 'socialy' with those in the know. Sure you could go and chat to your local bike retailer and if your really lucky you might find an unbiased opinion. That would be great but in my experience that would be rare. You will just get 'sold' a product that may or may not be right for you.

On the other hand the detailed 'Rides' and "Reviews' that you will find in the mags are probably too far in the opposite direction. In the Dirt mags' you'll get some hard core Enduro or MX rider telling you what the bike(s) will or won't do in relation to a purpose built machine with a narrow focus on life. A similar story from the Sport/Street/Tourer guys in the other mags. "Yeah it's good on the dirt (read well maintained trafficked dirt road) but is lacking the Suspension/ Power/ Luggage options of a bitumen beast. Now I don't want to sound scathing of the journos, I know a few, are an avid fan of many and have great respect for their abilities in their chosen niche and with a word processor. However, the Adventure segment is really in its infancy as was the 4WD segment until the 'Grey Nomads' came along and started the whole thing off. Sure "Ruthy' and the 4WD Action type guys were telling the converts what articulation kit was great for rock hopping and rut crossing and what recovery gear to use in the Simpson but the Nomads were in the middle ground. Not on the extreme ends. Well I see the potential owners of Tigers, GS's, VStroms etc in the same place as the 'Greys' of 15 years ago.