Roadies vs GS’s

tj wrote:"Roadies vs GS's"

I would refrain from using 'Sandies' as I understand GS stands for 'Geen Sand'!!

I beg to differ

Pieter, is dit jy of die Captain wat daar ry????

This well-meaning banter between the tar-top and dirt-top riders is rather like the friendly rivalry between the Forwards and the Backs in the same rugby team.
Each thinks they have a better enjoyment of the game, but in fact they are each lost without the other and the game would be worse off if they had to play both positions on their own.

So...hou nou op met die geklets en gaan speel die blerrie game!

RIDE SAFE...

PS: The main reason I ride a GS is because it looks 'lekker' when it is dirty...

Baie nice pic Buffy! Mens kan ploeg met daai pig lyk dit my!

Wens ek kon so foto kry, deesdae se fietse ry nou bo-op die sand...

Richard H wrote:
PS: The main reason I ride a GS is because it looks 'lekker' when it is dirty...

The only water mine has seen since the Around Lesotho trip was on Sunday when I did the water crossing. And it will have its third dirt road ride on Monday before it goes in for a service and a wash.

Marnus wrote:Pieter, is dit jy of die Captain wat daar ry????

Natuurlik die Kaptein, eks gans te bang om so te ry

dakardrix wrote:Baie nice pic Buffy! Mens kan ploeg met daai pig lyk dit my!

Wens ek kon so foto kry, deesdae se fietse ry nou bo-op die sand...

Miskien moet jy net dieper en lekker sagte sand probeer. Ek is seker daai 800 sal ook kan ploeg....... Voor ek kon ploeg met my fiets moes ek natuurlik telkemale eers self ploeg en het verskeie vore in die sand gelos. Die geheim is die fotograaf op die regte plek en tyd

Tx, sal gaan diep sand en 'n fotograaf soek...

I have not had much chance to engage on any of the new threads on the forum. But here is my 2c worth. I have done a bit of off-roading when younger.

Personally i enjoy the tar much more as i like the steady feeling of the bike when touring and cornering at speed. Like to know when i scrape the footpeg i am in charge and can handle whatever comes my way, in a manner of speaking. It is much more confortable and even if a large % of our roads are not tarred i can still get where i want to - in comfort.

The dust being part of the GS/offroad scene will not work well with my dust allergies. So enjoy your offroading and all the scenery you get to that we dont - but then again we can see it on your photos.

For my fellow roadies - we enjoy our tar riding, for the off-roaders - enjoy your off-road riding - and somewhere we will meet for breakfast or a cold one at the next noggin.

Well put LeRoy.

Touché!

GSlady wrote:Touché!

Is that french for AH-TISHU!

The above categories are not really applicable.
GS = 'Gelaende-Strasse' i.e. both dirt and street
Therefore the GS is, by intention, by name and by design, a dual purpose bike intended to be ridden on both unpaved and tarred roads.
Those who ride both are GS'ers - not 'draadsitters'.
I challenge those who claim to be 'stofdonkies' to get from where they live to where they can ride dirt without touching a tar road surface...
...and riding on the shoulder of the road doesn't count!

See, the only real difference is the ratio of tar:dirt in the mix....?
A rider that rides paved roads only could be another name - a 'tar topper' perhaps.

Richard H wrote:A rider that rides paved roads only could be another name - a 'tar topper' perhaps.

...or black top rider.

tar....t?

Nah, this ratio thing I don't buy. GS is a great concept, but I did 'adventure riding' even when I was at school long before the BMW marketing guru's dreamt up the term.

GT's and LT's can also do gravel roads, yet you never hear about their ratios.

Why it is a pet topic for me is because of the tyre thing as well. The biggest rubbish is for example to say I ride 90% tar and 10% off-road, so now I must get a 90/10 tyre, such as the Battlewing. I tell you, those little grooves in the Battlewing or Anakee are pretty useless when you go off-road with a big bike.

It's the softness of the compound, pressure and skill/weight displacement that gives you more or less grip, you will feel barely any difference if you do the same with a slick tyre.

It is therefore not about the ratio, but more about what you do when you do go off-road. When I hit the gravel - especially when I do geocaching and I have no idea where the route of the day will take me - I want to have the grip as if I am 100% off-road.

So what I look for is an off-road/knobbly tyre that gives me the best longivity and grip on the tar without stopping to be a rock, sand and gravel gripper. I.e. a tyre that you will never see on a road bike, such as the Heidi or TKC80.

And that is the difference between a roadie and an adventure bike/person. The wonderful thing about a GS is that you can pick your spot on the scale somewhere between the two and slide towards the one or the other as you like.

Someone like Jamie will always feel too slow on any GS, and people like me have no desire to spend lots of time on the track, even if I enjoy it when I'm there. It does not mean I can't appreciate an S1000RR or Ducati 1098 or LT or a Harley and would love to have a spin on all of them, but the bike I want to live on is the 800GS (I lost my F, I saw yesterday..?)

And that's me and my taste. Not what BMW marketing prescribes for me. It just happens to overlap mostly with the GS lifestyle, and that's cool.

ps. I don't disagree with you Richard, just terminology... let's ride!

I think this is the test:

When you look at this pic, does it leave you cold ("sies, kyk hoe vuil!"), or are you opening Mapsource to look at how to get there... ?

Or if you look at this one, don't you wish you could do this?



AWESOME pic that MadnohB.

Sharkie wrote:Or if you look at this one, don't you wish you could do this?

Mmm, now let me think... it's like trying to tempt JZ with powersharing...

But a nice pic!

this Sharkman always has an "angle" on a subject.......and I think it might be a trap

would like to put on a brave face and score some points here but frankly that first picture definatley doesn't leave me cold...........it scares "die wit waks uit my uit" ..........not to say I would not attempt it (or at least try)............definately with no cameras around

Forget about the power sharing issue - not going to happen - but i think Jamie has summed it up nicely - that is one of the nicest things to see - a bike coming around a corner - foot pegs on the tar ???????. No further comment needed.

OK, ek is seker maar op n teerpad gebore, kon myself nog nie sover kry om op die grand te ry nie ... seker te bang ek gaan gly op die sand

Moet wel bieg dat toe ek die Kaap toer gedoen het en nie die Weskus grondpaaie van my roete kon doen nie, was ek nogals die M###-in, so n GS so handig gewees het .... Maybe as ek weer koop

Toe ek nog jonk en jukkerig was, was daar nie so 'n ding soos 'n 'dual purpose' fiets nie. Ek het op 'n plaas gebly en moes maar elke dag grondpad ry tot in die dorp.

Ek glo dat ek met enige fiets normale grondpad kan ry. Mens moet net grondvry hoogte, suspensie en bande in gedagte hou.

Met 'n padfiets moet 'n mens dan ook net meer versigtig wees want 'n klein 'mishap' kan baie kos.

Juis om hierdie rede het ek beide 'n K1200LT en 'n R1200GSA.

Ek is egter nie bang om met die LT grondpad te ry nie en het dit ook al verskeie kere gedoen om by my eindbestemming te kom.

Ek het 'n vriend wat met sy R1200RT met pillion, panniers en bagasie Hel toe is. Hy het die GS manne gelos terwyl hulle bande afblaas en solank die bier gaan koud hou. Kan selfs as ek soek nog die foto's ook insluit.

So, wat noem julle 'n LT,RT, ens. wat stofpad ry?

ChristoEngelbrecht wrote:

Met 'n padfiets moet 'n mens dan ook net meer versigtig wees want 'n klein 'mishap' kan baie kos.

Moenie 'n fout maak nie, enige GS wat val kan ook maar 'n lekker klompie kos! Maar ja, dis daai fairing goete wat seker lekker duur is?

Ek dink ook die GS Adventure is seker die beste toerfiets wat jy kan kry. Goeie windbeskerming, pakplek, lekker seat, regop sit, genoeg krag, klein voorwiel - so met padbande bly jy by die RT om die draaie... en off-road is hy ook half decent as jy hom kan hanteer...

So, wat noem julle 'n LT,RT, ens. wat stofpad ry?

... verdwaal?

Hey, hier’s ‘n verdwaalde een......raad asseblief.

Ek moet my F650cs (padfiets) of verkoop of dalk behou.....sal nog besluit daaroor. Hy kort egter ‘n nuwe agterband.
Wat van die idee dat ek “offroad” bande op die fiets sit en af en toe redelik mooierige grondpaaie na ‘n pel of twee toe ry (ek wil nie regtig ernstig “offroad” gaan nie).

Hierdie fiets het ook nie ‘n ketting nie maar ‘n “belt”. Kan hierdie tipe aandrywing stof hanteer?

JCM wrote:Hey, hier’s ‘n verdwaalde een......raad asseblief.

Ek moet my F650cs (padfiets) of verkoop of dalk behou.....sal nog besluit daaroor. Hy kort egter ‘n nuwe agterband.
Wat van die idee dat ek “offroad” bande op die fiets sit en af en toe redelik mooierige grondpaaie na ‘n pel of twee toe ry (ek wil nie regtig ernstig “offroad” gaan nie).

Hierdie fiets het ook nie ‘n ketting nie maar ‘n “belt”. Kan hierdie tipe aandrywing stof hanteer?

Ja, vir jou gaan Anakees werk, jy gaan mooi ry anyway so nie nodig om knobblies op te sit nie. Jy kan 'n Anakee by Just Bike Tyre kry vir so R1,000 en hulle hou redelik lank op 'n 650.

Die belt is nie 'n probleem vir 'mooi ry' nie - stof sal niks maak nie, dis meer die klippies wat dalk 'n probleem kan wees. Ons het gedink die 800GS gaan met 'n belt uitkom oorlat die 800S/ST 'n belt het, en ek sou hom so off-road gery het. Maar nou ja, dis juis as gevolg van die 'grit' en goed wat hy toe nou 'n ketting kry. So, dis iets om in gedagte te hou wanneer jy off-road ry, maar die ergste wat kan gebeur is dat 'n groterige klip dalk daar inspring en die belt afgooi - kan nie sien dat die belt sommer gaan breek nie, hulle is sterker as 'n ketting, hoor ek.

Moenie my quote nie, net 'n opinie!