Charley Boorman's off-road tips on the 08 R1200GS

[AlucardNosferatu666]

@DeBalaguer Yes with the additionnal tank from Touratech :o)

[Robertmartin333]

HI,

I've been speaking to alot of people who say they've done alot of off roading on various motorbikes and most of the say that it isn't good to have ABS on the bike you use but none of them give a solid reason why. Could someone help me with this?

Many Thanks

[FilozofXX]

@Robertmartin333

The problem riding off road with ABS is, that sometimes you need the fraction that you get out of a blocked rear tire to better stop. For example driving on a very loose gravel, you can not achieve that with ABS.

The second probelm driving off road with ABS is that computer is to slow when recharging the hydraulics presure, so you get as a result a lot of extreme fading. Again on very loose ground...

Altought most of bikes, over the option to turn ABS off...

[EDWARDBASTARDHITLER]

i prefer the old air cooled ones;these ones look lardy

[buzzkillor]

@DeBalaguer yea, I figured they'd have less payload, but looked it up.. not the case. You can't beat the r1200 on the highway and they were on highway for a few thousand miles, but smaller is usually nicer off road. Which they never hit in long way down.

For long way down though, they didn't even use off road tyres, so how bad was it really? Long way round, well.. some of that was horrendous country. But the f800 hadn't been conceived and its KTM version was not used.



[mandavan4eg]

Best bike ever built.

Ignore LatiTea18. That MF is a KTM dealer for sure. )))

[gtrumpnc]

"If ya ain't crashin', ya ain't tryin'."

This man speaks truth.

[alicanka]

I don't care if ktm is better,,,, I'm a big fella, long legs, tall man, ktm do not afford me, I look like a camel on a mule on ktm. BMW is biiiiiig, I feel that I'm smaller on it.... The shape of bmw is also nicer.... Best regards to u all.... :)

[TheJarl7]

how to ride''..in a 0:58 vidio his next is how to win in poker 0:15 xD

[upT3mpo]

So, stand up, and crash. Cheers.

[joss885]

Prickarse

[chuffer76]

Thanks for that Charlie, loads of info there. What happens though when I fall off? Oh..OK, the support van with the mechanic and the doctor and the fat PR man comes to my rescue....candy ass magic wallet arsehole. I took my 1991 Honda C90 from London to Saigon and back on my own, beat that.

[000snow000]

@chuffer76 Charley's a whole lot more fun that you are. beat that.

[chuffer76]

@000snow000 that's not what your mum said.

[000snow000]

@chuffer76 oh I see, you're 12

[chuffer76]

@000snow000 of course I am, judging by your first comment I figured you were also 12?

[gyrate4]

He's a very good biker.

[leftystrat62]

"if ya ain't crashin' ya ain't tryin",man I must be trying real hard!

[PaleHearse]

@leftystrat62

The consolation is that the BMW GS with the R motor looks better on it's side then any bike in history. Friend of mine and I were going through sand and gravel on a tight road up to an old ghost town. We were loaded for camping and spent a good deal of time helping each other up. On one sympathetic go down, I went over to help his bike up first and he looks back and says.. "It's just not fair.. your bike never looks completely crashed..". Great bikes these big Beemers.

[j25ack]

800 is not so light...also has a chain and comes with tubed tires

[jprmovie]

That thing is way too big to take off road.

[martinsplitek]

Wake up man. This is a best offroad bike on this planet.

[PaleHearse]

@jprmovie

First.. how do you describe a "road".. second.. at what speed? It's not a dirt bike mate.. it's a fuel injected pack mule with knobby tires. It's got more in common with a gold wing then a dirt bike.

I can't think of a better touring bike.. it's arguably the best touring bike design ever conceived of. I put an 11gal gas tank and 2 huge zega bags on the ones I've owned/own and just ride.. ride.. ride.

But everyone gravitates to the bikes that do what they need them to do.

[LatiTea18]

GS 1200 ADV - expencive parts, powerless and very heavy for off road I drive it for 2 years with 28.000km...

This year I bought KTM 990 ADV and KTM is much better bike for everyting.

[OberonScott]

WTF LatiTea18??

It seems you've posted the same BS bmw bashing comment on every gs video on youtube,

[callmebobownes]

not for the long distances they had to cover, the GSA holds almost 9 gallons of gas, the f800 holds 6 meby

[simon44]

@callmebobownes The F800GS does 55mpg whereas the 1200GS only does 44mpg so there wouldnt be that much of a difference. I'm sure you could always add or fit a larger tank anyway.

[wwwNooBcom]

There was a mssive debate on many forums as to why ktm pulled out of the long way round, and the general thought and feeling was that ktm themself thought that there bikes couldnt take the abuse, and that kind of coverage on a massive tv show would have givin them a real bad image

[noham4me]

that was terrible....

[tazadecafeporfavor]

It was Charley that wanted the KTMs, Ewan (obviously being the more tasteful of the two) wanted the beamers from the start.

[punky2627]

Charley,when is your LONG WAY UP's start??

[tirimut]

Won't be soon."By any means 2" was announced some time ago,so sadly we'll have to wait for LWU.

[simon44]

By any means wasnt half as good sadly.

[ThUmPeRz88]

lol they wanted the ktm's and were gutted when they couldnt get them!

[drewfuspx]

Heh, course if you watch the rest of the series they talk about how the KTM's never would have taken what they threw at them.

[ThUmPeRz88]

obv there gonna say tht tho aint they?! there not gona sit there whilse beeing sponserd by BMW and say ohhh yeaa them KTM's would of been soo much better lol think about it.. i saw the episode when they test drove both and they both prefered the KTM.

[drewfuspx]

I can see your point, bmw prolly wouldn't have been stoked for them to say this was our second choice. Ewan I think always had a soft spot for the BMW but deferred to Charlies opinion because of his much greater offroad experience. But your right they might be biased at this point.

[Slameagle]

When climbing up the hill, lean forward...

[thekilo23]

check out "ewan & thingy " on you tube

[garypollock]

You Pussys have to do some miles on a bike like this no one else makes a bike that does this job i just rode one round Australia 31000km one oil change now bramas

[shedhead40]

bow down charley and ewan;; sjaak Lucassen the real deal

[markusTuube]

what GREAT NEWS :-)

oh my good please go back to Hollywood......

what a crap...... a GS is too heavy guys anyway...

dream on your support freaks

[ikkeennigij121]

with what types did ewan and charlie ride arround the world?

[306Ian]

think it was the BMW R1200 GS

[Kyle592]

Wrong!!!

BMW R1150GS Adventure

[pmb79]

Wrong!!!

BMW R1200 GS Adventures.

[Kyle592]

Wrong again, go look it up on wikipedia, then you can come back and apologise and grovel at my feet. The R1200 GS wasn't even out when they went around the world, tit.

[pmb79]

The R1200 has been out for years! Wikipedia isn't always right. DICK!!!

[Kyle592]

Right then, if wikipedia isn't right, then how come on the official long way round website they have the BMW R 1150 GS Adventure listed as the bike they used. Hmmmmm, maybe they don't know what they are on about.

Oh and the BMW 1200 GS Adventure came out in 2006 ;). Tosser, I shall wait your pathetic reply.

[pmb79]

you retard! this is the 'LONG WAY DOWN' not the long way 'round'! different year, different bikes!!! check out there new website, pathetic tosser your years behind!

[Kyle592]

Oh deary me, you didn't read the original question. He asked, what did they ride AROUND the world. Fucking idiot.

[pmb79]

is that your reply! and then read what you said, you really are ignorant!

[Kyle592]

Your obviously not reading what's been posted. I shall quote, "kkeennigij121 (1 month ago) with what types did ewan and charlie ride arround the world? "

Read it and weep.

[pmb79]

to the wankers giving him shit, go do a Dakar rally then comment or stay on your couch and shut up!

[shedhead40]

most peaple on here are workin class with a family to support on a crap wage at that; do a daka stop talkin shit

[pmb79]

what was the point of saying that? and thanks for replying to my comment 'the wankers on here!'

[thekeg23]

In Boorman`s latest show he`s described as an "ADVENTURER" , don`t make me laugh , this guy couldn`t go for a shit without a team to organise it for him

[SuemooGrowl]

Right, so he hasn't been riding on his own for years before doing BBC shows then? Moron, why dya think they asked him to do it? Cause he's got experience. Dya think he just sits at home waiting for a call in between shows? No, he's out riding and having fun, cos he's a biker... thats what we do. You're just jealous that he gets to do this stuff and you sit at your computer n whinge like a saddo

[thekeg23]

hey Suemogrowl (Homogrowl more like) what`s wrong faggot? did i disrespect your boyfriend Charlie? how many times a day do you jerk off to Charlie on his big poofy bmw ,go and get a bike yourself fuckwit

[Geraint3000]

Why did they ask Charlie? Because he's got a famous daddy and a famous friend. Britain's got talent...

[GrosJeanBon]

Wrong bike for offroad. Many people have wrong priorities by putting power first. What matters first if weight (light) of the bike, which you need to be able to control as easily as a bicycle.

It's obvious the bike is too heavy as he cannot ride it standing but has to seat.

Why not use a Goldwing or an Harley?

What you need for easy offroad is 250-400 cc bike with heavy suspensions, high and thin frame and 100-115kg max...

[SuemooGrowl]

You can offroad on anything... alright maybe not a 'Wing cos thats a freaking bus, but with enough skill you can offroad any bike you want. But your specifications do indeed make it easier, but who wants easy? Easy is boring. Like he said: if ya aint crashing you aint tryin lol its more fun if you're trying very hard not to die

[User120000]

Light is indeed better for off-raoding, but keep in mind that they were very heavily packed and had very steep parts to overcome... I don't know if a 250cc would have been able to pull all that luggage up there...

Also on the Long Way Round they suffered numerous times with broken frames, so using even lighter and thinner frames probably would have been catastropic :/

[EverywhereVirtually]

the problem is they had way too much gear! Every item should have more than one use. In warm climes you only need a bivvy + mozzy net. A stove can use the petrol that you are already carrying. Use a half sized sleeping mat. Make sure that the clothes you take fills no more than a plastic bag. Freight your spares on to DHL locations on your route. It's also worth considering that you can very easily break your legs if metal panniers catch you as you are paddling through a tricky off road section

[deelee74]

I always wondered what BMW thought about the Long Way Round series. I mean, it was huge publicity for them and they sold a ton of GS's after that, but it also showed just how easy their indestructible bike could be destroyed.

When I spend $20K on a bike, I don't want to have to worry about the frame breaking, even if I am riding over the world's harshest terrain.

[yamfazer2006]

Charlie Boorman is a true biker,his love for motorcycles and good friendship shows this.

[Ginaza]

THE BLOKES A FUCKING NO MARK CUNT!

[Geraint3000]

Sorry Ginaza. He's not a cunt. He's a fucking trustafarian CUNT

[twoplanker44]

and this is a bad thing?

[thekeg23]

Ginaza`s absolutely fucking right, the guy got work in films because of who his dad is...and now he`s got a career on the back of who his boyfriend(sorry chum) is

[relfybaby]

Whys is everyone argueing bout if charlie is hard or not? He's just giving some tips man, you dont have to be the best to do that. He's done enough to know what he's talking about. Ride Safe.

[robbo5451]

Charlie's OK. But he ain't no superstar on a bike. I've ridden my GS around the outside of R1s and kept the front wheel in the air for five miles - including bends! Let's see you do that, Charlie.

[NomadGSA]

Ooooh and that makes you a 'superstar on a bike' does it...? Makes you something else in my book....

Each to their own I suppose...

Ride safe...

[robbo5451]

Listen grandad, you ride your Yamaha Virago any which way on your Sunday apres-polishing-session ride-out. But don't go all nanny state on me and tell me how to ride my bike. I wouldn't mind betting that you keep your socks on while servicing the missus!

[NomadGSA]

You really are a 'superstar on a bike' and I'll have to open up another chapter for you.

Nothing to do with being all nanny state- it's to do with being a good rider and or complete twat on the road...

Ride safe and good luck to you...

[pmb79]

dont talk about it, lets see you do it!!!

[manugrancanaria]

donde está ewan mcgregor ?

[sgtcht92]

good advice. love the theory: "if you aint crashing, you aint trying" lol

[Busabug]

The more of his chapters I read and videos I watch the more he comes across as a prat.

[AroonR6]

I disagree. :)

[Busabug]

Really? All he ever does is say "Fark!" and stress. Like to see him complete one ride out of the UK without a support crew and someone up ahead booking hotel rooms.

[AroonR6]

I dunno...I'm sure he's not as hard as say, Ted Simon, but I bet he's a good bit harder than most other UK riders! Just picking up that GS is a bitch! I've dropped my bike before, and its usually the worst part of my day...Charley and esp Ewan drop theirs all the time...couple that w/ little sleep, sand, hot weather, etc., and I'm sure that ur life (and mine) is still more comfy than theirs was during LWD! :P

[Busabug]

"and I'm sure that ur life (and mine) is still more comfy than theirs was during LWD! :P " You gotta be kidding me? They take a few weeks holiday a year to ride bikes from their normal jetset life style? Meanwhile I'm saving for a new rear shock on my KLR preperation for a ride across the Simpson Desert to Alice where I have to carry all my own water and fuel. Yeah they have it real tough. LMAO

[AroonR6]

hmmm okay...well MOST bikers' lives then...

and when I say "lives" I just mean during period when Charley and Ewan are actually riding. I live in Toronto, Canada and I know that most bikers I know have never even been out of the city, AND they view rain like its some sort of poisonous material dropping from the sky! Sooo yeah, I mean, CHarley and Ewan are like, I dunno, well much harder than the avg Cdn biker from wat i can tell!

[Sunfire12R]

What's a "prat"?

[mungo46]

4 days in the Dakar...mmmmm why not get Si Pavey to show his big skills off road?

[mungo46]

ejit

[dylanpenhale]

Why? He's done more off road than most, he should know what he's talking about.

[AroonR6]

agreed!

[buzzkillor]

@dylanpenhale well.. doing it isn't necessarily doing it the best way. Personal trial and error can only bring you so far. The second show he was much more adept at riding (though DUDE, lay off the stupid wheelies!) the first one their lack of rough road and offroad skill was showing. But the bikes were grossly overloaded and they were likely exhausted all the time.