Survival guide

ESSENTIAL SKILLS FOR ALL RIDERS

#8 Watch your weight

WHENEVER AN INTERESTING bike pops on my radar, I check out its weight. Whether you’re crossing Africa or weaving through a tailback, weight matters to all but the skilled few who can motocross a BMW K1600 with one hand on their hip. A motorcycle is a dynamic device and weight (and its distribution) directly affects response, especially at the extremes of speed or when surfaces become irregular. Less mass improves response and control.

Most riders appreciate this because, for us gravity-oppressed humans, excess weight is the enemy. Battling it consumes energy and stresses components, be they your joints and organs, or brakes and transmission.

Hop on a light bike – one that really is light, not just one that feels light for what it is – and the sense of agility is truly liberating because you’ve effectively reduced the irreducible effects of gravity. Along with reliability and economy (again, less mass needed on the road), for me weight trounces top speeds or acceleration times.

Usually what you lose with the pounds is comfort, but it’s a motorbike, not a Bentley. It staggers me that some quarter-ton adventure bikes are pitched and perceived as anything other than cushy tourers. I once crossed the Sahara with a guy on a BMW R80 loaded with junk (much like my first trip, then). Its charred remains are still there, at the point where he became too exhausted to ride. The same fear of lethal consequences led to Dakar bikes being limited to 450cc. These days, even laden with 34 litres of fuel a KTM Rally racer weighs less than a Yamaha MT-07 (er, though it does cost another £30k).

I’ve never been into big bikes, but I find myself ever more attracted to light machines. A long-range desert bike ready to roll under 200kg is an achievable goal and the 250cc CRFS, KLXS and WRS I’ve been riding lately come in well under that. Yes, they lose out on crowded European roads, but when you’re away from the crowds you find that speed doesn’t matter.

Performance improves year on year, but only occasionally do we see a chink of lightness at the end of the tunnel.

NEXT MONTH: Clive Rumbold from Motoscotland (www.motoscotland.com)

THIS MONTH’S GUIDE… Former dispatch rider Chris Scott is an expert on desert riding, and author of RIDE’S Book of the Year 2014, The Street Riding Years. Honda’s Africa Twin is a superb road bike, but at 232kg it’s far more physical than the 144kg...