On October 16th, I had the opportunity to ride my 1200 GS Adventure in the Scrub Pines Enduro in New Jersey. I joined twelve other adventure bike riders who registered to compete in one of two exhibition big bike classes – 600-1000cc or 1000+cc. These time keeping events are typically reserved for the smaller, more athletic brethren bikes, but Jack O’Connor (a.k.a. “Jack Splash” on advrider.com) had a great idea to work with the Ocean County Competition Riders club president Rocky Spano to invite the pigs to come out and play.
Jack created and coordinated the big bike route at the event. The course included several challenging single-track sections that tested our ability to negotiate tightly wooded and sandy terrain (video from event). Everyone completed the course successfully and had a great time doing it, which begs the question, “Why don’t more clubs across the country add big bike classes to their enduro events?”
For those less familiar with what it means to compete in an enduro (which was me about three weeks ago), I want to differentiate an enduro from a rally race. An enduro is a thinking person’s race that focuses on motorcycle finesse over a long period of time. Both event types test a rider’s ability to navigate the course and handle various obstacles, but the difference lies in how time is handled. An off-road rally is a race for the fastest time from start to finish, whereas an enduro tests the rider’s ability to keep to a predetermined schedule (arriving early or late to a check point will cost you points). Please note there is a difference between rally racing and similarly named rally gatherings, which is widely used to also describe non-competitive events where riders gather to socialize and ride more casually.
A big barrier to acceptance is the misconception that adventure bikes can’t handle the off-road terrain. Few people understand the capabilities of our machines, including some owners. In the U.S., we are a fairly small, but growing, rider community with very little exposure outside of the inner circle. We are caught between the clubs that cater to the road tourers and ones that serve the off-road riders. Adventure riders are underrepresented and we fly under the radar when we do ride off-road (chalk it up to having a quiet exhaust).
Without a doubt there are some things pigs can’t do well but that can usually be overcome through careful course planning, teamwork amongst the competitors, or simply adding a section bypass. Dropping an adventure bike more than once can really start to fatigue a rider and recovering a bike stuck on a log, buried in deep sand or mud, or caught between some big rocks can sometimes be more than what an individual can realistically overcome. So I propose that the new adventure bike class be set up with competitors riding the course in two-person teams, each on their own machine but riding together (most useful when some man-handling is required to clear special tests and tougher sections). This idea is not too different than the BMW GS Challenge but could make competitive adventure riding more accessible to the riding community and could create a feeder series to help discover the best competitive adventure riders.
Adventure riding is not a “when in doubt, gas out” style of riding. It takes incredible skill and patience to finesse the machine through a variety of rough terrain. Enduros provide an opportunity to test those skills in a format that is already widely used across the country. It wouldn’t take much to modify the rules and the events to accommodate adventure bikes. So if you agree that enduros provide a great opportunity for expanding the sport of competitive adventure riding, here’s your call to action:
- Reach out to your AMA district representative and share your interest in creating the new enduro class for adventure bikes. Every year the AMA congress reviews proposals that could amend the rule book for the following season. We can aim to have the adventure bike class officially added as a competition class in the rule book for the 2013 season.
- Get involved locally. Work with event organizers in your area to add and promote the new big bike class concept. Help them plan the course and spread the word through forums like advrider.com or other social networking sites like Facebook. This would make the case to the AMA more compelling by showing that it can work and there is sufficient interest in the sport.
- Share this information with other riders and ask them to get involved.
It doesn’t take much to get this going but we have to reach out to the organizations sponsoring these events and express our interest in participating. They provide great riding opportunities with the added benefit of bragging rights.
What are your thoughts on the subject? Please comment on this post and share why you think this is a good or bad idea.
Very nice write up. It was a great event and I hope Jack is able to do it next year. I was surprised on how well the R-GS’s were able to go through the tight stuff.
Being one of the tweleve riders in this event, i agree. It was a great event to showcase the ability of these bikes, and i am all for helping promote this to other clubs.
With a growing number of of trails being posted with no trespassing signs
over the years – riding enduros has alot of merit.
The fact that some enduro groups are recognizing large bikes, is great!
With the growth in the adventure market, it makes perfect sense to grow along
with it by offering up this class.
Thanks for laying out a course for the big bikes that isn’t just a gravel road. And here’s to all the heavyweights that braved it!
OCCR (Ocean County Competition Riders) is one of many motorcycle clubs in the area, and is the club that organized the Scrub Pine Enduro.
Joshua mentions getting involved locally, the best way to do that is joining a club. Clubs could use the members and its a great way to have your voice heard, and meet other local members who have the same interest.
Having ridden years ago in all types of competitive dirt forms and now on my 5 Th big dualie , your crazy.
Great idea, but it’s the weight of the machine. inevitably a bike is dropped, and a much greater chance of injury is present with trying to ” save” it all the way to eating dirt, or rocks. Bet the AMA will look at that potential. Remember the typical age of an ADV rider, when was the last time he strained himself doing things easily accomplished 10 yrs ago? Like I say a good idea but at least there would have to be a maximum bike weight to compete.
I disagree about a weight limit on bikes. If someone is willing to suffer through, riding a hardtail with street tires, I say let ‘em. You just gotta make the waiver clear, “YOU are responsible for retrieval of your own machine. Should you manage to get into a situation that you cannot extract by your self, you must get clear of the course until the rest of the field has passed. At that point you may return with assistance to continue extraction of your vehicle.”
Off road riding is a chance to test your limits and those of your machine. It’s also inherently dangerous, regardless of what bike you ride. And blanket statements like “when was the last time he strained himself doing things easily accomplished 10 yrs ago?” are just plain silly. Age does not define one’s physical ability nor riding ability. In fact, some of the best riders on ANY enduro course are the older ones. Why? Experience pays dividends like no other skill set.
Understanding that the big bikes present a bit of a problem if a rider gets in over his/her head, It may become necessary to establish some kind of testing beyond the normal written ECEA exam.
Just my opinion, but it’s the right one. ;’)
I think its a great idea. Dropping the large bike is a “big” issue, and as Josh discussed in the article, running the route in pairs would help to overcome that. You can break a leg on a small bike just as easily as you can on a large bike. It’s up to the competitors to know their limitations and everyone takes the same “chances” when riding the event.
Josh, this is an excellent article! I appreciate you helping me lift my BMS GS ADV, and most definitely for getting me unstuck in that deep sand. Looking forward to riding agin with you!
Semper Fidelis, Buck
I have ridden in 2 events with my airhead one was the devilscreek enduro organized by dixiedualsport.com very nice group and florida vintage mx has a class for enduros and they are racing a full season.lots of fun kai
Good story, there were several road enduros in Ohio this year. I competed in one on the Dl1000 and found out how important time keeping is. For most Ohio enduros or dual sport events the trails are too tight and muddy for big bikes. But the change is coming and more and more events include tracks which are big bike “friendlier”. Our involvement will create demand, which will increase the number of events available to us.