Just got back from this fantastic festival all based around adventure travel and the independent films people have made, these are not wobbly home movies but proper excellent films, also presentations and talks, great food, proper facilities this is not roughing it by any means, this year it was held at Mill Hill school north London posh! Plenty of room for 750 people camping, nearly everyone does, lots of bikes and mad vehicles. The whole thing is organised by a chap called Austin Vince and his wife Lowis both motor cycle adventure nuts and the funniest most genuine people you could meet. If you get a chance to go next year you won't regret it.
Austin Vince is a funny bloke-went to one of his lectures years ago,had us in stitches. If you've not seen/read "Mondo Enduro",it's well worth a couple of hours of your time,basically a bunch of blokes on DR350's go around the world on a budget. No film crew and no expensive pick ups,no sponsorship....just making it up as they go along. They did a second film,can't remember the name of the film/book/whatever. AV was a teacher at Mill Hill when he left to go on Mondo Enduro,hence the link,but if you go to a bike show and see a scruffy herbert in overalls eating home made sandwiches,that might well be him....
I saw one of his talks too, he went off on so many tangents he only got half way through and a slide show which 'accidently' included some saucy pictures probably from the seventies. It was hilarious. As you say it certainly seems that a big off roader is the last thing you want. I can't say I'm overly fussed about making a film but some of the trips are quite inspiring.
Terra Circa was the second film,I seem to recall. As for the big off roader,it depends what you are going to use it for. I've ridden plenty of enduro and trail bikes,(raced enduros for 12 years),and there isn't one of them that I'd ride round the world on.... There's a good reason why BMW GS/GSA are so popular:they'll hack the long boring on-road days at reasonable speed and comfort,but still be handy when it comes to unpaved tracks and fire roads.and that upright riding position is gentle on your back and arse on eight hour riding days.Moto-cross bikes they are not,but few folk are covering long distances purely off piste,so why torture yourself on the bits in-between? My nephews just done the Miami-Prudhoe Bay and back Nick Sanders adventure tour on his GSA.Yes,you can do it on an R1 or a 'Blade,but why the fark would you torture yourself? His GSA,and his mate who has an older model with 85k miles on it,were absolutely rock solid for the whole trip...my old 1150 GSA carried 35 litres of fuel and would take me 300+ miles between fill-ups. The new GSA is a bit stingy in the horsepower department for it's lardy obesity. My 1290 KTM is a tad lighter and pumps out a mighty 160 bhp...lovely grub!
