I absolutely love my desert X. Wish i knew how to do all this stuff properly so i could optimize my bike even more!

Where are you getting the 189 kg from? The website says 204 kg dry weight.

5:33 "We can see here when I transition from sitting to standing my hands change position completely" - No, I can't.

This is a piece of advice worth gold! I learned this from MotoTrek a year ago. Also ride standing is the best complement for hand positions. Good and clear video, you got a new subscriber.

Hello! Excellent video and your explanation is very clear and sincere. It helped me greatly in deciding on this beautiful adventure machine. I hope to be riding many trails of the Mayan land very soon. Greetings from Merida Mexico!

Fully agreed, I twist the control levers down on the handlebars so the controls are at my fingertips instead of requiring rotation of my arms to grab the levers. I do this on all bikes, street or dirt. This puts my hands more on top of the bars and resets my entire upper body into a more steady controlled stance. Another bonus is a noticeable lack of soreness and fatigue after long rides.

A ten KG Lunch, i'm impressed!

Are you wearing that headband because you lost a bet? Good video though :)

Well made point which reminds me of the Thomas Sowell quote: There are no solutions, only trade offs. I prefer picking up smaller bikes but they can't powerslide.. trade offs.. there is no unicorn.

Probably the best adventure bike video I've ever watched, total sense has been spoken.

Worst thing is you can't see what's uber the water to throw you off.

I think one good thing about the new batch of smaller adventure bikes coming out now (CF Moto, Himalayan, 2025 KTM 390 etc) is they offer an entry level platform for smaller/less competent people other than a dual sport such as the CRF/KLX type of thing that isn’t so comfortable on the road.

I'm short and I have been practicing cowboy mount and dismount. I don't know if my in seam will allow me a 2 legged paddle often, maybe when I'm in a rut, but i can see a 1 legged paddle being handy.

Name dropping for clicks, I see

Well I did this... but my abs said nah and I rode into some trees at 30mph thursday(3 days ago) 24 transalp 750 abs can only be turned off on back wheel and my front wouldn't let me engage the brakes, after over 3 hours of riding on gravel I thought I had a feel for the bike but it decided to change

The best part about this video on mastering a fundamental of bike control is that it's done with the GS

I made my own crash bars and under protection on my old vstrom650. It weighed about 30lbs: I beat the absolute devil out of that thing. I put it up for sale when I thought it was almost dead. I liked the guy who came to buy it, that I gave it to him. And some old MX boots! I saw him three years later, still going!

Did I see Sy Peavy? Hmmm?

Man, I have seen one percenters out camping and riding their Harleys crazy all out off road! Racing even. Course I am sure alcohol at least was involved. But these guys were sending it.

I have been on motorcycles for 50 years. I remember when adventure bikes were NOT COOL. But, I still rode them. My 1100GS was called nearly the ugliest thing she’d ever seen by a girlfriend. People would ask, with a cringe, what’s that? It was good because prices had not been jacked sky high, with a bunch of tech you don’t need. If someone could work on a lawn mower, they could work on my GS oiler. Come to think of it, it sounded like a lawn mower.😮

Maybe a great choice if you live and ride in Europe but here in Australia buying European bikes is a gamble, try buying parts...super expensive and if the parts aren't in stock the wait can be months. Have always had Japanese bikes and have never been let down.

I once ran into a guy riding a Harley as an adventure bike, so wtf?

A big problem on lots of adv bikes is the shape of the bars. They have far too much sweep forcing the wrists into an uncomfortable position that means you drop your elbows down and in. Changing to trials bars makes a huge difference to comfort and control.

There is a growing number of KTM 790 and 890 owners that are having premature cam wear with the manufacturer discounting customer complaints and walking away. We need your help to provide some assistance please as it would be greatly appreciated.

Yes 30 years ago bikes were heavy, 30 years later suzuki and honda are still building heavy bikes when competitors are 20kg lighter.. 😂 The better electronic thing doesn’t make sense since you turn it all off in offroad… In the off road/gravel you can’t beat the T700 in price or capabilities, especially the extreme edition.

Great tips, wide and light

Enjoying the content, Does Llel coach in the UK? I couldn't find anything on google...

I’ve got a KTM Super Adventure R 1290, and I’m 6’ 6”, I don’t want to raise the bars (as they are fine), but would like to lower the pegs, but think it’ll then snag side stand when down, any recommendations? Btw, met Simon on one of his schools years and years ago, top bloke!

Off topic, is that the Hydradri 4.5 by Leatt you’re wearing? I’m curious if it’s actually rainproof and feels good while riding.

It's interesting to me. I grew up riding dirt and reading MXA in the late 80's, early 90's. I feel right at home in the dirt. I probably look and ride like a tool on the street though.

Rich Larsen IMHO is the best to explain good position ... and eventually variations depending of situations of course ;)

V85TT, simple

Daniel san, is it you?

Lmao, I feel a bit vindicated. Idr who, but a motocross KZfaqr called me names in his comments for suggesting there were benefits to an ice cream grip for off-road riding. He seemed like an asshole, now I know he was 👍

Videos these days are like a woman trying to explain something to you. they go the long scenic route around every possible corner before taking you to point! Videos should be like men! Straight to the fucking point!

The absolute best adventure bike in the whole wide world is actually without a doubt The One you can afford

That 4:00 style is sure way to break your legs on adv bike with panniers 😂

Awesome, really opened my eyes.

While your advice is great, your titling is horrendous. It would be a lot easier for people to find videos on specific techniques of riding if that was in the title and not some nonse4nse clickbait. This was the first video of yours I watched. I wanted to check out the foot placement video, had you not included the title in this video I never would have found it because its not in the title or thumbnail of any videos of what topic you are actually covering. Please consider including the techniques covered in the title or thumbnail. I'm sure that I'm not the only one that finds this annoying and because of it I'm not motivated to watch other videos even if you do a swell job covering the topics. From the perspective of a content consumer; Why do I want to watch the first minute or 2 just to learn the topic that I may or may not have interest in at the time. I'm just going to search a for a topic I know i want to learn about and watch another channel that puts the topic in the title.

I can't understand why handlebars are built this way, like not much of a bend when you look from above. If they were bent the outside towards the rider way more you would naturally hold it the "cone" way. I am very short and my arms are frigging useless. I physically can't do the "cone" hold as much as I'd like. I'm not an adventure rider btw, I ride a cruiser. But I'm struggling even just to bend my arms. I could if I would lean forwards all the time but that's not relaxed at all.

I rode a Tuareg back to back with a T7 World Raid. I thought the Aprilia had a beautiful and surprisingly powerful engine. It was also great to have cruse control, though I found if a little glitchy to activate.However the T7WR suspension held up in the stroke a LOT better than the Aprilia. I really didn’t like the dive on the front fork. Possibly could be adjusted out…? I ended up purchasing a Husqvarna 701 Enduro. Pretty much does everything and is a nice contrast from 20 years of GS ownership. Of course the GS is better in almost every way but nice to have a change and something so light. Might try a T7WR again in the future but unless the suspension on the Aprilia could be improved I would steer clear…

Just going from a Honda CRF300L to a KTM 500 meant that I could save so much weight that fully loaded with the camping and photo gear, my KTM is lighter still than the stock Honda with no cargo on it - this means so much for safety - handling ability. I need gobs of low end power so I can lug slowly up hills, safely, without running out of power half way up, or requiring momentum to carry me up on less powerful bikes. And, to be nimble enough to chose any line I want. I can lift my ktm easily half a dozen times a day if need be without taking the piss out of me. Maintenance is meh...totally worth the small amount of time to do it. It sucks on the highway, vibey, too light/wind, but plenty of power to overtake at 80 mph big trucks, quickly. I love the bike at 60 and below cruising rural streets, makes me feel like a kid again riding dirty bikes around, only now with my plated bike, I don't have look out for the cops 😆

I'll have to get out on some gravel back roads and work on this.

I simply call it the "gorilla position". 🤣🤣🤣 (Not laugh: when I forget about it then I think myself as a gorilla... and it works! I automatically get into the correct posture. 😎)

It’s official; Ryan FortNine has now surpassed Chuck Norris in the living legend category. Get his name outchyo mouf and dhow some respect.

Float like a butterfly😊

When people learn to relax and let the bike breath....everything is better. When it comes to bar input, and especially off road, less is better than more. Simple physics and experience tell us that bikes in motion want to stay upright naturally. It is us getting in the way of the bikes naturally tendency to auto correct that causes many issues for average riders. If you are not occasionally practicing riding hands free and letting the wheels track naturally, you are out of touch with your bike and not learning to trust it. I've seen some tubers making statements like you can't steer a bike with your feet or legs and this is hog wash. Is it the same as having bar inputs as well...of course not. But riding with two fingers or even better hands free while standing on a downhill trail is one of the best drills you can do to get you in better synch with your bike, Trusting your bike is a skill few take the time (or muster the courage) to develop, and it is one of the most important things a rider can do. Start with speed bumps and then gravel roads, then move onto bumpy or rocky trails. Your riding confidence will change overnight.

Moto riders should try mountain biking for more balance and control drills. The arm position is already common knowledge for pumping, cornering, and work with the suspension.

If people were honest with themselves, they’d realize that these mid- capacity bikes offered everything they needed and the larger ones are overkill.

Excellent information but, is telling teaching; is explaining sufficient? Does the video take full advantage of the medium? Rather than just explain, are there points the video could stop and engage the viewer by asking questions? Asking questions (ie: What would you do at this point, brake or accelerate?) can create cognitive dissonance with the viewer that makes room for more learning. Taking advantage of the medium (like the red, yellow, green graphics) and by asking questions and also showing the less effective way to ride gravel and wow, this video could potentially increase fun and prevent injuries - thank you, well done!