Welcome to the Adventure Motorcycling Handbook (#AMH) website. These days – or a few months’ will be the best time to be into travel bikes, so use your time well and getting planning!
I’ve been travelling on bikes since 1982 and am the guy who coined the term ‘adventure motorcycling’ in the late 1990s.
Read about #AMH8
Otherwise, there’s plenty to read here without buying anything. Back in 1981, my very first travel bike was a Yamaha XT500 (left) and lately I’ve run a different project bike each year. See the ‘Bikes‘ menu above. I had one of the first Rally Raid CB500Xs, then adapted a Yamaha XSR 700. For 2019 I used Enfield’s Himalayan and in 2020 picked up an Africa Twin for a desert trip. Unfortunately it’s still there.
I write other books on the same theme: the 3rd edition of Morocco Overland (left) covers roads and tracks in Morocco’s Atlas mountains and Saharan fringe. Buy Morocco 3 discounted.
Desert Travels is a Sahara travelogue spanning my early years on XTs as well as my first disastrous desert tour. And my urban memoirs from the 1980s: The Street Riding Years (right) was RIDE magazine’s ‘Book of the Year’.
And what about the Royal Enfield Himalayan ?
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Hey Chris
Love your writing about your bikes and your adventures. I am a returning rider who wants to buy a motorcycle for riding around locally for fun and for travel on and off road. After reading your experience I am at a loss as to which bike to get? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am in Houston, Texas by the way and am 6 feet with 30 inch inseam and about 210 lbs.
Dale Y.
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Hi Dale, glad to hear you enjoy the website. Sounds like you’re about my size. so might manage taller saddled bikes.
Assuming your budget is not too much of a constraint I’d have a look at a Ducati Desert Sled and a Yamaha XT700. Anything heavier will not be fun off-road, no matter what the adverts show. Honda CB500X is another, but the motor’s comparatively bland. A KTM 790 is also worth a look. Make sure you try before you buy! Chris
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Thanks Chris!
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