Himalayan in the Alps
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- Two of us decided to ride some of the trails we had seen "Doktor Traktor" ride in the Alps and add some of the TET trails ourselves. We had decided to ride the two bikes - a Royal Enfield Himalayan and a Honda CRF250 Rally - down to the Channel Tunnel and then through France in order to get to Briancon. There, we were able to start riding off-road properly on some stunning trails.
In total the trip took fifteen days, two of which were needed to get to the Tunnel and back! The scenery was fantastic and the trails WE rode were very rideable - especially on these bikes.
I was frustrated on two occasions when we found that the restaurant in two of the hotels were closed during our stay so.... be warned - check these things in advance if you decide to do something similar.
Both bikes performed brilliantly, without issue and I would have no qualms about recommending for a trip like this - just allow a little more time to get to your destination than if you were riding a larger Adventure bike.
I used a Garmin Montana sat nav and planned much of the route/trails using Garmin Basecamp. The TET trails can be downloaded as gpx files from the TET website and then uploaded on to the sat nav. I also used Calimoto to make some of the road work more interesting and less of a drudgery.
I wore an Oxford Continental Advanced jacket and trousers together a rain jacket and over-trousers when it rained hard. Generally, the weather was great but we did have a couple of wet days where the waterproof over-gear was needed.
I would say September was a great time to go with nice dry trails and warm temperatures.
The Cool Covers seat cover I used on the Himalayan was a boon. The ventilation it provides stopped any soreness and the extra padding it provided allowed me to ride for long periods in real comfort. Recommended.
The trip showed what a great bike the Himalayan is. It didn't miss a beat and returned 20 miles per litre most of the time! TKC 80 tyres gave me great confidence off-road and were way better than they have any right to be on tarmac. I never felt the need to ride any differently than if I was on more road biased tyres.
Wished I'd taken a drone. The scenery was jaw dropping!
Glad I've found this Phil. I've done a few trips to Northern Spain on my Himalayan, but I think it's time to visit more of my old climbing haunts, across in the Alps. Thanks for this. 👍
Thanks Martin for your comments. Yes, I've been to the Pyrenees a couple of times and it was great, but the Alps are something special I think. This was the first time I have ever taken a smaller bike and done so much off-roading but it was worth the effort of getting down there. Cheers, Phil.
Excellent video. Himalayan and CRF were ideal for the trip. More fun and smiles than a very expensive GS.
Thanks, Graham. You've got it - smiles v adrenaline. Just such a friendly and competent bike. Thanks, Phil.
Nice to see the little Himmi chugging along nicely
Thanks, Peter. It was just the perfect bike for my needs. It did indeed chug as I mentioned at one point. What a brilliant engine! Thanks, Phil.
Superb thankyou. Not been abroad since 2005 and now health in way
I am sorry to hear that health problems have stopped you travelling abroad. I hope some of my video's will help to entertain you a little.
Another great video, puts you right in the 'driving seat'; It's for those of us that would like to do it but never got round to doing anything about it. Maybe not for people with vertigo, those drops on the sides of the roads are eye-watering. Those hills/mountains, they are so breath-taking; so majestic, sometimes it's hard to grasp how big they are. Oh for a pair of 7 league boots (with 7 league legs too of course). Phil's comment about a drone are interesting. I bet you can get one that follows you at a set distance/height. You just have to make sure there's not a mountain in the way!
Really enjoyed watching that, beautiful scenery and it's nice to see the Himalayan doing a little of what it was made to do. Your voice reminds me of the commenter who used to cover the tour de France and giro de italia on TV a few years back👍
Thanks for your comments - I think that commentator was Phil Liggett! Yes, the scenery was absolutely outstanding and took my breath away on many occasions. I've been to the Alps quite a few times over the last 15 years but never having gone on a smaller bike with the intent of riding predominantly off-road. You're right it's nice to see the Himalayan doing something that it was really designed to do in the first place and it did it brilliantly. It is difficult to convey just how good it was as a complete package. It did the road work easily and comfortably but was so manageable when the road became unsurfaced and not once did I feel out of my depth or that the bike was going to slip from underneath me. It really is a very friendly machine. Glad you enjoyed the video. 👍
@@phillangford4059 yes that was his name👍 I bought mine two weeks ago and am looking forward to the snow and ice melting in about a month hopefully. Meanwhile it rests in the house, nothing like the alps here but tons of forest paths to explore, look forward to seeing more posts..... Harry
This was great,
Wow! Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. To be honest, I did wonder with it being 1 hour long if it was too much of a good thing but it's good to hear that you enjoyed it. I don't know if you own a Royal Enfield Himalayan but if you don't do try and get the opportunity to test ride one. I think you'll understand why I'm so smitten with mine especially after this trip. Thanks again. Phil.
@@phillangford4059 no , I really liked that you kept this as much raw as possible. I own a jawa yezdi roadster .
@@oreoman7376 Thank you for that.
Really enjoyed this, thank you
Thank you for your comment. It was a bit if an undertaking on a smaller bike, but to be fair, the Himalayan was absolutely brilliant. Cheers.
Living your best life , amazing
Crisp video bro, what are your render settings, my GoPro footage just pixelates at most of the parts after uploading it to UA-cam
Hi There. Thanks for your comment. I can only tell you that I use Director 16 from Cyberlink and use an appropriate saving setting there but I can't remember what it is! For this video I used a GoPro Hero 10 on the helmet and the GoPro Hero 4 on the handlebars both set to 4K video. Sometimes the pixelation on UA-cam disappears once the video has been uploaded for a while. Hope that helps! Cheers, Phil.
Awesome adventure! So jealous! I'm looking to take my Himalayan on a trip like this but I'm in the States far from any real mountains. Cheers! 🍻
Thank you for your kind words. The French and Italian Alps are something special and this was the first time I had taken the Himalayan there. The extra effort involved in getting down through France on a smaller bike was justified by the great riding we did off road. I hope you are able to do something in the mountains where you are some day. Great little bikes aren't they?!
Rockies, Sierra Nevadas…. Should be a nice start try the scenic routes
I really had no idea that Himalayan has gained so much popularity in west. If you listen to Indian reviews this bike has more negatives than positives.
Just got one for my first bike and so far I love it!
u need 2 angle ure helmet cam upwards a bit so we see straight ahead not down at the sat nav and everything else.
Yes, I know. I used the same camera mount as Itchy Boots but unfortunately on my helmet, the chin bar was shaped in such a way that the camera was angled up as far as jt would go and no further. Next time I will either use a different mount or the same mount on a different helmet. Itchy Boots is still using the same mount on an Arai Tour X4. Maybe I should treat myself - I do like the immersive view Norally achieves.
did you remove the tripper or is it the older version of the himi?
Hi there. No, I didn't remove the tripper - my bike is the last of the Euro 4 models which didn't come with the tripper. I like the idea of them but up to now I have never tried one. Thanks.
Brilliant video. When and where is your next trip?
Regards,
Paul.
My next trip will be either to the Alps again or maybe the Pyrenees and on to Portugal. However, that will be with my wife with and fully luggage on our BMW r1200gs Adventure. Hopefully around the middle of May. Nothing booked yet, though. Thanks for your comment. Hopefully I'll do a video of the next trip too. Cheers, Phil.
@@phillangford4059 Sounds fantastic Phil.
@@SCCFORUM Thanks. Looking forward to it.
osam
The music spoils it, let’s here the bike or you talking
Hi there. I'm sorry you feel that way but I have to strongly disagree, the music makes it rather than spoils it. It seems that a lot of people feel the same as I do. Thank you for watching, though.