Topic: Help me!! Best bike and places for nl offroad

[member]

Hi everyone! I am about to come to the netherlands and I need some help. I would like to do some offroad, but I am not sure about what kind of places this country offers. This also leaves me uncertain about what kind of bike to buy. I will probably live in Den Haag, and what I would love to do is to buy a pure enduro (like 250 exc) and use it once or twice a week to do some enduro and some exploration (maybe sand riding??). I also would like to bring my bike in an mx track sometimes, but will I be easely able to find places where to go "close" to Den Haag? And what about MX tracks? Should I just buy a pure mx bike since there is no places where to do enduro? should I consider to buy a bigger bike (like ktm 690 or ktm adventure) because with these kind of bikes there is more places where to go? I hope you will be able to help me and also hope to see you all soon for a ride!!

[member]

I think this topic might help a lot

http://allroadmaniacs.nl/forum/index.php?topic=10514.0

all enduro's in Europe, you'll notice then the Dutch Enduro's ar a bit further away from the Hague
The day after most dutch enduro's you can ride on OTR (off the Road Ride) on the same track yet without the competition element.

This Forum initiates some nice rides to, 3 of them several days and some dayrides to, most in the south, North or east of the Netherlands, the west only has some tolerated sites were you can ride a bit, like here: 51.993461, 5.073380

MX is a different world, cant help you in that direction

[member]

And an MX bike is not alowed anywhere else than on a MX track.


Welcome btw!

[member]

Thanks for answering! I have already read all the topic you gave me before writing a new one. But I have not been able to get a clear idea... When you say that there is no places close to The Hauge, do you mean that places are like in an hour ride? Or are they really far?
I know mx bikes are not allowed to go anywhere else, but there is no insirance to pay and if this would be the only use I would do then I would save some money!!
Post Merge: 04-01-2016, 11:26Are you guys able to ride often with these organized rides you talk about?

[member]

In the season that farmers have their crops off the fields there are the organised enduro's (competition) and the before mentioned off the roads. Those are real off road rides with little concrete (we have to do some road work though because there are too many roads ). Those start around september until new year, and than some in march I think. http://www.enduro.nl/kalender.htm
There are enough rides, but travel is needed. (look on the map, most is on the east/south side of the netherlands.

Then there is the ''allroad'' rides. Some organised by ''us''. Those are more like friend rides than real organisation like the one above which are done by clubs and managed by the KNMV (Royal dutch motorsports association). All kinds of terain and level and very much depending on the weather the week before how hard they are. Also some with lugage and campings, some on roadbook, some on gps, or rides with a ''guide''.

North and south holland (provinces) are the most difficult places to ride. Around drenthe, brabant there is more space. Stay on the legal paths please.

[member]

And an MX bike is not allowed anywhere else than on a MX track.

... but an enduro bike is also allowed on the MX track. Drawback is that they are much more expensive to buy, esp. second hand.
[/size]
[/size]Nearest MX tracks are Bleiswijk (www.mccbleiswijk.nl/), and Gouda (www.mccholland.nl/). Their tracks are open on Saturday afternoon and - in summer - on Wednesday evening. Normally they are closed in winter, but Bleiswijk was open last weekend.

[member]

So if I buy a pure enduro I should be able to do both.. How many km do I have to ride more or less from The hauge to reach an enduro place?

[member]

There are no real enduro places, those are one time only (per year) events. The closest one is in Amersfoort, if they organise one. Approximately one hour. The rest is one and a half + for you. Not the best part to life motorsport wise!

[member]

Ok, thanks a lot to everyone! Hope to see you all soon in the dirt

[member]

If you would buy a Yamaha WR250R you could drive the highway without a trailer to Rucphen, where the sand trails start. For you that would be a 55 minutes drive from the Hague. You would need a GPS though to find the starting point and follow the track. Bleiswijk is a hard mx track, 15 minutes away from you.

Typically hard pack tracks like Bleiswijk and Utrecht do not need a lot of HP, so you could still have lots of fun. Looking at EXC 250's,  you would have to do some serious maintenance each month, while the WR would only need maintenance say every 3 months. The only drawback is that you'd need to seriously upgrade the suspension.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJDx6gx6pCc

[member]

Locals find their way inland most use exc450 type for off roading which isnt twisty or tecnical due to the flats overhere.
No mountain tracks so 250 is useless. Pussy only.
When you want a dual bike get 660 or 690 will bring you everywhere and does good on occasion offrad event or ARM long distance events.

[member]

I would definately suggest a KTM or a Husa performance enduro if I would own a garage to wrench on maintenance. Should you have to do it in the street, a dual sport is probably the best compromise, although it will always stay a compromise.

[member]

If you do lots of sandy kliks your hobby must be wrenching or throwing your budget to the dealers.