ADV | Honda VFR1200X Crosstourer & BMW R1200GS Adventure on Gravel Road | EN/RU Sub

Two motorcycles, two main cameras and a drone on one continuous ride. This video is in the style of 'flow', a single ride over various terrain from fast and smooth to slow and rough where we change places several times.

The VFR makes for a good dirt road bike even with stock tyres and suspension.

This is my first attempt at proper video editing, I think it turned out pretty well despite a few minor glitches. Looking forward to using this as a vehicle to increase my storytelling, cinematography, and editing skills, and also get a grip on audio engineering which is even more important, and difficult.

The footage shown is the entire route, nothing missing, the POV simply swaps between cameras. One drone sequence and a rear view was shot on a different ride altogether so as not to break continuity. In future I'll use ND filters to compensate for the bright sun with the shadow in the forest on a sunny day. Australian sunlight is quite bright and hard.

The sound mix was the hardest thing to get right in this edit. I've deliberately kept the differences between the Honda and BMW sound and vision to differentiate the character of the two bikes, although it makes the BMW seem harsher, but yes the floating discs really do rattle badly on the GS's, at least the old ones. The sound on the VFR ultimately was taken from a lavalier mic (with dead mouse) taped to the back of my helmet feeding the Sony FDRX3000. The Zoom F1 recorder didn't like the bumps (I've also tried it with a standard shock mount), so no Zoom sound this time, just some work in audio post to clean up the little Sony mic's sound, it did well for what is essentially an interview microphone.

You can hear the low growling sound of the V-4 in the video which indicates how relaxed it was. Before the VFR I had a (2009) BMW F800GS set up for off-road (probably only rode it a couple of thousand kilometres before I got rid of it), but the stock Honda VFR1200X completely blows it away on roads like this by being so much more tractable, and with a lower C of G it's really controllable and easier to ride, the engine barely more than ticking over. This entire ride could be done in a single gear (pick any one) what with the incredible V-4 locomotive grunt, it's insane. :)

The DCT version is even better for dirt (Begemot is manual). Having ridden a DCT version on and off-road I'd only ride DCT if I could, it is *that* good.

Back on the blacktop you can ride 1000km in a day with ease and in comfort, at near 50mpg. Keeping with the locomotive analogy it 'runs on rails' handling-wise. Bloody impressive. A perfect example of that 'legendary Honda affability' as an experienced moto writer once called it.

The Honda doesn't have a bunch of fancy electronics but it has Traction Control - On/Off, the rest is just basic throttle control. ABS and linked brakes work well in the dirt, plenty of stopping power and perfectly balanced in my opinion, the front brake is hardly ever required, or indeed desired.

Yes, it's heavy, but this is only a problem at very low speed or even stopped where one can overbalance, especially on uneven ground. Not a deal-killer.

I'm not a really experienced dirt rider but you can see in the video how capable the VFR is, with knobby tyres it would be even better on this kind of road.

If you are looking for an ADV bike that can do the typical 80/20 mix of riding and don't mind the weight, definitely consider the VFR1200X beast.

More to come...
In the video:

Bikes.
2013 Honda VFR1200X Crosstourer
2008 BMW R1200GS Adventure

Cameras.
On Honda - Sony FDRX3000 ; SJCam SJ4000 (for low rear shot)
On BMW - GoPro HERO 3+ Black
DJI Mavic 2 Pro

Sound.
Sony ECM-CS3 lavalier mic to FDRX3000
GoPro internal mic
The Zoom F1 in the video switched itself off after the first jump so no Zoom recorded sound was used in the end.

VFR1200X Kit.
Pirelli Scorpion Trail II tyres
SW Motech sump guard
R&G radiator guard
Hepco & Becker crash bars
SW Motech side bags
Russian GPS holder (via ebay)
Denali horn
Leo Vince exhaust :))

Music Licenced through Audiio.
James Spaite - Flowers (Instrumental)
Kuinka (formerly Rabbit Wilde) - Jackson, WY (Instrumental)
Jamie Stevens - String and Twine - (Instrumental)
Simon - A Hunting We Will Go (Instrumental)
Andrew Word - Full of Light (Instrumental)
Note: All riding in this film was performed at legal speeds.

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Видео ADV | Honda VFR1200X Crosstourer & BMW R1200GS Adventure on Gravel Road | EN/RU Sub канала Beast of Voyage