On the Pipe | Mark Dzikowski

Walking out of the bush

For the uninitiated woods riders/racers, one of the fears of riding off-road is the possibility of the irreparable motorcycle breakdown far away from the truck and the safety of civilization, spare parts and fully stocked repair shop. At least it was for me when I started riding. I had a dozen years of backcountry human-powered experience prior to getting into off-road riding, but for some reason it still made me uncomfortable. Motorized recreation in the backcountry is a different beast compared to human powered adventures. Namely, when backcountry skiing or hiking, you don’t even think of getting away too far into the wilderness without being prepared for an overnighter. On an off-road or dual sport motorcycle however, I can go for an evening ride and easily end up in a remote area, 50 kilometres away from the nearest road or civilization, in just an hour or two. Walking back to the truck or nearest spot with cell reception to call for help now seems a little more challenging, especially in off-road riding boots and gear. That is of course only possible if you’re not badly or critically injured and you can actually walk at all. It is one of the main reasons why riding alone is never a good idea when venturing into the backcountry.

It just so happens that on my first ride of the year, where I got to test the 2021 GasGas EX 350F (see our first impressions of this bike on page 30) at a local riding area, we got into a similar situation when one of my riding buddies’ bike suddenly developed a starting problem. It was 6:30 p.m. by the time this happened and we were about 10 trail kilometres away from our staging area. After 30 minutes of trying to start the bike where the motor would occasionally fire but die when at idle, the decision was made that he will try to get to the closest highway while we go back to fetch his truck and pick him up. Shortly after we separated, his bike quit completely; after exhausting his battery and his bike not having a kick starter, he made the last few kilometres on foot and was successfully picked up by one of our riding mates. The bike spent the night all alone in the bush and was rescued the next day.

This brings me to another point: The increasing amount of electronics that are creeping into our off-road machines makes the occurrence described above more frequent than not. Back when carburetors were the only way to mix fuel and air, life was simpler and you could usually limp out of the bush if say, your fuel delivery system acted up. Now, if a fuel injector gets ripped off by a branch (happened to me a few years ago), a fuel pump gives up the ghost (also happened to me on one of the early Husabergs) or the ECU acts up like it did for my friend on this occasion, there is a very good chance that you’re getting a workout of bushwhacking yourself out of the woods back to civilization. Most of the two-stroke dirt bikes are still holding on to the simplicity of carburetors but in decreasing numbers as more and more of them are getting fuel injection to keep up with the ever-increasing emissions controls around the world. That is one of the reasons why two-stroke off-road bikes have dominated the hard enduro scene for decades now. They are simple to fix, reliable, light and flickable in the tough terrain. But now with the fuel injection and other electronic fuel delivery systems, the first two points are becoming less and less common.

When I go on a ride these days, I never ride alone, I don’t leave home without a tool bag and a few survival items, and I let my wife know where I’m going and what time I’m expected back (she usually adds three hours to the time I tell her, and that usually works out perfect). A lot of the times, one of my riding buddies carries a satellite messenger like the SPOT or the now industry favourite Garmin inReach two-way communicator which adds another layer of safety. Sometimes not planning a route to ride for the day produces the best adventures, as planning sometimes takes away from the spontaneity; however, having a riding partner, some survival gear and planning for an unscheduled overnighter is an easy way to overcome the anxiety of trouble in the backcountry without eliminating the excitement of an unplanned adventure. IM