Adventure vs Trail Riding
Ellwood Motorcycle Adventures have two different styles of tours which are quite different and unique in their own way. When choosing a tour, it is important to know the differences between the tours however we will give you fair warning that our tours are extremely addictive and any tour you choose to join will most likely not be the last!
No matter whether you’re a seasoned Trail/Enduro rider, a well-travelled Adventure rider or are new to the sport of riding we will have more than one tour option which you will enjoy. In saying that from our experience we have had riders from both styles ride every tour in the itinerary. Once you have experienced a tour with Ellwood Motorcycle Adventures it doesn’t really matter which tour you join it will be guaranteed to be an experience of a lifetime.
Adventure Riding
Adventure riding tours are a very unique experience as you are required to carry everything necessary for the trip on your bike, e.g., camping equipment, fuel, food, water etc. In our opinion Adventure riding is about escaping the rat race of everyday life, exploring and discovering new places and people and experiencing the freedom on long distance travel on a motorcycle. Adventure riding is more about the journey, not the destination!
Being self-sufficient requires careful planning and when Adventure rides are organised properly, they can be some of the most exciting and adventurous times you can have on a motorcycle.
We do have a support vehicle which we can contact via a satellite phone if needed in case of a bike break down or emergency on our Adventure tours and we do meet up with the support vehicle a couple of times throughout the tour for the night to enjoy our delicious bush camp oven cook ups and to ensure all the bikes get the regular maintainence required for our tours. However, the most part the tour group is left alone to tackle anything that comes our way.
The advantages of a tour like this are you can cover bigger distances and visit more amazing places, as you don’t have to wait for support vehicles to catch up to the tour every day and it gives you a real sense of achievement and freedom once you’ve experienced an unsupported Adventure ride. This is in our opinion the pinnacle of adventure riding and we are very passionate and eager to share our knowledge and experience having spent years travelling around Australia riding unsupported on Adventure bikes.
On Ellwood Motorcycle Adventure tours, you will experience a variety of trails from dirt roads, four-wheel drive track, cattle station tracks and some bitumen sections. The terrain can vary from rocky and muddy trails, water and river crossings, hill climbs and twisty forest trails. Distances typically range from 150kms to 550km depending on tour options.
The adventure riding tours are typically less challenging riding than the Trail/Enduro tours but when riding with luggage sometimes even something like a small creek crossing can become a challenge. As we do with the Trail/Enduro tours we still have our famous ‘Break Out Route’ options every day.
The ‘Break Out Routes’ on the Adventure tours will definitely test your skills. We have multiple guides on tour to split groups if required for these challenging sections. If you decide to stick to the main tour itinerary and give the ‘Break Out Routes’ a miss you will not be disappointed as the main trails are typically more scenic you can relax and ride at your own pace.
We can also cater for people who already own their dream Adventure bike and want to set it up for Adventure riding, however, are not yet ready to tackle their own big trip because they lack the knowledge and skills involved to feel safe and confident.
Riders join our tours for all sorts of different reasons which makes every tour unique and interesting in its own way. We have riders that join us from people that simply don’t have the time to work out the logistics and effort to put together an adventure ride themselves to experienced adventure riders that are wanting to meet and ride with new people.
We have had BYO bikes on our adventure tours ranging from Honda XR250’s all the way through to KTM1190's. Pre tour, we would offer you support and advice on all aspects of bike set up, pre-tour maintenance, recommendations on camping gear and safety equipment and get you completely adventure ready!
As with the Trail/Enduro tours we have multiple guides on tour to assist with anything you require whilst on tour from tips and tricks, to an extended knowledge of the places we visit. They are all qualified in remote first aid and carry EPIRB’s and satellite phones in case of emergency situations.
If you choose to hire a bike from us, we have completely set up extremely well-maintained Suzuki DRZ400s that are fully equipped with everything you will need the entire trip including all camping gear, luggage bags and large fuel tank so all you literally need to do is get yourself to the start destination, jump on and ride.
Our Adventure Rides include:
Cairns to Darwin 10 Day Top End Adventure Tour
Darwin to Broome 10 Day Kimberley Adventure Tour
Victorian High Country 7 Day Adventure Tour
Trail Bike Tours
Trail/Enduro riding means different things to different people. To some it is all about the challenge of handling the bike over varying terrain and to others it is about experiencing the outdoors and seeing the country in a unique way. Trail/Enduro riders typically seek a variety of trails including tracks suitable for four-wheel drives and unmarked tracks that provide challenging sections such as hills, rutted or rocky sections, water crossings and tight twisty trails, or even sandy twin trail riding. Distances each day range from 150-300kms with majority of the ride being off-road trails.
Our Trail/Enduro bike tours are typically completely supported with guides that are extremely knowledgeable in bush mechanics, navigation and first aid. The tour will meet up each afternoon with our fully equipped support vehicle that carries all supplies required for the tour from camping equipment, spares and luggage so all the riders need to carry whilst on tour is a small pack for snacks and water.
As we can be sometimes quite remote, we need to camp every night, and everyone is supplied with their own tent and camping equipment. There are options some nights on tour when we stay at pubs or roadhouses where it is possible to upgrade and get a room if you choose at an extra cost. If that is something would prefer you just need to let us know once you have booked.
Our 1–5-day local Trail/Enduro tours around Far north Queensland are a little different as we stay in pub style accommodation every night, therefore we don’t require a support vehicle to join the tour although there is a driver a support vehicle only a phone call away if required.
We always have multiple guides on tour which gives us the opportunity to split groups during the day if needed. This gives us the ability to have riders of any skill level from beginner and experienced on the same tour.
Every day we have what we call ‘Break Out Routes’ for the more experienced riders who want a bit of a challenge. If that is not you cup of tea you can stick to the main itinerary where you will be able to relax and enjoy the ride at your own pace.
All our guides will be there every step of the way to assist you with anything you require from riding tips and tricks to extended knowledge of the places we visit. They are all qualified in remote first aid and carry EPIRB’s and satellite phones in case of emergency situations.
We have our current model fleet of Suzuki DRZ400’s which are perfectly set up for our Trail/Enduro tours. Most people on our Trail/Enduro tours will choose to hire our DRZ400’s as they can just enjoy the ride and relax with a beer or two each afternoon whilst we take care of all bike maintenance and servicing whilst on tour.
Our Trail Bike Rides include:
Cairns to Cape York 7 Day Trail Bike Tour
1-5 Day Cairns Trail Bike Tours