I'll argue a little around tyre pressures. Here in OZ with a lot of soft sand/gravel and corrugations on our twin tracks running with that much pressure on the front doesn't work at all. I would run more like 15/20 psi as the base setting and fiddle slightly from there, especially the front tyre. You need the tyre to get up on top of the sand/gravel, not cut through it. I use "baggy" fronts a lot as well, another good way to help out with the steering.

Setting your (or any) bike up is vital. I see people throwing heaps of money on ”upgrades” before even getting to know their bikes! Setting your bike up  is much more effective (and economical) than goingnout and spending 1000 £/€/$ on after market suspension!
Thanks for being on the team. People usually don’t have the patience to listen to me. 😂
/former test rider and bike journo

FINALLY someone goes to THE POINT that matters!
Waiting for more.
Congrats.

I love the humility in the writing on this channel. Really well done.

My last suspension check is to ride at slow speed and “jump up and down” (compress and decompress the suspension). I want the spring rate and damping to be such that there’s non fore and aft pitch at any time during the fork and shock stroke.  It really makes a difference….

the spike that comes out the bottom of verner calipers is for measuring depth and is useful for measuring the amount of fork tube sticking out of the clamps

A lot of people may not know how the suspension changes affect things. Setting the front into the middle may not be initially helpful to learn. It may be useful to go full up, ride it for feel, change it to full down (or halfway down, you get the idea), and ride it again for feel. Then set it in the middle after that and adjust up or down a little bit as needed.

Riders really should spend more time, over a longer period, adjusting things like suspension clickers and lever angles. Eventually you have a bike that fits like a glove and the effort definitely pays off. Btw very knowledgeable video, without sounding arrogant 👍.

1:14 hilarious and totally true Adam is a legend

I just want to say you guys are doing a fantastic job with your videos. I watch a lot of moto videos and I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate the content you’re making. I already knew most of this info but it was still super helpful to have it explained in a very well organized and thoughtful manner. And your mixed scenic shots add a touch of beauty that reminds us why we ride. Thanks and keep up the good work 🤙🏼

Well done! This has been a big problem with "review" content creators. You can tell right from the get go that some reviewers didn't take the time to set up the bike for their ergonomics and riding style or even learn the important nuances that completely effect the their time behind bars thus them not giving the bike an honest review.  Perfect example is someone throwing their leg over an Africa Twin with DCT... if the reviewer just takes off in D every time not realizing it has the 3 sport settings, they'll give the bike a cruddy review due to the lugginess of the D mode.  Glad to see that you not only did it but showed people that you do it and how to do it for themselves.

This is a fantastic video for somebody who's trying to learn as much as possible about the basics of off-road riding on an ADV bike.  Thank you.

Love most of your points here.  Just want to add: Risers aren't just for tall riders.  Short riders such as myself find them incredibly valuable to bring the bars back to us while sitting, and provide better leverage while standing.  It's counter-intuitive to your set-up, but as a 5' 4" (162.5cm) woman, that extra leverage makes up for my weaker upper body strength.

Great vid :) I'm a bit lazy with this stuff these days. I still haven't got around to talking to the dealer about the issues I had with their Desert X. I was kind of working on the premise that if they wanted to sell the bike, they'd make sure it was right before I wheeled it out the door.

I like your discussion about making the bike 'work-for-you'. Everyone has different bodies, different needs, ride for different purposes, or with varying amounts of off-road/on-road preferences. My levers aren't in the optimal position, but I'm very limited on choice with my Africa Twin - a tiny bit in any one direction quickly has me fowling cables, fairing, or other components. Thanks for the tip on risers - generally I'm not a fan - but I never realised you could get 5mm and 10mm ones. At the shops here they tend to come in either 25mm or 30mm.

It is interesting what you said about certain bikes being finicky with their 'set-up'. I think I'm very sensitive about bikes that have this narrow window and tend to write them off immediately. I'm kind of the opinion that a finicky bike is evidence of poor design. Having had a bike that handled badly, (GSXR1000K2) I'm not really keen to do it again. I tried all the tricks I knew with that bike and it remained an ill-handling death-trap (literally unfortunately). For you, it is a little different. You can organise a long-term demo and have a play to see if you can 'dial it in'. There's no way I'll ever be able to gamble $30K on a bike with the possibility that I can't set it up how I want. This is also the reason I'll never buy a bike with ride-modes - It'd take 3mnths of riding every day to find a setting that I might like. - No dealer is going to give me a bike for that long.

Wow, that degenerated into an almost rant... Apologies... LOL. Anyway, great vid. CHEERS, Your fan from NZ - CAM:)

Great vid! The only argument I’d make is to make LARGE changes first. Unless you’re a factory test rider it can be hard to tell any difference in just a few suspension clicks. If you wind the compression right to the opposite end of travel, then test ride, you should be able to feel a difference, then start winding it back bit by bit. After each change, ask yourself: is it now worse? Better? No perceivable change?

Way too much sensible sound advice in this vid. Top notch 👌🏼. And agree with you on Riemann's silicone tyre tubes tip- that is gold. Looking forward to your DX review

Thanks for providing so much useful information.

Just wanna say that I absolutely love Mini Tip Mondays. You are great at explaining the problem, and how to solve it. Absolute legend

The simple answer to have a perfect bike, is..... money and lots of it.👍

Rubber grease works great in inner tubes too 😉 great vid!