A Day in the Dirt

With the rise of adventure motorcycles, trail riding has become more popular than ever. For those who take their adventure riding seriously, the Trans Euro Trail is a dream come true. We chose two of the most popular adventure bikes on the market and took them for a spin on the Belgian and Dutch part of the Trans Euro Trail.

The Trans Euro Trail is a cultural dirt road adventure from deep within the Arctic Circle to the doorstep of Africa…and back. Covering of over 100.000 kilometers of dirt road, the Trans Euro Trail is an epic motorcycle journey through some of Europe’s most remote, diverse, and inspirational landscapes. It’s safe to say that choosing to ride some of the Benelux parts of the trail, took us to the flattest parts of the trail…

The right choice

Bridgestone has a wide range of adventure tyres, with the A41 being the most road-oriented type. For the slippery and muddy off-road trails of the Benelux we opted for the other side of Bridgestone’s Adventure line up: this is where the off-road oriented AX41 sits. This tyre was the perfect choice for two of 2024’s eyecatchers: Honda’s new CRF1100L Africa Twin and Yamaha’s Dakar inspired Ténéré 700 World Rally. Get ready for a day in the dirt!

The Trans Euro Trail literally offers all kinds of surfaces. From the dusty and rocky mountain trails in Spain to the sandy stretches in the northern forests of Scandinavia and the sometimes muddy dirt roads in the Benelux. None of the tracks on the TET are hardcore enduro trails. They are the exact definition of adventure roads. We rode the 2024 Honda Africa Twin and the Yamaha World Rally – that was launched in the second half of last year. Not only because both bikes are new to the market, both are also the most off-road oriented versions of their family.

Not about speed

Sure, we could have gone faster with a Honda CRF450X or any Yamaha WR on these muddy trails. But the Trans Euro Trail is not about speed. It’s about taking your time to ride, explore, get to know the regions you cross and maybe even the people that live there. For those reasons, both bikes were an excellent choice. The Honda Africa Twin surprised us with its upgraded engine and the fact that this bike remains loyal to the style and philosophy used by the original Africa Twin back in 1988. While the Adventure Sports version of the CRF is more road oriented than ever before, the Africa Twin remains a pure adventure bike. Capable to do great things on and off-road.

The same goes for Yamaha’s Ténéré 700 family. All Ténéré’s are great on and off-road, benefitting from the unrivaled CP2 parallel twin and, just like the Honda, referring to the heritage from the Dakar rally. The Ténéré World Rally however, is the most off-road oriented bike of the two. It has an extra strong link with Yamaha’s Dakar past as it was inspired by the colors of Stephan Peterhansel’s victorious Dakar machines that took six victories in the mother of all rallies. With 23 liters of fuel in the reservoir, we easily managed to ride a full day without a single fuel stop. Although, it actually was the Africa Twin’s 20-liter reservoir that determined how far we could go. And even that was plenty for a day in Flanders fields.

Diverse

Although this is without a doubt the flattest region of Europe, the surface couldn’t be more diverse. Gravel trails turned into muddy ruts, sandy roads changed into heavy dirt and in some parts the path wasn’t even visible because of the water that covered it. Riding these trails on one of the first days of spring, was a perfect cure for the winter blues. It was cold but sunny and bikes proved very versatile as they handled the various conditions with ease. Partly thanks to the AX41 tyres that confirmed their capabilities on every kind of dirt and even surprised us on the road. Clearly this is not a tyre to try your first kneedown with, but the performance and grip on asphalt were quite surprising. And even though the Trans Euro Trail has an off-road focus, some parts are connected by normal public roads.

Clear choice

The mix of roads and trails are typical for adventure riding. The way our bikes and tyres handled this mix, made this day in the dirt even better. Belgium and Holland are quite densely populated, and the temperature stayed under 10 degrees. Maybe there are even more exciting parts among the 100.000 kilometer of roads in the TET. But the challenges in the Benelux were real and the riding was fun. So, we plan on doing more off-road in other European countries. Not sure if we’ll stick to the same bikes as some parts may be a bit more technical than what we encountered in the Benelux. For an 1100 cc bike, the Honda has amazing off-road skills, but there’s no doubt the Ténéré is the most off-road oriented of the two. In the dirt lighter is often better. So we may even look for a 450 or a 300 for our next challenge. But whatever bike we choose, for sure we’ll stick to the tyres. The AX41’s feel like they can handle anything!