so Gary Your Role at Bridgestone means that you know more about motorcycle tires and probably most people in the UK so to have you here I want to ask you what makes for a great motorcycle tire good question James I think um a good motorcycle tire is designed over a period of time you know even though we come out with something new every you know sort of three or four years it it's basically an even evolution of its predecessor unless sometimes less that predecessor is is really not up to standar
d which is very rare that happens um so it's something that's designed over a period of time it's like the GS you know that that one was like is it 40 years now for the yeah you know so that's been tweaked so you know the designer you thought of that 40 years ago I mean it hasn't actually changed that much has it even though it gets better and better and better every year and that's what happens with with tires you know we started especially for come out with something good like you know 10 15 2
0 years ago we just tweak it and develop it and just make it slightly better every single year and the thing is I think now the performance of tires whether it be an adventure time Motocross or even racing tires is so good um you know Riders out there they've never had it so good the the actual performance of tires now whether it be wet and dry on the track or whatever it is is just phenomenal you know going back to when I first started right if you put those tires on now versus today's humongou
s difference yeah and one of the things that blew my mind when I found it out is that that it can take someone like Bridgestone like up for five years to develop a new tire is that right so so you're having to see into the future you're having to anticipate what what people want you know you're having to be kind of fortune tellers I mean a few years ago that would be exactly right but now we use computer software as most things are now so we've got something called what we call the ultimate eye
software and we can pretty much design a tire within well a very very short period of time now to within very close percentage to what it's final actual produced uh solid piece of toy is um so but you know the problem is then is that is we've got to have a a two three four year cycle of a particular tire for it to get into the market for it to become popular um so there's no point changing the tire even though we probably could change guitar every year um there's no point because like I say you'
re just taking sales off one to another yeah you need time to get a tire into the market get it established and then you'll come out of the one three or four years later a replacement but we do come out with the tire almost every year but it'll be in a different sector yeah yeah so how do you know so you know you've got you've got a tire it's performing well but you know Euro enhanced you want to improve with every new Evolution how do you know what to do how do you know what people want do you
go out there and and talk to riders or is it a case of just racking up the miles yourself to see where you can improve well you know yeah there's market research that goes on globally we you know we sort of really know what motorcyclists it's not like a a car tie where there's there's I don't know there's probably 100 different brands in motorcycle it's there's very few Brands you know there's the top four maybe and then there's the the one the other guys as well um but even there you know they'
re getting up there they're getting closer there's no such thing as a bad tire anymore there's better than others but there's no such thing as a bad tire anymore you know so so for us we do the market research and we you know we will have a a design um ethos at the beginning of what it is um what if whatever tire is and then we'll we'll set goals and we'll have to meet those goals but quite often is as we're designing something another manufacturer may come out with something that may be slightl
y better than what our goal was so it's probably then directed back to the drawing board and then we've got to go back and tweak it to make it better than them so it's just a literally a you know a ladder going up and up and up um then all of a sudden now and again particularly it may be yours it may be another manufacture where we'll just hit something you know and it's right it hits the spot and it's the best tire that that's ever been produced in its particular sector and then again it raises
the ball then we've all got to raise the ball which is great because like I said earlier you know the way the tasks performed now is just amazing they're amazing things you talk about nailing it and now the tire that you guys make that really nailed it for me was that battle ax ax41 which I I love man I've ridden that maybe on three different bikes um and I've worn it out I think on three different bikes and that thing is just it just blows my mind how like uh it's a 50 50 Tire if if people lis
tening and watching haven't aren't aware of it but it's a 50 50 for adventure bikes and it just blows my mind how it can perform so well on the road and be so good off it as well and my mind goes back to this time at the Honda Adventure Center because you guys Bridgestone supplies tires today we did yeah we did up until the end of last year yeah yeah so I went last year and at the Honda Adventure Center they have this little section and it's just this slurry of mud and you've got people who have
never stood up on a bike before probably started doing the course about four hours previously and they said go across this slurry of mud and it's probably I don't know 100 meters and their looks on their faces are just in horror and you see them go across and those tires manage to get people across okay the bike slithers a little bit but they're just so good at gripping slush and sludge and then you can ride home on them and actually sort of you know if you want to not that I particularly do on
an African swim but get your knee down you know that's insane yeah well that just proves the point and you know we get asked a lot obviously about tiles we're doing uh particular shows and stuff and my answer to a lot of this stuff is is that the motorcycle the product that we wear the product that we use the tires Etc they're better than we are you know you know that is a given they are better than we are especially then when you see um someone like the likes of Tony Beau doing trials on an Af
rica twin you know then you'll hear someone say you know those Africa twins aren't very good it's like well you know there's proof that they are very good uh you know that goes for all the Adventure bikes and you know like I say just goes to prove that if you if if you've got the right coaching and the right bike is that the product is there the product will work and like I said it's a lot better than we are yeah have you seen those guys I see them on Instagram and they're like they're bumping d
own rock steps on the front wheel yeah Africa twin yeah and it's like what the exactly how could you do that yeah and that's the sort of things that that mere mortals like like me I can ride reasonably well but you know that that's just like levels and levels and levels above isn't it yeah you know but it just proves of what that bike is put through to get it on to the streets you know and all of the you know like I say everything out there is better than we are it really really is one thing I r
eally want to ask you about is one of the funnest things that any motorcycle journalist can do which is go on a tire launch now I know that's something that you organize for Bridgestone and you went on one uh recently in Spain didn't you organize one Alan the founder of ABR went along with you he did yeah 1841 and and these like Tire launches are they're great on you because you just have a lineup of I don't know a selection of five ten different bikes different types of bikes the tires are on t
here and you just go and ride we do we also um from feedback that we get from the journalists as well is that they'll go on a motorcycle launch uh and it's one bike yep it's one set of tires and they're on it for two days where you come on a tire launch it's like you say you've got a whole host of different motorcycles to try at the same time I think sometimes we have to pinch yourselves don't we how lucky we are you know but that launch last year that Alan came on the 1841 Lodge was but one of
the best ones that we've organized it was it was phenomenal so take me through it what was the plan for that launch and tell us about the tire well it was the 1841 which is basically a 90 Road 10 off-road so great good on gravel and all that sort of stuff but when you get to more you're going to need something like an x41 um you know I was in a proper knobly so we we flew into um um northern spoken about the airport up anyway I ended up in San Sebastian stayed there for the night and then we jum
ped on a load of bikes the next morning went up into the Pyrenees and then down um through into the modernist desert oh mate that place is stunning uh which isn't it yours yeah I went there and then stayed in um in in the desert itself but the journalists were very lucky they were staying in pods which because I think it's an astrologer's like playground isn't it down there and uh they stayed in pods with clear roof clear roof on the top um so they just you know woke up in the morning and just l
ooking out on onto the onto the countryside and stuff like that and then we rode back we did about 400 kilometers in two days on a whole host of different bikes and stuff like that so we've got a lead Rider and then but the lead Rider is you know quick that we don't use slow people and our tail Rider a guy called Tim rootig in our group who's um is it we worked for Bridgetown Germany but he's like being I think I'm sure he's been a World Endurance Champion he held the Nurburgring lap record for
a bit as well he's a towel Rider so yeah yeah so you know so so we we have we we don't anger about we have a good old laugh and let you say you can swap the bikes so the journalists can get more features out the job as well because they can test the bike and tires at the same time so it's it's a journalist you know it's good for them yeah that's it yeah I don't know when we're on bike launches you know there's a hell of a lot going through your head as to figuring out how the new bike performs y
ou know filling with the switch gear and the menus and the entire day is focused where like a tie launch you just gotta push the tire you've just got to enjoy it you just got to ride and if nothing goes wrong the tires perform really well isn't it the fingers as well I mean most of the journalists as well have probably ridden all those bikes already so they can so they can actually go and ride those bikes without having to think about what's good and bad about the bike um so yeah they can just g
o and think about the tire push the tires and whatever terrain that that we choose you know to put the tires on depending on what the tire is if it's a sports Tire you know we're likely to launch it on track and road that tire was launched on road and gravel so it depends on what we're doing really but yeah I mean time launches are really really good how much awesome how awesome was that Badness is it Badness real yeah um what's the racism so in and around that area fantastic roads it's amazing
just just gravel isn't it and I think because I I ended up there a bit randomly on a bike tour once where I was up in the Pyrenees the weather was atrocious so me and my mate went South and we ended up in this this bad nasserole desert and uh and it's my right they used to like shoot Spaghetti Westerns there apparently stuff like that yeah that's exactly what it is it is it's like the wild west isn't it and you can Cruise along these gravel roads for Miles we ended up sleeping in it which I thin
k is highly illegal and then got woken up the next day by this siren from a military base right so you're like oh bugger yeah I packed up our gear and legged it off but what a place to what a place to go and play on bikes it's like um it's a different world yeah and when you think if you've got the 24-hour ferry to Santander or something you know it's it's on your doorstep as you get off the off the boat and it's a great great place to go around a motorcycle in Spain you know I love going to Spa
in and riding a bike I think it's great did you get out there much you saw quite a bit yeah I do I do I do I don't I don't I've been a lot with work lots of our launches are in Spain only for that very reason why there's good roads are great yeah trails are great your trails are great everything you do and they love motorcyclists over there that's the advantage that you've got you know the cars move out the way they split when you want to filter that you know they don't try and hinder you you go
into the um the garages and there's cutouts of more cares and everybody else you know it's a problem national heroes yeah yeah it's just a proper motorcycle in country it's great fun yeah we've got to go back we've got to go back next time well I'm sure when there's a product launch that Warren's going to Spain then you'll have to fight that one out with Alan that's it yeah yeah unfortunately the boss does pull the rank but uh you never know it might fall at a good time anyway okay so we're gon
na we're talking tires um now it can be tricky there's a lot of tires out there to choose from it can be tricky knowing what tire to put on your bike so say you were you've got a dedicated you'd stick to the road so maybe you've got an RT like you've got there's a winter hack as a bike yeah uh but you've also got a GS say you spend most of your time on the road you know what sort of things are you looking for in a tire if you're an adventure biker that just sticks to the blacktop I think if you
just sticking to the road then we've got the sport touring Tire the t-32 but I think as a Ryan you've got to ask yourself what it is it that you want yourself you know rather than the tire because that will answer the question for you you know if you say to yourself right I'm never going to take this bike off road I'm not concern too much whether the tire looks like an off-road tire because some people like to have the tire that keeps him within the characteristics it looks cool doesn't it yeah
it's you know it's all there and you know and the way they look at the Aesthetics of a tar is important and we take that into consideration as well when it's designed you know we because sometimes you know when you if you don't to run a look at your bike when you walk away then you've got the wrong bike haven't you yeah you know so if you do turn around look at your bike you look at it from the ground up don't you you see guitars are going to look right it's going to perform obviously but the bi
ke's going to look right from the front the side whatever you know whatever it is um so from that point of view ask yourself what it is that you want as a rider um so if you just want pure Road performance you're not bothered what the tire looks like as such then go for a pure sport touring tire and this is why we've introduced the at41 so even though it's almost a pure Road tire it does look like an off-road tire yeah it's just got a lot of a lot of blocks on it um so it doesn't feel like it fe
els you know like it's got blocks but the performance um is like a Road tire so it's brilliant in the way absolutely fantastic in the way it's simply you know because we've designed it away with all the grooves and the blocks to to disperse water because that's what you know most all year round motorcyclists are looking for now you know yes we all want a good mileage as well but that seems to have um sort of taken a little bit of a dive and providing you getting a certain number of miles now but
the drive performance and the wet performance is up where you want it to be you know but there's always a trade-off whatever Tire you buy there's there's a trade-off so if you buy a knobbly you're going to trade off the dry performance if you buy a dry dry Performance Tire you're not going to be able to go you know when you're going down the road and you see a trail going up up there to the right whatever you think oh I'm gonna have a look up there see if you've got your knobness on you can go
up and have a look wait a minute so it depends you've got to be true to yourself not what your mates have got on and what their type of riding is what are you doing you know what is it that suits you if you're getting on the like I say you get you go into France and you're riding out of Spain and back you've got no you know desire to go off-road then put a pure rotar on like the t32 because that will do everything that you need it to do it will get there you'll get you back and if it does rain b
ecause we all know as good as riding in Spain is it can become quite slippery in places when it's wet it hasn't rained for a while all that crowd and rubbish exactly you know so it can become wet so you see but then if you do put Nobles on you know just ride accordingly but like I say for me be true to yourself what is it that you want yeah and if you answer that honestly there's a Tire in the range that will suit what that answer is you talk about the grooves isn't it and grooves I I was always
interesting to find out when I looked into tires a few years ago that so much science goes into the pattern you know it's not an aesthetic thing because you know as you said those grooves are there to to not just you know to take the water away from the path of your tire aren't they so it's it's you know it's a huge and what surprises me is tires are so different when it comes to their groove patterns so I guess like like anything is it constantly evolving you're constantly looking to build on
that performance it is it is constantly evolving but you know the tread pattern yes it is the prime memory to to disperse water but it also has to be it has to deform in a certain way when you're going around corners that that it still disperses water and also when the tire deforms when you're going around the corner because it flattens out um so that so that nothing so we can still disperse water and the groove is dispersing in a way that it still allows that to do that you know so there's a lo
t more to it than just putting a Groove in the tire but the way that the grooves evolve would be also um work in conjunction with the the sort of the makeup or the carcass of the towers and materials used as well because they'll you know there's some manufacturers use a really soft caucus whereas we use a really stiff carcass so the way that avatars will hit the road would be quite slightly different or very different to another Brand's Tire um so yeah there's a lot of science that goes into it
and this is where this automatic software comes in it helps us we can you know we can use put the data in and you know and out pops popular design and um and it's great for us because like I say we can get it cuts down on costs because we haven't got to keep making tires um and then testing them making them testing them tweaking them and all that sort of stuff so it saves time and it saves a lot of money as well yeah it's just the joy of technology is that chat GPT in the tire world maybe everyt
hing just evolves doesn't I mean if you look at motorcycles from 20 30 years ago I mean they're good but but even now I mean we're just spoiled aren't we yeah yeah with what's available in the technology I'm all for technology and you know in all the the traction control and the um the anti-slide and anti-wheelie and all these things I think I think the Grapevine you can turn them off and you've got a choice I think they're great and they and they should be there absolutely and I think that's cu
te so there's there's is there is there a better time to have been a motorcyclist than now like particularly an adventure biker but any biking in general because you've got just so much damn choice and the adventure bike segment alone you know you've got your small ones your mid-size bikes and then you know the big bikes like you you know V4 rallies from Ducati are just pushing the bar aren't they it's insane it is and like I say I I think I think you're right I think we are in a golden age of o
f motorcycling at the moment with with kit tires bikes there is a lot to choose from they're all good they're all good in their own way again when you're choosing your motor you've got to be true to yourself isn't it what is it that you want you know if I wouldn't choose personally choose my GS if I was going on a proper Adventure yeah I'd get something smaller ah I would personally I'd get something more manageable but then there's that other person that think well no I can only go on a Jess I'
m only going to use a GS but he's going to be in true to yourself on what that choice is I think you know to go and do it yeah Allison are you just met out there who works for it with me in Bridgestone and you know she's just sold a Holly and she's got a t7 oh cool picking that up in a couple of three she would have had it by now but unfortunately she slipped over and broke her wrist um but she would have had it by now because she wants to go she wants to go and ride anytime anywhere so she'd ha
ve like a Harley Cruiser before yes I think oh okay yeah so she'll become her Soft Hill I think it was um but yeah she's gone and got his total opposite yeah to the scale for her but she wants to go and ride she wants to she wants to get up in the morning not bother what the weather's doing not bother what terrain she's on and just going right she wants to go and ride and I think an adventure bike has allowed that to happen hasn't it yeah because we're not bothered with the dirty you just throw
it back in the garage when you get back and give it a quick rinse off and whereas if it was a sports bike you you'd be you know mature getting the caught the buds out wouldn't you and and meticulous to cleaning it but the adventure body don't bother you might try out Bonneville I'm like wiping down the Chrome and keeping it nice and nice and cozy in the garage yeah my adventure bikes not so much exactly but yeah so you say you're going on you know you you ride you ride on and off-road fair amoun
t you're heading off an adventure so what bike are you choosing and what more importantly what tire are you choosing if I was going on an adventure and I would like I said even if I was going down somewhere and I'd saw a um and laying off to the side that was um you know legally allowed to go on um at least there's not a sign saying you're not allowed to go well exactly yeah but I mean I was out in the Peaks last week and um and I mean there's the signs at the beginning of the trails where you k
now it's accessible to cars and bikes and stuff if I was going on that type of Adventure on all the guests a 10 array 700 or I'd get um an 890 KTM Super Adventure I'll get something that's more manageable but comfortable enough to do miles on but something that you can go off-road on properly um is what I would get I would I wouldn't take the the GS on that personally well it's my bike as well and it's my pride enjoy and I've had it since it's seven it's eight years old now and I've had it um al
most since new so it's you know it's still looking reasonable reasonable yeah I mean I use it all year round um so I ride all year round like you boys yeah you know I'm not fair where the biker I'm I'm out if if it's safe from a road perspective that's icy or snowy then I'm out about riding you know I've done probably 2 000 miles already this year so you're on your t7 yeah what size you got on there um again for that Adventure ax41s yeah the ones that you love such a good it's such a guitar yeah
um because I mean I've ridden to a few years ago I went away with some friends and uh well in the industry actually journalist but we rode to Austria in March I took a KTM 1290 um Super Duke Adventure road down there on x41's road back did what three three thousand miles plus they were fine um brilliant but like I say you've got the option haven't you that they're more than good enough on the road they're more than good enough on the road um riding at you know a reasonable Pace without going ma
d but you've just got that option and you know that if you do come across something you can go let's go have a cheeky look up there and that's what the four isn't it that's exactly what they're for it just opens up a whole new world of motorcycling so you can have an adventure bike unless you've got the right equipment on it you're not going to go really go proper adventuring are you but you put a proper pair of Adventure tires on like the x41 you can go where you want and do what you want espec
ially if you've got a mate with you you can drag each other out should you get stuck but that's for me is what Adventure biking is all about yeah and it's what I always say to people like you know the most important part of a motorcycle it's the tire it's the bit in contact with the road and before you before you upgrade your suspension you whack on an aftermarket exhaust before you do anything else think about what you want to be doing on your adventure bike and get some tires to suit that and
that will transform your experience it really will yeah I mean in the previous life I I worked in British Superbikes TT World Super bikes all that sort of stuff so you know for me you work a motorcycle from the ground up yeah you know you start with your tires and then you know then you go to your suspension and your brakes that's what you do because if it doesn't stop and it doesn't go and it doesn't handle it doesn't matter how powerful your engine is if it doesn't put the power to the floor a
nd it doesn't stop it just weighs an absolute waste of time so yeah your tires and any suspension that's what you should always do first you'll go much faster just by getting those components right yeah it's amazing isn't it yeah yeah and uh so earlier today you went over to ragley Hall we did the the location of the adventure bike rider Festival which uh is taking place on the 23rd to the 25th of June tickets are still available you don't need to buy tickets you've got yours already but if you
do anyone wants to buy tickets watching listening you can head over to www.abrfestival.com um now Bridgestone sponsors the jewel in the crown of the adventure by Rider Festival the the Bridgestone Adventure Trail um it's gonna be bigger better more exciting to ride this year um and I reckon going back to again that ax41 it's probably the ideal time for it isn't it yeah it will be because it will work on the gravel to like say we've just been over but we didn't get very forward because we just bo
gged down and got stuck it's very very wet over there at the moment you're in the truck weren't you we were yeah the ground is saturated all sorts of stuff and the Bryn's just sat there quite you know nice and cozy in the driver's seat um so whilst we dragged it out so we aborted Mission but um it would have been nice to have gone another lap on the new on the new course but uh we'll have to wait until the festival near to the festival to do that but yeah the eggs 41 because over there you've go
t you've got hard pack you've got gravel you've got the the mod you've got water Crossings um and we know that we know that you can put those on before you get there and we will come out with an offer um before you know to the to the show go as before it starts so that we can uh you know get get the guys over there on the x41s before they get there um but yeah but the thing is they'll be able to ride there on the x41 so that's the point they'd be able to ride there on the outside you want go and
do whatever terrain is on offer um and then ride home and that's the beauty of having such an adventure time that works on the road works on the tarmac works in the mud works on gravel it just works in any terrain that's what your adventure bikes designed for isn't it yeah we've designed a tour so you can take advantage of a bike and do what it's designed to do and I guess quite an important thing as well when you're choosing a tire is to is obviously to think about the bike you're on wheel siz
e but I know that tires are also you know sometimes designed to be ridden with a big heavy 250 kilogram adventure bike plus pillion plus a few kilograms of muscle being the rider like myself and Luggage um and so you know a tire design for that is going to be very different to a knobbly tire a chunky Tire design for I don't know KTM exe 350 or something like that which is half the weight and probably not carrying the payload so there's important considerations there as well there is but there's
there's governing bodies around the world which um State what based on the size of the tire and the load it's going to take we have to meet certain criteria the European one's called the etrto which is European Time Rim technical organization So within there there's like a like a a 180 with 180 55 17 for example is nominal fitment is a five and a half inch rim it will fit on a smaller one it will fit on a larger one but they will it will advise in there in these set of regulations that we have t
o adhere but a day or two then you've got the axle weights of the bike the maximum Max of weights of the bike that will take so we then have to within then there's the load index on the tire so we need to make sure that the tire is designed to take that load yeah um so yeah so we do have to take that into consideration we'll make a big knobbly for for you know for an adventure like a GS or whatever so but the same criteria although different is then taken into account for Enduro tires because th
ey're road legal um so but you're right the bike the axle weights are much lighter they then will have to pass an fim approved you know to make sure that they're illegal and so on and so forth so but there's different sets of rules and regulations per size of tire and bike is being fitted to it's a Minefield I won't go into it too I'll be happy to talk to you about it that's another time and probably do this again so we can go into it in more depth uh but it is a Minefield out there but yeah eve
rything's taken into consideration the pressures which we use again they're in this book as well um so the pressures the maximum remembrance minimum which we're allowed to use or have to use and we've got to stay within it according to the load and the speed and the bike and everything that it's like I say it's a bit of a Minefield but there's rules and regulations there which all ties not just us it's all-time manufacturers and all motorcycle manufacturers have to adhere to they do talk to each
other there is we're in communication there there is communication there between all time at that level because we all need to be singing from the same hymn sheet really in terms of what fits Wharton you know otherwise it can go very wrong very quickly so very easily more to the point so no we all need to make sure that uh first and foremost safety make sure that everything works and is designed within the parameters to keep everybody safe and it's not going to fail yeah it's as simple as that
but that would go across the board with building regulations and you know anything that's being made there's a regulation for it isn't it that's it that's it I guess when it comes to Road Safety that's important exactly but back to more exciting things things the Bridgestone Adventure Trail um I get asked quite a lot um people have got sort of 80 20 tires on their French bikes very common um you know will they be all right on the trail uh and my response is usually if it's dry yeah because even
though they're very Road focused these these tires perform pretty well off-road don't they but when it's wet take a bit of care is that kind of what you'd echo or yeah but again for me I would advise anyone if you've not done that much off-roading is go and get some tuition that is what I would say you know regardless of of what product you've got on because a lot of it is is how good you are off-road because even if you've got an 80 20 on and you get stuck you can just guarantee that someone on
the same bike in the same tires as going by 100 miles an hour without a care in the world yeah so looking I'm really jealous how do they do that exactly yeah so there's a lot that I think that you know an adventure bikes if you are going to take it off for a go and get some tuition that is my advice and then choose your Thai as we alluded to earlier you'd be true to yourself what are you going to do with it if it's the odds gravel track there's no point on Monopoly well that's something that ab
r's Chief by tester Julian says a lot and he rides the the tap a lot the tracks you're a trail in the UK and he always says buy the tire for the trickiest section of Route you're going to be in doing because you know it's a a knobbly tire might struggle a little bit on a paved surface but you'll just take it easy yeah whereas a road Tire ain't going to get you up that slippery Rocky step in the rain is it yeah you've got more chance to get into a to B on your knobly tire on the road than you hav
e getting to A to B with a Road tire where you need a knobbly absolutely yes always over tire that's what you're going to do if you're going to go off-road then just go yeah exactly that's a good Super Tire that sounds quite rugged yeah like it absolutely yeah absolutely yeah um now you mentioned something about well you mentioned about getting some tuition you know one of the great things about the ABR Festival is we've got the world's leading off-road skill schools there ready to teach you on
site all part of the the ticket price um but you know you ride a fair bit off-road how did you get into riding off-road how did you take your first steps going from that BSB sports bike background um when I first moved to Bridgestone in 2004 Bridgestone sponsored mcextance for the decor ah cool um and then I was asked to go and drop him some tires off um so I met him so he could go and do the decor and then we sort of pulled out of off-road manjoro stuff for a few years and then I was at the NEC
one year just walking around and I bumped into Mick again um who then said to me so hello Gary how are you doing so I'm just setting up a new school which you've been to yeah down down in Wales Woodbridge Bridgestone be interested in in supporting it at that time we just reintroduced Motocross tires and Enduro tires back into the range so it's absolutely perfect timing it couldn't have been any better so we went for a meeting with him and I went down with him I said let me go and show you the u
h the venue and stuff and I'd really never been off-road at all so I sort of look Mick I've never been it snowed and it was horrible I got photos of I mean it's like freezing to death on top of a mitz mountain and uh and I loved it yeah and I absolutely loved it and I said you couldn't keep me away from it it was cooking and then I started competing in uh the all-terrain Rally Championship like doing uh the bar Hall Pike's Peak and they have room rally and all that sort of stuff just on I'm goin
g out with mates and stuff and I'll just I'll at least forgot road bikes at that point yeah and I just did a hell of a lot of off-roading and I still do a little bit now I don't do as much not because I don't want to just because I haven't got a lot of time at the moment to get down and to get it done but that's how I got into it you know I just did it once and that was it what was it about it that really grabbed you I think it was because it was different yeah it was it was just totally differe
nt to what I'd done in the past the scenery just going to places for me it wasn't about because when I was growing up and I was on the sports bikes and my oldies and stuff you know and in in the 80s and stuff it was about getting from A to B as fast as you can and then doing track days about getting around the Trap is a track as fast as you can but then when I started doing the off-roading it wasn't about how fast you were going to be at A to B it was can I yeah and I think that was where it all
came from it's like especially with Mick you know what makes like he'll say look go on then get yourself up there I can't make yeah you can yeah and micking still was a hell of a lot of confidence into you you know even though you don't think it at the time and you say one then get yourself up there I said like it's like get can I get from A to B not how fast can I do it until you start doing the rallies and racing and stuff but green laning going off-road is literally about that it's like gett
ing from one end to the other and the achievement of doing it yeah and then you makes a standing there and applauding you and clapping you or booing you and all you know all sorts of names under the sun because you failed but then you'll go back down to the bottom and then try again and you get up hey it's great it's just it's just it creates great camerani with your mates I think off-roading it's a great leveler I find as well because I I'm always very honest I'm a I'm a very average off-road R
ider I like doing it I roll my tires over most things but I'll do it at my own pace you know and I know I've been lucky enough to ride with um I know people at LEL Pavey on bike launches and yeah Lowe's done the Dhaka yeah for God's sake you know he's really really really good but there's just something about riding off-road for me where I don't know the egos seem to disappear like you're meant to fall off yeah if you're not falling off you're not really trying hard enough and when you do fall o
ff it don't matter you pick it up you may have come along and give you a hand and just just keep on riding it is it is it's exactly that and getting stuck in bogs and then trying to drag your bike out and you may again you're Mason just like booing you and cheering you and whatever you know ridiculing whatever they do but that's all part of the fun isn't it yeah it doesn't matter how fast you go or how slow you are it's just about going out with your mates and having a good time and like I say t
here's obstacle to try and get over go around you know whatever it is but you're all there for the same thinking there's low E goes absolutely not you get to the end of every Trail you wait for each other and then you carry on yeah what about bike soaring have you done a fair amount I have done a lot of bites or in yeah um in the UK and obviously with job I'm lucky that I go I go abroad a lot with with work and uh go on launches and do a lot of miles over there but I've ridden into Spain many ma
ny times and back and you know down to the Algarve I've done it on sports bikes never again yeah oh no that put me off sports bikes forever that did no never again um yeah I I do a lot of touring I do a lot of touring in the UK my my partner she enjoys going on the back as well so we're always out doing something um so yeah I just the weather's nice just get out on the bike it's just it frees the mind as well doesn't it especially when you're on a busy week at work and in lots of stress and stuf
f like that and just get the bike out it just works wonders doesn't it yeah yeah it does and nothing beats for me like yeah if you had a really busy week go for a ride and then a few beers at the end of it and just relax with your friends and it just yeah it's it's the source Gary I've got a list of questions here that I thought would get through and ask we've hardly touched them it doesn't matter we've had a chat it's all good yeah that's it that's it tell me about tube tires then well it obvio
usly depends on the on on the rim that the most cycle manufacturer produces that the GS has got tubeless the CRF has got I think the older ones have tube aren't they and the new ones are tubeless something around oh there's actually the way around I can't remember um they're as good as each other obviously if you get a puncture with a tube it's more difficult yeah you gotta leave us take the wheel off take the tire out where you can just plug a tubelet stuff yeah sorry can't you easily put some
you know slime in it I mean I mean off more often than not you know that that slime will plug a tube yeah or can it depends on obviously being much smaller like a pin prick type thing rather than but then it probably is with the tube if you hit a rock it then pinches the tube and can cause a you know a real big slice in the tube and then you've got to stop and then you've got to get the wheels out and it's um so I mean for me I'll just always go tubeless if you can you know I think there are a l
ot of um tubeless converting kits out there aren't they or or put some later Wheels in it and stuff like that but if you if you are on tubes always carry spare tubes with I mean but I've been adventuring especially with Mick and stuff and I've done a lot of riding with Mick in Morocco and stuff and you know dog Dakar roots and Sahara Desert and all that sort of stuff and we always say um just you know rather than taking a 21 inch front and an 18 inch rear just put a knight inch couple of 19 inch
tubes in yeah because then that will fit the front and it will fit the rear not ideally but it will fit better than trying to put an 18 in the front and a 21 and then an 18. so just take a 19 couple of 19 inch tubes with you and uh and just do it that way but I mean if you can too but I think a lot of bikes now the adventure party tubers don't want them yeah it makes life easier it does yeah it definitely does and when you want to change them as well and stuff like that so riding in Morocco wou
ld make accidents like Dakar Legend what was that like what were you doing it was amazing um we flew into um well we started off we flew into Marrakech and then got a mini boss over the Atlas Mountains into was a zat started off from there and then Mick took us down we had I think it was six days did about 15 100 miles in six days on KLX 450s that's not the most comfortable in bikes I've been on some of the train that he took us to it was just like it's amazing just literally in the middle of no
where then and then um that was on most a lot of the Dakar routes that went from north to south of Morocco and then through the uh sand dunes um in uh in the Sahara one of mixed mates Ali he's got a hotel called The Palace um I can't remember exactly where it is now but yeah he's got a hotel there so we stayed there then we just literally spent a day in the dunes to be honest with you it was probably the hardest thing I've ever done on a motorcycle entire day you're trying to chase Mick extens d
own the thing is the thing is you don't realize is the sun moves around you've got the dunes and obviously the higher the low and there's all the crevices and everything and when the sun's in a certain area it looks flat and then when it moves you can see the dunes and you can see the drop-offs and everything that's there so unless you know what you're looking for I mean we were there and you know someone was me and going down the dunes and they thought it was flat and not what it's not that dow
n and of course there's a hard side to the Dune and a soft side to the Dune According to which way the wind's blowing so you've got to be able to read all of that sort of stuff you know that's why some people are really really good in the jizz so it's not just being able to ride in sand it's it's knowing how to never navigate through the dunes and what the hard part of the Dune is the soft part of the June where the Sun's shining where there's crevices where you can stay on top and all sorts of
things and if you do drop down can you get back up is it a soft you know all sorts of things and I remember hitting one June I thought it was hard and it was soft and at least it just went straight into the side of it right the bike just lodged its lodged itself into the Dune threw me over the handlebars and I was literally facing my head down on the side of the gym and the bite was just sat there and [Applause] and that's that's quite an important thing isn't it you mentioned about that you nee
d to write read the dunes and and when you're riding off-road like a real key thing is is looking ahead and reading the trail and I guess if you've got the right rubber underneath you got it it just clears your mind doesn't it to stop thinking about can I stay up but actually okay what's my best line what's the what's the terrain doing and and I think when I learned to think about how to tackle the train ahead that gave me a little bit of a leaping confidence and I guess that it's down to being
confident in the bike and the rubber below you is I think so yeah and and like I said earlier you know all of the components about them we are and reading that the more you read the trail the more you look ahead the the better off you'll be because you in some particular instances you need momentum to get you from you know up a hill or something like that or you just need to slow down and navigate some rocks or something so if you can see them and prepare yourself for it then the better up you k
now better chance you've got of getting over whatever obstacle it is in front of you but I also think as well if you're thinking about the tires you've got on then you've got the wrong tires on haven't you yeah that's it it's as simple as that and again going back to the what would you choose you've got to be true to yourself of what you're going to do and if you are going to tackle some off-road over Tire just totally over tie it because if you do hit something like that you've got far more cha
nce of getting through and out the other side than you have with something that isn't designed for that type of terrain yeah yeah Gary it's been an absolute pleasure really enjoyed chatting with you I love the fact we haven't got through half the questions on the sheet we'll get rid of the sheet it's gone don't worry about it maybe we'll do another one a little bit more technical in the future absolutely more than all for that fascinating to hear about you know your life in in tires and and get
some advice from you uh and you're going to be at the adventure bike rider Festival aren't you so if people want to come over and talk to you pick your brain about tires hear more tells from Morocco with Dakar Riders you're going to be there on time we are going to be there and this year we will be in the Bridgestone tent on the Bridgestone campfire so when whilst all the talks are on we'll be in the back there and you know yeah open to any questions or information or advice that anybody wants w
ill I say if anybody just wants to have a chat and just talk about motorcycling in general up for that as well it's what we all do isn't it and that's what that's the camaraderie that we have as motorcyclists isn't it we're all there for the same reason brilliant it's been an absolute pleasure thanks for your time and uh yeah hopefully we'll do this again soon absolutely thank you cheers thank you [Music]
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