Watch These $1,000 ADV Bikes Try To Last 1,000 Miles

The crew over at Rocky Mountain ATV/MC are back to their old budget-bike shenanigans with the release of their new eight-part YouTube series, $1,000 Motorcycles vs. 1,000 Adventure Miles. 
After its two successful budget-bike challenges—5 Miles of Hell $500 Motorcycle Challenge and Extreme Enduro $500 Motorcycle Challenge—generated millions of YouTube views, the Rocky Mountain boys are back in a sadistic bid to outdo themselves. 

Each of the previous series had a few things in common: cheap bikes, ridiculously difficult terrain, and extreme enduro tests that said bikes had no business attempting. There were pratfalls and trailside repairs aplenty, all for our viewing pleasure. 

For its latest torture-tour, Rocky Mountain established a fairly simple set of parameters: each participant could spend a total of $1,000 on buying and fixing a motorcycle to complete a 1,000-mile, adventure-style journey from Mesquite, Nevada, to Phoenix, Arizona, and back. Just to up the cruel factor, each rider had to carry his own camping gear. All bikes got a fresh set of tires (for safety reasons), but all repairs and maintenance had to fall within the $1,000 budget.

The motorcycles range from an ‘81 Kawasaki KZ440 to an ‘82 Suzuki SP500 and a 2005 Ninja 250 bought for $270. Once you see the bikes, you won’t be surprised at how soon the breakdowns begin.  

While this year’s 1,000-mile challenge has more pavement than the previous dirt-focused versions, there’s no lack of trails, hill climbs and enduro-style tests we love these guys for. Heck, there’s even a dirt drag race and a cruise down the Vegas strip! 

Tip-overs, breakdowns and carnage aside, the entire series is also a showcase for the beautiful landscape of Nevada and Arizona. The scenery is so grand that it almost steals the show from the suckers on two wheels. By the end of the last episode, if you’re not planning a copycat challenge with your pals, you may be planning a future trip to America’s wild west. 

If you’re ready to click play on $1,000 Motorcycles vs. 1,000 Adventure Miles, be forewarned: the full series is about 175 minutes long, or just under 3 hours. You may want to consume it in pieces, or clear your Friday night calendar and set your status to “unavailable.” 

Bringing viewers along on these twisted journeys is the whole raison d’être for Rocky Mountain’s budget bike videos, so let’s all watch the heck out of these and give the team another reason to do it all again next year.