Quote:
Originally Posted by Mezo
Well there we have it, define "Adventure Bike"
You never got seven of the Tenere models & that’s just whilst picking my nose reading this, and all those can go where no GS1200 would dream of going because they are fat bloated overweight pigs (the bikes not the riders) wouldn’t want to offend GS owners.
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GS's have their place (at Starbucks!

) no, seriously, they have their place. Great two up sport tourers. Would I own one? No, can't afford it or the maintenance and goodies required to make it good. I ride with at least 10 or so guys on GS's. You'd be surprised where the talented of them can get to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mezo
Are these "Adventure Bikes" ? and why not? and read the comments below.
What`s an adventure? going to the pub with Touratech panniers on? call me a snob if you wish but at least i don’t look like a complete
Over to you.
Mezo.
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Right, just about any bike can do "Adventure" if it's what the rider wants. The wrong bike may struggle in places but it's all about getting out and having some fun, right?
BTW, Wes Siler (guy who wrote the article in your link) seriously lacks credibility ... and proves it once again. First off ... as usual .. he got a bunch of it wrong. Fact is, several of his listed "Not Coming To America" bikes ARE in fact coming or are here now. Maybe his article is old? No idea, but Cycle World and Motorcyclist (our biggest print mags in USA) featured several of the bikes. One is the "new" VFR800, another the little Yamaha kick start 400.
We're also getting some new Suzuki GSXR based naked bikes, some big old school Honda inline fours and several more. IMHO, not many of the bikes shown would be perfect travel bikes ... save the Tenere' 660's ... which we DO NOT get. Who knows if Yamaha will ever wake up on this one.
In the meantime, strong rumors from my Yam/Honda dealer friend indicate a new, small version of the Tenere' 1200 will be coming in 2015. This bike would be based on the FZ-07, the 700cc P-Twin released this year.
Could be a winner.
Yamaha already have done an upgraded on the FZ-09 released this year ...
a kind of "adventure-ish", sport tourer. The FZ-07 will (supposedly) be more Adventure/off road oriented. We'll see. Nothing happens until next year on that one. (known as MT-07 and MT-09 in UK, Oz et al)
What the USA and Canada DO have that Europe DO NOT ... are old dual sport 650 nails. All run Carbs which I guess are banned in EU/UK ? These are some of the most affordable and popular (and GOOD) ADV dual sport travel bikes in the world.
I speak of course of the KLR650, DR650 and XR650L. ALL still in production and still sold NEW here. But the really good news is how cheap you can find one used. The Honda's are a bit pricey now, but the DR and KLR are plentiful and cheap. Aftermarket support is huge. Reliability is world class compared to many modern BMW's and KTM's.
Both will be around for years to come ... proving to the high dollar adventure guys what Austin Vince always says: You don't need a $25,000 bike to go RTW.