I was being very general of machines and did not list specific machines. There are always exceptions in every class of machine- e.g. An 640 LC4 KTM vibrates to buggery, but has lots of power/performance. An XT is pretty gutless in comparison, but has a smoother engine. But it is interesting you mention the CRF250L and XL600, because my wife has them to and she complains of needle-an-pins in her fingers when she rides the CRF long distance, but not the XL600. Same bikes, but different experiences. Could it be tyre related?




I agree on 19" front wheels- don't like them either, but some people prefer the better road-holding they provide for bitumen dominated riding. In fact, some people are already talking about converting the new AT's 21" front to a 19" because of this- each to his own. And part of this debate is the tube vs tubeless conundrum. A lot of people prefer the tubeless tyres and not many manufacturers offer tubeless unless you go to these sizes (19/17). But there are plenty of larger machines with 21" front wheels, e.g. 800GS, 800 Tiger, AT, KTM 950/990, XRV750 etc.

As for the rear wheel- Many of the big-singles come with a 17" rear (KLR650, DR650) and opinion differ on whether 17" or 18" tyres are better for touring- I find 18" better and easier to find in Australia and prefer the selection. So much so that I paid a lot of money to build an 18" rear wheel for my XRV750. Other parts of the world people claim the opposite (17" being easier to find).

So I reject your reality and substitute my own


My apologies for complaining. It was meant as an empirical observation, not a complaint.

I don't like freeway riding much thank you, but every so often its required. I prefer to be on a machine that is capable of staying with the traffic. In the Australian heat, tyres delaminate easy and you have to look after them. Riding a loaded bike at speed tends seriously reduce tyre life and I prefer not to.

And I agree we have some different ideas of adventure riding. Mine seems to be much broader and accepts all forms, whereas yours appear to me as restrictive and narrow-minded. In my recent trip, I got caught in a Porsche train running through the mountains. I had just as much fun chasing them through the twisties on the bitumen than I did running up the beach or through the 4x4 tracks in the Flinders Mountain ranges. For my application, the best adventure bike is the one that offers me the most options. Just as I feel a certain loss at being on a road bike and not being able to go down a dirt track to see a waterfall, so I feel a loss when I want to 'push' things a bit and the throttle is against the stopper, there's a lot of noise, but not enough forward motion.

And when I have the time, I also prefer slower riding because: less fuel, see more, less fatigue (wind/concentration/etc.). But I also have to be practical - we live rural and I travel for sport. A weekend is 3-4 days 1800-3000km of mixed bitumen/dirt riding with your gear. You can't realistically do this at 80km/h.



Maybe it does to you. But hey, I accept the challenge - only way to prove you wrong is for us to go riding together...

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Squily