Great time to be buying an adv bike... a plethora of choices, all pretty good.
The new Honda AT is probably the first choice if off-road worthiness is your #1 priority. It is essentially an updated/more-modern Honda interpretation of the KTM 950/990 spec and the early reports are VERY positive. The price is darn good too, especially if you want DCT. People were hoping for 450-lb wet weight (which wasn't realistic) and are disappointed with it being in the low-500's, but its still about the lightest liter-class adv bike so far. But there are some dirt-focused features that make the bike less road-focused, less comfortable, and less suited for touring, particularly the tubed tires/wheels, lack of cruise control (even as an option - early reports are that the bike does NOT have electronic throttles), and chain drive. If you want to try DCT, it's the only game in town. Final consideration is that it isn't due for some time yet and early reports are of very limited availability. Accessories will take some time to develop too. And do you really want the 1st year of a clean-sheet design, even if it is from Honda? Like everybody, they make mistakes too, and the early customers are the final testers.
The KTM's are all great choices if all-around performance is your goal - they manage to be very fun street bikes, but will go off-road about as well as anything short of the new AT. The Super Adventure is to the regular Adventure just about like the GSA is to the GS: more fuel, more standard crash protection, more features, more weight. KTM's work best if the owner is committed to their quirks and is willing to heap extra attention and maintenance on them as they can be finicky. KTM has a tendency to release bikes before they're fully sorted.... for example, the 1190's shipped for quite a while with chronically leaking airboxes that let in a lot of dirt to motors. Supposedly sorted now, but KTM has a bad track record of stuff like this. And you have to deal with the chain drive. At least KTM managed to put tubeless tires on their bikes, even on the 21" front ends.
The Multistrada, like the S1000XR, is really more of pavement sport-touring bike, than an adventure bike. I wouldn't take one anywhere I wouldn't take a pure street bike. But if you want a rip-snorting, comfortable, great-handling bike for road-touring, great choice. Supposedly they finally have sorted the (severe) fuel-delivery glitches of last year. Price is astronomic and reliability can be sketchy. If you look at this bike, you need to look at the S1000XR.
The GS and GSA are the gold standards of the segment. All-arounders that do almost everything very well. Manageable weight given the spec. Good power. Fun to ride. There's really no big downside other than price, and less reliability than the Japanese bikes.
The Super Tenere is a very well sorted package, a good value, and a super touring bike that is pretty friendly on dirt roads IF you're okay with the weight/bulk. It's got all the features for touring: shaft, cruise, 19" front end, tubeless spoke rims, heated grips, etc., and a deep accessory aftermarket. But it has always had the undesirable combo of high weight and low power. It's the good choice if you're interested in big miles and are fine with the weight and "adequate" power. Reliability is probably as good as it gets. But the Honda is probably going to be on a different planet in technical dirt riding.
- Mark
