Great thread. I'm kinda late to this show.
(I am guilty of staying in the main lanes of this forum. I need to go down these back roads more often. Good stuff)
Anyways, lots of debate on the current 4 or 5 BIG adventure bikes and which "bias" each manufacturer chose. KTM being strongly biased off-road. And maybe the Honda being the other end of the spectrum? Explorer maybe the same?
Regardless, a common measurement that I hear on choosing which one best suits someone, is the expected % of off-road use by the potential buyer. But in my opinion, unless the expected %'s are extreme in either direction, they shouldn't necessarily parallel the design "bias".
For example: If the expected use is really heavily weighted off-road, then the KTM design bias makes far more obvious sense. And likewise, if someone honestly believes they will RARELY ever go off pavement, then the Honda and/or Triumph and/or Ducati makes sense.
But my real point is that if you ride even 5% off-road, those few days are either days you will cherish forever and dream of having more, or they can be a struggle because the BIG beast was a handful and not nearly as intoxicating.
If I still am not making sense, let me put it one more way.
I have put about 16-17,000 miles on one of the 5 or 6 Beasts in this category. And admittedly, maybe 1500 of those miles have been off road. (so less than 10%)
Here would be a typical example: (Not always so well manicured. But a good example that anybody that wants to be considered an adventurer would venture on.
Hey GrahamD, is there snow on this trek now? )
Even on off-road treks like this, the difference between the strongly road biased bikes vs the ones that make the more considerable "compromises" can be stark!
By the way, the S10 runs this like it is a playground. Even fully loaded it was a straight out blast! It's ABS and TC were so obviously tuned for eating this up. And if you were to add the magnificent K60's to the mix, you can flat out fly.
So in summary, I am simply trying to say that it might be true that the Honda or Triumph may be superior on tarmac. And maybe by a considerable margin. But not enough to render the S10 or GS tarmac toads.
However, those same design biases towards dirt that Yamaha and BMW made for dirt prowess could be HUGE when you are having the "adventure ride" of your life! Supposedly, that's why we wanted one of these bikes.
I love motorcycles. All kinds. But this unique class of Big Beast adventure bikes is getting a little "stretched" with the latest editions, if you ask me. Or at least the word "adventure" is starting to mean other things.
If we want to be really liberal with it's use, I can tell you that commuting to work an a KTM950SM is ALWAYS an "adventure".
