Adventure Bikes

bigoltool

Registered
I was in a local bike shop a few weeks ago ogling the new KTM 1290 Super Adventure, surprisingly even my wife liked it. I think mainly due to the more comfy Pillion accommodations. I had been reading lots of reviews of this bike on line and just wanted a closer look. Always loved the BMW GS 1200 Adventure as well but just could never justify that kind of outlay. And now they have their new S 1000 XR too. Back to the KTM though. Just something cool about an all day comfy bike with 160hp and 104ft/lbs of torque and all the bells and whistles you could imagine. Anyone ridden/own any of these?

The V-strom is just not cutting it for me. The Yamaha seems nice enough, but just rather anemic compared to all of bikes listed above. The Triumph Tiger still hasn't grasped the concept of modern Brakes. And Honda still wont commit to bringing its VFR 1200X to the US, though they are teasing the new Africa Twin.

Thoughts?
 
The bikes you mentioned all are good I went the cheap route because I already have a full on 2 up tourer and brought a KLR 650 for solo riding and so far really enjoying it thought I try this bike first and see if i like this kind of riding then perhaps at a later stage might get something bigger in this segment but I doubt it as I love the KLR good luck :thumbsup:
 
Good post....I just bought a new 1290 Super Adventure! Was going for the 1200 GS BMW but that 40 xtra HP got me! (plus I already have a KTM and I love both the bike and the company. It's still in the crate so when I take delivery, I'll throw up a post with pics.
 
If you're serious about "adventure". Cheap and versatile. Oh, and yes, that is a completely ice covered road in that one photo. 20,000+ miles so far

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I love the Angle Iron Crash Bars. Bravo sir! Man after my own heart.:laugh:

I was really surprised what a following the 650 V-Strom has in the ADV circles. Apparently it has a ton of aftermarket support as well. Nothing on the level of BMW GS Aftermarket but still impressive. Alas the last actual dirt bike I rode was a 1979 CR125R Elsinore. I am looking for something respectably powerful, that I can drag the wife or kids with me without scaring them and still be able to go up the occasional fire road and hang it out a bit.
 
I love the Angle Iron Crash Bars. Bravo sir! Man after my own heart.:laugh:

I was really surprised what a following the 650 V-Strom has in the ADV circles. Apparently it has a ton of aftermarket support as well. Nothing on the level of BMW GS Aftermarket but still impressive. Alas the last actual dirt bike I rode was a 1979 CR125R Elsinore. I am looking for something respectably powerful, that I can drag the wife or kids with me without scaring them and still be able to go up the occasional fire road and hang it out a bit.

The BMW would be amazing. I've been checking them out. Doubt I'll ever dish out the cash for one though. Besides, I still need to pick up a street bike again! Sold my busa like 3-4 years ago.:unhappy:
 
Went and had a nice long test ride on the KTM 1290 SA yesterday. A lot of fun but I came away with more questions than answers.

First the positives: Massive midrange, further amplified by the seating position. After getting off my Busa and onto the KTM I found myself relying far more on my forearms to hang onto the bars. The upright seating position forces you to do much more work with your forearms to hang on vs the forward lean of a sport bike. And this thing is a monster when passing cars, no disappointment there. The Engine vibrates just enough to let you know its running. Bar vibes were negligible. This is a great motor! I took some time fiddling with the various Cruise Control, windshield and damping settings. All neat stuff but none of it was really awe inspiring on the roads I was on. The Brakes were the real eye opener. This thing has boat anchor brakes and I never even got into them hard enough to sample the ABS. If I could ask for anything from this bike on a 3rd generation Busa it would be the braking system combined with the MSC and Lean sensitive ABS!

The Dealer had almost no experieince about a majority of the systems and it took a while to figure out how to adjust the spring preload to compensate for my size. The preload has settings for a single rider, 2 up, Rider with bags and 2 up with bags. It also took diving into the owner’s manual to figure out how to change the seat height to the high position. I never found a good setting for the windshield that didn’t buffet somewhat. I expected this due to my height (6’4â€￾) and I had jacked the seat up as well. The engine (though not broken in yet) did not seem happy in the lower RPM’s. Below 2500 RPM the bike shuddered a bit in pretty much any gear. Maybe I am just spoiled by my Busa’s buttery smooth lower end. The throttle had me shaking my head at times. It had a large amount of slop in the first 10-20 degrees of rotation or so before it would suddenly just lunge forward. It is a ride by wire setup so it should be able to be taken care of at the dealer. After a long hot ride (huge traffic accident) to the dealer on my bike I did not experience any of the underseat heat issues on this bike people have been reporting with the 1190’s.
Negatives: the windshield was almost useless for me, but then that is also one of the first things I changed on my Busa as well. The factory heated grips were the narrowest grips I have ever tried on a motorcycle. With my Held gloves on, my pinky was straddling the outer ridge of the grips. I have heated grips on my Busa, so I was really disappointed in these. Not sure what the options are there. I had a long conversation with several of the people at the shop about springs. With the WP ESA suspension on this thing I wanted to know what was involved in adding stiffer springs/changing oil. They are going to talk to Racetech and see what can be done on that front. I am kicking myself as I was just down in Huntington Beach a few weeks ago and wanted to go to Racetech and have this conversation with them personally, but ran out of time. Maybe Touratech will jump in and offer something here?

Now I really want to ride the BMW GS/GSA and the Multistrada to get a good comparison.
 
I would love to have the KTM or a GS, but, alas, my 29" inseam means it's a no go. Unless one of you guys will volunteer to toss down a step stool next to me every time I come to a stop. :p:
 
I would love to have
the KTM or a GS ,
but , alas , my
29" inseam
means it is
a no go .

Unless one of you guys
will volunteer to toss
down a step stool
next to me every
time I come to
a stop sign .





:p

 
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I am getting excited already sold my KLR recently and I think I am going to put a deposit on a Yamaha super tenere 700 which will be in AUS around DEC I think I hear you guys will be waiting a bit longer for this bike in the US really like this bike as I think it will be a true duel purpose bike just drooling at the pictures at the moment the only negative thing about the bike and its kind of disappointing is no cruise control :banghead: :thumbsup:
 
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