A proper newbie.

[anyfo]

Thinking about an adventure bike. Rode for year (Silly sports stuff) and am a returner. Want an adventure bike like a GSA, Africa Twin or maybe a V-Strom. Would love a decent 1150 GSA with all the kit. Am planning to use ABR as a source of info, advice and inspiration. No rush at all. Happy to spend a few months researching and taking advice before taking the plunge.

[Froglodyte]

If you buy an 1150, for God's sake don't get one with servo brakes. They are a total PITA. I have a 650 vstrom by the way and it's really good. Check out the vstrom owners club site.

[geoham]

Welcome to ABR from Northern Ireland.

[Stewie]

Hello and welcome from West Sussex.

IMAG0209_zps5aa2280e.jpg (43.75 KiB) Viewed 2891 times

Not mine, but boy he had fun...

[Teflon Jnr]

Hi from sunny stalybridge.ive ridden the strom 650 and it is with out a doubt a good bike but rust is a problem.have you looked at the 650 versys I had a mk1 for 4 years until July this year my first proper bike after passing my test I did buy a mk1 1200 stage 3 tuned bandit for my first bike what a mistake but that's another story.i bought the 650 versys on a recommendation off my dad teflon on the abr all I will say is what a bike I covered over 50k mile in 4 years touring the UK and Europe numerous times fully loaded with and without a pillion and all I did was oil and filter changes they are unbelievable but regurlaly overlooked they are more nimble, quicker and will last a whole lot longer than a vstrom and more fun.i only sold her (and yes I regret it everyday but only if I could have kept both 2 completely different animals) too buy a ktm 990 adventure I was torn between either this or a bmw gsa adventure as I'm only 35 and still young at heart I didn't want the predictability or the oh it's another gs every time I rode and on a plus note it is faster and more fun than a gsa

[990Duck]

I currently ride a 2017 DL1000 V Strom. For the money they're a good bike, especially for long distance work fully loaded. What lets them down is the build quality, so if you get one give it a good clean and drown it in ACF50.
Have done some of the easier sections of the UK TET on mine and it performed resonable, even on standard tyres. Although at times I wished I had the 650.
If you go for a new one don't bother with the Suzuki luggage, spot lights, crash bars. Over priced and useless. Better to invest in some better quality and cheaper after market stuff, SW-Motech, Ravtech or Heed.
But if you want a pure adventure bike then it has to be a KTM990 R.

[Boggs]

I too can vouch for the Versys 650,ive had 2 of them over the years,a Mk2 for 4yrs then a Mk3 for 2yrs,the Mk3 was definitely more refined over the Mk2 and had quite a few nice improvements over the Mk2,most notably the brakes,i toured all over on both of them and never had a single bit of bother,ive only just recently sold the Mk3,px'd it for an Africa Twin,i only really changed for the sake of changing and the Africa Twin was the only bike around that got me going,if you know what i mean



Cheers Boggs