The perfect compromise ADV bike

[KTMBLAG]

Well I would say KTM 990 Adventure. I took mine places some people wouldn't take an enduro. It coped admirably. I'm now on a gs 800 and although I like this bike more and would never go back it doesn't compare to the ktm off road in my opinion. Only place I didn't want to be on the 990 was in heavy mud. Then you can curse a 450 let alone something twice as heavy. I too have had a 640 and while I agree it's the best out the box adventure bike that easily does 100+. I think 60/70 is comfortable cruising

[P4ulie]

I you're anti single Ralph & want a good compromise bike I think you should have a look at the raided CB500X. I've not ridden it in full battle dress but it certainly looks the part with the full conversion. They had several for demo at the Overland Event last year & likely there again this summer?

I have ridden the standard; it's comfy, good wind protection & won't have any trouble sitting at 80mph all day.

I ended up buying a CRF250 instead, there's room for all of us (thumbs)

[Oop North John]

Some opinions on the CB500x here:

http://adventurebikerider.com/forum/23- ... age-3.html

I'll have some opinions on it's abilities after returning from Morocco in 6 weeks time. What I can say is that physically it's not as big as the 650 V-Strom, and it certainly feels busier on the limited 70mph cruising that I've done. Not changed much as I'm no off-road / piste etc god.

[SteveW]

Ralph, get a GS800. Put some Karoo3's on it and a touring seat.
Then book a two day one-on-one with Molly at the Adventure Bike Academy at Sweetlamb.
You've got a bike that'll cruise all day at 100 mph and you've got the confidence and skill sets to make it work off Tarmac.
You may have ability and experience on lighter bikes off Tarmac, taking something bigger off road is a bit of a leap of faith, but it's possible and rewarding, but you need some expert training to make the crossover from 250cc to 800cc (thumbs)

[garyboy]

must say .. I was impressed with `Cone's` use of his f800gs last week, on trails .. and obviously is good for big tarmac too.

[he had karoos too]

[minkyhead]

tbo ralph had a really good duel sport bike in the660 ..than one mr bond is sellin has the upgrades needed ive been all over the place with dave and tony on theirs and they do really well ..
ive seen som guys on here on 990 s bowber blag beddows mad cow ect and they ride them very very well brilliant at times ..i just cant handle the weight when it goes wrong

how about a ktm super enduro ?? much lighter awsome power for the slab and cabable off road ?

[jonny955]

The age-old question and it keeps up healthy debate on the 'One bike' solution .

I tried the one bike solution for a few years and I think the KTM 990 Adventure is the best compromise out there but although excellent off-road, it's too heavy in that environment for me. I was OK until I found myself pointing downhill in mud and having to turn it around ho ho ho. It was certainly nowhere near as good 2-up on longer trips as either my Tiger 955i, Buell Ulysses or my current Moto Guzzi Stelvio.

I eventually realised that I'm a 2-bike man and have the GP450 which, if you discount pillion use, is closer to being the 'silver bullet' than any other bike I've owned. With the PCV and 'zorst, it's putting out around 50 BHP and as Minkyhead says, it will blast up to speed as quickly as more powerful bikes due to the power:weight ratio and gearing. I'm happy to take mine on long runs (Picos later this year, for example) and find it brilliant on typical tight Sussex B roads. Whilst the 990 Adventure was bonkers fast on the road, it only felt happy when riding hard which isn't what I want. The GP450 is still entertaining when pootling along (as is the Guzzi) and this is a very important critera for me.

I get the multi-cylinder thing and if you don't like singles, you won't like the GP450 or the XT660 etc. The only twins I can think of in this class are close to 200kg so you are back to the 990 Adventure, if that's your thing...and if you can put up with the thirst!

Jon

[chrisjk]

It's pretty clear that whatever bike you can think of, there are compromises that have to be made and where those are made depends what you value most.

I think the CCM GP450 comes close even without the Nova box and so does the BMW Xcountry. Both are singles and have more vibration than one would like for all day cruising but I have both bikes and have cruised all day on motorways at 70-80 on each and it's perfectly doable if not Rolls Royce comfort. Once on smaller roads they come into their own and each is pretty capable off-road.

[AlanHolt]

The frustration with my XT is when I'm stuck behind a couple of artics on a Spanish single carriageway and it just hasn't got what it takes to pass them quickly and safely. Hence why I'm looking at the 640 adv, with almost 20% more power than my 27 year old XT, it should make the road miles easier, but still be fun off-road.

[-Ralph-]

You may have ability and experience on lighter bikes off Tarmac, taking something bigger off road is a bit of a leap of faith, but it's possible and rewarding, but you need some expert training to make the crossover from 250cc to 800cc (thumbs)

ive seen som guys on here on 990 s bowber blag beddows mad cow ect and they ride them very very well brilliant at times ..i just cant handle the weight when it goes wrong

I can handle the XT600E or XT660R off road, when it gets difficult, I find it's just a case of confidence more than anything else, get up on the pegs, crack open the throttle and hope for the best. I've never had it go wrong when doing that, all my drops have been relatively low speed, and had I attacked it a bit harder it wouldn't have happened, but I can imagine the tumble if it does go wrong when cracking open the throttle and hoping for the best could be a big one with broken bones and broken bike, which is not what you really want in the middle of Portugal.