What's an adventure bike?

[Treadtrader]

I think most peoples idea of an adventure bike is some sort of Dakar replica.
The manufacturers have their own ideas, just look at whats available on the market, the big four Japanese makers seem to have given up this segment.
But of course adventures can happen on any bike.
What's your choice?

[Alun]

That's a good question Treadtrader, and one that's not easy to answer. In my opinion an 'Adventure Bike' in today's market does not have a cut and dried definition and I think the manufacturers would be hard pushed to nail a common description or list of features.

If I can cut the question back a little, it might be easier to answer. First off what is an 'Adventure'? We've been asking this question over at Adventure Travel magazine for years and have come to the conclusion that is is all subject to the individuals perception and experience.

For example if you have not travelled out of Birmingham all your life then going for a long weekend in Grimsby would be an adventure. On the other hand if you've climbed Himalayan peaks, hiked across deserts and cut new trails through jungles then the word 'adventure' probably would not apply to a couple of days in Grimsby.

I think this perception and reality applies to the bike market; I.e. some would see a Varadero as an 'adventure bike' where as a Dakar racer would not.

I had to ask myself this very question when it came to sorting motorcycles into the 3 categories on the review section of this site. What should I place under 'adventure', 'Tourer' and 'cruiser'. And that was not an easy choice with some machines.

I guess when it comes down to it there is no hard edge to the definition of an 'adventure bike'. In all probability is is a term dreamt up by the marketing departments of the manufacturers to convince the motorcycling public that they need what would otherwise be called 'a big trailie'.

So, my best answer would be ....an adventure bike is; ''a bike that has the looks of a big trailie but does not necessary have off road capability'.

[Wee Jack]

Oh this could , run and run !!!!

I always tell folk EVERY journey on a motorbike is an adventure even the commute to work.

I think any bike is an adventure bike , it just depends on what sort of adventure you are looking for. Most places in the civilised world can be accessed on tarmac you don't need a giant traillie for that.

To most people the term "adventure bike" drums up visions of huge overland expeditions , through desert , mountain pass, and jungle, to far flung places , and this is where the debate gets interesting. What is the ideal bike for that ?? people have done it on little air cooled thumpers , GS's and even R1's !!!!. If I was doing a round the world trip my ideal adventure bike would be a simple, single pot machine of about 400cc - 650cc fitted with a large tank , loads of crash protection , and a comfy seat. The rest would depend on the environment I was in , tyres etc. The bike would need to be quite light weight , as no doubt it would need to be picked-up by me alone and relatively simple to repair. ie no fuel injection , no ECUs and as few electrionic trickery bits as possible. Speed would not be important to me , as I would take my time to see where I was visiting, therefor the average speed would be very low indeed.

So what bike would I chose to go round the world ?? Dunno yet !! but probably not my current KTM 990 ADV - too fast - too heavy - too complicated - too tall,.......... but for my everyday adventures and for any adventures planned in the immediate future it is peerless,

[Alun]

Wee Jack wrote:

Oh this could , run and run !!!!

I always tell folk EVERY journey on a motorbike is an adventure even the commute to work. AGREED.

I think any bike is an adventure bike , it just depends on what sort of adventure you are looking for. Most places in the civilised world can be accessed on tarmac you don't need a giant traillie for that. AGREED

To most people the term "adventure bike" drums up visions of huge overland expeditions , through desert , mountain pass, and jungle, to far flung places , and this is where the debate gets interesting. What is the ideal bike for that ??

Yes, this could run and run.

There are three distinct points here Jack;
What the public think an 'Adventure Bike' is.
What the industry would like us to think an 'adventure bike' is
What the most practical bike for a mixed terrain overland adventure is

The answer to point 3 is easy - it's what you've detailed above. It's point 2 and 3 where it all gets a bit grey and where I start to wander.

The industry has two aims - sell more bikes and make more money. To do that they have to get existing bikers to buy more bikes or expand the market to encourage new entrants. This is what I believe the 'adventure bike' genre was designed to do and has done so.

As an example I am a life long biker and now have two bikes - the Sprint and the Tiger. One of them is a road tourer and the other looks as if it could take me where ever I want, though only in my dreams would I get to some of those places. It could be said that I've bought into the 'adventure' dream as promoted by manufacturers when I bought the Tiger as a second bike.

Secondly loads of GS's are sold to people who would not have become bikers if it were not for the 'adventure lifestyle image' they represent. The 'Long Way Round' factor' has played a massive role in this – own a GS and you are an adventurer, even if it doesn't come out of the garage. It's the same as owning a Harley would have the most staid of accountants and probably Mother Teresa think they were serious 'bad ass dudes'. It's all about perception as opposed to reality. Sell the dream, not the product.

Add both of the above together and you get marketing managers rubbing their hands together and saying 'Job Done'. And there's nothing wrong with that, if people are happy with their purchase, fair play.

Anyway, to come back to the original question - 'what's an adventure bike' I'm still sticking with ''a bike that has the looks of a big trailie but does not necessary have off road capability' or maybe I should now change that to.. 'a bike that looks like it could get you to anywhere in the world – but only in your dreams'.

[Wee Jack]

I often indulge in a bit of self analysis (no! not the kind you do in the shower looking for odd lumps and bumps !!) and wonder if the "Ewan and Charlie factor" influenced my love of ADVs. I kind of arrived at ADVs from large tourers , I fancied a smaller capacity bike than the Pan , but wanted to retain the "road presence" of the larger bike. So , I opted for a Transalp , 650 engine but looks quite large in car mirrors !! After about a year I missed the power , not all the time , just two-up and loaded and some overtaking situations. By that time, I was hooked on the trailie high up - see everything riding position, so a move to a larger engined trailie was in order, and it was a toss-up between the BMW and the KTM.

So was I influenced by Ewan and Charlie ? , I don't think so , I think they chose the wrong bikes for Roundwayup !!! or whatever they were called. The 650 BMW would have been a much wiser choice IMHO.

However I do own the Long Way round and down series on DVD , so maybe Yes, I maybe was influenced by them - just maybe.

[Treadtrader]

Just read your reply and description of an ADV Jack.......


You've just described an Indian Enfield Bullet!!!!


Seriously, i take ya point, light,agile,not too fast, plus maybe economical.


Maybe a BSA Gold Star Catalina scrambler..... only £15,000

Next...........

[Treadtrader]

Just to bump this up again.
I rode a BSA C15 250cc single from Brum to Weymouth in 1966 because i was in love (i was 16 then) and my girlfriend had gone on a family holiday for two weeks.
A mate rode pillion to help with the 3 quids worth of petrol for the trip.
In those days the M5 finished at Tewsbury, so it was all A & B roads all the way.
Lost the gear lever near Dorchester and had to backtrack for six miles using a pair of Mole grips to change gear, but we found it!!!
That girl later became my wife, then buggered off with a mate, and i still miss him!

[Treadtrader]

Not what we would define as an Adventure bike, but bought yesterday for comfy two-up touring with the Missus. First trip to Ireland end of this month.

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[Alun]

Welcome to the world of Hinckley Triples Treadtrader. I'll give it a month and you'll be posting up a pic of your new Tiger. the Trophy looks great and I hope it gives you and the Mrs miles of trouble free fun. What's the full spec?

And how's that screen protecting you from this bloody rain we're having?

[Treadtrader]

Why would i want to downgrade from an Africa Twin to a Tigger???

Seriously, it's done 34,000 with a good deal of service history and MOT's to back it up. Rides OK but needs a front tyre (i know a man) did'nt try out the performance too much in yesterdays b***dy rain!!!! plus it felt a bit nervous on that front tyre. Screen is effective but may need a spoiler, like the one on yours, to flip the air over my head.