The Best Adventure Motorcycle
There’s debates among all the riders about the best machine to have an adventure on. Is it the one with the longest gas range? The lightest one? The one with the most accessories? The fastest? The smallest? From my own personal experience, and from gathering input from the members of my Facebook group; Minimalist Motorcycle Vagabonds, I think I’ve figured out the best adventure motorcycle on the market.
Here’s the shocking answer: the one you have. So let me explain further. Most people buy a motorcycle with certain features in mind and when they’re searching for one, they’re not always thinking about a long trip on it. They buy their at-the-time ideal motorcycle, and they’re happy with it. That’s the key to a successful adventure, to love your motorcycle. Months or years down the road you get a crazy itch to take a cross country camping trip. All you need is camping/motorcycle gear because you’ve already got the transportation part covered. Pack it up, toss a leg over, and hit the road. When a challenge hits while you’re away from home; a mechanical failure, blown tire, electrical short, or empty gas tank, your stress levels don’t raise as much when the machine you’re having to fix is one you adore. Your faith in your machine will carry you thru the toughest adventures and give you amazing stories to tell all your friends when it’s over.
Here’s the shocking answer: the one you have. So let me explain further. Most people buy a motorcycle with certain features in mind and when they’re searching for one, they’re not always thinking about a long trip on it. They buy their at-the-time ideal motorcycle, and they’re happy with it. That’s the key to a successful adventure, to love your motorcycle. Months or years down the road you get a crazy itch to take a cross country camping trip. All you need is camping/motorcycle gear because you’ve already got the transportation part covered. Pack it up, toss a leg over, and hit the road. When a challenge hits while you’re away from home; a mechanical failure, blown tire, electrical short, or empty gas tank, your stress levels don’t raise as much when the machine you’re having to fix is one you adore. Your faith in your machine will carry you thru the toughest adventures and give you amazing stories to tell all your friends when it’s over.
While we all start out on the one we have, or even bought one we thought we’d love for a specific reason, sometimes our needs evolve. There’s a pattern I’ve seen arise among riders who become addicted to world traveling. You start out on the one you’ve got, and for this example we’ll say it’s a cruiser or large touring style bike. You’ve done some miles but you’ve had to take gravel and dirt roads that just weren’t comfortable. So you decide to buy a big bore adventure motorcycle like the Africa Twin 1000, 1200GS, KTM 1190, or Super Ténéré 1200. Now you’re more capable off-road but it’s a heavy and expensive bike for anything short of an experienced off-road rider. You worry about dropping it, breaking it, picking it up, or having to push it out of the sand or mud. Alright, time to look at the mid-range adventure bikes. There’s plenty to choose from: V-Strom 650, CB500x, f700gs, Husky 701, or Tiger 800 for a couple examples. Now you’ve got a good street bike and an okay bike for off-road. Still, you find yourself wanting to do more hardcore off-roading so you jump into looking at the dual sport/big bore enduro motorcycles, the ones that are more dirt and less street capable. There’s lots to choose from that can handle highway cruising, carrying weight, and riding dirt: KLR650, XR600, DR650, WR450, KTM 500 EXC-F, CRF450, DRZ400, Himalayan 410, etc. You might’ve found your perfect bike by now or maybe you’re dreaming of something super light that’ll take you on that slow adventure where you can go anywhere and everywhere. Next comes in the small bore enduro/dual sport motorcycles. CRF250, XR250, DR350, DR200, WR250, KLX250, KTM 250 EXC-F, and so on. You sacrificed cruising at 80mph all day and being able to carry loads of gear but you now the bike can probably go more places than you can take it.
An end note from the author: I personally went from a Victory Crosscountry to a Honda CB500x to a Suzuki DR350. I loved the large carrying capacity and high cruising speeds of the Victory but hated it when we had to go off the pavement. I fell in love with the CB500x, bought it, and put 41,000 miles on one. Yet I yearned for a lighter and simpler motorcycle. In comes my new-to-me DR350, which will be taking me to South America this year. There’s a lot I miss from the CB like the fuel injection, parallel twin, electric start, and cruising at 80mph all day. Nonetheless, right now I’m willing to deal with a carbureted, single cylinder, oil burning, kick start motorcycle because honestly, it’s extremely light and still handles 70mph. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it for sale. I’ll be able to fix almost anything that goes wrong, parts are everywhere, and it’s cheap. After this bike there’s no telling what I’ll end up, it may even be a 100cc scooter. Nonetheless, I’ll love my bike until death do us part.
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed my article!
If you’d like to become a $2 a month Patreon subscriber, click here.
If you’d like to send some gas money thru PayPal, click here.
If you’d like to become a $2 a month Patreon subscriber, click here.
If you’d like to send some gas money thru PayPal, click here.