The world's heaviest adventure touring bikes?

An interesting perspective from down under.

Which are the heaviest adventure bikes in the world? And why are adventure bikes getting so heavy nowadays? Is there a direct link between human obesity and motorbike obesity? Are we addicted to the the idea of bigger must be better? Lets look at some big adventure bikes! Like the Harley Davidson Pan America, Honda Cross Tourer VFR, Aprilia Capanord, Yamaha Super Tenere, BMW R1200GS.


youtu.be/E6s8E1TJMjc
 

berth

Well-known member
First, Ewan and Charlie made it around the world and down to the Cape on their fat sow ADV bikes.

Not only that, after riding 20+ thousand miles on the GS, they chose it again for Africa. On top of that, they picked the undoubtedly pigish electric Harley for South America. So, however bad it got in Mongolia, it clearly didn't get to the "you couldn't pay me to ride this thing again".

I don't think anyone would deny that what Ewan and Charlie did (even if they were well equipped with the support team) was "Adventure riding".

I don't think that the guys would have had any easier time with the bikes in Mongolia if they rode the KTM. They were just crummy conditions and their bikes were loaded hard. They would have all been a bear to pick up, and would have fallen in the mud. We all watched Ewan pump water out of his bike.

Next, in the US particularly, the distance from "home" to "adventure" tends to be long. The primary complaint of the "middleweight 600's" is simply that the single cylinder bikes pretty much suck on the highways.

Following "wisdom of the crowds", the manufacturers typically have a reasonable read on the pulse of what will sell, and apparently the bigger bikes sell. Lots of folks were disappointed in the T7, but I don't think that Yamaha is.

BMW, honestly, thinks this stuff through. I really believe they do.
The new 750/850 bikes, among other things, moved the gas tank back toward it's more conventional position. One of the features of the old models was the tank was lower, under the seat. Lots of folks were lamenting that they made this move, but, from what I've been hearing, nobody is complaining about it who's actually ridden one. So, maybe BMW has some idea of what's going on.

So, there's more to the bike than raw weight, it's also about apportionment, balance, CoG. Everyone talks how nimble the BMWs are when they start moving, how neutral, and easy they are.

I think their points on not getting a 600lb motorcycle on day one from a 20 years layoff is a good idea. I'm struggling with that right now, but I'm settling on the 750GS. I strongly considered the 500X. But I fear that, as crummy as my skills probably are, my skills will come back quickly enough to outgrow the 500X quite rapidly, so rather than do that, I'm leaning toward the 750 -- and hoping for the best. But my first ride isn't going to be on a dirt road either. It's a "dirt road someday" kind of thing.

Most people are not roosting through the desert. The Barstow to Vegas folks do not recommend the large bikes for their run. There are sections that they feel are a bit too much for them, given journeyman dirt riders. We know skilled riders can do these things on these bikes. I still want to do that run. It's on my Someday list.

In the end, the manufacturers serve the market. BMW, again, as an example, putting all of the gizmology on the 1200GS on to the smaller bikes. But these aren't 400lb wonders. There are 400lb wonders out there, but they don't sell, or are positioned badly (which is odd, since you'd think the factories would like to sell motorcycles).

Yamaha had every opportunity to "do it right(tm)", and we got the T7 (which the Fortnine guys have high praise for, despite the weight). Folks have issues with the Africa Twin, another modern, clean sheet design.

The new Honda 300XL Rally looks really nice, I just couldn't get it anywhere I'd want to take it. The Rally Raid 500X is a nice bike as well, but I don't plan on taking on the Rubicon trail.

So, there's a balance out there. The BMW is successful in spite of itself. Others keep trying to out-BMW BMW, I don't know how well they succeed though.
 

HadesOmega

Well-known member
What I can't get is why you would want to spend a lot of money and then thrash your bike offroad. I don't even want to take a $10k bike offroad, the DR650 has spoiled me.

I would totally get a T7 though

The weight of the bike will definitely tell you what the machine is good at. Remember less is more if you plan to do some real off road riding.

Oh yeah speaking of LAB2V I heard of GSA riding destroying their bikes doing it. I know there is a hard section coming up when I see ADV bikes riding the other direction because they are going to bail out. One day I'd like to do LAB2V on a small dual sport like a DRZ400 or KLX300 so I can do the hard stuff. The DR is just too much work trying to get it through a hard section.

Here's Red Rock canyon the last part, have fun riding an ADV bike through there. Notice most of those bikes are light or mid weight dual sports.

youtu.be/nh4-mel_aAI
 
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ScottRNelson

Mr. Dual Sport Rider
What I can't get is why you would want to spend a lot of money and then thrash your bike offroad. I don't even want to take a $10k bike offroad, the DR650 has spoiled me.
My KTM was $13.7K. I don't exactly "thrash" it off road, but it gets ridden in the dirt a lot and I manage to dump it every once in a while. I ride that bike the most because it is so nice in the dirt. It's rare that I would rather be on my XR650L.

I noticed that there was no mention of KTM in the quote in the original post. I wonder why that is? :laughing
 

matty

Well-known member
I really like this guy's videos.

Heck, I swapped my dr650 for wr250r, because I struggled picking up the DR, I couldn't imagine trying to pick up a GSA


My KTM was $13.7K. I don't exactly "thrash" it off road, but it gets ridden in the dirt a lot and I manage to dump it every once in a while. I ride that bike the most because it is so nice in the dirt. It's rare that I would rather be on my XR650L.

I noticed that there was no mention of KTM in the quote in the original post. I wonder why that is? :laughing

Yeah, I wonder why:laughing I think KTM just about nailed the split with their 790. Good on the street, good on the dirt.
 
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