Adventure Bikes 2013 | Tests | Motorcyclenews.com
MCN took the top dog of adventure bikes, the BMW R1200GS to South Wales to test it against Yamaha's stalwart Super Tenere, last year's winner the Triumph Explorer, and KTM's new pretender the 1190 Adventure R. We spent three days riding through horrible conditions on the famous Black Mountain Road - find out the winner here!
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MCN took the top dog of adventure bikes, the BMW R1200GS to South Wales to test it against Yamaha’s stalwart Super Tenere, last year’s winner the Triumph Explorer, and KTM’s new pretender the 1190 Adventure R. We spent three days riding through horrible conditions on the famous Black Mountain Road – find out the winner here!
View more great motorcycling videos on the MCN channel: http://www.youtube.com/motorcyclenewsdotcom
Get the latest motorcycle news at http://www.motorcyclenews.com/
Join us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MotorcycleNews/
Motor Cycle News on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MCNNews
MCN sport on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MCNSport
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the triumph is just atrocious…
Well I’d get the Yamaha because a) Fuel Economy, and b) reliability.
Ha! Off road my arse! A wide well formed metal road that your grannies
Fiesta could handle without trouble. MCN you have lost the plot. You’ve
allowed the manufacturers to con you into accepting that an “ADV” bike is
now just a fatso road based touring bike, that if you’re lucky comes with
high mudguards. Try taking any of these lard piles anywhere genuinely off
road and you’re on your arse. ADV used to mean ADVENTURE, not sightseeing
within a stones through of latte land… Cast your memory back less than a
decade, to the KTM 640 ADV, the old Tenere’s and the like. You know – A D V
E N T U R E bikes. At least back then KTM replicated what ADV guys were
making themselves for real ADV rides – Baja kitted thumper enduros that
were genuinely off road capable and crash worthy etc. Cobblers! Adventure
riding MY ARSE.
Wow, I really loved the off road section at the end of this clip.NOT. What
a load of shit. These bikes are just like the tires that come with them
new, 80% road & 20% two wheel drive dirt roads. I have had many duel sports
bikes. The best out of the lot DR650. When it goes over I can pick it up
all day long. It can get 650km with safari tank. Modify the
suspension,seat,bars,airbox,carb etc, which is cheap cheap cheap and it
will single track all day. Sorry but I don’t have and I am sure not a lot
of other people have 20K in their bank account ( unless Daddy & Mummy give
you money) to buy one of these bikes.
Many people including myself have walked ran away from BMW and are on
Ducati or KTM as BMW Canada in Canada will not warranty any of their bikes
!! They claim that the dealer must warranty the bikes . Dealers in western
Canada do not have qualified technicians/mechanics so they cannot repair
transmissions which BMW getlag is having problems with ! You purchase a BMW
and if it canmot shift you must fix it yourself as dealers only sell the
bikes but canmot repair nor will they warranty ! How dealers can be
certified for BMW sales without thorough investigation of their technical
abilities indicates to I that BMW is interested in sales and not after
sales care.
It always amuses me how the “BMW-haters” come crawling out of their caves
when there’s a comparison including a beemer.
I’ve ridden all of the bikes in this test.
Which one you pick basically just depends on your personal favour.
I decided to buy the GS but I would never say that the beemer is superior
to the KTM. However, those two are superior to the rest of this class of
motorcycles.
Anyway: Go out, take a ride and have fun and be safe!
This class has turned excessive all these bikes have way too much stuff and
if you look at the new true Perry Dakar Rally bikes they are on 450 Yamaha
single cylinders again. True dual core bikes, not 20k sofas on wheels
A commercial for BMW … shame on MCN..
A Posh dealer experience … OMG
I’m a Yamaha owner as well but compared with a bmw it’s game over, for me a
adventure long distance bike it have to be good looking just like my girl
🙂 power, comfort, bad ass bike overall. ..on my opinion all the rest of
these bikes on this video just don’t have it…I have hade Hondas,
kawasaki, ducatti and yamaha. ..but no thx.
Having watched this and other reviews of so called ‘Adventure ‘ bikes I
have just one thing to say: Yamaha XT660Z .
my suzuki vstrom 650 has none of these fancy electronic gizmos and i love
it ..
Hey MCN manboys, why do you even bother with these reviews?
If what you are looking for is gizmos like a spoiled western crybaby, you
better ditch the bikes and go back to your PlayStations!
Enough with this pitiful worship of electronics.
I’m sorry. I know the Yamaha is a great bike, statistically, but I just
cant get over how ugly it is. Its like someone took a falcon and chopped
its beak off and it constantly has a look of confusion on its face.
I wonder how they can call any 600lb bike good offroad, they are a menace
as I found out today when one i was riding just sunk into the mud and I
nearly had a heart attack draging it out , oh and the mud wasnt soup
Yeah,and my 96 900 Tiger..cost me £1300 two years ago. Been to France,and
recently toured Scotland. 2000mls and 57mpg!! without all the ‘electronic’
nonsense.
Whenever the GS wins one of these tests/reviews all the BMW haters come out
of the woodwork, I have owned dozens of bikes and my 2013 GS is the best by
far for versatility, touring, a Sunday blast. So before you all have a moan
ride one of these things
Could you take a bike like the Yamaha WR125R off road/on some smaller jumps
like in the end of the video? Thanks.
MCN sucks,
To quote the commentator the best bike here is probably the KTM because it
is better off road quicker better handling easier to ride costs less but we
plump for the BMW which from his comments is not the best bike so how did
he arrive at this conclusion. Was it advertising revenue by any chance.
What a popointless conclusion
They should have included Ed March and his C90. :-)
Thanks for watching, this promotional test was brought to you by BMW.
one thing you forgot to mention…”sponsored by BMW”
KTM not refine , Bullshit ! What is this BMW commercial ?
great
With the exception of the KTM, and MAYBE the BMW, the rest of these are
just sport touring bikes with side cases.. A true adventure bike is
capable off road and reasonably armored for going over obstacles.
The most glaring omission here is the Kawasaki KLR650, which while not the
fastest on road, in an off road environment would hand any of these their
ass.
Oh, and costs probably half of any of them.
Could you take a bike like the Yamaha WR125R off road/on some smaller jumps
like in the end of the video? Thanks.
It may take a lot to convince a BMW rider to change to a KTM but I can say
with total confidence you will never convince a KTM rider to change to a
BMW because it is simply an inferior bike.
Yamaha’s Super Tenere came out 3 years ago? How did I have one in the early
90s then?
And the winner is……………..my fully loaded, I mean to the gills,
2008 KLR 650! Yep, $4500.00 US with 15Kmi. on the clock and ZERO failures
EVER! Nice, I saved over $20K by not buying a BMW! Woo hoo!!!
In the real world…. KTM, Yamaha, BMW, Triumph
Very good video! Next time, include the Multistrada, the Versys 1000, and
the V-Strom. The Super Tenere is way behind and heavier that it needs to
be, so fugghettaboutit.
Thanks, I don’t really need 150 hp from an overgrown dirtbike.
1190 is the clear winner…dont be baise just because of the brand…just
do a honest review can…triumph shoudnt be there in the first place..
And the winner is: tataaa, surprise, surprise: BMW!! how could I ever think
that BMW is not in first place?? Money rules the world..
I think someone was was paid off, with this one ? Will have to let the
forum decide if I am right, or even close ?
Why no Multistrada to round out the group?
Faulty hydraulic assist on ABS, leaking rear main seals, and failing seals
on the rear main (pumpkins)= BMW. The Yamaha drive shaft systems have had
NOWHERE near the failure rates of BMW’s yet BMW wins a test about off-road
durability testing? Of course, we can’t mention the multiple Championships
KTM has won in the global off-road arena.
Seems a bit unfair to be comparing the KTM w/o saddle bags to the rest
with..
They also left out the awesome Moto Guzzi Stelvio. I do not own one, but I
know it really kicks ass in many ways. If you’re shopping for this style of
motorcycle, consider this review null, void, and incomplete.
“which is the better bike” “the GS because of the dealership and
community” … so KTM it is then. :)
YouTube’da şu videoya bakın:
KLR 650 Kawasaki is a great bike for mountain riding as well. I took mine
2000 miles last year going from Shenandoah National Park all the way to
Tellico Plains TN
Just like 4WD cars most of these bikes will never be used seriously off
road so their ugliness serves no real purpose……except of course
fashion!
Can’t seem to reply to most posts these days so …
” Why is there no Honda Crosstourer?”
Because its a heap of shit, unless you like heavy road bikes with off-road
tires.
He does not give the edge to the BMW because of the dealerships. I have
been in several BMW dealerships that are just the same as anywhere else.
He gives the edge to them for the overall strides the bike has made in
this latest model, and he give loads of respect to the KTM, and plenty to
the Yamaha and Triumph too. I have a 2005 R1200GS, love it. I have a 2010
R1200GS, love that one too. I bet I would actually like all 4 of these
bikes a lot, and it bugs me that there should be a “winner” at all. Ride
what you like, don’t beat up on what you don’t like. The BMW is not ugly,
no more than the KTM for that matter. I can say this about BMW, they stand
by their product. I just had an issue with my 2005 GS, I am not the
original owner, it is well out of warranty, and they paid for the labor to
fix the bike. Yes, they paid my local shop for the labor on the work for a
problem that should have been dealt with a long time ago. And it wasn’t a
recall thing either. I love BMW for that, and will always have a few of
them around.
So which one has the 21″ front wheel? …
ok then, which one is simple enough that I don’t need a diagnostic computer
to fix when I’m in the middle of nowhere? …
alright then which one weighs less then 180kg?…
Guess I’ll stick with the trusty go anywhere on any fuel 1987 Transalp then
;)
interesting video/tests…
but, honestly speaking…
you will never see a real off-road touring bike, as Honda Africa Twin…
The Queen of road!
even though it has been many years since last Honda A.T. version, there is
nothing that equals… ‘ve a great 2014!
I’ve just moved away from BMW GS after 11 years. Because of the poor
reliability and forum tossers 🙂 Triumph got my dollar !!!