Best adventure style bike?

[KungFooBob]

Best for what?

Covering distance with a passenger with the most toys to play with, then the R1250GS.

Best looking... Gotta be the Norden, imho

[weeksy]

For me, it's a Yamaha 700 in the yellow/blue... Looks ace... but in honesty i doubt it's a bike you'd keep long... it's looks over substance.

The Ducati is the bike i think has legs there longer term.

the SMC-R.... well, i think for the money at £9000 new, you couldn't find a bike with more toys, better suspension and more appeal.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Shouldn't you just be looking at seat heights and picking the bike you can reach the floor on?

[Taipan]

For me;

1st. 700 Tenere. The CP2 engine is better suited to that style bike than a road bike IMO, and would be a stonker I reckon.

2nd. Royal Enfield Himalaya. They benefit from few mods, which is always enjoyable to do and gives you a better sense of attachment when done. They have a bit of a cult following too. Downside is they sound like a toolbox falling down the stairs which put me off of one.

3rd. Ducati desert sled. I know absolutely nothing about these bikes, but they have a sort of retro Yamaha DTMX look about them that really appeals to me.

[Rockburner]

FWIW there was a V85TT in CWM (Chichester) a couple of months ago that had blown the final-drive seal.

They actually had it parked up in the front window, stinking of hot gear oil.

Not sure I've heard of the final drive seal being a problem usually. I like the look of them, and keep meaning to try for a test ride, but I just know I won't like the front suspension.

[KungFooBob]

Better looking than the Ducati, imho.

I'm not sure about the loosk of the 'prila Tuareg, but it's getting some great reviews...

[Dickyboy]

FWIW there was a V85TT in CWM (Chichester) a couple of months ago that had blown the final-drive seal.

There do seem to be a fair few of them about now so you'd expect to have a few isolated issues & I've not heard of any problems on the guzzi grapevine.

[Rockburner]

FWIW there was a V85TT in CWM (Chichester) a couple of months ago that had blown the final-drive seal.

There do seem to be a fair few of them about now so you'd expect to have a few isolated issues & I've not heard of any problems on the guzzi grapevine.

yeah - modern manufacturing techniques means there'll always be a few outliers in the quality - especially of small parts like seals, so I hope that it's not anything regular.

[Dodgy69]

It all boils down to what you're gonna do with it. Off roading, you want light. Road and pillion , you might want big. Then there's those between .

Seat height is definitely something to look out for. Engine characteristics and toys also. Plenty to choose from as most maker's do em these days. Think I'm gonna get one.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Shouldn't you just be looking at seat heights and picking the bike you can reach the floor on?

It'll mostly sit in the garage so I don't know if it'll matter much.

That made me smile.

You could start a new trend, resto mod adventure bike, buy an original Cagiva Elefant and put modern suspension on it, because the engine is a Ducati 750 or 900 SS lump you should be able to get all the parts and there's plenty of engine specialists who could do the work for you, it could be a right money pit.

You could make an adventure out of buying the bike, I doubt if you'll find one in the UK, so you'll need to be trawling European eBay and websites to find one and then getting it could be a holiday for you and your wife.

[Skub]

Shouldn't you just be looking at seat heights and picking the bike you can reach the floor on?

It'll mostly sit in the garage so I don't know if it'll matter much.

Best ADV bike for sitting in the garage,then?

I'd go for a Panigale V4.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363963078688 ... R87J0qLrYA

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334559389560 ... R87J0qLrYA

I like the 125, but it's a lot of money for a 125

[KungFooBob]

Many years ago my old man tried to make me buy one of these (or a KLE500)...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125422963980

but I had my heart set on a CBR400 at the time.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234700069894 ... R7C2zKXrYA

These are very good, if what you want is a fully road legal Enduro 125, they'll easily cope with a full motorcross track.

[Bustaspoke]

If I was just going to look at it sat in the garage,I'd get a something like a good early Transalp,Morini Kanguro/Camel,BMW R80GS or Cagiva Elephant.
If I wanted soething more modern then either a BMW R9T Scrambler,Ducati X or a Yamaha T7.
It all depends on what you plan on doing with the bike.

[Horse]

new and reliable

BMW GS

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I think you want a Desert X and anything else will be a bit meh, go for it, are you going to go full 1980s French and have a sheepskin seat cover, open face lid, MX boots and a Gitanes hanging out of your mouth at all times?

[DefTrap]

A gaggle of Fronch geezers blasted past me as I was out pushbike cycling in the middle of nowhere. Fairly easy (like I know the difference, but must have been ok as I hadn't managed to destroy my pushbike) dusty, gravelly, slighted rutted chalk paths mainly - but the most noticeable bit about it was the massive grins they had on their faces.
Seemed to all be on Africa Twins.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

The Dakar styled bikes used to be very popular in France and Italy in the 80s and 90s (they might still be), the Italians used to get a lot of Dakar styled bikes that were never sold in the UK, Honda and Yamaha had plants in Italy that made them, the Belgarda TT600s were much nicer than the XT600E and I think there was an NX400 from Honda, as well as a whole load of Cagivas and Aprillias.

[Taipan]

I always thought a Africa Twin DCT was in my future, but the handful of people I know that have test ridden them were all very glad to have given them back? Never known such unilateral bad feedback on a bike and it put me off them before even bothering to ride one?