This trend for massive bikes

[Cousin Jack]

I swapped an 800VFR for a CB500F. The baby one managed a 4000 mile tour, yes it could be improved ( bit more power, better brakes, better suspension) but it doesn't need to be bigger.

[Bigjawa]

If you think bikes are getting bigger, park a GSXR1100 next to a modern sportsbike like a S1000R, the GSXR looks like a tank in comparison.

ADV bikes are huge, I read reviews from the early 00s describing the 1150GS as enormous, then they brought out the GSA that looked huge in comparison. I view them as like Range Rovers, some off road capability, but something smaller and lighter will alway be better. But most of them will never see a green lane.

Small bikes ain't always small. The wee R1 replica 125 Yams are actually bigger than an R6.

[Yorick]

My new GasGas feels like a toy.

Only 105 kiggy things

[Skub]

My new GasGas feels like a toy.

Only 105 kiggy things

I bet it doubles in weight when picking it up for the 20th time!

My little step thru 125 Innova weighed 90kgs..it had 9bhp.

[Yorick]

My new GasGas feels like a toy.

Only 105 kiggy things

I bet it doubles in weight when picking it up for the 20th time!

My little step thru 125 Innova weighed 90kgs..it had 9bhp.

These are only heavy when they fall on you. Again.

[Bigyin]

Bollocks to the lot of you , I love my “massive” ADV bike

It’s superb for big mile touring carrying all my stuff for camping for 2 and a half weeks away including food as well. While it was fully loaded it managed sandy tracks, Rocky Mountain trails and gravel roads as well as autobahns at 140 mph.

It’s done trackdays, not as good as a sports bike but a sports bike can’t do mountain trails. It’s done commuting all year round in all weathers thanks to heated grips and comfy seat and with no panniers it’s a piece of piss as the top box carries all sorts of stuff.

Looks huge but all tent, Kip mat, sleeping bags and 2 piece leathers all packed away ready for a trackday weekend other side of the country



Once there empty all the kit off, swap full Goretex to leathers and off to play



Note the track is wet and everyone else apart from Dodgy was sat in the paddock saying we’ll wait till it’s dry

It’s been dropped on mountain trails, picked up and gone again

My first Multistrada on Norwegian gravel mountain roads





Yes I could have picked a few different bikes for a few different things but I I am being genuinely honest that I can’t think of a better all rounder than what I already have apart from the newer V4 version but that’s silly money for me

The service costs are high but it’s such a good bike I bought a second one when the first one got written off. It makes me laugh when it’s stripped down and in sport mode as it’s bloody quick but can also do the comfy mile after mile 850 mile a day thing

[ZRX61]

The ZX11 is big enough, altho I read something recently that it's smaller than the GPz900R. I'm not convinced (didn't look up the specs).

[Mr Moofo]

Tall people like big bikes

Way better than the last 10 year's fashion of bikes getting smaller and smaller

[KungFooBob]

I like big bikes and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a bike rides by wit´ a high seat hight an´
A round tank in yo´ face. You get SPRUNG

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

The ZX11 is big enough, altho I read something recently that it's smaller than the GPz900R. I'm not convinced (didn't look up the specs).

The ZRX1100 and 1200 are noticeably bigger and heavier than the Z1100R that they're trying to look like (but they are nicer to ride)

[Beancounter]

You make that look like a supermoto.

My R12RT is bigger than my R1150GSA. The GSA is easier to filter (without the sardine tins) than the RT too because the mirrors are on the handlebars.

[Couchy]

Humans are getting taller so bikes need to as well, if you're from previous short stock I can see it is an issue. But ADV bikes have always been massive if you look at something like an 1100GS. It's just now everyone makes an adv bike cos the people buying them can't fit on a sportsbike and tbh on the road there's no advantage to having a sportsbike as 150+hp adv get from a to b quicker

[Couchy]

I like big bikes and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a bike rides by wit´ a high seat hight an´
A round tank in yo´ face. You get SPRUNG

Could you be more middle class, middle aged white guy

[Taff]

I was thinking this yesterday in the honda dealers, I've just starting to look into what I get next to replace the tiger, I only really ride to commute and tend keep my bikes for a very long time. The route to my new job is 20 miles, mostly congested 50mph limit roads with a few miles of dual carriage way.
I've boiled it down to 3 options - Africa Twin DCT (Maybe the AS), NT1100 DCT or x-adv.
The first 2 I recon are bigger than by tiger 800xc which is pretty damned big, and the x-adv sitting by the side of them still appears pretty damned large for what is pretending to be a scooter.

[Dodgy69]

Some nice pic's there Rob.

[Skub]

I like big bikes and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a bike rides by wit´ a high seat hight an´
A round tank in yo´ face. You get SPRUNG

Did you log in as the Pony?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I was thinking this yesterday in the honda dealers, I've just starting to look into what I get next to replace the tiger, I only really ride to commute and tend keep my bikes for a very long time. The route to my new job is 20 miles, mostly congested 50mph limit roads with a few miles of dual carriage way.
I've boiled it down to 3 options - Africa Twin DCT (Maybe the AS), NT1100 DCT or x-adv.
The first 2 I recon are bigger than by tiger 800xc which is pretty damned big, and the x-adv sitting by the side of them still appears pretty damned large for what is pretending to be a scooter.

For that journey a CB500X would make more sense, not saying you should buy one (buy the bike you want, not the one that makes sense) but you don't need an 1100 to ride at 50 - 80 mph, a 35bhp bike would easily do this.

[mangocrazy]

There's another aspect to this mahoosive bike thing that hasn't really been touched upon, and that's the way that the bar width has increased significantly with ADV style bikes. I mentioned this earlier with regards to accessibility in tight spaces, but it also impacts on riding comfort (for me, anyway). If you're a big fella with broad shoulders then you will actually need a bike with wider bars in order to feel comfortable whereas the slim Jims like me, at least across the shoulders (ahem), will prefer bars with grips that are not so widely spaced. We all have an area where the arm is most comfortable over long periods and that tends to be in the arm's central resting position.

My beef is that big ADV bikes all have bar widths that I find uncomfortable. This is doubtless aggravated by age, but I even found that the OE bars on my Duke 690 were uncomfortably wide (and awkwardly angled to boot) and gave me pain in my shoulders, wrists and elbows. A change of bars to a narrower set with subtly altered bar angles cured this completely.

Has no-one else found that the wider bars on ADV bikes can give rise to discomfort, or am I alone in this?

[Beancounter]

... and the x-adv sitting by the side of them still appears pretty damned large for what is pretending to be a scooter.

They are quite large. They also splay your legs when putting feet on the floor. I like them but so too do thieves unfortunately.

[Bustaspoke]

I was thinking this yesterday in the honda dealers, I've just starting to look into what I get next to replace the tiger, I only really ride to commute and tend keep my bikes for a very long time. The route to my new job is 20 miles, mostly congested 50mph limit roads with a few miles of dual carriage way.
I've boiled it down to 3 options - Africa Twin DCT (Maybe the AS), NT1100 DCT or x-adv.
The first 2 I recon are bigger than by tiger 800xc which is pretty damned big, and the x-adv sitting by the side of them still appears pretty damned large for what is pretending to be a scooter.

I'd be looking for a demo on that new Hornet & the new 800 Suzuki for that commute.

Regarding bikes getting physicaly larger, I blame it on all those LWR wannabies,they created a new market for big ADV bikes & all the manufacturers dived in with big capacity heavy bikes.What's baffled me for the last few years is that whilst the bikes are getting bigger & heavier the owners are getting older & less capable of shoving the things around.Surely there's going to be a tipping point were the bikes are just to heavy for their owners?
Cars have been getting physically larger for years & it's brought home when you see something from the 70's or 80's & it looks like a toy compared to modern cars,but I think a lot of that is to do with crumple zones etc.The issue with the physical size of modern cars is fitting them in parking spaces marked out for older,smaller cars