Big adventure bikes ..............
 

Is it the end for large big adventure bikes ?
Do you really need 120 hp to go on an adventure ?
We now see a lot of small bikes coming into the market .. ie 300cc.450cc 500cc
They have a massive advantage as they cost on some cases 1/3 of the cost !
Easy to ride on rough tracks
Better fuel economy
Cheaper to insure
and more fun !:scooter::scooter::scooter:

...and lighter in case you have to pick them up : )

It's the old story, "horses for courses". A big bike will be better and more capable on the road, a smaller one vice versa. You *can* tour on anything, as I'm sure we have all seen, but if you tailor your ride to the style of journey you want to do, you'll probably have a more enjoyable experience.

For me, 650-900cc has always been the sweet spot. Most of my travel is on blacktop but it's important to me to have a bike that isn't quickly overwhelmed by a bit of rough going, or impossible to pick up unaided. OTOH, I don't want something I have to cane flat out to get between cities at more than pony pace. Upper-middleweight bikes are also better for carrying luggage long distances. I don't carry the kitchen sink but for a long trip you need a reasonable amount of clothes, tools, spares and camping gear.

Where I think we can agree is *nobody* needs 1300cc and a 30 litre tank. There's no place anywhere in the world where that's necessary.

Its great that we now have more alternatives in the middle and smaller segment of travelbikes. However for example both the CF Moto 450 and the new Himalayan 450 are around 195 kilos wet weight. Thats a lot more than old school bikes such as the Dr650, XT600 etc. The NX500 also weighs almost 200 kilos.
The Crf300 Rally is the only option that I can remember with a weight around 150 kilos.
Of course we have the KTM/Husky/GasGas 700 line - but that it will need bigger petrol tank to be a decent travel bike.

A new KTM 390 Adv is coming - weight is not known yet but probably around 170-180 kilos wet. A brand new Aprilia Tuareg 450 twin cylindred is also rumoured - and that is great. But I dont belive it will be less than 175 kilos wet.

So yes - several new smaller/midle bikes available nowadays so thats great. But the weight of these new alternative small/middle weight bikes is much like the weight of much bigger bikes some 20-30 years ago.

That sounds fair, when I'm off on a trip the last place I want to be is around a city so I prefer the "pony pace" :rofl:

Voge Rally 300 is the only other one I know of, or for short people the Voge 300ACX is alright for trails apparently and weighs about 170kg.

Forgot the Voge 300 Rally yes….

arrr........ Honda is always your best bet !
love to buy a new xr650 from usa in whie !!! wow

Yes, that fashion's seriously on the decline.

You never did need a big/120hp bike, indeed you're better off without one. The modern GS BMWs and the like weren't built to go adventuring on, they are designed to go on your usual 70 mile sunny-Sunday ride out, visiting your regular biker-cafe stops - using the inbuilt GPS of course - while wearing >£3000 worth of clothing to make it look as if you'll be heading off along the silk road early next week.

As to seeing a lot more small bikes coming onto the market, that's about changing customer demographics:
In the nineties/noughties the fashion was to whizz around on your race-replica sports bike. Ten years on, those same riders' backs & knees could no longer cope with the riding positions, nor could they fit in the tight leathers, so the industry sold them 'Adventure Bikes' instead. Much easier to pootle around on and the riding gear was far more spacious. Now of course, yet another ten years on, riders are finding those a bit too heavy to get on/off the stand, or manoeuvre around the car park; so the industry is selling them Enfield Himalayans and the like... much easier to handle, but you can still pretend (to yourself at least) that you'll be doing something more exotic than turning up here for another bacon butty and a cup of tea next weekend.

'Adventure Bikes' and all the associated gear that goes with them have never been anything more than a marketing tag; no one motorbike is any more adventurous than any other... It's their riders (and only a very tiny proportion of those) who are the adventurers

Hmm, I did trips with my KTM 1290s in South America, Central America, North America, Morocco, and lots around Europe. Out of approx 100k km, maybe 15% were on gravel roads and sometimes sand. Except for maybe 250 km in total (0.5%), where I would have liked to have a smaller lighter bike, the big bike was always great and much nicer. More comfortable and fun especially when fully loaded.
Sure it is more expensive but I don't care about that. Interestingly most of the bikers I met were also on big bikes.

Seems there are a few hardcore adventures that cannot afford the big bikes and/or truly are focusing on rough roads.

Of course, if you wanna do TET or similar trips, a smaller bike should be used. But then these are normally only short trips only.

Define “adventure”

I’ve had an adventure in Aus on a GSA, a KLE500 and a Triumph Bonneville Speedmaster 1200.
An adventure in Indonesia on a scooter.
An adventure in Japan on a Vstrom250 and Nmax155.

Most of the “adventure” tag and its assorted argument is just Last True Scotsman BS.

“Achhhh , I rode the world on a 110 trials bike with a poncho as a tent..”

Here we go again, same old same old :thumbdown:

Exactly! And thats why I dont like the expression «Adventurebike». Anything can be an adventure, even a daytrip for someone. And thus any bike can be an adventurebike.

I like the term «travelbike» or «overlandbike» better because both initiates some long travels, and likely some distances with not so good roads and thus the bike must be able to handle some rough roads and maybe have a decent range as well.

Of course even these two terms «overlandbike» or «travelbike» are not very exact either but both are still a bit more accurate than «adventurebike»

My 5 cents….

It is all market driven........just like suv s in the car world. The bike companies have been pushing hi bhp tech laden bikes for years........same as in cars.......most owners haven't a clue what the buttons do , they never read the manual , never use the performance and just move onto something else when the pcp ends......same ss the car world .
If it goes arse up for Ktm then they might bin big cc bikes.......moving production to SE Asia may accelerate that . Next year will give us some idea of where its all going , certainly in relation to the UK.
Given that the company I used to work for sold multi franchise high end bikes , went bust and had been bought by a high volume used bike company , it will be interesting to see what occurs next

What with ABS and other bits, the KTM 690 Enduro R has gradually been putting on weight since my 2013 model, the 2024 model now has a dry weight of 149 kg and a fully fuelled weight of 160 kg.

When touring in interesting places I tend to be bumbling along at 60-80 kph most of the time, but I wouldn't feel confident on a bike that wasn't able to reach motorway speeds of 120 kph when needed. However I don't need to 68 BHP of the 690cc KTM and I reckon a bike with 400-500cc would be ideal.

That could have been written for the camera world as well - except I don't think you can get pcp for cameras. :rofl: (can you?) Half a dozen manufacturers slugging it out for master of the nominally 'professional' market but in reality the majority of sales are to the camera equivalent of 'adventure riders'. Each new model comes out with more and more gadgets and gizmos built in, software to do everything, and what do people do - stick it on auto. 10k shots later it's p/x'd for the next one. Except the lenses do tend to keep you in the same manufacturer's fold. A bit like reducing to jump ship to KTM because your clothing is BMW branded.

I’m not sure I agree with the notion that the manufacturers drive the fashion/agenda.
I’ve been riding bikes and therefore going to bike meets for 40 years and it has always been the case that guys stand around talking about upgrades, whether that’s in performance or other. There’s also been the biggest crowd gathered round the newest bike with the latest developments.

Humans have always been drawn towards progression - even in the dark ages there were advancements.

Any company, no matter what they do, needs to make a profit and one of the best ways to do that is: pile them high and sell them cheap.
I’m pretty sure that Honda makes more money in the 2nd world from small bikes than it does from big bikes in the 1st world. If that’s true then Honda would be pushing small bikes in the 1st world….but, up until now, there has only been a small market for them so big bikes it is. I’m not including scooters in this but the high sales of them goes someway towards enhancing my point.

I believe it was the, unplanned, success of the 411 Himalayan that is driving the market for smaller bikes. The Himmie was designed for the Indian market but took off around the world and rightly so. So this penchant is being driven by the market and not the manufacturers.

Most fashions: music, clothing, food etc come up from the streets and are taken up and watered down by corporations for the mass public - I believe motorcycles are the same.
People were customising bikes long before manufacturers were producing cruisers. They were tuning and racing bikes long before as well…… and they were travelling round the world on standard bikes long before the Adventure Bike came along.

I kind of agree with some of what u r saying but u have to ask where has the Suv suddenly appeared from ? Who actually needs one if they were honest. Adv bikes are a result of clever marketing.......sports bikes were dead in the water so suddenly we have these things entering the market . Suddenly you now have mini sports bikes appearing as well.........The himmy is a hit no doubt about that but its small fry compared to other models .

Like everything, Chris, they came from demand.
SUVs, 4x4s etc…. I remember working in Chelsea in the 90s when 4x4s were becoming popular, known then as Chelsea tractors.
I asked a few women why they drove them and they said that the roads were getting so busy that they wanted a car that allowed them to see above the traffic and commanded presence on the road - the fact that they were also expensive acted as a deterrent for other cars to bump into them - their small cars were full of bumps and scratches.
Once a few wealthy people buy something, it starts a fashion.

The Adventure bike scene was started by E & C, I think we all agree on that - again rich and famous people.

I can’t find the research so maybe wrong but I do believe that for 1 year the 411 was the biggest selling, large capacity motorcycle in the world. It was certainly the second biggest selling Adventure bike in the UK for a while and the UK is a tiny market.

There’s a lot of talk about cheap Chinese bikes and the demise of the motorcycle- big bikes, Japanese bikes European bikes etc..
The world is in a down turn at the moment which could turn into a global depression. Belts are being tightened. But economics is cyclical, who’d have thought in the early 90s that BMW would be a massive motorcycle manufacturer.

With heavy sanctions china could easily go down the pan. No one knows what the world will be like in 20 years - speculation.
I’ll be buying an Indian bike, rather than Chinese - just in case hahaha.

bier

Wow Bob, I think you ticked off most of the cliches there but I have an alternate view.
It is often said that most big bike riders, and especially Beemer riders, are all posers who park up outside Starbucks and can’t really handle their oversized bikes.
I ride a 1200 GSA so I’ll give you a different view.
I don’t know you or your riding habits but I ride multi months long trips over mountains and desserts in far flung countries with sometimes dreadful roads and tracks and I don’t see many bikes doing big trips that aren’t big.

I ride two up with my wife, one trip being 27,000 miles over eight and a half months and virtually every traveller that we meet was on a big Beemer.

Big bikes are just marketing? No. On the trip I just mentioned we wore out one front suspension seal. Nothing else broke and the dealer replaced the seal for free as we were still under warranty. This was a trip that used up six tyres, two front and four back. Nothing else broke, two up.
Before that trip, I’d asked my BMW service boss if I should take some spare brake and clutch cables as I’d read they break after prolonged use.
He said he’d never come across a broken cable.

Lastly, in Chile you will either need a big tank or a supplementary tank as gaps of 200 miles between petrol pumps is common.

The fact that BMW make great bikes for serious travel doesn’t mean BMW or their riders are tossers. That’s like saying Aston Martin drivers are all tw@ts if they don’t thrash the pants off their Astons every weekend.

Try caning around the alps on a big, sit up straight Beemer for a week and then try it on a 350.

The adventure bike scene was well established in the era of the 100GS, 1100GS and 1150GS a good ten years or more before E&C came along. UKGSer is a good historical site for adventure riding but even then there's not much before 2005. It's not so well documented as not many people were on the Internet, even in the 1990s.

(Though I do have a video shot in the mid 1980s of me using an acoustic coupler on a transatlantic dial up call to log on at 300 baud to a node in the States.)

Utter, utter nonsense. What about the many riders, particularly from Germany and France, and to a smaller extent from late to the game English speaking areas setting off on big, beyond Starbucks, trips on bikes like the BMW R80g/s (first sold in 1981) or Yamaha xt500 (released in the mid 1970s) to name just 2 very popular models? There's an entire universe of bike travel going back to well beyond when the 2 lovies were even born. It really didn't all start with Ewen and his unemployed carpet fitter mate :)

Much closer to the mark, but still no cigar.


Regarding the whole big/little bike argument. Big western manufacturers will sell what the market thinks it wants, based the junk marketing the punters will swallow.

These manufacturers make the most money on after sales offerings like servicing. And on finance plans because new bike buyers can't/ don't want to afford to pay the full price in cash today.

In the next 20/25 years, the "western" bike market will be dead, along with their current baby boomer customers. KTM, it seems, has chosen to push up the daisys first. I predict huge discounts soon to get their unsold '23 and '24 vintage motors out of the door and stave off bankruptcy for a little while at least.

Based on primary research last year in India and South East Asia, the future of biking per se is in small bikes of 100 to 200 or so cc in Asia, also where they're built. Everyone, unless mega rich by local standards, is on motorised or electric 2 wheels.

Western birth rates are going through the floor, young westerners don't ride and the bike riding boomers won't be around much longer. At the other end of the spectrum e.g., India's population is now 1.45 bn, up 50% in the last 25 years.

Absolutely, and it goes more than 50 years further back than the R80GS or the XT500.

Early Harley-Davidson models were designed for dirt roads as that was what most roads in America were like at the time. Hence the introduction of the 1919 Sport Model which was designed for 'rough stuff'.

Round about 1920 HD introduced a military model for the US Army, and even the BSA M20 ridden by my father in the Royal Signals in WWII predates BMW's GS range by over 30 years.

Indeed. My correction above was very much aimed at Mr/Ms/They Flop.

One of my Glaswegian grandfather's stories of WW2 was soon after DDay, riding a "borrowed" ;) BMW bike through German lines from Normandy to Brittany to see his wife and son for the first time. Ernest was one of the first British Commandos on Sword beach very early on 6th June '44. (He didn't have time to hang out chatting to the Germans at Ouistreham as Pegasus bridge down the road needed holding).

On his ride westwards, at one point, he ended up in a ditch after a Spitfire straffed him! So kinda off road for a few yards :)

Usually he didn't talk much about the war. The guy left more than footprints on the beach at Dunkirk :D

Those would both be classed as small and lightweight trail-capable bikes in today's market (kinda like the Scram 440 now), and neither of them were advertised as machines with which to cross continents with factory luggage solutions as an optional extra.

Long Way Round really sold the idea to the masses that in order to go seriously long distance you needed a 250kg+ 70hp+ bike with heated cup holders simply because it was shown on the BBC and around the world. That's when the idea of motorcycle adventure riding in it's currently marketed and packaged form entered the zeitgeist, to the point where even my Mum knew what it meant.

I was just going to share these 2 pictures, but the system requires me to write words. So I have.

Fair enough, you've got me there :rofl:

Not that it matters much but old bikes were usually "dry weight" while modern bikes are "wet weight". The difference in weight between old and new is usually not as much as official numbers might indicate.

Horses for courses.
If I were going on a round the world trip, and planned on keeping on asphalt all the way, and had lots of luggage, and could afford it, I'd take top of line BMW/KTM/Suzuki/Honda/Kawasaki/etc at any time.
If planning for few unpaved roads, with less luggage, and on a lower budget, a midsize would be my choice.
If planning for dirtroads, with small luggage, and on a shoestring budget, a CRF300Rally/etc would be my choice.
If planning to try every small path that looks nice SuperCub/etc would be my choice.

The actual bike chosen would depend on availability.

Super Tenere
 

I for one have steered away from Gs's in earnest. I saw a RTW ride report of a young German plumber who did that and had a bad accident in Delhi, the resultant cost had him actually had him ordering parts from Germany cos they were cheaper than in India as they're classed as some sort of "super luxury" item.
Not only that it could only be repaired in a BMW franchise which was nowhere near where the accident took place. No thanks.

The super tenere is a bullet proof engined-long in the tooth design that would be far easier to repair, and I'm guessing cheaper too.
Why a 1200cc behemoth? Well it's about weight anf space capacity and the ability of the bike to carry it all.

Just over a year ago I did a trip across France, around the perimeter of Spain and back again, 4200 miles in 3 1/2 weeks, two up with full camping gear on a Harley Sportster with my adult son pillion.
You couldn't have got a fag paper anywhere in the luggage and we even had to eschew biking boots for Berghaus climbing boots as we didn't have space, something I was nervous about the whole trip.
Making me more nervous was the knowledge that I was over the GVW by a long chalk, not so much the handling as the bike I thought could take it but if an accident happened and they figured out that I was at fault for overloading...

I'd reccied that route the year before on my Super Tenere with a GS'er from a forum and over the trip all he could do is stop at every available site there was another GS'er to compare notes so I can understand why there is a dislike of them, however I got to say he was a better motorcyclist than me and I am probably biased, but given how many GS's there are in Europe it appears to be like a select club that I for one am glad to not be a member of, never have run with the crowd.

Regarding smaller bikes, I had a Honda 90 (pre-Cub days) in the 80's and used to hundreds of miles trips on it and had a blast.
In fact there is a young lady on YT not only doing a RTW on a cub but doing as much of it TET as she can, so no solid argument one way or the other.

For me it was simple: Can it carry a lot of weight, is the engine reliable, is there no chain to lubricate/replace, is it NOT a GS?
A Super Tenere was the only choice that was affordable IMO.

Yeah. You wouldn’t want to ride one of those unreliable GS’s…..

btw - the ‘luxury’ tax is based on price.

A GS and a Tenere 1200 are within a couple thousand dollars, so the rider in India would have been screwed on either.

If only BMW brought back the GS r80 ... wow wow:D:D

[QUOTE=chris;644949]Utter, utter nonsense. What about the many riders, particularly from Germany and France, and to a smaller extent from late to the game English speaking areas setting off on big, beyond Starbucks, trips on bikes like the BMW R80g/s (first sold in 1981) or Yamaha xt500 (released in the mid 1970s) to name just 2 very popular models? There's an entire universe of bike travel going back to well beyond when the 2 lovies were even born. It really didn't all start with Ewen and his unemployed carpet fitter mate :)


Everyone one on this forum knows that because most of us were at it before they came along.
When I said ‘adventure bike scene’ I simply meant the main streaming of motorcycle travel/holidays. When we turned up at the ferry dock in the 80s and early 90s there would be a few bikes, all different types, all with different destinations - some just to northern France others to a lot further afield, everyone was excited and friendly at theirs and others trip to come.

I knew a few guys who rode to Australia in the mid-80s and there were plenty of books on the shelves back then but it was a very minority past time.
Then came the time when we rolled up to get the Bilbao - Portsmouth ferry and there must have been a 100 bikes, it was a couple of years after LWR and all the bikes were big adventure bikes - the vast majority GSs, and, it saddens me to say, all the riders were ‘too cool for school’ all sunglasses and no smiles.

If you add for Brits as a suffix to "main streaming of motorcycle travel/holidays", then some of what you say makes sense. Otherwise it's nonsense. This forum has (had) contributors from probably more than a hundred countries (I'm sure GJ has the stats at his fingertips :innocent: ), so bandying about "we all agree on that" is disingenuous and makes any other contributions to be taken with a pinch of salt too.

I like your too cool for school comment. Once at a UK BMW owners club event many moons ago, this chap turned up with a 1150gsa with, shall we say politely, lots of bling attached. I, "in civies" in an old car (at the time poor and couldn't afford a bike after the end of my rtw trip) only asked him 2 questions:

1. Do you know what all those buttons do?
2. If you press all the buttons at the same time, will your bike explode?

His buddies thought it hilarious, him less so. :mchappy:

When I still lived in the UK (until 2020), I had a paid subscription to the Ukgser forum (despite swearing in 2002 I'd never ride a BMW again, having ridden one around the world... Now 23 years later still pretty much abstinent, except when I had a free bike to ride or when it was actually just a rebadged Aprilia :clap:) in order to have access to their for sale section. Must have saved 100s of £, despite my £12/year outgoing, buying rarely/never used gear at a fraction of the full price from the Portsmouth posers you mention, after they moved on to macramé or tiddlywinks. Those clowns do have some uses... :D

[QUOTE=chris;645076]I wonder if his side of the story goes;

I bought this new GS and not short of $$, I spent a heap on farkles, cause I could and that’s what I like to do.

This poor, jealous fella who couldn’t even afford a bike came up and said

“Do you know what all those buttons do?”
“If you press all the buttons at the same time, will your bike explode?”

Strange fella.

;) :)

How's Portsmouth? I've heard it's lovely at this time of year.

This is how I got 95%+ of my motorbikes and gear over over the years :)

Which reminds me, I've "grown out of" my track day leathers and need to sell them on this year since I no longer have a sporty bike. I paid about 40GBP for them in brand-new condition with one scuff on a knee slider, I might even be able to sell them at a profit since I managed to not come off while wearing them ...

At the start of this blog , i asked do we need a 120hp bike ................. NO...........
Now you can buy a 170 hp .... sounds to me a 100hp too much !!

Depends on what you want to use it for, I had an R1 for a whole 3 months, went for a track day at Silverstone and the bike was well suited to it. I sold it after, and had far more fun pushing a 70hp bike riding to it's limits instead.

you have a point ..................
1 is a sports track bike
2 the " other " is a sensible adventue " type " bike !!:scooter::scooter::scooter::scooter:

Oh.... isnt it about time we all had some type of suitable form to what we all see as "off road" bit like a ski run Black .... red etc.
that way we can judge what people see as an " off road " track?c??c??c?

Which returns us, neatly back to the start.

"Adventure Bike" is simply a very clever marketing ploy.

Teapot One had an adventure on a GSXR1100.

Ed March on a C90.

Both laughed their was around the world, smiles on their faces. They sure as hell werent concerned that their chosen bike met the approval of others.

Just ride what YOU want.

Like these adventure bikes …..

Agreed, ride whatever bike you want.

I like to fly and ride and for my rental bike I choose a scooter if it is available.
In SEA countries, you do not need a big cc bike to travel.
Around 150cc onward is sufficient.

And to be honest when on a rental scooter, when you wave at a fellow biker decked in riding gear on a big bike most of them will not acknowledge a little scooter even though i am decked in riding gear. ha....ha....

The exception was in Japan, when you wave at a fellow biker most of them will wave back or they will wave at you first.

:scooter::scooter:

Hey brother. beer

When did you ride Japan? I did three weeks last year mainly Shikoku and the Wakayama Peninsula.

Had a ball. Hope to head over for a month in September.

We actually found a decent dirt road on Shikoku too! The onsen was at a campground in Wakayama.

Cheers

I used this Kawasaki V-Strom 250 for the Shikoku inland mountains in April 2024. Absolutely lovely bike and an excellent adventure. 20k yen for a two-day rental out of Takamatsu, including insurance, helmet and pickup/dropoff in the city center!

My wife had the earlier 250.

They are awesome. Loved Shikoku

AnTyx,

That's a smart looking V-Strom 250.

Do you mind sharing where you rented the bike from at Shikoku?

HomersGSA,

Here's the link to my report.

https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...ovember-105649

I would like to ride again in Japan and specifically starting from Tokyo as my younger brother lives in the outskirt of Tokyo. So rent a bike and go ride to see him.
I have not decided when yet to go as i have 2 tours planned already, Feb-April (5 weeks) Vietnam and then July (4 weeks) to Bali and East Java.

I have an opening in October to November and still thinking of where to go. That is if my other half doesn't ask me to travel with her and her friends. Got to keep her happy so that I can continue my bike tours!
ha...ha....

:scooter::scooter:

Absolutely, I can recommend the place wholeheartedly: https://rb-fullthrottle.com/english/rental-index.html

Communication in English over email was quite fine. The owner doesn't really speak English but is very happy to make it work with a translation app. The shop is actually one stop down the north Shikoku train line, but they have a deal with a parking garage in downtown Takamatsu, happened to be very close to my hotel. He was there to deliver the bike at the prearranged time and go over the paperwork etc., and said I could just drop off the bike any time I wanted on the last day and give the keys to the parking attendant.

I'd rented a Kawa Z900RS Cafe Racer a few days earlier in Tokyo for a trip to the Izu peninsula with a local friend, and it was quite funny that the word in Japanese for the best grade of petrol is "hai-occu" - high octane - but it sounds like "hayaku" - hurry up! - so it felt quite rude to just say that to the gas station attendants when we stopped to fill up! :D Luckily the 250 took regular.

EDIT: Might as well mention my route, which I think is a fine two-day itinerary. I started south on route 438 to the Mount Tsurugi chairlift - about three hours, starting on calm country roads and then getting into some twisties - took the chairlift up and hiked to the peak of the mountain, took the back path down. Then headed west to Oku-Iya vine bridge - there is an entrance fee, and you can ride a wooden cart suspended across the river, although it was closed for repairs when I was there. So I continued to the Scarecrow Village - you can see most of it from the road, but I think there are a few accessible buildings including the old school - then on to Ochiai Village (aim for the observatory on the small road south of the river, rather than the main road or the village itself). Then went on to Iya Kankyo Ryokan - very reasonable rates for a Japanese-style single room and breakfast, big parking lot right across, and it was within walking distance of the Higashi-Iya Vine Bridge. It was closed by the time I got there, it was starting to get dark, so I just walked around the area without crossing the old bridge itself - glad I got to do it earlier with the other bridge!

Next day I went a bit further south down the Oboke Gorge to a place called Happyraft for some whitewater rafting. It was very fun and we absolutely did flip the raft on some rapids. :) Afterwards I went back up via the Old Route 32, the slowest national highway in all of Japan, past the Statue of the Peeing Boy - definitely worth stopping for a photo! - and then a late lunch in a grandma-run home cafe. That left me just enough time to rejoin the main road 319 back up to Takamatsu, drop off the bike, pick up my luggage and catch the next-to-last train west to Matsuyama.

I also have to say that Takamatsu town itself is very much worth a visit! It has one of Japan's top three public gardens (very affordable and infinitely less crowded than the other ones in touristy cities!) and Yashima mountain just east of the city center, an awesome hilltop plateau with an important place in Japanese medieval history. I would have definitely liked to stay in and around Takamatsu longer if I'd had the time.

I remember your trip now.

The ADV150 is highly underated IMO. I had a very abused one in Java and loved it.

October / November are good times for southern Honshu/Shikoku/Kyushu I reckon.

I didnt know about full throttle rentals ( https://rb-fullthrottle.com/english/rental-index.html )

Damn good value.

AnTyx,

Thanks for the info. I have bookmarked the shop for my future use.

Japan is indeed a great place to tour on a bike.

So many places still to visit in Japan that I have hardly scratched the surface. However it is on the expensive side for me for the accommodation and bike rental as I am from a developing country and currency is weak.

I have considered buying a bike in Japan and keeping it at my brother's place to save the bike rental cost over the long term but his home is so tiny that it barely fits his mini car and I don't want to inconvenience him.
And I have not even taken into account the insurance and other legalities to keep the bike on the road. So even if i could keep the bike in Japan I have not done the sum to determine if it is worthwhile.

HomersGSA,

Yes, I agree. Bloody good bike it is the Honda ADV150!
I did have a small annoying thing with the ADV150. Whenever I let go of my hands from the handlebar, it would wobble like it had a tank slapper.

I texted the bike rental and was told that they said it is happens on the ADV150 for some reason. They have 2 units and both have this wobble. Just told me to not to ride hands free. LOL

Yes, October/November is a good time for Honshu region with very pleasant weather but I will need to make sure I layer up enough and will need a true winter glove. I only used a Astars mid season WP glove and I wish I had heated grips and/or a handguard to block the wind!:helpsmilie::helpsmilie:

I was wondering when someone was going to mention Long Way Round in this thread. Surprisingly, it took a while.

I think Long Way Around turned out to be one of those marketing events that returned a million percent on what BMW invested. The R1200gs turned into the most sold big bike in its segment in North American, Europe, Asia, and South America.

Since the 1950's I think motorcyclist's have been addicted to getting the next year's edition bike with 50 cc more displacement. I think that trend continued up until 1200 cc's. In my opinion BMW sold R1200's to everyone who wanted one. That customer might have bought up to 2 R1200's but like other's have mentioned, the R1200 is a great bike on the highway, or a great 2 up bike, but isn't really suitable for off road other than riding off the highway and onto the dirt to get to your tent spot. I think a lot of R1200 guy's decided to downsize in cc's because they are getting older and the R1200 is a heavy and tall bike.

Another factor is declining economic opportunities in Western societies. I think the West kind of shot itself in the foot with allowing capitalism to run away with itself. The erosion of the middle class is changing discretionary income purchases like 1200cc motorcycles. Most people who own 1200cc motorcycles hardly ever put any miles on them anyway.

If we are talking about the UK most people don't put many miles on their bikes full stop regardless of the cc . Manufacturers repeatably put more and more tech on their bike........most riders either don't use it or have no idea what it does . If I got a tenner for every tft dash I've set up for customers i could retire . This pushes up the bikes price........obviously . It got to the point that traders wouldn't take in the V4 Mutleys.......no one could insure them . Bikes are in truth an expensive hobby......as much as I love them , mine would b the first to go if things got tight .

Couple of things.

Pick the correct tool for the job. Here in Australia 60% of our roads are dirt, which is over 550’000 kms ….. (like 300k miles?)

And most of your big cc bikes, GS, AT, Vstrom, super tenere etc are usually sold with reasonably high mileage. Simply because for touring here they make sense.

Like my low mileage GSA beer

Which I sold, for the very reason you suggest - too heavy with a knee replacement. But gosh darn i miss it.

@Homers GSA,

I miss my Tiger 800. Tiger 800 are top heavy and with my back bad I had to get a lighter bike.
And lighter means smaller cc too.

And I do all my long distances touring overseas where I fly and ride. All all the bike rentals are smaller bikes anyway.

:scooter::scooter:

I think the R1200 is a neat bike to experience owning. I had 3 R1200 gsa's back when they came out, but I only bought them to flip. If I had the money to have more than 1 bike than I would probably buy one. I got to ride one of them through the Rocky Mountains on the highway and it was a memorable experience. But, it only gets 40 mpg, is a tall bike, weighs over 230 kilos, has the final drive reliability issue, probably is hard to ride 2 up with how tall it is, I have knee problems too and don't think I would buy another one because of that.