Best Adventure Bikes for Tourer

As of recently, people have started to get into adventure sports. It’s not recently, but getting the best adventure bikes and going around the mountain terrain and all those places that one would normally not take vehicle has started to be explored more in recent years. And every year it seems the people have started looking adventure bikes as a means to travel further to the rough terrains. Yes, Motocross bikes are also suitable to be ridden to the rough terrains, but unlike adventure bikes, they do not have a lot of space for the rider to have pillion or even have a lot of their belongings. This makes the travelling a lot harder as you would have to pack everything in just a bag and then carry it on your back, which in the long ride would cause a lot of discomforts. And what does an Adventure bike provide? it allows you to saddle the bags on the side rails or the back passenger hand pegs to keep them safe and stable. Indeed you would need to use some sort of rope to make sure the bags are always in place as if you were to just saddle it without proper support and safety, the chances are you would lose all the belongings that you had packed in the bags. One may debate that you could other naked bikes as well. But with the naked bikes the same problem comes, you would have to carry the bags on your back, yes, some would allow you to saddle it in the back rails, but that would cause a lot of unbalance, as mainly the naked variants do not have as much of a clearance that the adventure bikes tend to have. As we all know, the listing is based on the fact that we the editors find the bike suitable, there are chances that the bikes that you think are viable may just not make it into the list, so please take the list with a grain of salt, and suggest us more such bikes so that we can provide you with the readers with more information. So, without further ado, let’s begin.

Ducati Multistrada:

Ducati has been giving the world some of the best bikes in the years it has been in the scene of bike making. Even though there have been misgivings at times, the company time and again shows why it is considered as the “Harley Davidson” of the European market. The company has been providing superb super sports bikes in the past years, with the Panigale series overtaking the market of sports bikes with its superb design and performance. So, what makes the Ducati Multistrada a great adventure bike. First of all, its a 1260 cc bike , which means it has a lot of fuel capacity. And to mention, that the bike sold over 10,000 units when it was released is not any small feat. The fact that the Multistrada is loved by many shows, just how good the bike itself is. The bike is a L- twin cylinder, Liquid-cooled engine that utilizes a 4 valve desmodromic system, which eliminates the use of valve springs. The rider can switch between 4 engine power modes which are Sport, Touring, Urban, and Enduro, these can be switched among each other even while you are in motion and the bike is on the road. As the bike ABS and DES (Ducati Electronic Suspension), the Multistrada offers one of the best handlings, both on-road and off-road. The DTC (Ducati traction control) system has 8 levels of adjustment, which gives even a new rider to the adventure world the confidence to properly handle the bike in any type of terrain.

Ducati Multistrada Specifications:

  • Engine Displacement: 1260 cc
  • Engine type: L-twin , Liquid cooled
  • Engine valves: 4 valve desmodromic system
  • Braking system : ABS and DES (Ducati Electronic Suspension)

Honda Africa Twin:

Named to honour one of the greatest off-road challenges known to man, the “Paris-Dakar rally”, this extreme machine was designed with long distances in mind, is supposedly the adventurer’s perfect choice. The Honda Africa Twin can go both off terrain and on the city very easily. The bike has a mode called the urban mode that allows the bike to be ridden easily within the city area as well. And if you were to ever come across gravel roads, the bike’s true potential can be seen as the 998 cc bike can handle the gravel road easily and smoothly. Honda is the first manufacturer of adventure motorcycles to offer DCT gearbox. DCT stands for dual-clutch transmission and is unique to the Honda stable. It is an automatic gearbox specifically programmed and developed for off-road use. One could say that Honda is a trendsetter for the adventure category motorcycle, and the Africa Twin is certainly the benchmark for all other manufacturers to follow.

Honda Africa Twin Specifications:

  • Engine Displacement: 998 cc
  • Engine type:  Liquid cooled
  • Engine valves: 4 valve
  • Braking system : Dual control

BMW 1200GS:

BMW has been producing some of the best adventure bikes in the market as well. The BMW’s adventure bikes are the most iconic bikes of the genre as the design is well known by everyone and most of the time when anyone thinks about an adventure bike, they normally picture the looks of the BMW GS version. The GS version is solely made for adventure, as the bike does look very big in size, but do not be scared by the size as the once you have hit the road with the bike, you will know how smooth the manoeuvring of this heavy looking bike is. BMW 1200 GS has a Twin boxer engine, a horizontally opposed two-cylinder, 1170 cc power plant, with four valves per cylinder, which is capable of delivering its torque through a 6 transmission and a drive shaft to the 1 inch rubber under the paralever rear suspension. The bike also has a huge 7.9-gallon fuel tank, which will be able to take you to long distances easily.

BMW 1200 GS Specifications:

  • Engine Displacement: 1170 cc
  • Engine type:  Liquid cooled
  • Engine valves: 4 valve
  • Braking system : Dual control

KTM Adventure 1290:

Let’s not forget another of the big giants who have been in the adventure scene for a while now, the KTM 1290 is the eldest sibling to the adventure bikes of KTM. The bike has on the highest power producing engine, which is 160 Horse power and has 4 engine modes making the riding experience even more likeable and enjoyable. Though the bike is indeed powerful, is it worth it?. Yes, it is indeed worth it as it has one of the most powerful engines and gives you superb control over the bike while riding in any type of terrain.  In fact, those who have ridden this machine will tell you that the more you are on it, the more you realize just how well it is suited for the requirements it was designed for. If you do plan on riding and going on long adventures, maybe the KTM Adventure 1290 with its 1301 cc V-twin can interest you.

KTM Adventure 1290 Specifications:

  • Engine Displacement: 1301 cc
  • Engine type: V Twin
  • Engine valves: 8 valve
  • Braking system : ABS

As the editor personally, we would recommend you go with the Multistrada as it has various features that the company allows you to customize according to your needs. And as a small note, we have not listed all the specifications of the bike as we plan on doing an in-depth article on that as well.


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