In the last twenty years, the adventure bike has transcended its primarily off-road role to become one of the most versatile all-round motorcycles, equally at home in the urban jungle and on the highway as on the dirt trail: as good for commuting as it is for discovering new horizons.
The touring motorcycle, on the other hand, has remained a one-trick pony but the manner in which it achieves success in that role has become ever more sophisticated, while some models have introduced a level of sportiness unimaginable only a few years previously. So which path do you choose: ultimate versatility or peerless comfort and effortless performance?
10 Love: BMW R 1250 GS
Arguably the motorcycle that started the whole adventure bike craze back in the early 1980s, the BMW G/S (Gelände/Straße, ‘Off-road/Street’) redefined what a motorcycle is capable of. Remorselessly developed over 40+ years, the current R 1250 GS is still the standard by which all others are measured.
If BMW has refused to chase the horsepower figure targets set by KTM, it has proved that the venerable boxer-twin engine is capable of seemingly endless development and is today one of the great motorcycle engines. Massive off-road ability, excellent road manners and comfort making the BMW a joy to ride on any surface, over any distance. Hard to find an argument against it, although sheer size might be one.
9 Rather Buy: BMW R 1250 RT
Before the introduction of the GS range of motorcycles, BMW was known for its hugely competent, beautifully built and expensive touring models such as the R100RT, one of the first motorcycles to be offered with a fairing as standard. Fast-forward to today and the R 1250 RS continues the dominance of the touring market with a motorcycle that has more sporting dynamics built into its chassis than any huge touring bike has a right to possess.
The new Shiftcam variable valve timing cylinder heads have given the boxer twin engine a new lease of life, with power on tap throughout the rev range and always more than enough to handle the bulk. Comfort and ergonomics are excellent; build quality and attention to detail incredible, and if there is an air of teutonic efficiency to it all, then that is one of its strengths.
8 Love: Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250
A huge gamble by Harley-Davidson that has paid off in spades due to the simple fact that the Pan America is a brilliant adventure bike, which is an incredible achievement given that it is like nothing ever to come out of Milwaukee. The Revolution Max V-Twin is an interesting re-imagining of the traditional American engine, the chassis is near-perfect and Harley even manages to bring something new to the party with the self-lowering suspension, which goes a long way to addressing the height issues associated with such bikes. If the first generation is this good, imagine what the next will be like!
7 Rather Buy: Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited
What Harley-Davidson doesn’t know about building touring motorcycles with every ingredient working together in harmony isn’t worth knowing. The range is vast and confusing, but there is nothing confusing about the Ultra Limited. Traditional in style and technology, the Milwaukee Eight engine powering this behemoth is a masterpiece of smooth, characterful power, with relatively modest horsepower but huge torque: the perfect recipe for such a motorcycle.
Big and heavy, the chassis may be low-tech bit it works extremely well, and on the Ultra Limited, you’ll eat up the miles in supreme comfort and great style. No-one does chrome and paintwork better than Harley and the Ultra Limited is a touring motorcycle in the grand American tradition.
6 Love: Triumph Tiger 1200
Triumph has the unerring knack of taking an existing model, which was already very good, and making it immeasurably better for the next generation. The Tiger 1200 has grown into an adventure bike that can hold its head up in company with BMW and KTM, the current acknowledged leaders of the pack.
Altered firing order has changed the triple-cylinder engine out of all recognition, giving it a much more gruff sound and vastly improved low-speed traction as well as a spine-tingling top end. The chassis is excellent, the electronics the equal of anything the Germans or Austrians have come up with, while comfort, fit, finish and quality are top of the class.
5 Rather Buy: BMW K 1600 GTL
You could argue that BMW is all about its engines, whether the distinctive boxer-twin, the innovative lay-down threes and fours of the 80s/90s or this, the incredible inline six-cylinder. Smooth as a turbine, with seemingly endless urge and a spine-tingling soundtrack, it is the perfect engine for this near-perfect touring bike.
The K 1600 GTL combines ‘touring’ with ‘sport’ more convincingly than any other motorcycle, with an attention to detail and rider and pillion comfort that leaves nothing to be desired. Huge electronics package, including electronic suspension damping adjustment, excellent wind protection, huge storage capacity, incredible dynamics and that engine. Yes, it’s big but its beautifully balanced, making slow-speed maneuvering easy.
4 Love: KTM 1290 Super Adventure R
Long considered motorcycles for expert off-road riders, KTM built a whole load more across-the-skill-spectrum ability and usability into the 1290 Super Adventure range. Still massively competent, with huge power from the 1301cc V-twin engine and a sophisticated electronics package in a chassis that leaves you wanting for nothing.
More than the BMW, the emphasis is on off-road ability, although there is nothing wrong with the road performance whatsoever, while the handling is up to sport bike standards. If the 1290 Super Adventure doesn’t feel as well-built as the BMW or the Triumph and lacks the overall comfort of those rivals, it more than makes up for it with the dynamics and that engine.
3 Rather Buy: Honda Gold Wing Tour
It started life as a ‘sport’ bike but soon developed into a touring bike that frightened the life out of Harley-Davidson. At first powered by a flat-four engine, this grew to a flat-six, with huge power and refinement. The latest version of the Gold Wing is all-new, massively sophisticated, innovative, comfortable, superbly dynamic and beautifully engineered.
The DCT takes some getting used to, but this is surely the application it was primarily designed for and the crawler forward and reverse function is a blessing when parking this large, heavy machine. Electronic suspension gives BMW a run for its money, while the engine and shaft drive are near-perfect. Another motorcycling vintage that is maturing with age.
2 Love: Husqvarna Norden 901 Expedition
The most recent addition to the adventure bike class, the Norden 901 Expedition adds extras to the standard bike’s specification that have you wondering how Husqvarna does it for the price. The Norden 901 was already excellent which is no surprise as it is essentially a KTM 890 Adventure with different clothes, but the Expedition version adds higher-spec, longer-travel suspension, better rider comfort and weather protection, better electronics and fitted saddlebags to vastly improve the practicality and long-distance capability. The visual design is a lot more coherent than that of the KTM and you can’t help wondering about the logic of building a rival to your own models! Then you ride it and give thanks that they have.
1 Rather Buy: Indian Challenger
The young upstart has become a serious contender for top American motorcycle brand and Harley has every right to feel threatened. The latest Challenger touring model gets the new water-cooled PowerPlus engine of 108 cubic inches, which is both hugely torquey and powerful, not to mention smooth and distinguished.
The electronics are sophisticated, the chassis massive but relatively light and the dynamics much more sporting than you would expect. The frame-mounted fairing gives excellent protection and provides huge real estate to accommodate the mixture of analogue and TFT instruments. Expensive, certainly, but not excessively so in this company and the quality is right up there with the best. An interesting American alternative.