Best Middleweight Adventure Bikes 2021

[Music] funny how things change when i first got my motorcycle license in 1998 the two hottest segments in motorcycling were cruisers and sport bikes those were the days when harley was selling out bikes above msrp to newly empty nester boomers with disposable incomes and sport bikes were all the rage the ducati 996 was winning races in world superbike under karl fogarty and troy corser and posters of it adorn the walls of every pimple face racer wannabe the first generation r1 came out and turned the motorcycling world on its head by spinning a dyno to the tune of 130 rear real horsepower while weighing 423 pounds and suzuki was about to open up a huge can of whoop ass on all the other manufacturers and pushed the japanese speed wars beyond the boiling point with a hayabusa which hit an official 194 miles per hour or 312 kilometers per hour in one magazine's test and nearly brought down the wrath of european nanny states on the motorcycling world thank goodness cooler heads prevailed and today's hyper bike speedometers only read 299 kilometers per hour as the bikes suspiciously continue to accelerate well the glory years for harley are long gone and so are the gloriers for the crotch rockets they're still being sold but the insurance rates and uncomfortable riding positions make them suitable for the track and not much else in fact yamaha the company that built the r1 in the first place has discontinued the road version of their r6 and only offers it as a track bike it was probably having trouble meeting emissions and people just didn't want to ride it anymore what did they want to ride naked bikes which are the sport bikes for the street they combine comfy upright riding positions with lower gearing for brain melting acceleration and hooligan potential they also dispose of the fairings which get expensive to replace if you drop your bike but even the rise of naked bikes pales in comparison to the monumental increase in popularity enjoyed by adventure motorcycles ever since long way around and long way down came out big sort of off-road motorcycles have been flying out of dealers led by the star of those shows the big gs and bmw have cashed in big time with the current generation r1250gs continuing as the market leader but there's one problem that anyone who has ridden motorcycles off-road can confirm the gs weighs 550 pounds and the gsa weighs 600 and riding motorcycles that big off-road is terrifying to the average joe who doesn't race at the car rally in a spare time and this is where middleweight adventure bikes come in almost as comfortable as the big 1200s on the highway and able to carry almost as much they are much lighter and easier to handle on and off pavement and if dropped can be picked up by people who don't know what this means and for a bonus they're less expensive so as adventure riders have begun to get wise to these facts middleweight adventure bikes have began to surpass their big bone cousins in popularity in this video we will take a look at some of the middleweight offerings from all of the manufacturers examine their strengths weaknesses and suggest what kind of writer would enjoy each model but first hit that subscribe button ring the bell and like the video to appease the almighty algorithm let's go [Music] we'll start with the least expensive offerings in the class and proceed to the pricier ones later in the video what else is not very expensive however still manages to be quite extensive our line of merch on teespring.com designed with love and care by brooke this is a line of clothing and apparel that will satisfy even the most demanding fashionista however i should warn you that you should only click on the links in the description below if you want to look cool a quick note before anyone starts piping in with questions about why i didn't include this or that bike on the list i consider the ducati multistrada 950 the versus 650 and the yamaha tracers to be sport touring bikes and so didn't include them because of their 17-inch front wheels all of these bikes straddle that line between adventure and sport and i put them on the sports side to keep this video a reasonable length so the least expensive middleweight adventure bike is the suzuki v-strom 650. this bike will cost you 8 800 us dollars has a punchy v-twin engine with plenty of lumpy character good weather protection and the ability to cross continents and its light on electronics and heavy on value it weighs 476 pounds and also has a lower seat height of 32.9 inches it's not great off-road but makes a good long-distance tour with some gravel and dirt road capability at a very attractive price who is it for the value conscious consumer who wants a reliable and capable motorcycle and doesn't need any of the electronic wizardry that has raised the prices and lowered the reliability of many of the more modern bikes on offer moving up in price slightly but an off-road capability greatly is my personal favorite the yamaha tenera 700 i have plenty to say about this bike since i actually bought one and wrote it quite a bit this year and not gently at 10 000 us dollars this bike is very reasonably priced and is the second most off-road capable motorcycle in this class it has a 21 and 18 inch wheel combination about 8 inches of suspension travel on both sides a rather tall seat at 34.4 inches yamaha offers lowering options and a very dirt oriented riding position the engine produces about 75 horsepower which is about the same as the v-strom and delivers its power and torque in a linear and predictable fashion from very low down in the rev range it also has the character and sound of a v-twin despite being a parallel twin because of its offset crank in addition this is the lightest bike in class weighing in at 450 pounds before you start weighing it down with accessories like i did however instead of listing specs let me tell you from personal experience there is a reason everyone who rises by craves about it it's sublime off-road making a mediocre rider like me look better than i have any right to look and it's surprisingly good on pavement as it hustles through twists and turns with poison enthusiasm and its final advantage which applies to both motorcycles mentioned so far is its japanese origin which simply means that changing the oil and lubing the chain will keep it happy and running trouble free for years you won't find any electronic aids on the tenera 700 other than abs which can be switched off with the press of one button but that's what keeps the price down and attracts riders who want that old-school experience as i stated before this thing is easy to ride especially off-road so this is a bike for the conscious consumer who wants a motorcycle with sirius for this class anyway off-road ability oh and it's the best-looking adventure bike too period feel free to discuss in the comments one bike you may argue beats the ten rain looks is our italian entry the moto guzzi v85 tt this is a retro styled middleweight 850 with a rare transverse air-cooled v-twin aside from the engine it's a thoroughly modern bike with plenty of electronic gadgets and phone connectivity it's definitely a bike that skews toward road riding but can handle gravel and limited dirt as well the gutsy has 80 horsepower and 59 pound-feet of torque weighs 505 pounds wet has a low 32.7 inch seat height and costs 12 gs plane and 13 all calorie it's a comfortable bike with peppy real world performance and one feature that no other bike in this class possesses shaft drive and let me tell you not having to clean the chain on your adventure bike is a luxury price highly among adventure riders this one is for the rider looking for something different unique and retro the next step on the price ladder lands us in great britain in spirit or thailand in actuality because we've come to the triumph tiger family the 900 branded tigers break down into the off-road rally models and the sporty touring gts and triumph just added the wallet-friendly 850 model which has most of the 900s goodness and an a2 compliant and value-laden package these bikes rock triumph's new 888 cc cross plane triple which is more torquey and meaner sounding than the previous model it's the same engine in all models just tuned for less horsepower in the 850. this sporty engine does very well on the road but isn't as suited to off-road action as some of the twins still the rally models can perform very impressively off-pavement because of their high-end suspension and braking components and nanny electronics this is the choice for the inseam challenge adventure as the seats of most models are under 32 inches and even the tallest bikes are only 33.5 the weight just under 500 pounds full of gas the price 12 000 us dollars for the 850 and 12 and a half and up for the 900s way up because you can spec these bikes out with a lot of goodies including heated seats generally the tiger is a sport bike of adventure bikes and is one of the few adv bikes i would take to attract day next is one of the og bikes in this class the bmw f850 gs this bike weighs just over 500 pounds but looks much bigger because it's plastic fairing encloses a whole lot of air in order to provide the rider with better wind protection it's sort of like a fluffy cat you just don't realize how skinny it is underneath like all bmws the focus here is on long distance comfort it manages to be the best at munching miles while being pretty good at everything else on a sport ride it'll do it want to ride off-road no problem it's got a 21 inch hoop up front it's not the best at any of these things but does them competently while keeping you fresh and comfortable needless to say all the electronic goodies are there it's a bmw after all it has 90 horsepower 63 pound-feet of torque plenty of suspension travel and it looks like a classic bmw adventure bike which is either good or bad depending on how badly you want to be obi-wan kenobi the price is around 13 and a half g's and there is a detuned more road oriented model with the same displacement but a 750 badge in case you only want to spend 11. this one is more road oriented with a smaller front cast aluminum wheel the beamers are for the rider who is going for big miles on a bike that can do it all and so we come to ktm who have covered their bases in this class by offering their new 890 adventure and a road friendly standard trim or the taller and better suspended r model prices for these bikes are not yet available but outgoing 790 models cost 12 and a half and 13 and a half k for the regular and our models respectively expect a small upcharge for the new ones if you're all about that performance and ktm is your brand as i hear they're ready to race these are the bikes that will give you delusions of grandeur as you picture yourself riding them like the ktm factory riders in the promo videos please don't unless your hobby is racing to the car or doing motocross on the weekends no hiding the fact that these are the most capable machines in class though especially the r while the standard model makes for a great sport touring bike and is still more capable off-road than most of the competition the r is where it's at provided you're tall the seat goes between 34.6 and 35.8 inches the standard model is a lot more inseam friendly at 32.7 to 33.5 both bikes are pretty light weighing about 468 pounds full of fuel and feel even lighter with the tanks located low at the size and you don't need to weigh them down with engine guards because the side tanks have protection already built in and ktm reps claim they can take a hard hit without catastrophic damage the two 890s have 100 horsepower 75 pound-feet of torque and enough electronics on board to spearhead the next mission to mars off road they even know the difference between a wheelie and wheel spin and can have their traction control dialed to suit your riding style while still saving you from your bad self the 890r has the best suspension in class and also comes in a rally model that is even better line up for the rally early though as only 700 are going to be built their drawbacks they have a reputation for being high strung so if you're into relaxed cruising look elsewhere their looks they look like decepticons that got caught in an orange crush factory explosion and then there's reliability someone will get on me for ragging on ktm's record here but all you have to do is go on ktm forums to see that these ain't no japanese bikes ktm designs them to perform at the edge of the envelope and have cutting-edge tech but these cutting-edge electronics seem to be the culprit and a lot of breakdowns and never starts so who are these bikes for the advanced rider who wants to push their bike to the limit and who rides with a friend on a japanese bike in case they need a ride home due to electronic adventures unfair maybe feel free to have at me in the comments so that's it i could have included the regular africa twin 1100 not the adventure sport and the suzuki v strom 1050 as they occupy the same price range but those bikes exist in a kind of limbo between the middleweights and the big adventure bikes and honda still hasn't released that long anticipated africa twin 850. suffice it to say the afrika twin is very good and has a fair bit of off-road ability for a 500 pound motorcycle the suzuki is more road biased and will make a wonderful touring bike for someone who rides a lot of pavement and a little gravel either one will make the rider very happy indeed one more thing aprelia is about to release their own take on the tenera 700 with their troireg660 this thing is based on the rs-660 sportbike and should come at a lightweight with a whack of sophisticated electronics and plenty of off and on road potential i hope they keep the price reasonable and the electronics bug free if they do that this thing could sell a lot of units oh and the kawasaki klr replacement is hopefully on its way as well i really hope it drops soon so there it is the hottest class in motorcycling personally if i could only have one bike it would be the tenera 700 fortunately there is room for two more in our garage three if you really squeeze them in come to think of it there's plenty of space in our living room too i know brooke will be excited to hear about that so are you a fan of these sleek and capable machines what's your favorite please drop your comments below stay safe and keep adventuring if you're interested in any of the gear that brook and i wear or use or the camera equipment we use to film this channel the links are below everything listed there was bought with our own money and we are not sponsored by any company however the links below are affiliate links and the channel is paid a small amount for referring you to shop at no additional cost to you we do not recommend any products that we are not satisfied with ourselves but we do strongly urge you to do your research and select the correct size for items like helmets and clothing as always thanks for watching your support is greatly appreciated please hit that subscribe button give the video a thumbs up and leave a comment below and whatever you ride enjoy it wave at other bikers no matter what they're riding we're all part of a brotherhood and sisterhood keep the rubber side down shiny side up and may the spokes be with [Music] you

Channel: Different Spokes TV

Views: 260,861

Keywords: Adventure Motorcycle, Motorcycle Review, Motorcycle Comparison, Yamaha Tenere 700, Yamaha T7, Middleweight, Suzuki VStrom 650, Suzuki VStrom 1050, Moto Guzzi V 85 TT, Triumph Tiger 900, Triumph Tiger 850, BMW F 850 GS, BMW F 750 GS, KTM 890 Adventure, KTM 890 Adventure R, Honda Africa Twin 800, Honda Africa Twin 850, Honda Africa Twin 1100, Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports, Kawasaki KLR700, KLR 700, KLX700, KLX 700, KLX650, KLX 650, Kawasaki Versys, Multistrada 950

Id: BLDPqdZ4Zoc

Length: 14min 40sec (880 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 17 2021