The Six Best Small Adventure Motorcycles for Beginners

hello everyone and welcome back to the dork side i am the dork in the road and these are my six favorite small adventure bikes for new riders [Music] i am the dork on the road and i want to be your internet writing buddy so please consider subscribing and don't forget to turn on those notifications so that you know when i post awesome new content just like this so you want to get out there and explore on two wheels and you want to have the option to go both on and off road maybe you've decided that an adventure bike is for you when you want to get into the world of adventure bikes but you're a new rider and you're not sure where to start adventure bikes can be intimidating they're very large very heavy lots of accessories and other things to buy so let me give you an idea of just a place to start if you're a newish rider looking to get into the world of adventure bikes like many adventure bikes most of the bikes on this list are primarily street machines with some off-road capability if you're looking for something that's a lot more off-road focused that can also go on road i might recommend a dual sport check out my five best dual sports for beginners video up here and if you're not sure what the difference is between a dual sport and adventure bike well i have a video for that too check that one out up here but if you know you definitely want an adventure bike and you're not sure where to start for one especially as a new rider an inexperienced rider check out these six bikes so the first small adventure bike for beginners that i want to talk to you about is the kawasaki versus x-300 many of you know i had a versus 650 i loved the bike it just ended up not being exactly what i needed going forward so i replaced it with my africa twin but the x300 is the versus 650's little brother it has a 296 cc parallel twin engine 39.3 horsepower a six-speed transmission 5.8 inches of suspension travel 7.1 inches of ground clearance a 32.1 inch seat height curb weight of 385.9 pounds a 4.5 gallon fuel capacity and if you want to buy one it'll cost you 54.99 for the non-abs model 57.99 for the abs model something to know about a 300cc adventure bike is that it is capable of going at highway speeds it's probably going to struggle and be a little uncomfortable on the freeway if you're planning on spending a lot of time on the freeway going over 70 75 miles per hour you may want to look at something bigger but versus 300 great first step into the world of adventure bikes comfortable capable a reliable motorcycle great place to start another bike about the same size to consider is the bmw g310 gs so the g310 gs has a 313 cc single cylinder it's a thumper motor 34 horsepower it's a six-speed transmission has 7.1 inches of suspension travel that's a lot more than the versus 8.6 inches of ground clearance that's actually tied for the most of any motorcycle on this list those two things suspension travel and ground clearance make a difference when you're going over rough terrain off-road it's pounds has a 3.2 gallon fuel capacity and retails for 57.95 msrp it also comes with abs standard like i mentioned of the two we've talked about so far the g310 gs has a lot of advantages in the off-road category so a third small adventure bike to consider if you're just getting into the world of adventure or motorcycle riding is the ktm 390 adventure this is relatively new just came out this year it's a 373 cc single cylinder so a little bit bigger it's got 37.5 horsepower 6-speed transmission 6.7 inches of front suspension travel 7 inches of rear suspension travel ground clearance of 7.9 inches 33.7 inch seat height so slightly higher than the two we just talked about it's 387 pounds has 3.8 gallons of fuel capacity and retails for 61.99 msrp the ktm is loaded with features it has traction control off-road abs and cornering abs and none of the other bikes have anything beyond abs and traction control so the ktm has has quite the electronic suite it's also the newest model on the list so that makes sense disadvantage to that is that it costs you a little more than the other bikes we've talked about so far we're halfway through the list next bike on the list one of my personal favorites one i just got a chance to test ride so if you haven't yet check out my honda cb500x test ride video it's up here but the fourth bike on the list is the honda cb500x the 500x has a 471 cc parallel twin and 50 horsepower so we're jumping up here quite a bit as a six-speed transmission 5.9 inches of front suspension travel 5.3 inches of rear suspension travel 7.1 inches of ground clearance 32.7 inch seat height weighs in at a slim 430 pounds has a 4.7 gallon fuel tank and there's two models available the non-abs model retails for 66.99 and the abs model retails for 69.99 cb500x is often referred to as the africa twin the little brother to the honda africa twin it's very reliable and i can tell you from experience easy to ride motorcycle the next one on the list is kind of an outlier but this is the royal enfield himalayan the himalayan is a 411cc single cylinder so it's a thumper it only has 24 and a half horsepower so that's notable worth considering it's a five-speed transmission the only five speed on the list 7.9 inches of front suspension travel 7.1 inches of rear suspension travel that is the most travel of any bike on this list 8.6 inches of ground clearance the seat height is 31.5 inches lowest on the list 428 pound weight carries 4.9 gallons of fuel and price wise cheapest bike on the list 49.99 msrp comes with switchable abs it's the cheapest bike on the list with the most suspension travel and ground clearance but it also has the least horsepower so keep that in mind the last bike on the list is a tried and true classic and with this motorcycle we're starting to climb a little bit out of that small adventure bike category into the maybe more mid-range category but if you're a new adventure bike rider this is a motorcycle that most of you will be able to handle if you're willing to be a little bit more uncomfortable at first for the sake of having a bike that's going to last you a lot longer that's harder to outgrow and that is the classic the tried and true the suzuki v-strom 650. so the v-strum 650 is a 645 cc v-twin 70 horsepower 70. so almost twice everything else on the list because the engine's a lot bigger what science transmission is six speeds it's got 5.9 inches of front suspension travel 6.3 inches of rear suspension travel it's got 6.7 inches of ground clearance 32.9 inches of seat height curb weight 470 pounds bigger engine equals a heavier bike but you can carry 5.3 gallons of fuel and there are three models to choose from so there's the base model 87.99 retail for 92.99 you can get the xt which comes with a little bit more off-roading features and 10 399 dollars the big money you can get the xt adventure which comes fully equipped those bikes have abs and traction control and like i said it's a little tall and heavy for a beginner but manageable if you're okay with being a little uncomfortable at first in exchange for getting a bike that maybe is going to last you a little longer these smaller bikes they're going to be good to start on they're going to be comfortable on the back roads and stuff but if you really want to get out there and do the types of touring that most adventure riders eventually get into you will eventually want to upgrade to a larger bike if you're looking for a smaller adventure bike for a beginner or for a new rider either new motorcycle rider or new adventure rider these are the six bikes i would start with take a look at them see how you feel go sit on them if you can i always recommend that so is there any bikes that i've left off the list what small adventure bike would you recommend to a new writer leave that in the comments thank you for watching the video if you enjoyed it if you got any information if you had a moment we were like oh i didn't know that maybe you think about hitting that like button for me that really helps make the videos more visible and helps youtube know to show the video to other people i just want to say thank you very much for watching i appreciate you and please do not forget to be excellent to each other thank you excellent you

Channel: Dork in the Road

Views: 116,385

Keywords: dork in the road, motorcycles, bmw g 310 gs, royal enfield himalayan, ktm 390 adventure, adventure motorcycles, adventure motorcycles under 500cc, best adventure bikes for beginners, best adventure bike for beginner, best small adventure bike, best small adventure bikes, v-strom 650, honda cb500x, cb500x, best small adv bike, best small adv bikes, best adv bikes for beginners, adventure motorcycle for beginners, small adventure motorcycles, best small adventure motorcycles

Id: Li-AOPfwOmA

Length: 7min 59sec (479 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 23 2020