The Adventure-Touring Hype

Personally, I blame Ewan and Charlie from Long-Way-Round. And the overzealous attitudes to speed exhibited by law-enforcement bodies. How else could you explain the seemingly monstrously huge motorcycle weighing in at quarter of a tonne fully locked and loaded and ready to go to stupidly inaccessible places?

Yet, despite the seeming idiocy of the idea, the market for adventure tourers is booming, and not just in Thailand, Malaysia, or Singapore. Arguably, it was BMW who kick-started the trend, but not with the market-leading BMW R1200GS series. No, it was way back in the '80s when the BMW R80GS appeared. An 800cc boxer-twin duel-purpose machine (by-the-way G/S stood for Gelände/Strasse)? Ridiculous, we said. Actually, we rather liked it, as did many riders around the world, keen for the chance to do a bit of exploring, but not so keen on riding a modified dirtbike or endure-bike for days to get there in the first place.

The theory is all very well: a machine that can take all-day riding in its stride, with comfort and load capacity to match, but which is also capable of heading for the horizon when the going gets tough. The trouble with the theory comes when it is translated into practice. Bulk and weight, which work well for the touring-in-comfort bit, work against the idea when it comes to the off-road part. The BMW GS series, though, has shown the market and the other manufacturers that compromises can – and do – work, provided the riders agree to a bit of extra effort.

Buoyed by the success of the original BMW R80GS, BMW has produced a GS version of most of its subsequent engines, with the R293 engine giving rise to the R11GS which, after some reliability issues with the frame, had led to the virtually ubiquitous BMW R1200GS /Adventure models. At the same time, the BMW G650GS and BMW F650GS and F800GS machines offer a slightly smaller class of adventure tourer.

Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman's Long-Way-Round odyssseys, no matter what you may think of them, have cemented the BMW's place in the public eye as the machine to take on your trans-continental travels. But there are other options.

KTM, with a stranglehold on the annual Dakar Rally event, knows a thing or two about the rigours of off-road riding. There Adventure range, in both 690 and 990cc form, is well worth consideration. Narrower, ligher and chain-driven compared to the BMWs, they have more ability on the dirt which comes form their off-road racing heritage, though they're not as comfortable or as low-maintenance as the shaft-driven BMW's.