#adventure-touring

Which side of the fence were you on when you got the hot goss that a new KLR 650 was coming down the pike? The for the love of god don’t change it! troop, or the this thing better be a Twin- cylinder Tenere-killer gang? 

Just more than a week after teasing us with a new Tiger Sport 660 prototype, Triumph sends us photos of another new model, this time a heavily updated Tiger 1200. Along with this showcase of Triumph’s camouflage wrapping, the British manufacturer sent us this brief description:

Harley-Davidson sent out a press release making the bold claim that the Pan America 1250 Special is the best-selling adventure-touring motorcycle in North America. Unfortunately, the press release (included in full below) doesn’t provide any specific data to back up the claim.

I think I’m always going to think the one-piece Aerostich suit, be it R3 or Classic, is the best combination of protection, comfort, and convenience for people who ride their motorcycle a lot. But not necessarily for people who stop riding their motorcycle a lot, which is what the MO crew winds up doing since the invention of the Youtube. We find ourselves stopping along the side of the road to shoot video and photos. When you’re rolling, Aerostich airflow is good. When you’re stopped, it gets hot in there in a hurry. Whipping the suit off isn’t usually the answer, since most of the time we’re shooting in sun-blasted SoCal, where there’s not much shade.

Updated March 2021:

UPDATED Jan. 28: KTM says the 1290 Super Adventure S will be available this spring as a 2021 model in Europe, but it will not be coming to North America until the fall as an early 2022 model.

KTM hasn’t officially announced its 2021 1290 Super Adventure models yet, but it briefly published the pages for both the street-focused Super Adventure S and more off-road capable Super Adventure R on its website. The pages were quickly taken down, but we’ve managed to snag the details. Both models receive a number of updates, including a radar-based adaptive cruise control system for the S model.

After announcing the 2021 890 Adventure R and Adventure R Rally earlier this month, KTM revealed a third member of the lineup in the more street-biased 890 Adventure.

Ducati has started teasing a new model reveal for Oct. 15, with all indications suggesting it will be for the new Multistrada V4. Contrary to our initial report, however, it looks like the engine might be going smaller than the Panigale V4’s 1103cc engine and not larger to 1158cc. [UPDATE: Ducati clarified that the Oct. 15 announcement will be for the Multistrada V4’s engine. The bike itself will be revealed Nov. 4.]

We’ll admit this is an unusual ADV test. There are any number of competitors we could have lined up against the new-and-improved 2020 Honda Africa Twin. Honda’s dirt-focused ADV bike has received a host of changes to make it even better both on-road and off, but it has always felt most at home when the paved path turns to the loose stuff.

Any motorcycle reviewer will tell you it takes a long ride and several miles to really understand how good – or bad – a motorcycle is. This is especially true when the motorcycle in question is a model refresh and not an entirely new machine. But this might be the first time I can remember where just riding from my house to the stop sign at the end of my street left an impression that would last my entire time with the bike. The updated, 2020 Honda Africa Twin is good. Really good.

Yeah, well, maybe it is kind of a ridiculous comparison, but who went on a nice day-long adventure ride while you were locked down? Ryan Adams and I did, that’s who. Really it’s not even that ridiculous. The KTM 790 Adventure R sells for around $13,500; the 390 Adventure’s less than half that at $6,200. Ryan came back from the 790’s launch in Morocco last year calling it the best adventure bike in the world. Then it won a three-bike comparo starring Eric Bostrom…

We can hardly believe it. The long…no, interminably long wait is over. The 2021 Yamaha Ténéré 700 is finally on American soil. No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. The motorcycle that fans of middleweight adventure touring motorcycles have been waiting for since 2016 is here. In case you doubt the sincerity of our excitement, we’ve written about the Ténéré 700 no less than 8 times here on MO. Back in May 2019, Ryan penned a thorough piece on his experiences riding the European model. Because of that, we’re not going to reinvent the wheel here. So, for the deep dive into the specifications and what it is that makes up the Ténéré, go to that story. Instead, the focus here will be on riding impressions and information not available at the time of the previous first ride.

A management presentation prepared by KTM‘s parent company Pierer Mobility reveals GasGas will introduce at least three streetbikes, including two 800-class models, a naked bike and an adventure-tourer, plus a 250-class naked bike.

EICMA has come and gone, but at least one manufacturer still has a major model announcement to come.