Ultimate Sport-Touring Adventure Shootout Prologue

Nine bikes and riders, six days and 2,000 miles are the key ingredients going into our 2015 Ultimate Sport-Touring Adventure Shootout. Sprinkle in some off-road trekking and garnish with a few nights of camping, and our shootout souffle will be complete. Special sauce will be provided by the unforeseen occurrences that accompany any ride of this nature.

The adventure begins Monday, August 31 with a sunrise gathering at the famous Rock Store. From there we travel North to Big Sur, Gualala, Redwood National Park and back. We’re sure you’re aware that California is hot, bone dry and burning down, so our route will be a coastal one in both directions.

We invite you to follow our progress with daily updates on the MO website and our social networks, as well as GPS mapping provided by the SPOT Gen 3 tracking device.

MO’s Ultimate Sport-Touring Adventure – Day 1
MO’s Ultimate Sport-Touring Adventure – Day 2
MO’s Ultimate Sport-Touring Adventure – Day 3
MO’s Ultimate Sport-Touring Adventure – Day 4
MO’s Ultimate Sport-Touring Adventure – Day 5
MO’s Ultimate Sport-Touring Adventure – Day 6

We’ve tested many versions of the bikes involved here in solo reviews or in shootout fashion, pitting two or three against one another, but never before have we gathered nine bikes at one time to determine the king of Sporty Adventure-Tourers.

Look for the story and accompanying video to be published on Thursday, September 17.

Don’t forget to enter our Pick a Winner contest. Just click on this link and tell us who you think will win the shootout. If you’re right, you will be entered into a draw to win a new Arai XD-4 helmet.

Here are our competitors:

Aprilia Caponord Rally	BMW R1200GS	BMW S1000XR
Ducati Multistrada S	Kawasaki Versys 1000LT	KTM 1190 Adventure
KTM 1290 Super Adventure	Suzuki V-Strom 1000	Triumph Tiger Explorer