#adventure

Keeping with the 650-ish psuedo Adventure/Enduro bike theme started last week with the 1997 Suzuki XF650 Freewind, this week brings us the 2003 BMW F650CS Scarver. At the time few would call the Scarver a good-looking motorcycle, and unfortunately, the same is true today. We can thank American David Robb, former head of design for BMW Motorrad. Nonetheless, the F650CS Scarver was a new bike for 2003, shedding much of the off-road capabilities of its F650GS cousin with its 17-inch cast wheels, though the engine remains. How does it stack up? Here’s Yossef Schvetz to tell you…

I’ll be honest: I’d never heard of the Suzuki XF650 Freewind before. But as I was digging through the archives, looking for this week’s post, when I came across this beauty I knew it was the one. A Suzuki V-Strom before there ever was one, the 1997 Suzuki XF650 Freewind could easily make the case as being the V-Strom’s predecessor. Off-road-ish styling, psuedo knobby tires, street and dirt intentions – all of those are traits the V-Strom carries. Heck, both even have 650(ish)cc engines! How is it like to ride? Here’s our man Yossef Schvetz with the answer.

Reading about Tom’s ride aboard the new KTM 1090 Adventure R, and Scott Rousseau’s Taste of Dakar adventure has got us on a big dirtbike kick. This got us looking through the MO archives for old adventure bike stories, and this piece on the 1997 BMW F650 was among the oldest reviews on the subject we could find. Until the F650 came on the scene, BMW had nothing to cater to the newer rider. With its 652cc Single (from Rotax), BMW was hoping to fill that void. How did the bike perform? Here’s Gourd Mounce with his first impressions from the 1997 launch. For a few more pictures of the F650, be sure to visit the photo gallery.

Spidi 4Season H2Out Suit Review

It’s not often a reduction in engine displacement results in a superior motorcycle (bigger is better, right?), but that’s the case with KTM’s new 1090 Adventure R. Gone are the 1190 Adventure and Adventure R models and in their stead a new 1050cc R model that’s smaller in both bore and stroke (103mm/63mm vs. 105mm/69mm) equaling a 145cc reduction in displacement. Whatever the 1090 gives up in power production to the 1190 Adventure R it makes up for in lighter weight and better handling.

We all know what school self-taught motorcyclists end up attending: The School of Really Hard Knocks. Really hard. Since we think that MO readers are somewhat more intelligent and skillful than your garden variety motorcyclist, we thought we’d ask about your level of moto-education. What categories of riding schools have you attended? Have you stayed with street only, or maybe dirt only. Did you move up to performance riding? Perhaps even racing?

In our last Top 10 list of 2016, we, the MO staff, mentioned how much we’re looking forward to flogging the crop of mini-adventure bikes that’ll be coming this way in 2017. In case you forgot, those bikes include the BMW G310GS, Honda CRF250L (and its higher-spec sibling, the CRF250L Rally), Kawasaki Versys-X 300, and Suzuki V-Strom 250.  All of those bikes promise big fun in little packages for those who like to veer off the beaten path every now and then. So now we pose the question to you:

With its 1290 and 1090 Adventure (and Super Adventure) models, KTM has nearly conquered the big-bore adventure-bike market (sorry BMW). But total world domination isn’t complete until the lower classes have been scooped up, and with these spy photos of what we presume is a prototype of the 790 Adventure, the Austrian firm looks to be setting its sights in that direction.

We were pleasantly surprised with the CSC RX3, a 250cc adventure bike, when we tested one back in December of 2014. Considering its modest displacement – and the fact it’s made by Zongshen in China – we weren’t sure what to make of the bike initially, but it’s changing the way we think about Chinese motorcycles. Joe Berk, a consultant to CSC, the North American Zongshen/CSC importer, is a diehard believer in the RX3, touting his numerous trips across China as proof of the bike’s ruggedness.

EICMA and Intermot have come and gone and the question on most American consumers’ minds is which of the wonderful new models will be making their way to the U.S.? Today, Kawasaki answered their part of the question, confirming the ZX-10RR, Ninja 1000, Ninja 650, Z900, Z650 and the Versys-X 300 for the U.S. market.

Here’s an oddball two-wheeler that no one had asked for yet many are liking, Honda’s X-ADV scooter. Using the 745cc parallel-Twin with a dual-clutch transmission from the NC700/750 series, the X combines scooter ease of use with splashes of adventure-bike ruggedness.

News of Honda’s CRF250L Rally came first, then Suzuki’s V-Strom 250/ABS broke cover, and now it’s Kawasaki‘s Versys-X 300 that’s come to light in Milan. The first obvious advantage is the greater displacement of the Kawi’s ADV-Bike engine.

Last year at EICMA we got our first glimpse of BMW’s smallest bike, the G310R. This year in Italy we see the roadster G310R get GS-ified, replete with mandatory beak nose, angular side panels and two-tone colorways that make it unmistakable as anything but a BMW adventure bike.

A year ago at EICMA, Honda debuted its intriguing City Adventure concept, combining an adventure-bike design with a scooter platform. Today, Honda officially presented the final production version in the 2017 X-ADV. At the moment, the X-ADV has only been announced for Europe and it’s not likely to be brought over to the U.S.

At EICMA 2016, Yamaha unveiled the T7 concept; a prototype for a future adventure model we believe will slot beneath the Super Ténéré. Inspired by the XT600Z Ténéré, launched 33 years ago at the Paris Show, the T7 concept looks to draw on many of the attributes that helped Yamaha sell over 61,000 units of the XT600Z between 1984 and 1994 – mainly its simplicity and race-bred pedigree.