Issue #271 Battle on the Backroads
Competition is exciting. Nearly everyone likes a good fight to determine who has the the best ideas and products. That’s why the new Triumph Tiger featured on the cover is so interesting.
For model year 2011, there are two entirely new entries in the adventure-touring segment. Both come to the market with serious intent and the technical hardware to stake their claims in the category. Adventure-touring may be a comparatively small category, but it is one of few in the market showing growth. Once, the fiercest battles for motorcycle supremacy took place in the sportbike class. But in recent years that arena has been rocked by insurance costs and suggestions that the bikes themselves were getting too good. Too good? How is that even possible? Well that translates into too fast, too powerful, too focused. Technological marvels though they are, the appreciation of their excellence was beyond the scope of most riders.
Now there is a new battle brewing, and it helps there’s a target in the adventure-touring segment’s established benchmark: BMW’s GS bikes. Not only is the GS line the gold standard for the segment, they are also huge sellers for BMW with the combined sales of the GS 1200 and 1200 Adventure leading the way. BMW’s success with its GS line has rung a resonant chord. Now nearly every manufacturer is building something for the class. Yamaha with its Super Tenere targets the 1200 GS, while the Tiger 800 XC aims at the smaller 800 GS models.
Some combatants, such as the Moto Guzzi Stelvio and Honda Varadero, roam the fringe; while others, like KTM’s Adventure models are closer to the fight. Suzuki brushes up against the segment with its strong-selling V-Strom 650. Kawasaki’s less costly KLR650 may be king of adventure-lite. If you saw Ducati’s promo videos you’ll know the Multistrada also has light-duty adventure aspirations. Harley left the segment with the shuttering of Buell and that marque’s Ulysses—an inspired name that should live on somewhere.
Europeans have long been fascinated with adventure riding, but North Americans are beginning to catch on. Blame the Baby Boomers: they tend to catch the blame for most things in the world anyway. They have the time, desire, and resources to see the “Lonely Planet.” And even if they aren’t “out there,” they like to look as though they eventually will be.
If I have one niggling concern about this segment it comes from a lesson learned in the auto world, and the eventual demise of the once red-hot SUV boom. The vehicles just got too big. SUVs were adventure-touring for the four-wheel set. The pinnacle of this brash we-can-go-anywhere attitude was the Ford Excursion and the Hummer H2—both once giants, but neither are with us today.
Which category will produce the next big wave of competition? Electric bikes perhaps? Zero Motorcycles is probably the leader in the field at the moment as the California company enters MY2011 with a five-bike lineup. That may change though as the major manufacturers begin to present their entries to the market.
It seems Suzuki is closer than most. In early March the Japanese builder announced its Burgman fuel cell scooter had earned Whole Vehicle Type Approval in Europe. WVTA certification qualifies the scooter’s design as safe to use on public roads without having to be inspected and tested individually. The rating brings zero emission motorcycles one step closer toward commercial availability.
In the meantime, let’s leave adventure-touring to the adventure bikes: it’s the Dempster or bust!
