Triumph Adventure

[Garandman]

Yes, it's going to be a boring, overpriced piece of pointlessness, like all modern Hondas.

But seriously... Honda released a sketch of it last week. It's fully-faired. It's simply a sport-touring bike with upright seating. Not an adventure bike by any stretch of the imagination. Besides which, it's Honda -- they probably won't even bring it to the US.

--mark

Yes, curious to see. It's a V4 800cc. BMW is releasing their 800r in January, so all the sudden there's a bunch of new naked, touring, and adventure 800's.

[zombie]

Yes, it's going to be a boring, overpriced piece of pointlessness, like all modern Hondas.

But seriously... Honda released a sketch of it last week. It's fully-faired. It's simply a sport-touring bike with upright seating. Not an adventure bike by any stretch of the imagination. Besides which, it's Honda -- they probably won't even bring it to the US.

--mark

I had a Honda Africa twin overseas and it would be hard to find a more capable piece of kit in the ADV department.
In fact I'll be riding one up to the trans-lab next year and adding it to my stable.
The reason they didn't bring it over is the american bike market in the past was focused solely on cruisers or sportbikes. Bikes are mostly toys over here where as in Europe a lot of bikes are primary means of transportation so the bike needs to work well on a lot of levels and looks are not the sole motivating factor.Just look at the popularity of the Yamaha TDM or the Honda deauville neither which inspire in the looks department, but both work really well for their intended purpose and are capable of serious mileage with minimal maintenance.
It's only in the last couple of years that the ADV segment has really taken off and a lot of that is due to ewan and charlie doing the long way round.
The Adv market was considered a niche market over here but not any longer.

[markbvt]

I had a Honda Africa twin overseas and it would be hard to find a more capable piece of kit in the ADV department.
In fact I'll be riding one up to the trans-lab next year and adding it to my stable.

Yeah, the Africa Twin was a legendary bike; shame they stopped making it. Where's the one from that you're getting? I assume it's one of the late '80s/early '90s ones that have been imported by private owners?

Honda actually did sell the Transalp here for a few years, and I've seen one or two of them around. I know a few owners also kitted them out to Africa Twin specs.

It's a shame the Honda that designed those kinds of bikes is apparently dead and gone.

--mark

[zombie]

Yeah, the Africa Twin was a legendary bike; shame they stopped making it. Where's the one from that you're getting? I assume it's one of the late '80s/early '90s ones that have been imported by private owners?

--mark

It's a 97 one similar to this
My mate is bringing it over for our little spin next year and as it's over ten years old shouldn't be too much of a problem getting it registered somewhere
as I have a cunning plan or something , I think.
I always regretted getting rid of my one and have been hankering for one ever since.

[markbvt]

It's a 97 one similar to this
My mate is bringing it over for our little spin next year and as it's over ten years old shouldn't be too much of a problem getting it registered somewhere
as I have a cunning plan or something , I think.

Nice. You'll be the envy of many on ADVrider.

--mark

[markbvt]

The Tiger 800 and 800XC have been officially unveiled at the EICMA show in Milan. Specs below. Still no word on pricing though.





--mark

[Garandman]

Interesting - choice of 19" or 21" front, depending on model. Same wet weight as a DL650, but a good 30 more hp.

"And with a double-sided swingarm and chain drive, it's reliable."

[KawiSmurf]

I understand that "adventure touring" bikes aren't always all about power (I do like the KLR, after all), but something seems off here. They've basically taken the 675 mill, made it bigger, but lost 30 hp and only gained 5 ft-lbs in the process? What gives? Adjusting the powerband for street torque is one thing (that normally results in about 5-10 lower peak hp), but 30 hp? That gives it about 75 hp at the wheel, no? They must've murdered that powertrain somehow. At least the wet weight seems reasonable.

Somehow I feel like a price point starting anywhere north of $10k will be seen as a disappointment.

"And with a double-sided swingarm and chain drive, it's reliable."

Funny, taking an obvious swipe at the Bavarians, right out of the gate.

[TheIglu]

Non-adjustable front fork?

[TheIglu]

And no adjustability on the rear shock for the non-XC version? (other than pre-load, but what bike doesn't have that)

No compression adjustment on either....

[Garandman]

//Funny, taking an obvious swipe at the Bavarians, right out of the gate.

Actually that's from the BMW F650GS website...

The DL650A is $8,100 for 2011, I think. The likely defunct DL1000 was about $1,500 to $2,000 more. So I'd be surprised if it's much under 10K, if at all.

[SVenpointsixtwo]

I understand that "adventure touring" bikes aren't always all about power (I do like the KLR, after all), but something seems off here. They've basically taken the 675 mill, made it bigger, but lost 30 hp and only gained 5 ft-lbs in the process? What gives? Adjusting the powerband for street torque is one thing (that normally results in about 5-10 lower peak hp), but 30 hp? That gives it about 75 hp at the wheel, no? They must've murdered that powertrain somehow. At least the wet weight seems reasonable.

I'm thinking these specs are only to keep the bike within new euro regulations that dictate a 95hp maximum on some bikes. I'm not sure of the exact rules, but I hope the US market version is de-restricted to 100+ hp. Either way, the engine will definitely be tunable; exhaust, air filter, and a mild tune ought to get back a decent amount of power and torque.

[KawiSmurf]

Actually that's from the BMW F650GS website...

Well I guess that makes it a little more interesting coming from within.

As far as price, your right about the DL1000, I think it last went for $9799, but I've been focusing more on the F800GS. Since the 2011s are starting at $11395, the Hinckley boys will probably try to stay within a grand of that, probably right about $10500. That's a tough sell, but I guess for the target demographic, its probably dead-nuts. Guess the market will tell.

[markbvt]

I'm thinking these specs are only to keep the bike within new euro regulations that dictate a 95hp maximum on some bikes.

Exactly right -- Triumph already said that a week or two ago. I expect that means that it will be a fairly easy matter to get more power out of it.

On the other hand, I would expect it to get pretty good gas mileage being in such a mild state of tune. And 95hp is plenty for this type of bike.

As for the nonadjustable suspension... yeah, that irritates me. This was Triumph's chance to one-up BMW (the F800GS has nonadjustable forks as well, and they're way undersprung to boot). But the jury's actually still out on the XC's forks -- the specs don't mention adjustability, but there's some text elsewhere on Triumph's website that mentions "adjustable 45mm forks."

--mark

[Chippertheripper]

It's certainly getting more enticing. I need another big, heavy, slow, but brutally capable bike. As I said before, I don't care if it's ugly.

[zombie]

When are they coming stateside??

[markbvt]

When are they coming stateside??

Supposedly by next spring, although there's been no official word yet. No pricing info either.

--mark

[Garandman]

It's certainly getting more enticing. I need another big, heavy, slow, but brutally capable girl friend.

Fxd.

[Garandman]

Well, the two Hondas have been introduced as concepts for 2012 production.

1200cc Crosstourer (said to be a replacement for the Varadero) and 800cc VFR800X Crossrunner.

[Chippertheripper]

Which one is that, gstring?
Definitely more attractive than the trumpet we've been talking about, but that one looks like it's getting near space shuttle size, ie: GSA.

[SVenpointsixtwo]

That's the 1200 crosstourer. The 800cc has cast wheels and no luggage. Both are pretty bulbous and look like they'd be expensive if you dropped them on the rocks....

[markbvt]

The 1200 looks like a potentially viable R1200GS competitor, but the 800 is an upright sportbike (by Honda's own admission). It's also one of the ugliest bikes I've ever seen. It's like the Pontiac Aztek of motorcycles.

--mark

[NobodySpecific]

[Garandman]

W

The 1200 looks like a potenstially viable R1200GS competitor, but the 800 is an upright sportbike (by Honda's own admission). It's also one of the ugliest bikes I've ever seen. It's like the Pontiac Aztek of motorcycles.

--mark

Are you at the show? What else is new?

[markbvt]

WAre you at the show? What else is new?

No, not at the show, I'm just addicted to reading the motorcycle news blogs.

--mark