Talk to me about big adventure bikes.

J-mobzz

Well-Known Member
I'll echo most of what's been said.

For the type of trip you are talking I'd look at the KTM 1290 or 1090 or 890. It purrs down the freeway at 80 pretty easily. I have over 5K miles on my 1090 which now has 15k miles on the clock. I have changed the air filter to an aftermarket pod style and nothing else. Oil change intervals are 5K miles. It still has the stock chain and sprockets. It's nice on the road and it does really well on dirt roads. On single track the big girls are a hand full, even really mild single track. There are a ton of guys on ADVRIDER in the 1x90 thread who go the standard intervals (19k miles) between valve adjustments and other more in depth maint with no issues other than tires, oil and brake pads.
You are welcome to come ride mine anytime if you'd like.
I’ll text you soon. I would love to come take it for a spin. I’m not having any luck finding a new Vstrom 1050 but their are some new KTM’s around to be had.
 

rholbrook

Well-Known Member
Location
Kaysville, Ut
How big do you want? is the first question to answer.
How off-road worthy do you want is the next.

I've ridden:
KTM 1090r, 690r, 990 Adventure, 950 Super Enduro, 1290 Super Adventure. 790 and 890 adventure R's
Ducati Scrambler and currently a Desert Sled.
Honda 650xr, XR650L, vfr1200x, and briefly an Africa twin, nc750.
BMW GS1200 adventure, and 750gs
Triumph Tiger 800 XE
Suzuki Vstrom 650
KLX650

For big touring the really big bikes are nice. I wouldn't say they're very off-road worthy in the way I use bikes. A 750 is much easier to pickup when you drop it than a 1200 for example.
Wind protection makes long rides less tiring that's real.
If all you're going to do off-road is dirt two track, then a Vstrom makes a lot of sense. It does it all with a price tag that isn't too bad. It doesn't do anything exceptionally well but it does everything.
The Africa Twin also makes sense for you as well -I'd put that on your list too.

I'd probably consider a Tenere 700 for my next bike, as I'm very off-road oriented.

Figure out you wants as precisely as possible and we can steer you.
Maybe I will go rent one of those and check that one out.
 

J-mobzz

Well-Known Member
So far no luck. Plenty of dealers willing to take my money but none of them have even a rough estimation on if or when they might see a 1050xt adventure. I can’t get anyone to answer emails or phone calls though so I still need to stop in south of the valley to talk to some more dealers.

It’s a strange world, the places I’ve stopped I have to hunt someone down to talk to. I guess no inventory doesn’t require sales staff.

I’m turning 40 this month. I need to find a bike so I can blame it on my mid life crisis.
 

Gravy

Ant Anstead of Dirtbikes
Supporting Member
I warn you though, once you ride my Ducati - you'll not want a huge monster bike.

and I cant guarantee you'll be able to remove the smile from your face so don't ride it if you've got a court appearance or funeral coming up.
 

jeeper

Currently without Jeep
Location
So Jo, Ut

J-mobzz

Well-Known Member
I went and threw a leg over the Africa twin. I have to admit I really like the idea of the CarPlay. I definitely don’t want the dual clutch model.

My biggest hangup on that bike right now is what seems to be the lack of aftermarket support. Only a few pannier systems available and they are a few grand. I’d be into that bike $25k by the time it’s trip ready and that’s putting me in BMW territory.
 

J-mobzz

Well-Known Member
So Cutlers down in Orem called me back. I spoke with the owner and man that was a really fantastic experience compared to everything else in the power sports industry I’ve dealt with so far.

So he seems to have a really good working relationship with Suzuki and he called and talk to them directly they have not shipped any of the 1050 XTs at all for 2022 but they will be preparing them for shipment in the next week. I put a deposit down with him and need to stop by tomorrow to sign some paperwork but that essentially I guess puts me in line with Suzuki for him to try to negotiate with another dealership nationwide to trade for a different ATV that would be shipped to him or possibly pull one out of Suzuki‘s slush fund if somethings available . He said realistically it’s probably of 40% or 50% chance that I’ll get one due to the extremely limited number that were produced this year. But he said he should know within five days if it’s going to happen or not and if it doesn’t obviously I’ll get a refund on my deposit.

He was also very upfront about all the fees included and didn’t mark up things like freight or some of the other areas that I experienced most dealers doing today. So if I can get one through him my out the door cost on the XT adventure set up with bags lights heated grips etc. will be about $3000 less than the Honda. I’m headed out of town for a week anyways so the timing works out well when I get back if I don’t have a Vin number for a bike then I’ll get my deposit back and keep shopping for something else.
 

jeeper

Currently without Jeep
Location
So Jo, Ut
Any details/ examples you'd care to share? I'll avoid them if I need to.

It is a very dishonest atmosphere.

but, specifically from my personal experience, their parts department is a joke. Wrong parts ordered, claim to have parts they don't, lack of parts knowledge, ect.
 

ChestonScout

opinions are like Jeeps..
Location
Clinton, Ut
Edge sold a bike out from under me. It was frustrating.

I bought my last one from RMATV St George. Ended up being a couple grand cheaper then anything up north. It was definitely worth the drive down.

I’ve been eyeing KTM adventure bikes for several years now. I’ll have one someday. I hope
 

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
I'd be happy to hear whatever he has to say. I'm always looking for better M/C dealers to deal with.
I've had the parts issues Jeeper had, called, they have X part, drive over, they have to order it. More than 3 times.
The straw was, I bought a new 300, they told me X price over the phone and it changed when I got there due to "fees", I told them Escape would sell it for X. He pretended to call Escape while I sat there and acted like their (Edge's) price would be less once all things were equal. I called Escape and the guy I was working with never received a call from Edge. So they staged that to keep me there and buying the bike.
Bought said bike, had a fork noise at 1 hr of run time. Took it back for warranty. They determined it was the front brake and charged me 1.5 hrs to identify that, then said warranty wouldn't cover it because nothing was wrong. Then to top it off, they tipped half a dozen bikes onto mine, brand new mind you, broke the kick stand, front fender and dented the pipe. I posted about the experience on a large offroad FB group. Brian Greene the owner reached out and ensured me he would make it right. He replaced the fender and fought me on the pipe and kickstand. He did end up replacing the kick stand but never replaced the pipe.
 
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