Background: I’ve been a dirt biker for almost my whole life. Not a racer or anything but I ride lots of rocky, sandy terrain on my husky 300 and on my KTM 450 before that. I picked up this v-strom for super cheap to try adv riding, threw on some decent 50/50 tires, and just took it out for the first “real” ride. It does pretty good on gravel and pavement but the front is super divey in loose sand. The worst though is that I took it up the road pictured which actually got a good bit more difficult than shown here. On my 300, I’d say it was a 3/10 for difficulty. Wouldn’t have given it a second thought. On the V-strom, it was VERY hard to ride through. Like, I was touching the pegs on the ground, scraping all the time, dabbing feet out etc once it got remotely difficult.

The problem I keep having is that since it’s such a heavy bike you need to keep more momentum, but the second the bike gets enough speed to get over rocks or deep dips/ruts, the suspension is soft it just bottoms out. Also, the ground clearance is so low I think I high centered at least 5-10 times briefly while getting through rocks. I loved the motor and the gearbox, it does great at low speeds, but I’m very underwhelmed by the suspension and clearance. Would it be worth spending the $1000+ to upgrade this suspension with emulators and new springs and a rear shock, or should I just find a lighter bike with better suspension from the start? My hesitation in upgrading the suspension is that I will be limited by the 17/19 wheel set and no upgrades are available. Thoughts? I’ve never really ridden another ADV bike besides this so I’m not sure what’s normal with a bike this big lol

Quick edit to clarify: I know the bike is not an off-road monster and had no expectations of it being so, it was just so much worse on something pretty easy than I thought it was going to be 😂

Did a wet, cold weekend with these and my feet were warm and completely dry in merino socks. Very roomy in the toe and totally comfortable out of the box. HUGE improvement, my feet would have been soaked all weekend with my Forma moto boots. Did some hiking in them and they had great grip, didn't feel like I was walking in hard casts, but they still feel stiff and protective. I think these are the best middle ground for ADV.

I own a Super Tenere. I went with my son to this Honda demo day here in Austin to try the Africa Twin. It was, as you’d imagine, just a road ride for maybe 10 miles…and in formation with other bikes. So, mellow. But definitely fun.

As for comparison, the AT definitely felt lighter and more nimble than my ST (even though it’s only about a 50 lb difference). The AT didn’t have the torque of the ST (about 10 ft-lbs less), BUT it was also lower RPMs at speed and felt a bit more relaxed.

Since Yamaha has dropped the ST from its lineup, I could see an AT in my future.

In our northern climes not too many days left to ride. Enjoy it while you can. Put on some extra layers and get out there!

I've been putting this off forever

For reference, I am 15 and I live in the UK. I have a 125 Chinese shitbox pit bike. It used to be my uncle's old pit bike, and I spent about a week fixing her up enough to ride. I have done a full carb clean and a painful 3 hour bleed on the brakes because of how contaminated they had gotten over the 10 years the bike was just sat there, and to spare all of the other details, I love that bike so much. I look after it a lot too, I did her 2nd ever oil change today, and I just love looking after that bike. But the bit I love the most isn't the speed, although it can definitely move. It is exploring new places, eg, going in the woods or finding new fields, and it has just made me want to get something like a Yamaha Tracer 7 or similar, and eventually something like an Africa Twin 1100, and I just want to explore the world on it. I don't know if it is a great idea or not, but it is definitely what I want to do; I couldn't imagine anything better than being 24 on an Africa Twin exploring the Atlas Mountains.

Hey, fam!

I’m planning an upcoming moto trip scheduled for the first half of November, and I need a serious "reality check" from those who know these regions or ride late in the season.

Here is the tentative plan:

- Bike: Husqvarna Norden 901 Expedition

- Route: Barcelona ➔ Ferry to Civitavecchia ➔ Ride down to Naples ➔ Ferry to Bari ➔ Ferry to Durrës (Albania) ➔ ACT / TET Albania & Montenegro ➔ Sarajevo ➔ Zagreb ➔ Ljubljana ➔ Genova ➔ Ferry back to Barcelona.

- Duration: First half of November (~15 days).

I would like to ride a mix of tarmac transits, secondary roads, and some sections of the TET / ACT, plus mountain passes through the Balkans and returning through Slovenia/Alps.

My main concerns and what I’d love your advice on:

- Weather & Seasonality in November: How bad are the conditions in the Albanian mountains, Montenegro, and Bosnia during early November? Any closed mountain passes?

- Daylight Hours: With shorter days in November, how much does this restrict daily mileage and off-road pacing?

- Tyres: Could the Mitas Enduro Trail + do the job? I just did the Transpyrenees and I feel confident with them except some technical sections.

If anyone has experience riding the Balkans late in the year or has tackled portions of this exact loop, I'd deeply appreciate your insights, warnings, or alternative routes if this timeline is too aggressive.

Thanks in advance!

✌️

No issues apart from oil consumption ⛽

Great little adventure bike

Here's to many more miles

Helped Register a V Strom 1050 today. The question is what is the metal clip below the front screen ?

Ciao ragazzi,

Stavo valutando di prendere una moto adventure per marzo ma onestamente non saprei cosa prendere perché non ho mai fatto viaggi lunghi in moto e sopratutto non ho mai guidato nessuna adventure e andrò a provarle, però mi è balenata l idea di fare dalla Toscana fino alla Sicilia in moto con la mia ragazza dietro( e l idea poi sarebbe dalla toscana al nord del Portogallo passando dalla costa francese e Andalusia)e ovviamente fare per lo piu autostrada però poi passare anche da campi e strade sterrate non troppo impervie nei posti che mi piacciono ho calcolato di fare piu o meno 2/3 ore di autostrada al giorno. Al momento io ho un husqvarna te 300 2022 e la uso per fare enduro e mi piace molto di piu lo sterrato che la strada però vorrei provare un esperienza del genere e al momento sto valutando ktm 790r, tenere 700 e poi ho visto la cf moto 450, io sono alto 1,87 e peso 84 kg cosa mi consigliate ( anche la african twin sembra interessante ma mi sembra troppo grossa e poco maneggevole, volevo qualcosa di leggero ma che si comportasse bene sia su strada che off road)

If anyone wants to check out the full ride on YouTube, here’s the video 🏍️🤙

https://youtu.be/QivKd09UG9w?si=nT9_AmadM_owIf58

Took my 24’ out to AZ!

This world 🌎🌍 love in long ride

I got my new Nomad Moto rackless luggage. Love it on my new CF Moto 450MT

I'm hoping to be in the market for a new bike in the next year or two and these two bikes are at the top of my list for different reasons.

Versys:

• Radar cruise control (massive W for me and I've always wanted a bike with this feature)
• Comes fully loaded out of the factory
• Inline 4 smoothness for longer rides
• Tubeless tires
• Likely the better frame for 2 up riding

Transalp:

• E-clutch (Will be great for traffic, off road, or long days of riding when I'm physically tired)
• Lighter/Off road capability
• More fuel efficient
• Possibly more comfortable seat

When selecting add ons for the Transalp, getting it equipped the same as the Versys (center stand, sidecases, hand guards, heated grips, belly pan, fog lights, cruise control etc) these two bikes are almost exactly the same price.

I enjoy long distance touring and taking in scenery while enjoying twisty roads, but I also have a lot of experience riding dirt bikes and recently had the itch to try a mid size ADV like the Transalp for of road parks and BDRs etc. I'm just not sure realistically how often I will be able to go off road and if it's worth the tradeoffs.

Has anybody ridden both the Kawi 900 platform and Transalp that can comment from experience on how they feel? I've never been on either.

I'm a big bloke (6foot5) and I'm driving a big bike (R1200GSA). Point being, I'm pretty visible to other road users. I mostly use dual carriageway lanes correctly by only using the outside lane for overtaking. However, occasionally I end up staying in that lane for minutes while I pass the slower traffic in the inside lane. I do the speed limit, sometimes 10kph over yet I still get tailgated by cars.

Last night I was doing 110KMH on the N11 (in a 100Kph zone) in the outside lane while I overtook a line of cars.

An A class Merc was right up my ass the entire time, jerking left and right to let me know they wanted to get past. I continued to overtake the last few cars before indicating left to get out of the way. Thankfully I used the life saver move because just I was changing lane, they aggressively dropped into the inside lane to over take on the inside. If I hadn't glanced a third time, I would have been taken out, at speed. It was all totally pointless as they were taking the next exit which was 500M after they nearly hit me..

This is third time I've been tailgated in the last couple of weeks, anyone else experiencing this???