Another (road) litre bike bites the dust in Europe

[Moise]

They're out there, mostly on R3's, KTM's, Ninjas etc. In the facebook Canterbury rider groups there's a number of posts and pics of them out and about.

Same in Auckland.

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[F5 Dave]

I rode a mate's one of those. Insane wheelie machine (with wheelie control turned off somehow) I got back to where we met again gabbling. He said " you don't have to ride it that way" yeah. You kinda do.

[roogazza]

I was surprised on my very first trip to GP's in Europe 2005, the trend of big nakeds !!!!! and street fighters !

Everything I thought, was sport bikes, not so in Europe !

And so we have what we have now.

[rastuscat]

Some years back (between 10 and 20 ) a friend of mine who worked for BMW when talking to the big man from Germany had a point to make. He said the bikes keep getting bigger and bigger but the riders are getting older and older. Evidence suggests that not many manufacturers have realised this yet.

The problems of building prestige or 'passion', or whatever, into a comfy mid weight bike it seems are insurmountable - for now at least.

I've noted an increasing number of riders favouring mid-range ADV bikes over the big ones. Like, going from a 1250GSA to an 850GSA, or a 900XR.

[HenryDorsetCase]

I've noted an increasing number of riders favouring mid-range ADV bikes over the big ones. Like, going from a 1250GSA to an 850GSA, or a 900XR.

I think the first time you had to pick one up would be when you decided fuck this Ima get me summat lighter. I have been looking at those 390 KTM's speculatively.

[F5 Dave]

During an enforced break I've been having impure thoughts of adding an eighth bike, (because n+1). An 800DE would be snazzy. But realistically I idly
gazed on 390 (same shop here). Currently not as dirt focused as I'd want. But the 400 is due next year and they might give it a 21" front wheel version.

The lads have big (800ish) adventure bikes, and they virtually all have DR650 for when the rides get stickier.
A KTM400 would probably put out same cruising power as a prehistoric DR and be more nimble.

The 690 is nose bleed tall. If they position the 400 as dirt capable but smaller and with ok range there .may be a good bike there.

Ha. 890 adventure just turned the corner outside cafe window.

So you can still buy a quanto expensive euro sprotbike (^TM Hitcher) but the rest of us need to get our thrill 'Adjacent '

Sidenote: buy a trials bike. You know you've always wanted a go. They are actually lots of fun.

You can fit them on a towbar racking you don't have a trailer or van.

[onearmedbandit]

I was in at CMG recently talking to Elliot about this, and he mentioned the new CFMoto 450 twin ADV bike coming out soon. Seems like it might be a good candidate for me. Somewhere around 10-11k new.

https://www.advpulse.com/adv-news/cf...ike-announced/

[Grumph]

I was in at CMG recently talking to Elliot about this, and he mentioned the new CFMoto 450 twin ADV bike coming out soon. Seems like it might be a good candidate for me. Somewhere around 10-11k new.

https://www.advpulse.com/adv-news/cf...ike-announced/

That makes the RM370 powered by a GS400 twin that I built in the 90's look quite attractive.
Not much less power and it only weighed around 170kg.
A 100mph trail bike with fa brakes. Easily solved now with a disc.
Long gone sadly.

[Kickaha]

The 690 is nose bleed tall.

You know you can lower them ? having done a 400 km ride on one a few weeks back I am now trying to intimidate the owner into selling it to me

The DR650 on the same ride was smoother and slightly nicer to ride but also felt a lot heavier and not quite as good at the more off roady stuff

[HenryDorsetCase]

Sidenote: buy a trials bike. You know you've always wanted a go. They are actually lots of fun.

I do as it happens. I have a bike trailer also. Just no fucking time.

[F5 Dave]

You know you can lower them ? having done a 400 km ride on one a few weeks back I am now trying to intimidate the owner into selling it to me

The DR650 on the same ride was smoother and slightly nicer to ride but also felt a lot heavier and not quite as good at the more off roady stuff

If you start off too tall you end up with something longnlow rather than something a bit smaller with linkages in the right range rather than a geometry oddball curve from just fitting different tie bars.

[F5 Dave]

I do as it happens. I have a bike trailer also. Just no fucking time.

I understand that when you have a business or practice to run, it is easy to get chained to feed the beast.

But trust me, you're a long time dead. Ride while you can.

[Gremlin]

During an enforced break I've been having impure thoughts of adding an eighth bike, (because n+1).

My favourite game... if I was to replace x with y, what would y be, or should I get a or b, why. Back to three now, four proved too much, so well done on seven!

I definitely can't have sportsbikes, had one a while ago, nope, can't be trusted to behave on it, just too easy to be naughty. Tried a Tuono v2 before the first lock down and into the midst of lock downs. You always remember the good stuff, not the bad. It was cramped, and when I hit reserve at 155km, it was the final straw. Actually, it had one last surprise for me, heading to Hamilton to test sit/ride it's replacement, it stranded me in Huntly. No test ride and a recovery truck back to Auckland.

Traded on (another) adventure bike. I like long travel suspension and the ability to take any road I like...

[rastuscat]

nope, can't be trusted to behave on it, just too easy to be naughty. .

I hear ya. Every time I get on an MT-07 I just want to do wheelies. It's something they built into them.

And I can't even do wheelies.

[onearmedbandit]

I do like practicing self-control riding a thou. A friend and I went over to the West Coast a couple weeks back, sat at 'possible ticket' speeds and it felt great to not worry about having to consider walking for the next 3mths.