…no, there’s not some new big off-roader that’s faster in a straight line than an R1, but they are selling more of them.
According to the latest figures for new bike registrations, sales of Adventure bikes increased over 15% from 2012-2013 with 1685 new bike registrations compared to only 1402 Sports bike registrations, a drop of over 7%. When you also consider that the biggest selling sports bike is the Yamaha YZF125, then it suggests the gap between larger capacity sports bikes and Adventure bikes is even bigger. Indeed, even looking at registrations based on engine capacity, not a sports bike is to be seen, with commuters and adventure bikes taking the lions share.
The biggest Adventure bike seller is the BMW1200GS but it would be interesting to see how the sector gets divided up between the various options, especially with the relatively recent launch of the new KTM 1190 Adventure . The big KTM is certainly closer to BMW’s offering than it’s 990 and 950 predecessors inasmuch as it’s more suited for riding roads and tracks of all types and grade than to be taken properly off-road.
It’ll be interesting to see if any of these Adventure bikes are actually used for some real adventures or entered into rallies, or are they just the latest fashion accessory which will be covered in bling from the likes of AdventureSpec and Touratech and ridden on sunny Sundays.
Actually, they’re adventure bikes, it doesn’t need to be sunny!
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