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Small/mid Adventure bikes have promise

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I’d believe I would like an NC model of the Africa Twin. I just hope Honda would keep the seat at the 32 inch range. The 34” height has me tippy toeing. The 700cc range would suit me. The 1000’s are too much bike for me. I’ve never been a true off road rider, but an NC on a dirt fire road just doesn’t appear to be feasible. And even on gravel roads I like less torque. I grew up riding gravel roads and I do fine on my GL1800, because I am careful and watch how the gravel lays well ahead of me. I bought the NC for a similar purpose, and so far it is good for that, but when the gravel turns to a muddy road I stop and turn around. I’d like to have something that I would be confident in just plowing through it. I like the frunk on the NC, the DCT is pretty cool, although I could take it or leave it. The ABS hasn’t ever kicked in on me yet, so I really don’t know if I need it or not. I was looking at a used Africa Twin when I saw the NC on the showroom floor. I thought it would be a good compromise. And it has, but I think if they modified it some I might show up at a dealer for a test ride.
 
Seems the ADVrider article was scheduled for later release, so it got pulled down. But now it's back up.

And here's a more comprehensive review. Just one bullet point for me is that with crash bars, the 390 Adventure weighed under 390 pounds on DirtBike Test's scales. that's a step in the right direction.

 
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Seems the ADVrider article was scheduled for later release, so it got pulled down. But now it's back up.

And here's a more comprehensive review. Just one bullet point for me is that with crash bars, the 390 Adventure weighed under 390 pounds on DirtBike Test's scales. that's a step in the right direction.

Well... there’s something to be said for a heftier “adventure” bike when heading down a highway dealing with 50mph crosswind gusts. There’s no way in hell I would take my KLX250X 310-ish lb dual-sport on a long trip—been there, tried that, have the white knuckles and extra grey hairs to show for it. ;)

Choosing priorities in a travel motorcycle can be very hard. One size does not fit all, unfortunately.
 
Choosing priorities in a travel motorcycle can be very hard. One size does not fit all, unfortunately.
Which is why it's good that some companies are introducing alternatives to widen the selection process.
 
Anyway, if I wanted heavy because of high winds and gusting, I'd get a heavy cruiser that's low to the ground, rather than comparing a 380-390-pound bike without luggage to a 250cc dualsport that's also up in the wind pretty high ; }
 
Well... there’s something to be said for a heftier “adventure” bike when heading down a highway dealing with 50mph crosswind gusts. There’s no way in hell I would take my KLX250X 310-ish lb dual-sport on a long trip—been there, tried that, have the white knuckles and extra grey hairs to show for it. ;)

Choosing priorities in a travel motorcycle can be very hard. One size does not fit all, unfortunately.
I dont know.....I have a 550+ # cruiser (C50 Boulevard-it has a 542# dry weight), and the other day, the 40mph crosswinds were blowing me all over my lane...lucky not much traffic with all of this economy shutdown going on... heck my first long distance trip, back in 2007 (after an almost 30 year hiatus away from motorcycles) was on a little Suzuki gz250...rode 2500 miles in 6 days, and over 1000 miles was on the superslab...I did go buy the C50 Boulevard not long afterwards....wanted to do more than 75mph on superslab when needed.
 
Why it's nice to have a lot of choices: after checking out the Africa Twin and seeing a lot of good reports as well, I'm 100% sure I'd be happier with the Yamaha Tenere 700 ; } ...But I'd probably be happier yet for my riding and circumstances with a machine that's lighter yet, though it may not be as powerful, nor as dirt-friendly*.

* provided you want to ride heavier bikes in the dirt on solo rides
 
And a Goldwing would do bestest in the crosswinds. Honestly, I have no issue with the KTM ADV 390 or any other motorcycle blend. My comment was just to suggest that one's choice of compromise in a bike depends on one’s needs and desires. There is no such thing as “better” until those are defined for the individual concerned.
 
Seems like some people would rather state what is obvious to anyone who's ever rode a few bikes, platitudes and cliches that are served up like junk food in motorcycle forums, over 3 billion served. and it doesn't even go sideways in an entertaining fashion. it's like being shut in the nursing home during a pandemic ; }
 
With similar top speed as the NC700X, I'm seeing some really good fuel economy figures for the 390 Adventure from actual users. It's a bike that's at least 90 pounds lighter but has credible suspension for going off-pavement at speed... so not a bad set of tradeoffs for those who want to have more dirt in their touring – or those who want a dual sport that can ride the pavement better. Not the fastest (but quick!), not the most powerful, not the deepest suspension and most ground clearance, but all in all a pretty good package.
 
With the new 500X, I think the Rally Raid version is due for the bin. Certainly smaller ADV bikes have their place. I don't feel, tho, that Honda owners and KTM owners are a largely overlapping crowd.
I saw Japan and I think India are getting a CB400X. It looks very similar (on paper) to the KTM 390

I really want one. I am a Hondahead at the end of the day, while I'd love a KTM I don't want to disappoint Soichiro!
 
I have no particular brand loyalty other than I admire good efforts from any of them. Performance tradeoffs, maintenance intervals and reliability, features I actually care about, ergos, and weight for my intended use are what I'm looking at. Honda hasn't been too stellar at placing weight reduction as a priority lately other than the CRF450L which has the typical puny dirt bike gas tank... The 400 will likely have nice smooth power delivery but I doubt it will weigh but a couple pounds less than the CB500X, which in its latest incarnation kinda hits the mark (contemplated swapping my NC out for one of these).
 
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I'd really like to see Suzuki, Kawasaki, etc enter the game with modern incarnations but...
 
I saw Japan and I think India are getting a CB400X. It looks very similar (on paper) to the KTM 390

I really want one. I am a Hondahead at the end of the day, while I'd love a KTM I don't want to disappoint Soichiro!

I assumed the 400X is just a displacement reduced 500X made to align with rider licensing classifications in those countries where it is marketed. I think Japan jumps to a different license class at 400cc, so I saw specs that say the 400X is 399cc, which keeps it in the lower, easier to obtain license class.
 
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I assumed the 400X is just a displacement reduced 500X made to align with rider licensing classifications in those countries where it is marketed. I think Japan jumps to a different license class at 400cc, so I saw specs that say the 400X is 399cc, which keeps it in the lower, easier to obtain license class.
That would make sense. It's not that light, looking closer at it.

Read a post on a 500x forum suggesting they basically just shortened the stroke of the 500 to make the displacement smaller. Big yikes if true
 
Welp. They do weigh just about exactly the same, 2lb difference per my lazy research

Going with big yikes
 
It's not the bike, it's the rider.

125 cc Hondyamazuki Chinese copy now the hottest thing for mountain trails. On street tires no less.

 
Hey Janus, here's one of two CB500X guys I met riding, this one up on the Blackfeet Nation coming down from Canada. The other was from Tennessee and camping in Glacier NP. We swapped bikes one day, he was as interested in the NC as I was in the 500, sorry I didn't have the camera with me then.

2017-05-21 16;08;17 by greenboy, on Flickr

2017-05-21 16;08;28 by greenboy, on Flickr

2017-05-21 16;10;10 by greenboy, on Flickr
Me and my buddy found a friend on the side of the road (he looked like he needed help so we pulled over and ended up talking) who had a CB500X. I never got to ride it

He traded up for a Tiger 800 by the next time I saw him. He didn't even have 1000 miles on the Honda >.<

How did you like the CB?
 
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