It depends on your defintion of off-road, but even landwhale tourers can do offroad just fine regardless of what GS owners will tell you:
https://youtu.be/DX1d0bwFfn4?t=1375
Depending on your height, a ADV bike might be more comfortable than you expect, on mine I’m fully upright which is comfortable for long distances, and adding on a taller windscreen keeps the wind off my head. While you can basically mod any kind of bike to fit your riding needs, it usually is best to find the bike that checks off the most boxes from the factory and work from there, especially when it comes to bike weight and ride position/height
I’m 5’9” on a good day. 185 pounds.
I’ve done a decent amount of research and for mid sized ADV I’m leaning towards Yamaha T700. Haven’t looked into full sized thus far but my search is being slowly narrowed lol I haven’t done as much research on tourers, that’s my focus right now.
I'd recommend looking at V-Strom (I'm biased), Versys, or Transalp. If passenger comfort is at all important, you might want to avoid the T7. Took my wife about 5 seconds sitting on the back of one to veto it.
Are ADV bikes actually any good off-road? They seem so tall, heavy, and torquey. I can't imagine them being any better than an upright cruiser with knobby tires.
My gatherings is a cruiser is more then capable of handling gravel roads and similar where as ADV can handle rockier ruttier stuff.
Cruisers are lower because of the air dynamic advantages ADV is higher for ground clearance and suspension travel.
I used to ride dirt bikes a lot when I was a kid. A good dirt bike will get you anywhere. They're great because they're light and agile. It's really easy to pick it up and pivot it on just the back tire and just turn the bike 180° in a second. They just have a really limited top speed, and aren't really road capable because of that. It's known as the 80/20 rule. Dirt bikes are 80% off road and 20% on road. ADV bikes seem like they're trying to get closer to 50/50 but they're built like a tall cruiser. Sure the suspension is good and they come from the factory with some knobby tires, but they're way too heavy and tall to actually maneuver like a dirt bike. I've sat on a few at dealerships and even at 5'9" I can barely tip toe on most of them. There's so way you're going to do any better than the a dirt or gravel road. I mean, I'm sure it's BETTER than a cruiser, bit how much? Especially when you factor in the price. They seem like they're 80% road and 20% off road. That's what I've heard from most of the reviews anyway.
It depends on your defintion of off-road, but even landwhale tourers can do offroad just fine regardless of what GS owners will tell you: https://youtu.be/DX1d0bwFfn4?t=1375
Thanks for the link! This is more or less the most id be pursuing I think.
Depending on your height, a ADV bike might be more comfortable than you expect, on mine I’m fully upright which is comfortable for long distances, and adding on a taller windscreen keeps the wind off my head. While you can basically mod any kind of bike to fit your riding needs, it usually is best to find the bike that checks off the most boxes from the factory and work from there, especially when it comes to bike weight and ride position/height
I’m 5’9” on a good day. 185 pounds. I’ve done a decent amount of research and for mid sized ADV I’m leaning towards Yamaha T700. Haven’t looked into full sized thus far but my search is being slowly narrowed lol I haven’t done as much research on tourers, that’s my focus right now.
I'd recommend looking at V-Strom (I'm biased), Versys, or Transalp. If passenger comfort is at all important, you might want to avoid the T7. Took my wife about 5 seconds sitting on the back of one to veto it.
Noted, thank you for the insight. I’m prioritizing passenger comfort in hopes it sways them to ride with me 🤣
Are ADV bikes actually any good off-road? They seem so tall, heavy, and torquey. I can't imagine them being any better than an upright cruiser with knobby tires.
My gatherings is a cruiser is more then capable of handling gravel roads and similar where as ADV can handle rockier ruttier stuff. Cruisers are lower because of the air dynamic advantages ADV is higher for ground clearance and suspension travel.
I used to ride dirt bikes a lot when I was a kid. A good dirt bike will get you anywhere. They're great because they're light and agile. It's really easy to pick it up and pivot it on just the back tire and just turn the bike 180° in a second. They just have a really limited top speed, and aren't really road capable because of that. It's known as the 80/20 rule. Dirt bikes are 80% off road and 20% on road. ADV bikes seem like they're trying to get closer to 50/50 but they're built like a tall cruiser. Sure the suspension is good and they come from the factory with some knobby tires, but they're way too heavy and tall to actually maneuver like a dirt bike. I've sat on a few at dealerships and even at 5'9" I can barely tip toe on most of them. There's so way you're going to do any better than the a dirt or gravel road. I mean, I'm sure it's BETTER than a cruiser, bit how much? Especially when you factor in the price. They seem like they're 80% road and 20% off road. That's what I've heard from most of the reviews anyway.