Adventure touring motorcycles have come a long way from being just dirt bikes with lights and indicators, or street bikes with a high front fender and the hope that it will ride passably off-road. They are a category unto themselves now, with chassis, suspension, tires, and electronics all optimized for good behavior both on and off-road. Motorcycle manufacturers managed to achieve great chassis dynamics for these motorcycles a while ago, since most of them have ranges that span street bikes as well as off-road machines, but electronics for an adventure touring motorcycle are new, and they are arguably more difficult than that for a product that needs to work well either on tarmac, or only off. Therefore, the adventure touring segment now displays a surprising number of tech features, especially in the full-fat large displacement segment, to make those behemoths more accessible to a wider audience. Let’s take a look at 10 adventure motorcycles with the best high-tech features. We’ve tried to balance it out by picking bikes from different segments – else we’d end up with a list of the most expensive adventure tourers on sale today. Still, we’ve had to leave out some very worthy products to keep the list down to just ten.
10 KTM 390 Adventure
We start off small, with the KTM 390 Adventure. While it might be a starter motorcycle when you judge it by displacement, the list of tech it offers is on par with some of the most expensive bikes on this list. It has traction control and ABS, which are switchable to an ‘off-road’ mode to help you slide and turn on dirt. The suspension is fully adjustable for rebound and damping. There is an optional two-way quickshifter available, and even a centrifugal clutch that makes the clutch lever redundant when you come to a stop in gear! The instrument cluster is a TFT color display that has Bluetooth connectivity and lets you use buttons on the handlebar to control your music and accept phone calls when paired with your phone. The windshield mount is adjustable. Most middleweight ADVs would be proud of such a long list of features!
9 Aprilia Tuareg 660
Aprilia has been well known for its street motorcycles, but the Tuareg 660 aims to change that. Not to be confused with the VW SUV that spells the name a little differently, the Tuareg derives its 659cc engine from the front cylinder bank of the big-boy Aprilia, the RSV4. It has also carried over the head and pistons from it. There is an optional quickshifter, and Aprilia’s APRC (Aprilia Performance Ride Control) electronic suite that offers modes for traction control, throttle response, engine braking, and ABS. Yes, there is an off-road mode that switches off the ABS at the rear, and the adjustable traction control will give you the choice of how much you’d like your Tuareg to slide. The fuel tank is designed in such a way that even with a full tank of gas, more than half of the fuel will sit lower than the top of the engine to centralize the mass, leading to better handling. Full marks for Aprilia’s first adventure touring effort in a while!
8 Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro
The Triumph Tiger has built a reputation as a great adventure touring motorcycle despite its signature three pot engine suggesting the opposite: historically, big adventure touring motorcycles have stuck to a two cylinder format. Triumph has managed to keep weight in check, centralize mass, and the Tiger is one of the most capable ADVs, both on tarmac and dirt. The new engine in the Tiger 900 sports something called a ‘T plane’ crankshaft, which follows a logic similar to parallel twin engines that eschew a 180 degree firing order for a 270 degree one. This one feels and sounds like a V twin at low revs thanks to its new firing order (0, 90, and 180 degrees) which offers the rear wheel much greater traction on dirt. Of course, the Tiger 900 Rally Pro offers all the other goodies one comes to expect from a top-shelf middleweight adventure tourer: fully adjustable front forks, electronically adjustable rear shock, a tire pressure monitoring system, cruise control, and of course, the adjustable seat height are all on the list of this big cat.
7 Ducati Desert X
You knew you’d eventually run into a Ducati on a list where tech features are highlighted, and here it is: the Desert X is Ducati’s new middleweight that is aimed at riders that want to go far off the beaten path. It is equipped with 21”/18” spoke rims and knobby tires that certainly look the part, and from reviews, we know that it has the go to match the show. Suspension is fully adjustable but not electronically so, but that doesn’t mean it lacks in the electronics department. You get six customizable riding modes, four different power modes, adjustable traction control that is lean sensitive, cornering ABS, wheelie control, two-way quickshifter, cruise control, heated grips… the list is endless. One of our favorite options is the 2.1 gallon auxiliary fuel tank that looks like tiny saddlebags.
6 KTM 890 Adventure R
How could we talk about adventure touring motorcycles, tech features, and not talk about KTMs? The 890 Adventure R is what the Ducati Desert X has been aiming for. KTM’s extensive pedigree in offroad racing has led to a range of enormously capable adventure touring motorcycles that usually are class leading in terms of power, weight, and rider aids. The 890 Adventure has some fascinating details that support its claim to this throne like the fuel tanks that are placed down the sides of the engine instead of above it. In a debatable business decision reminiscent of Tesla and its optional features that can be disabled over the air by the company, the Quickshifter + (two way quickshifter), cruise control, Rally mode, and ‘motor slip regulation’ are all standard features on the 890 Adventure R for the first 932 miles, after which they disable themselves. The owners can then choose to pony up some cash to enable them.
5 Harley-Davidson Pan America
Bet you weren’t expecting this brand in this article! Credit to Harley-Davidson, though: the Pan America is as modern as they come. The engine looks like a traditional H-D 60 degree V twin, but the crank now has two journals, allowing those two pistons to be fired at a 90 degree interval. It has DOHC construction, variable valve timing, magnesium bits, and hydraulic lash adjusters – meaning you never have to adjust valve clearances. The Pan America Special adds semi-active suspension at both ends, a tire pressure monitoring system, a headlight that can help you see around bends, an Öhlins steering damper, adaptive ride height, and spoke rims that support tubeless tires. The adjustable ride height lowers the motorcycle as it comes to a halt, allowing the rider to put both feet firmly on the ground. Of course, all of this is packaged with the usual suite of electronics that is par for the course in class.
4 Honda CRF1100L Africa Twin ES
The Africa Twin has been the value proposition among the big displacement adventure tourers, and it has done this by being a no-nonsense product. However, with the engine update, Honda decided to add features that were on par for the segment which made it take a large leap forward. You can now have a six-axis IMU which offers cornering ABS, adjustable traction control and ABS, a quickshifter, and a lovely TFT screen that can display your maps for you via Apple CarPlay. The ‘ES’ stands for ‘Electronic Suspension’, meaning you can have fully adjustable electronic suspension on your Africa Twin these days! However, the Africa Twin’s tech party trick remains the automatic twin clutch gearbox, a first for an ADV motorcycle. The DCT has different modes, and can be manually controlled with either buttons on the left handlebar or a more natural-feeling optional shifter at the traditional spot, at the left foot peg.
3 Ducati Multistrada V4 S
The Africa Twin’s DCT gearbox might be a first for the adventure touring segment, but what the Ducati Multistrada V4 S offers is a first for motorcycles in any segment. You can spec a Multistrada V4 S with a radar system not unlike that which is present on a lot of cars. The front radar system will offer the ability of adaptive cruise control, which can cut throttle if the vehicle in front slows down, and even apply the brakes if required. The rear radar system monitors traffic in the motorcycle’s blind spots and will warn the Multi rider of any vehicles in the danger zone by flashing LEDs that are mounted on the rearview mirrors. It will scan and signal the rider about a vehicle in the potential danger zone if the indicator is turned on for a lane change as well.
2 KTM 1290 Super Adventure
KTM’s 1290 Super Adventure has the largest power output in segment, and it is one of the lightest. Oh, and it is the most off-road focused. Which can be a recipe for disaster if you don’t have the skills of a Dakar rider, which is why it is loaded to the gills with electronics. Helping tame it is a 6 axis IMU, which offers you all the customization of traction control, ABS, and power modes that you’d expect from the class. It is, however, the only motorcycle that has radar-guided cruise control as standard (it is an option on the Multistrada V4 S), and you can program the cruise control to give you a boost of power while overtaking. Navigation is now programmable in the 7-inch dash itself, you don’t need the KTM app anymore. Finally, an optional Rally Pack offers a ‘Rally’ setting in which the throttle response is customizable and nine levels of wheel spin can be selected. Oh, and the fuel tank is a three part one which puts most of the fuel by the rider’s legs and not above the engine.
1 BMW R 1250 GS
The GS series of motorcycles lead the pack in terms of sales, and the Adventure is the off-road focused GS, also known as the GSA. The boxer engine in the GS is already unique in the segment, but what makes the R 1250 GS stand out even more is what BMW calls ‘ShiftCam’ technology. This acts on the intake valves, offering two different camshaft profiles, one designed for economy on part throttle, and one for maximum power output. If this sounds confusing, it is the same as Honda’s i-VTEC system. Of course, we could write reams about the other things that BMW has chosen to do differently, like the suspension system that looks like a conventional one but is completely different to the norm. It has all the goodies one would expect from the segment in addition to these things, which is why BMW commands such a large premium for it.