Adventure Touring Bike On A Budget

Had a gs1150 before Ewan mcjock made them popular, idiosyncratic comes to mind and not as reliable as they are made out to be. Had 2 1050 tigers great distance machine but not off roaders. But fun bikes in an overweight pogoing way. V reliable and v good at distance

 

Thanks for your thoughts folks. All most useful.
I'm still liking the KTM. Yes I guess if you can win the Dakar you can probably make a bike bike that holds together. Ahem. Forgot about that. A few well publicised issues with some 1290 SDRs perhaps had the alarm bells ringing more than necessary. Can't help thinking the KTM would be more fun than V-Strom and I wonder how the finish quality would compare?
Royalwithcream makes a good point: if you're going to have an off-road style adventure bike for the practicality of it why wouldn't you have one that can actually do what it says on the tin and make a point of using it? Opens up a whole new world of possibilities. In for a penny in for a pound. Another mark for KTM.
I can imagine the Tiger being a big bouncy overweight Golden Retriever sort of bike. That's how my Speed felt next to the SF.
I can feel a test ride coming on...
What are KTMs like to work on?

 

Great description of the tiger. Eager to please is about right .

 

My mate has a tiger 800xc, he's done 30,000 odd miles in 3 years, he's ridden all over Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, and even Morocco with a set of knobblies fitted. It's never failed him, in fact he used it for WDW when his brand new 1200 Monster broke down the week before we were due to leave. He kept it when he got his Monster as he was offered peanuts for it as a trade in!

 

Test ride booked for next week on a 990 Adventure. Can't decide anything till I've ridden one. Went up to Fowlers for a good nose round the various options. One thing that was obvious from the start, of all the adventure bikes they've got in stock, which is pretty much all of them, the 990 was for me by far the most comfortable, at least at a stand still. Very tall, but no problem for me. Swung a leg over a 1200 GS and didn't like it at all. Seat felt odd and the bars were too close for me.
That one Drdaveboy has flagged up (cheers for that) is very cheap. Fowlers had a very nice one on an 08 plate with 5000 more miles on it for another grand. It is immaculate though, a one owner bike, first sold by them and KTM dealer serviced from new with full history. It had a KTM rack and pannier frames and they offered a gimme price on some KTM panniers (which weren't a bad price anyway. Less than I expected and cheaper than BMW). They had a couple Adventures and an SM-T. Didn't fancy that. Didn't feel quite as business-like as the Adventure. If those bikes are representative of Adventures at those mileages then the build and finish quality would seem to be pretty damn good. Dare I say it, better than Beemer at first glance.
Apparently there's a few S/H Adventures about because with the new 1190R coming out dealers have been discounting the standard 1190 Adventure and 990 owners have been tempted to trade up.
See what happens after the test ride next weekend.

 

Fuel rang perhaps more than fuel consumption. I would certainly fit a freer flowing exhaust and get it custom mapped. I have no doubt the fuel consumption can be improved. Thing is, on all the reported issues there seems to be a wide variety of opinion from owners. Some say the fuel consumption is awful, as many report 50 mpg (low 40s will do me). There doesn't seem to be a consensus. My chief doubt actually, as strict maintemance seems to be the key to high miles on these bikes, is the short service intervals. 4.5K is not ideal for a long haul off-roader. But then again on the adventure forums there seem to be plenty of people who've racked up huge mileages on them in the back of beyond. I'm trusting these figures are for the one engine... It does seem the 1190 RC8 derived bikes have more problems than the LC8 990/950's.
I'll give it a thorough road test tomorrow and use my instincts.

 

Well I rode it - and turned it down. Wasn't quite what I hoped. The engine was nice but not as peppy as expected and intrusively vibey right in the mid-range where you least want it. There was a lot of turbulence and the brakes were poor. I didn't have any issue with the fuelling, a minute stutter off a closed throttle but nothing worth making a fuss about. It was comfortable though and the handling was excellent. Hard to believe it was an off-road bike with a skinny front tyre. A top notch chassis and suspension package held back by stop and go that wasn't in the same league. And then there's the fuel consumption, tank range and short service intervals. I could see it being good for a bit of back lane larking about but there's no way I'd want to ride to Scotland on it, and that's the point of it so not for me I'm afraid.
A bit deflated, I called in at the local BMW dealership on the way home and test rode a 64 plate 1200GS with all the bells and whistles including Akrapovic can. Wow! That's more like it. I can see why people rave about these bikes. Phenomenal bottom end grunt, magic carpet handling and royally comfortable. Like travelling on a turbo-charged chesterfield. OK its no sports bike engine, it starts to run out of steam above 7K, but the amount its got in the lower and mid range - which is exactly where you want it for touring - is so prodigious there's no need to rev it hard. Down low its like a Diavel on stilts. Stick it in Dynamic mode, leave it there and nail it and its a bloody hoot. I don't get the idea that the Paralever front end is vague and lacking in feel. I thought there was feel aplenty but the lack of dive took a bit of getting used to. It fools you into thinking you're under-braking and its only when you grab an extra fistful and shunt yourself up the tank that you realise you weren't. And I love the cornering stability, the way you can brake through a bend without sitting up or running off line an inch. Its a forgiving bike that flatters the rider and I'd buy one tomorrow if I had ten grand spare...
They had a very tidy 07 air cooled model for a grand more than the KTM and with full BMW luggage so I'm giving that a blast on Tuesday. It won't have the shunt of the current model but if its got some of the pep and anywhere near the character and the comfort I think I could be tempted.
Top tip: For a great way to liven up a grey Saturday in January - go and do some test rides.