Some might say that adventure motorcycling has gone soft over the last decade, with every man and his dog buying into the adventure dream. Sales of adventure motorcycles have held firm in a market where sales of superbikes have slumped; leathers are being exchanged for rugged textiles.
No adventure bike is complete without aluminium panniers on which to plaster stickers from all the wild countries you've battled your way through. France, Spain, Morocco..
It's easy to feel that adventure motorcycling must start and end with BMW's GS; the bike has featured in so much media coverage, it's become as predictable as a Rolex on a banker's wrist or a footballer's Ferrari. The BMW crowd are a funny bunch at the best of times and it's hard to convince them that any other bike comes close to matching their machine.
Frankly, this is good news for you. Values of non-GS adventure machines don't hold as firm in the first few years as BMWs, so bargains can be had on bikes that are almost-new and will hold strong residual values from here on in.
There are loads of options out there and they don't require you to buy the bike, the matching kit, panniers and GPS device either. If you want to live the adventure dream - but you don't have a film-star budget - here are some great adventure motorcycles for you to get out there and head down that unbeaten path to your own adventure.
Listed in no particular order, here are my top picks.
