ADVENTURE bikes, it seems, are a fashion that just won’t go away. For years sales charts around the world have been dominated by BMW’s ubiquitous R1200GS and every manufacturer and its dog is trying to carve out its own place in the ‘adventure’ niche.
Given that most riders don’t actually trek to the far ends of the world, it’s safe to say that, just as most Range Rovers never get to rove on the range, most adventure bikes never see more adventure than a trip to the shops or a bit of light touring.
So we’re not looking for out-and-out off-road ability or desert-crossing reliability in this list. We just want to find the 10 adventure bikes that will let you get in on the scene without becoming another Aerostich-clad trend-follower on a brand new R1200GS. We’re looking for the cool adventure bikes here – older, more obscure and clearly less capable than the latest GS but ones that we’d like in that imaginary, endlessly-big garage that every one of us stocks up in quiet, daydreaming moments.
Our list is sure to be different to yours, so let us know what you think we’ve missed out.