Category Archives: General

As some of you might know, I’ve been investigating what my next motorcycle would be for many months now. Last month, in an effort to help me choose, I compared 9 of the best adventure motorcycles against each other. The result of this comparison was that the Yamaha Tenere 700 would be the best bike for me, followed by the KTM 790 (or 890) and the BMW R 1250 GS as a close second.

Well… I’m happy to report that finally, after many months of contemplating, visiting dealerships, test rides, spreadsheet comparisons, etc… I made my choice. Here’s me riding out of the dealership on my brand new KTM 1290 Super Adventure R 🙂.

Why on earth?

OK, so, this requires some explanation I guess. 🙂 Why on earth would I chose this bike, while I claimed to be looking for a lighter, middle weight adventure bike? Why did I chose this bike, when I said that I could just as wel get a BMW 1250 GS in that case? Well… let me try to explain (and rationalise it for myself as well) with these reality bending arguments that I’m about to lay out. 😉

Image and Looks

First of all, and this is, I believe, the most important reason: Its image and looks! Even while I was looking at the KTM 790 in the dealership, I found myself glancing at KTM’s flagship bike. It just demands respect because of its size, height, alien like headlight and beautiful and rugged looks. Yes, I will admit it, part of me bought this bike because of its hard core adventure image! While the 1250 GS shares that image, the BMW also has a bit of a ‘middle-aged guys with grey hair’ image. And even though I am middle aged with grey hair, I’m not willing to admit to that just yet 😃.

My riding

A very important second reason is that I had to be truthful to myself about what kind of riding I have done in the past and how much that would really change. I had to conclude that a lot of it would be pavement (even though there are plans in the works for off-road camping trips). For that kind of riding, with lots of highway stretches and fast winding roads, a big bike is just more comfortable. The 1290 gives just that, while still having the capabilities for some serious off-roading, albeit less nimble.

Price

Thirdly, and this is the reason that sealed the deal for me… KTM had a very generous discount on the KTM 1290 Super Adventure models. Basically I got the 1290 SAR for around the same price as the KTM 1090 Adv R, the BMW 850 GS, the Honda Africa Twin and probably even the new KTM 890 Adventure R. No doubt this is because the 1290 will receive a huge upgrade next year. None the less, a great deal!

Why not the BMW 1250 GS?

So finally, why did I not go for the BMW 1250 GS in that case? Well, two reasons! First, Price! A BMW 1250 GS (not the GS Adventure mind you) with similar trim level as the KTM, would be 125,000 Mexican pesos (that’s over 6,000 USD) more!!! Sure, the BMW’s fit and finish is better than KTM’s, but definitely not 6,000 USD better! Secondly, I didn’t like the way I was treated by the local BMW dealer here in Queretaro. I could have gone with the BMW dealer in Mexico City, Satelite, where I was treated very well, but that’s about three hours away, which would be a hassle with service and maintenance.

Reservations

I had one big reservation when I decided for this bike. Its weight!!! There’s no getting around it… with 240kg / 528 lb it’s a heavy bike. A bit lighter than the 1250 GS, but still a lot heavier than the T7 and the 790 I first had in mind. I was afraid of its off-road handeling and that I would not be able to pick it up by myself.

Well… I found out… FAST!!! On the first ride around the neighbourhood, on the same day I picked up the bike, I decided to confront my fears and take a small off-road stretch I knew. Maybe I should have given it some more time to get used to the bike, because, after 5 minutes off-road… this happened:

I must admit I had to laugh a bit when I dropped the bike. How did I manage to drop this bike on the first day of ownership? That would be some story to tell… some day. Luckily it was at low speed and I didn’t get hurt, but how was I going to pick it up? There was no-one around to help me, so I decided to just give it a try. I had watched some videos on how to do this so I kinda knew the theory: First, put out the side stand and put it in gear, preventing it to fall down on the other side or start rolling. Then, after two tries, I was able to pick it up using this technique that Bret Tkacs explains in his video.

I expected to be upset with myself for dropping the bike on my first ride, but honestly, I wasn’t. I was actually glad it happened. I knew I was going to drop the bike sooner or later, so why wait? 🙂.

So now I have learned that I can pick up the bike by myself, and, except for some ‘battle scars’, the bike is fine.

Still happy after 4 weeks of ownership?

I can answer this with a very clear YES. And I hear you thinking…”of course he’s going to say yes… who would say NO after just purchasing an expensive bike like that“. Well…. I would! To put it in perspective: I have owned many bikes in the past and with all of them I had some degree of regret or at least disillusion after the first weeks. Not the case with this bike!!! That being said, if you are considering this bike there are some things you need to be aware of:

Smiles for miles

Every time I ride it, it brings a smile on my face. The beastly power of its engine, the superb suspension that soaks up every bump in Mexico’s terrible asphalt, its containership-like stability at higher speeds, its demanding presence on the road, the way that cars move out of the way because of the alien headlight in their mirror, the way that pedestrians look at the bike when I ride by, the comfort that the electronics bring (yes, I even love the keyless ignition which I thought I would hate), the smooth acceleration through the quick shifter, etc. etc. In short, I finally get what every KTM owner means when they say ‘Smiles for miles’.

Height

At 5’10” (1,79m) with a 32″ inseam, I’m not the tallest guy. I’m on my tiptoes on both sides. By shifting my bum a bit I can flatfoot it on one side. This takes a little bit of getting used to, but there are some tricks for it, which all come down to anticipating. For example:

• I use the foot pegs (left or right) to get on the bike
• It’s hard to move the bike when I’m sitting on it, so what I do now is role the bike in ‘ride away’ position before I get on it. Then simply put it on the side stand, climb on the bike, shift my bum to the right and put foot on ground, kick up the stand and ride of.
• When nearing a stop sign or traffic light, or any other situation that requires me to stop, especially when it’s on an incline, I lean my bum left or right (I’ve practiced both sides) and flat foot it on that side. I make sure the bike is in first gear before I set my foot on the ground.
• If I need to switch my supporting foot (the one that’s on the ground) I can ‘hop’ from one side to the next.
• There are some more advanced techniques for shorties, as shows here in this MotoTrek video, which I’m planning on practicing

Weight

I guess we already covered the dropping the bike part. Yes, it’s a heavy bike, but it’s not impossible to pick up by yourself. At least not for someone of my size. I can imagine though, that for some folks, the weight might become a deal braker.

As for walking the bike around… like the height thing, this takes some practice and getting used to. With such a tall and heavy bike it’s most important to keep the bike as balanced as possible. In other words, do not let it become top heavy by allowing it to lean too much left or right. Keep it upright by making small and early adjustments. That way you can use most of your strength to move it forward or backward, which becomes quite easy that way.

Wind noise

Before I bought the 1290 SAR, I already knew it was notorious for wind noise. I too experience this. I’ve had worse bikes from this perspective, and it’s not unbearable with earplugs in, but to say its comfortable would be a lie. As I wrote in the past, wind noise in motorcycle helmets is influenced by many many things and in the end comes down to doing some trial and error to find the setup that works best for you. Currently I have a taller windscreen in the mail which I will give a try.

Engine heat

Engine heat is also one of the known issues of the KTM 1290 Super Adventures. I read about it before I bought the bike, and actually experienced it during my test ride of the 1290 SAS. It’s definitely not a deal breaker though and there are even some accessories that can help deflect the heat. I don’t feel I need such a deflector just now. However we are in fall/winter, so perhaps in the future I might install one.

The S or the R?

If there’s one doubt I have had, it’s that I might have chosen the wrong model of the KTM 1290 Super Adventure. The S being the more on-road oriented bike, it has electronic suspension, alloy rims and a 19″ front wheel in stead of the R with its spoked rims and 21″ front. The S steers a bit faster due to the smaller wheel. On the other hand the R is easier off-road due to that bigger wheel. So, it depends on the kind of riding you will do.

Al final

In the end I’m happy with the R. The suspension is more adjustable and if I ever feel the need (I don’t think I will), I can put a 19″ front on it. Plus, the R just looks more bad ass compared to the S 😉.

Let the farkling begin

To me, farkling my bike, is almost as much fun as riding it. I just love scouring the internets, looking for accessories that might improve comfort and usability of the bike. I don’t do performance related upgrades that much (who needs more performance with this bike anyway?), but I love to look at luggage options, lights, mounts, windshields, etc. So…stay tuned for my farkle and accessory updates in the future!

BSA was once the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, producing the Gold Star, Bantam and the Super rocket, but its success didn’t last, and the company went effectively bankrupt in 1972 after which it was taken over by the Norton Villiers Triumph consortium.

But after almost 50 years, the iconic Birmingham brand is about to be revived by Indian billionaire Anand Mahindra, who hopes to “resurrect the British motorbike industry”.

Mahindra has big plans to electrify the brand and start building fully electric motorbikes along with combustion engine models by the end of 2021. Mahindra’s plan is backed by the UK government, which awarded the new BSA company a GBP 4.6 million ($6.1 million) grant to develop electric motorcycles.

New BSA isn’t the first vintage motorcycle project for Mahindra, who successfully revived the Czechslovakian Jawa brand in 2018. Jawa was relaunched two years ago and already achieved more than 50,000 sales in its first full year, an achievement Mahindra now looks to repeat with the new BSA brand.

Most adventure motorcycles come with tubeless tires nowadays. There are still some models with tubed tires though, like the Tenere 700 and the 2020 Africa Twin Standard (the Adventure Sports does have tubeless tires). So, what’s the advantage and disadvantage of both systems?

For most simple punctures, a tubeless tire is much easier and faster to fix on the side of the road. By simply inserting a plug in the tire you can have a tire fixed in 5 minutes, without taking of the whole wheel. Here’s a video showing how that works:

However, if we’re talking about bigger punctures or even slices, or punctures in the side wall of your tire, a quick road side fix with a plug is not possible.

When would you use tubed tires?

So, when would you use tubed tires as apposed to tubeless tires? Good question. There actually aren’t that many advantages over a tubed system in adventure bikes. In lighter enduro and motocross bikes you’ll see tubeless systems a lot more. In off-road situations with light bikes, tubed tires are more resilient. They puncture less fast, especially when running lower pressure in the tires.

But… this advantages is actually not the main reason why tubes are used. Tubes are used on wheels that aren’t air tight. Spoked wheels to be exact. Most spoked wheels leak air where the spokes meet the rim. Putting in a tube eliminates that problem. Nowadays even spoked wheels can be airtight though, eliminating the need for a tube.

Changing / Inserting Tubes

For adventure riding, I personally would always go for a tubeless tire whenever possible. Because these give you the possibility to insert a plug whenever possible, but also keep the option of inserting a tube for bigger punctures or slices that can’t be fixed with a plug. Here’s a video on how to change a tube. As you can imagine, this is significantly more work than a 5 minute plug.

Now… above video shows you how to exchange the tube in an already tubed tire. To insert a tube in a tubeless tire is a bit more difficult. You’ll need to remove the valve stem from the tire too (because the tube obviously has a valve stem already) and tubeless tires are often a bit thicker and harder to get off the bead. Here’s another video where a tube is placed in a tubeless tire on an adventure motorcycle.

Converting to tubeless

We read above that tubes are mostly used because spoked wheels leak air, but that tubeless systems are a lot easier to fix along the side of the road. This is the reason why some people are converting their tubed tires to tubeless tires. This is mostly done by Africa Twin and Tenere 700 riders as these bikes still come with tubed tires. The conversion, in essence, is pretty simple. It consists of putting silicone on the inside of the rim, where the spokes meet the rim, effectively sealing the point where air leaks. Here’s a video:

This conversion is done with some basic materials from Home Depot, but there are also entire kits out there that contain all the materials you need, like this set from outex. From what I’ve read on fora, results seem to vary. Some get an airtight seal, while others don’t and end up butting the tube back in.

Tubliss system

Lastly, I wanted to discuss the Tubliss system. This is another system that can turn a tubed tire into a tubeless tire… well… sort of. Here’s Lemmy at Revzilla again, explaining the Tubliss system.

It seems to only be used on dirt bikes, but I was wondering if there’s anything like this available for bigger (wider) tires on adventure bikes. If you have more information on that, a comment below would be highly appreciated.

A dusty tent cloth is draped over my KTM 1090 Adventure R for lack of a better alternative. Long and sunny days are taking their toll on the bodywork as the dry season starts here in Mexico.

My recent move to the Mexican mountainside has not been fantastic for my motorbike as I lack a place to store the bike inside. A typical Mexican makeshift shelter would be the easiest and cheapest way to keep the bike safe, but browsing on the web, I just found this alternative.

If any of you has experienced the same situation, all tips would be welcome.

As the world puts the clock an hour back and days are once again getting shorter, the motorcycle season in many places is slowly coming to an end. All-in-all, we’re looking back at a strange and restricted, but a great summer for bike trips.

As the pandemic started earlier this year, Guido and I have written a number of articles on the increased use of motorcycles and the positive effects of riding bikes during COVID-19. If you haven’t read them here, have a look:

• Are we riding less or more due to COVID-19?
• Buying a motorcycle during the pandemic
• Blood Bike Riders: UK’s humble heroes

Another positive development for the industry as a whole are the rising sales numbers of motorcycles in the several segments. At the start of COVID-19, the industry found itself at a crossroads, with several socio-economic factors negatively impacting sales. I actually wrote about the plunging sales back then, but the pandemic has almost miraculously led to a spike in riding activity and sales. The real question then, will it last? 

Forbes interviewed motorcycle industry insider and market watcher Robert Pandya and asked him if the high-tide of sales will result in a renaissance for two-wheelers – a must read.

A while ago I wrote about the Triumph Scrambler 1200 Bond Limited Edition. This time I come with something even sexier: The Hedonic Triumph Thruxton 1200R. When reading about this interesting looking bike it becomes clear it is controversial, to say the least. Some say it is a brute, other claim it is an ‘elegant motor with bags of refinement rather than pure brute force’.

Frenchman Serge Heitz’s Hedonic dedicated 150 hours of his life customizing it, he changed the faring, the front fender and many more things as you can see here. Truly a work of art. I would recommend you to have a look at this awesome custom builder. Serge can make anything made from steel look sexy. Check out his workshop here.

The frequency of our joint motorcycle trips has slowed down a bit during the last couple of months as a result of the covid pandemic and rainy season here in Mexico. This didn’t stop Guido, Coen and me from making a major offroad/camping trip in Mexico’s Sierra Gorda mountains last month.

Jasper couldn’t make it unfortunately, but Coen, a 43-year old adventure guide and camping crack, who has ridden South America from North to South on a Honda Transalp, did join us on this epic trail.

TLDR? Here’s a video compilation of the trip!

Planning

Planning the trip, Guido and I were looking to stay off the highways as much as possible. Since we were going through some uncharted territory, we had to use Scenic, Google Maps and Wikiloc to find a route that would take us about 3 days, hoping that we would complete at least 80% of it.

Day 1

Coen and I departed early on Friday morning from Malinalco (a picturesque colonial Mexican town where I currently reside) to catch up with Guido in San Juan del Rio, very close to the impressive Sierra Gorda mountain range. After a couple of greasy, but tasty tacos we took off to Presa Zimapan, a major lake at the foot of the mountains in the state of Hidalgo, from which we continued to the local mining capital of Zimapan.

After we fueled up on gasoline, wine and water (not sure how the wine bottles survived) we drove towards the mining complex, passing a number of sleepy, dusty villages on the way. As the mine (el Carrizal) is still operating, one should take extreme precaution while descending towards the river as big trucks with ore and debris are making their way up through the tight and gravelly hairpin corners, sometimes leaving just a foot of space for one to pass.

Once descended, the REAL adventure started – a 31km (20mi) offroad trail through a beautiful canyon with numerous river crossings, an ideal mix of dirt, gravel and larger rocks and virtually no one around.

The trail was exhaustive and took us more time than we thought. Guido’s old Yamaha, with low ground clearance and road tires was struggling to make its way through. As a result, Guido came off the bike on two occasions. Coen and I were riding a BMW G650gs and a KTM 1090 Adventure R, bikes that were better outfitted for the circumstances, but also nearly dropped it during a river crossing. 

Less than 500m before the end of the trail, my luck ran out when I hit a large rock with the rear wheel, causing a big rip in the tire. After inspecting the tire, we concluded there was little we could do to fix it. We then decided to ride 3 km to the nearest village (5 houses really) to ask for help. Lucky for us, there were a couple a guys with a pickup truck who offered to bring us 30 km (19mi) to a bigger town with a workshop.  

We decided to find a camping spot and set up camp in a camping shelter just a few kilometers from the town of San Joaquin. The bottles of wine and Guido’s Jack Daniels survived the trail and helped us stay warm in the foggy and rainy forest.

Day 2

The next day, we picked up the KTM from the shop, and drove via Pinal de Amoles to Jalpan de Serra, where we stopped for lunch. In Jalpan, we planned the second part of our trip, and while we were planning to go further north, we decided that we wanted to make camp somewhere close to a river, and basically just dropped a pin somewhere on the map close to a river.

After a combination of highway and some nice muddy offroad, we ended up in Neblinas, a small village some 2 hours east of Jalpan. There we had a well deserved beer and stocked up on some caguamas (1.2L beer bottles), and tried to make our way to the river, which according to some locals was not that far away. We parked the bikes with a very friendly local family, which helped us to find the trail that led to the river. “Not that far away” in this case was just about an hour’s hike with full equipment on a very slippery trail.

The hike was well worth it though. We reached the river, set up camp and managed to make a campfire with wet timber on which we cooked some tasty noodles and salted meat in the pouring rain.

Day 3

In the morning, after breaking up camp in the rain, we hiked all the way up to the house of the kind family where we left our bikes, where we were welcomed with a hot cup of coffee! Departing from Neblinas, we drove back via Jalpan de Serra to San Juan del Rio where we concluded our trip.

Despite the rain, dirt and flat tire, we’re itching to go on a similar trip soon!