A FortNine review (always good) of the Yamaha Ténéré 700.
Archives for category: – Motorcycles
This video shows outtakes from the video I posted last week and gives more insights to the rider’s techniques. Amazing to watch.
The KTM 1190 Adventure R was a 150 hp off-road beast that actually had quite a bit of finesse. It also looks like the last KTM Adventure bikes to come with analog gauges. The video above shows amazing, beautifully shot off-road action. The one below is more of an in-depth review. If you speak Australian, you might understand a bit. 😉
Honda will release the CT125 in Japan this year. This light, little off-roader has been updated with front and rear disk brakes, front-wheel ABS, a bash plate, and optional heated grips. The 124 cc engine is mated to a semi-automatic, 4-speed gearbox, a combination which is said to take you 220 miles on a 1.4-gallon tank. That’s about 157 mpg!
Incidentally the Honda 125 Super Cub is the most popular motor vehicle ever with over 100 million sold since it was released in the late 1950s.
Thanks to my friend Nathan from Northwest Resilience for the tip about this!
If you’re at home, and you have some time on your hands, check out this 1986 documentary about the Paris-Dakar Rally. You may remember that that was the year Porsche got their rally program dialed and pulled off a 1-2 finish with their newly-developed 959. There’s some great footage of the 959s in action across Africa.
My partner’s partner, Nathan, introduced me to a YouTube channel called MotoTrek recently, which looks like a great place to learn skills and techniques related to off-road adventure riding. Bret Tkacs, the guy doing the instructing, gives clear overviews of the techniques and explains the basic physics involved. Check out this video of him showing how to tackle deep river rock. What he can do with a motorcycle is impressive stuff.
Here’s a thoughtful review of the Royal Enfield Himalayan, the dual-sport travel bike from India that I posted about the other day. YouTube user nathanthepostman had put almost 16,000 miles on his bike by the time he reviewed it, including a coast-to-coast trip across the United States.
His verdict: this is a exceptionally well designed travel bike, with a great suspension. It’s well equipped, and weighted, with panniers front and rear, and solid footpegs for stand-up work. In his view, it’s an on-road, off-road mule that can take you around the world right out of the box. But have a look at the video. He says it all much better than I do.
Here’s another more-torque-than-horsepower bike that’s an alternative to the Royal Enfield Himalayan that I posted the other day. It’s the made-since-the-’80s Yamaha TW 200. This cinematic, poetic video does it justice.
My friend Nathan told me recently about the Royal Enfield Himalayan, a back-to-basics, 411cc adventure bike from India. From reviews I’ve read the bike is more pack mule than race horse. Or said another way, the long-stroke engine provides more useful torque than it does useful horsepower. But often that’s just what’s needed off-road.
I think the YouTube review above does a good job of laying out the bike’s pros and cons. After the jump there’s another video of bike on an adventure in the Himalayas. And here’s a review of the bike in Cycle World to round things out. Read the rest of this entry »