Offroad Motorcycles

The Yamaha TW200, brought forward for 2021 with its scrappy little 196 cc engine, is a nice learning bike, fully street legal but with that distinctive motocross-style swale seat that says you’re going off-road. On the move, the bike has nice low-end torque and you’ll feel the front end trying to come up when you get even a little twisty. Dual sport, yes, but so much about this bike just begs to be in the dirt.

That’s right sports fans. This may be the most significant relationship thus far in the race to make electric propulsion a viable alternative to the current internal-combustion engines, specifically within the off-road and non-road sectors. Polaris Inc. and Zero Motorcycles launch a decade-long partnership as a major pillar of the “rEV’d up” campaign, and the first efforts are to produce battery-powered off-road vehicles and snowmobiles.

Suzuki brings dual-sport capabilities to the entry-level sector with its DR200S. A heavy emphasis on off-road performance defines the overall look; and a 199 cc engine drives it over hill and dale, as well as down the road with all the appropriate lighting for safety and legalities. The end result is a functional, if plain, bike that provides a stable ride and moderate power with a humble overall bearing. A carry-over for the last few years, it hasn’t changed much, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

It’s not the most attractive bike in the dual sport stable, though it’s small and scrappy with a 644 cc engine and so much fun to ride. With a glance at the DR650S from Suzuki you might just dismiss it as an enduro bike. That would be doing it an injustice. It’s really a basic adventure bike that will get you off the pavement and into the woods with perhaps more gumption than a real adventure bike. Priced affordably, it isn’t tragic to drop it as it would be otherwise and it is lightweight enough that you can pick it up and keep going.

Pitting the fuel-injection fans against the carburetor fans, we score a point for the latter with the DR-Z400S and DR-Z400SM from Suzuki. Fuel injection hasn’t yet made an appearance in Suzuki’s dual-sport lineup, which was a good thing or a bad thing, depending on which side of the fence you’re on. For 2020, the DR-Z siblings haven’t yet been touched by the FI update. Sharing the same engine as the 500EXC from KTM, the DR-Zs come on a different chassis with progressive-link rear suspension. The “SM” — the SuperMoto of the family — and the “S” feature a six-liter air box with quick-release fasteners trouble-free access to the air filter and special low profile mirrors that rotate hoping to avoid damage, both are pluses when you’re playing in the dirt.

For some people, adventure is about finding your way through the unknown to see things no one has and doing things most haven’t. But unless you plan on walking, you need the right tool to get there. This is where these adventure touring machines comes in and sweeps you off your feet in the most humble and matured way.

Here are our top five all-new adventure tourers coming in 2020 with some excellent versatility to trout the lands across the globe. With the looks and utility of a capable off-roader and the balance and handling of a sport-standard, adventure motorcycles are a bipartisan look at how to tackle paved roads and dirt. Powerful engines, long travel suspensions, and a higher riding position with multiple rider aids adorn these machines.

Essentially a carry-over from 2008 when the WR250R was added as a street-legal offering in the Yamaha WR lineup, the 2020 model carries-on carrying-on dual-sport fun. It’s not really a street-legal version of the WR250F, though the model designation tends to make it seem so. “WR” indicates it’s a wide-ratio gear box, and beyond that, the sky’s the limit. The wide-ratio gives an acceptable balance of highway capability and off-road responsiveness, both desirable in the dual-sport market

Honda carries its venerable XR650L line into 2020, but to be honest, it’s almost completely unchanged from the original version unleashed on the world back in 1993. Before you scoff, I would point out that sharks haven’t changed in millions of years, having evolved long ago into creatures perfectly suited to their environments, and apparently, so it is with the XR650L. The Red Riders got it right out of the gate with this one, and popular support keeps the bike on Honda’s showroom floors even after nearly a quarter-century.

For almost two decades, KTM has been a fixture at the top of the field in the Paris-to-Dakar Rally, and the 450 Rally Factory Replica is meant to pay homage to the bike that carried Sam Sunderland to victory in the 2019 Silk Way Rally. That’s right sports fans, the actual factory rally bike just dominated a race that traverses the Gobi Desert and crosses the borders of Russia, Mongolia, and China, and this is the public model made in its image. It’s not a machine for the casual off-road rider, but rather, it’s built with would-be rally racers in mind, and toward that end, the “Rally FR” doesn’t waste any weight on superfluous equipment.

The new-from-2016, R nineT Scrambler from the Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW Motorrad) rolls into 2019 still based on a general design popular from the ’50s all the way through the ’70s. The Scrambler embodies the form of the original scramblers, while borrowing from the 1951 Beemer R 68. The result is a ride that invokes nostalgia in those old enough to remember the originals and subsequent variants, but also appeals to a younger crowd who appreciates classic looks coupled with updated performance and more reliable technology than its antique predecessors. I say that with confidence since I fall into the latter group, and I am really digging this new-old ride, so join me for a dissection of this scrambler descendant as I try to determine how closely this apple fell to the tree.

Continue reading for my review of the BMW R nineT Scrambler.

BMW carries on the F 800 GS and F 800 GS Adventure in 2018 with their 800 cc engine and capable onroad/offroad features. The former is more of a casual commuter / funbike, while the “Adventure” is geared toward touring and long-range work, and naturally, both come with the top-notch engineering one expects from BMW.

Continue reading for my review of the BMW F 800 GS and F 800 GS Adventure.

The scrambler market is booming, and so far, Ducati is ahead of the curve with a full range of purpose-built Scrambler models. It added to the lineup in 2016 with its Scrambler Sixty2, a model that reflects what the factory calls modern pop culture, with a liberal dose of sixties, mid-size standard cruiser flavor blended in. Powered with a 399 cc L-twin, the Sixty2 isn’t a poser in a scrambler costume; it’s ready to rock and roll.

Continue reading for my review of the Ducati Scrambler Sixty2.

MV Agusta’s exotic Italian lineage has been through the history’s ups and downs. After being in an acrimonious situation for some time, the Italian brand is finally sailing on safe waters after a Russian investment group-Black Ocean signed an agreement to increase its capital making MV Holding to become the 100% owner of MV Agusta S.p.A.

With this, things have started to ease off, and MV Agusta is now concentrating on working on new machines for 2018 including a new line of four-pot Brutales’. Fresh new information also tells us that the Italian will be resurrecting the Cagiva brand back, but this time as an electric company rather than the sportsbike maker that it was before.

Dragging your elbow down had no real purpose really. It did not give speed nor balance. All it did was to make the rider look good. Achieving insane lean angles of up to 64 degrees, MotoGP riders have made this a phenomenon, and everyone else just loves to show off their newfound skill.

If you are trying yourself to do the same, why not take it a step higher? Here is Jimmy Hill, Andy DiBrino, and Alan Birtwistle going full Hooligan on the all-new electric 2018 Redshift MXR Motocross.

Introducing the all new sensations trick: The Bar down.

While we know that the Indian auto major Mahindra purchased the iconic British biker BSA and rights to the Czech JAWA brand, it would take at the least a couple of years to see their first iterations of what is touted as ‘The grand revival’.

But that has not stopped rendering artists across the globe who have already started letting their imagination run wild. They say that ’Imagination is a place where all the important answers lies’ and I guess we have started to get ours.

An Italian artist who goes by the name Oberdan Bezzi and is also famously called as OBIBOI has sketched some impressive looks of concepts which might be expected from the Mahindra stable in the future. They include desert runners, scramblers and street build concepts. Let’s have a look at these:

The retro war heats up as more manufacturers jump into the fray, and Yamaha finally took the plunge with its new-in-2017 SCR950 scrambler. Based on the Star Bolt, this bike runs the same proven 942 cc mill with a decidedly classic overall flavor dating back to the original scramblers of the ’60s and ’70s. I must confess that I have an affinity for scramblers, and I already know the Bolt is a heck of a bike, even if it is, shall we say, very ’flattering’ to a certain Sportster currently on the market, so it is with high expectations that I approach The Tuning Fork Company’s new foray into scrambler territory.

Continue reading for my review of the Yamaha SCR950.

We know, for one, that manufacturers develop low capacity motorcycles to get new riders into their strides from the very beginning. With manufacturers showing so much love to the adventure category, it’s high time that we get out and do a little exploring for ourselves.

Joining the league of the BMW’s, Kawasaki’s and Suzuki’s, the Taiwanese manufacturer SYM is entering the adventure field with its brand new NH-Trazer 200, and we have no clue what the acronym stands for.

The 40th edition of the infamous Dakar Rally is just a month away and almost 150 rally motorcycles will land in Peru, South America, to have a go on some of the most gruesome terrains stretching 5,500 miles in a span of 14 days.

While all teams and bikes have already begun their journey from home, team Monster Energy Honda may have faced a setback as one of their Honda CRF 450 Rally was stolen from Le Havre docs ahead of its scheduled shipment.