30 years ago BMW launched the GS Adventure motorcycle which was a new area for the German company and a new breed of motorbike for the world. However the Adventure bike never really took off until the late 90′s when other motorcycle manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon and produced their own hybrid Adventure models to compete with an increasing foothold that BMW were gaining in the hybrid market with their GS1150 AND R1200GS and Adventure model bikes. Up until that point ‘trail’ bikes were the only real option to road ‘naked’ bikes and ‘cruisers’ which commanded worldwide bike markets. Honda then produced the Varadero and Suzuki launched the Vstrom, two very credible machines with mass appeal. KTM came on board with the 990 version and the Triumph Tiger 955 was released to directly compete with the established off road Adventure bikes. Their later Tiger 1055 has caught the imagination and bank account of many born again bikers.
There is one piece of inadvertent marketing that occurred in the early part of the new century and that was a TV programme called ‘The Long Way Across’ in which Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman rode two BMW R1150GS bikes across Europe for a TV travel documentary. It was followed with another tour going south, the ‘Long Way Down’ where they travelled from Scotland to Australia on two BMW R1200GS bikes. These two programmes projected the BMW bikes to world stardom and sales increased beyond BMW’s dreams.
Now most motorcycle manufacturers are looking at the Adventure market with interest and most will have their own ADV spec bike in the showrooms, on the production line. The hybrid market now represents the biggest sales figures worldwide with BMW holding the golden egg in their GS range of bikes. The recent F800GS and F650GS Dakar machines have further secured the mid range market and now set the bench mark for all manufacturers to aspire to. Yamaha have just relased their flagship 1200 Tenere costing £13,000 and with no test rides and online ordering only, they must be confident that there is still a huge market for hybrid bikes at almost any cost. Despite the fact that most Aventure bike owners stay on the tarmac, their appeal is increasing as a road bike as well as a rough ground machine. Long live the spirit of Adventure.
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