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Words: Rob Harris |
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Photos: Richard Seck |
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Copy Editing:Richard Perrin |
Big-bore dual-sports, I love ‘em. If there ever was a type of bike that you could say is made for Canada, it's the big dualies. Whether negotiating the pot-holed roads of Quebec, fighting congestion in Vancouver/Toronto or exploring the masses of gravel roads that snake their way just to the north of the main populace, the bigger dual-sports are THE bikes to have.
Of course, the cruiser is what sells best, and although I'll never quite understood why, I feel that it's my personal mission to try and let Canadians know what they're missing … and why.
Although we don't get a complete line-up of what is out there in this category (notably missing are the Honda Varadero and Africa Twin), the choice has been steadily growing with the recent arrival of the Aprilia Caponord and the KTM 950 Adventurer. Add to that existing models such as the BMW GS (now in 1200 form), Triumph's Tiger and Suzuki's 1000 V-Strom, and the bike consumer has a pretty good selection to choose from.
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Time to compare the long-termer with the other dualies. |
With the advent of a BMW R1200GS as the CMG long-termer for 2004, we figured that it would be a good opportunity to get our grubbies on as many of the other big dualies and see how they all compare to each other in their abilities to tour, cut through congestion and explore the dirt roads of the boonies.
What we managed was an extensive and somewhat brutal testing of the new R1200GS, a solo-test of the KTM 950 Adventure and an end of season tour with the Caponord, Tiger and GS. Throughout the year, CMG has covered most of the bikes on an individual basis (hyper linked in the 'Dirtability' section below), but what follows now is a direct comparison between them.
Hey, if we're going to convince you that you need a dual-sport, we might as well tell you which one to get.
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If it's happy doing this then it's well into the dirt side of the spectrum. |
Okay, first off, what makes a big dual-sport? I mean, the name alone only implies that it can do two sports, which are commonly defined as skiing and ping-pong ... No it isn't, in motorcycling the two sports are actually road and dirt. Now that's a pretty wide spectrum – much like sport-touring – and in the same way a dual-sport bike will inevitably tend to lean towards either the road or dirt end of the range. Depending on what you want to be able to do, dictates which model you should consider. Oh, and the size of your wallet.
In my opinion, what makes a true dual-sport is its ability to spend one day eating up the road miles and the next day bombing down gravel back roads. Ideally it should even be able to go further and plough through muddy, rock-strewn back-trails.
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The R1200GS is available in spoked and cast versions. |
You can actually tell how far each manufacturer is intending their bike to go down this path just by looking them over. For starters, cast wheels instantly tell you that you're probably not meant to go off-road any further than a well-maintained gravel track. You see, the advantage of cast wheels is that they don't deflect with loading. That makes them ideal for smooth surfaces, but a liability when bouncing off large rocks, where the flex of spoked wheels absorbs the impact – as opposed to a cast one which is liable to dent or even break.
Another big factor is crash protection. Ride in the dirt and you'll significantly increase your chances of crashing. The saving grace is that odds are it'll be a slow speed low-side so bike and rider should ideally be able to get back up, fire the engine back into life (maybe fire off a few choice words while you're at it) and continue on – only a little dirtier, no worse for wear.
But enough pre-amble, how do our four bikes stand up to these factors?
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Cast wheels signify a move away from dirt-usage. |
In last place comes the Triumph Tiger, mainly thanks to the cast wheels and lack of crash protection. In fact, it's the only one of the four bikes with cast wheels, although until the latest '05 incarnation, it used to come equipped with spokes.
I find this a bit of a sad development as (up till '05) each generation was getting more and more dirt friendly. It could just be that Triumph has noted the changing trends – Suzuki's V-Strom comes with cast wheels right from the start and even BMW's R1200GS offers cast wheels as an option – but maybe they should at least offer a spoked option? Still, a bash plate attached to the exhaust pipes instead of the (sturdier) frame, and a some-what exposed oil cooler and plumbin, make it suitable for mild off-roading at best.
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Not as deep as it looks ... honest Mr. Ellis. |
Unfortunately, of all the bikes, the Tiger saw the least dirt action. Partly due to the limited time we had it on our year-end tour (Larry and the Tiger had to leave early) and partly because Triumph Canada's Chris Ellis specifically requested that we don't take it into anything too dirty. Officially it was because it was the only '05 Tiger in the country, but I suspect that Mr. Ellis may have had an image of a sunken R1200GS in his mind too.
With the few miles of mild gravel road that the Tiger saw, it seemed quite comfortable, though Mr. Tate reckons that they've stiffened up the front suspension for ‘05. Combine that with lowered suspension front and rear, cast wheels and re-worked geometry (over the previous model) and you have a bike that's being designed away from dirt and more towards pavement.
Bit of a shame in my books, but it does seem to be part of a trend.
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Adept but seriously lacking in protection. |
The Caponord's protection isn't really any better than the Tiger, although at least it comes with spoked wheels (laced to the rim to enable tubeless tires).
Although I found it surprisingly adept on gravel roads, the bash protection is sorely lacking. Bendy plastic bash-guards are supposed to protect the oil and coolant tanks (which I doubt they would, given a good thwack), but also leave the oil cooler, rad and oil-level hose horribly exposed. A relatively tame drop would potentially leave the ‘Nord dead in the dirt – bleeding either oil or coolant profusely.
Again, the ‘Nord wasn't subjected to any particularly taxing terrain on our tour, although it did see more gravel than the Tiger (as well as some compacted dirt trails). In contrast to the Triumph, the ‘Nord's suspension is a whole lot softer and as a result does a good job at absorbing the irregularities of unpaved roads. However, the motor needs to be kept up in the revs for any real usable power. The rest of the four bikes that are content just plodding along – a happier trait for dirt riding.
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Oh dear. Photo: Jim Vernon |
This is the only bike of the four that we threw into a whole season of the really rough stuff. With a whole year to test the 1200GS it by far got the most dirt abuse of the lot and so revealed exactly how far it would go … and wouldn't.
The protection on the GS is really very good. A not too large bash-plate was excellent when it came to bouncing off rocks, tree stumps and the occasional drunk. Although the pipes look a tad exposed, they never got dented.
The GS had more than its fair share of ending up horizontal without significant aesthetic damage, never mind mechanical. The only problem I could foresee is the exposed cylinder heads, which could come to grief if they were to contact something hard enough.
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Happy GS territory. |
It carries the weight down low and so feels very planted – especially useful on the dirt. The suspension is superbly compliant, although it feels maybe a little remote at the front thanks to the funky Telelever design. The motor is a real treat, developing a goodly amount of torque down low and a surprising burst of power higher up. In fact it's by far the torquiest of all the bikes, and although its peak power is just beaten by the Aprilia and KTM (according to several published dyno charts), from idle up to 7,000 rpm it produces the most power of the lot, and by a long way.
As expected, the GS has absolutely no problem with gravel roads and will happily tackle rougher dirt roads, rock fields and grassy trails – tires allowing. Good off-road-biased tires are obligatory if you want to venture off the smoother dirt stuff, but it's only the real rough stuff that'll cause problems ... and ... err ... the deeper water crossings.
Since I'm trying to keep within the same realm of what all the other bikes were subjected to (and I need some stuff left to write the long-term wrap-up article) I won't go into just what those limits are right now, suffice to say that it was significantly more dirt-capable than the Tiger or ‘Nord.
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Twist and spin. |
You'd expect a company that grew up building just dirt bikes and regularly wins the Dakar races with them to build a bike that's good in the dirt, but I didn't think that the 950 Adventure would be this good.
For starters it's very tall and very skinny. It feels like a dirt bike, down to the rider positioning and the rock ‘ard seat. The KTM is balanced and predictable, and instills absolute confidence in the dirt. It even comes with a dirt-bike 21-inch front wheel (large diameter wheels = easier to roll over obstacles) and the WP suspension is excellent at absorbing the bumps while all the time giving just the right amount of feedback to the rider.
The motor's also a gem with a lumpy v-twin power delivery that gives the pilot ultimate control on just when and by how much they would like that back wheel to spin out around the corner. The only complaint is a slight lacking of off-idle grunt, saved only by the motor's quick-spinning nature that quickly pulls you into the torque curve.
Oh hang on, I'm forgetting about the protection bit. There's a wrap around bash plate that covers all the important bits, the sides covered by the super long fuel tanks that drop down either side of the motor.
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Post minor spill ... |
The tank is a bit of a concern to me: in a minor spill the plastic tanks got a scuffing but otherwise came away intact, however, a more major whack could conceivably punch through them perhaps leaving you in the middle of nowhere with a rather reduced fuel load.
Okay, what an ordered fourth-to-first place rating system doesn't tell you is just how much the bikes are spaced apart.
I'd say that the Tiger and Caponord are in the same realm when it comes their ability to leave the safety of the asphalt and tackle the terrors of the dirt. They're both competent gravel-road machines, although anything worse would soon see them with some serious battle injuries and potentially fatal ones – especially the Aprilia with all that exposed equipment.
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Adventure and GS are happy in the jungle. |
The GS is super happy under these conditions and will only start to feel like you're pushing it when the trail becomes an obstacle course of rocks and craters. Even then it'll push on through, but it will hit its limits soon afterwards. The KTM, on the other hand, would yawn at gravel roads, start paying attention at rocks and craters and break into a slight sweat when the trail got truly dirt-like.
Although the R1200GS surprised us with just how far it could go in the dirt, it always felt like an amazingly flexible road bike. The KTM just felt like a fookin' big dirt bike and behaved accordingly. To cut to the chase, if you're looking for a dualie that can cope with the dirt, then consider the Beemer or KTM. If you really want to explore ALL what the woods have to offer, narrow that choice to the KTM.
Okay, so in part one we covered how these big dualies deal with the dirt (albeit relatively mild dirt), so for part two we’ll take a look at how they react to the asphalt.
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But how does it cope in the twisties? |
But before we go into details, let's take a minute to define exactly what we're looking for in a bike's abilities to perform on-road. As far as the CMG collective sees it, there's two distinct areas of the paved experience; Twisty side roads and long stretches of highway.
In reality, we suspect that most of the bike's life will be spent on the highway, and so have erred our ratings to reflect this. Admittedly, this may not be the criteria of all, so if you happen to live in the middle of a whole whack of forest roads and paved twisties, then you might want to juggle our ratings around a bit to suit.
4th) KTM 950 ADVENTURE
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KTM has excellent balance ... |
The KTM's a fun bike and scores big on the smile factor. The motor is just what a v-twin should be – full of character, spinning up like a sporty four-cylinder and laying down the kind of power that makes pulling out of a tight corner a blast. It’s also got a wild growl emanating out of the pipes that compliments the experience.
The downside is a rough vibey patch between 5 and 6,000 rpm, although in top gear this means that you have to be going at 140 km/h + before you hit it. The box is smooth and mechanical, but the clutch needs to be pulled all the way into the bars to fully disengage the transmission, making smooth changes a bit of a challenge.
In the comfort department, the riding position is good with ample room for the pilot, and the screen does a good job at keeping the blast off. However, that seat is ‘orribly ‘ard and although it never got as torturous as it could, it wasn’t something that you’d like to spend too long on – thus severely reducing its touring credentials. It’s also the tallest ride at 880 mm, which will definitely limit who will fit on it.
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... and was a blast on the track. |
Brembo brakes are excellent too, and there’s WP suspension front and rear – simply put, it’s all quality stuff. It was a real shame that we experienced some problems with both of the bikes we had - each featuring the trait of overheating and puking out coolant.
Where the KTM excels is on twisty side roads rather than the open highway. We even took it to the track and had an absolute blast as we flicked the Adventure over from side to side with ease, with nary a peg scraping – despite ludicrous lean angles.
Why we decided to place it last in the Roadability category is its failings in highway usage. We considered trying to get one for the Fall Tour with the other dualies, but no-one wanted to have to use it on the long highway stretches in between, so we didn't bother.
Of course, if you're not looking for a bike to master this area, then the KTM suddenly becomes a much more viable machine.
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Once familiar with its anomalies, the 'Nord became a lot more fun. |
Of all the machines, the Caponord was the one that demanded the most attention from the rider before the fun starts. But once you’re familiar with its oddities and learn to keep the revs up above 6,000 rpm, it’s really quite a capable machine on the road.
It’s also a very comfortable ride and has probably the slickest box of the lot (save for the occasional false neutral between 4th and 5th). Wind protection is good too and there’s plenty of room for the rider, although the tank cut-outs do get in the way for taller riders.
The soft suspension requires a bit of thought when braking – to avoid a big dive effect in the front forks – and the brakes lack initial bite, but once again, when you get used to this it all seems to work well. Although it’s the heaviest bike of the lot, the weight does seem to disperse when you get it going at a good clip, and it’ll carve a twisty road surprisingly well, although after a while, it starts to feel like a bit of work.
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Although it doesn't like dirt is does like asphalt. |
The Triumph is quite a different experience to the Caponord. With the move away from the dirt and more towards asphalt on the 2005 model, what you have is a pretty competent sport-tourer. It’s hard not to like Triumph’s triple mills, and in Tiger format it’s tuned to give a linear and predictable laying-on of power. This makes it a no-brainer to use, and the easy-spinning motor will purr along a highway without vibes or fuss.
The brakes are also competent, but they need a good squeeze if you want to stop righhhhht now! Oh, and the gearbox is a bit notchy, yet precise, with no missed shifts.
With harder suspension than the others, the Tiger likes the smooth stuff and gives a very planted feel … well, unless the road is rough. In these scenarios, when going at a good clip, the suspension tends to get a bit overwhelmed and it’s easy for a wheel to skip out, which can be a tad un-nerving, never mind jolting for the rider.
Position-wise I found it a bit tight between seat and pegs, although the rest is all good, with decent wind protection, body position and a very comfy seat. The only little nagging problem is the right hand exhaust guard that sticks out at the peg and makes getting on your toes somewhat awkward.
1st) BMW R1200GS
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New 1200 boxer motor is a vast improvement. |
Although the GS was pushed out by the KTM in the off-road comparo, on-road it’s got it them all beat. This is a bike that I’d quite happily take on a grand tour, and enjoy every minute of it. Well, most of it.
The boxer motor is at its sweetest in 1200 form, pumping out masses of low-down torque while matching the max power of its competition to boot. It makes for lazy highway riding (needing only a blip of the throttle to pass) and fun in the twisties thanks to all that torque coming in just off idle.
Gear shifting is remarkably smooth for a BMW, but not the best of the bunch. Still perfectly acceptable though.
In the dirt, the Telelever front suspension can have a remote feel, but it copes perfectly with any road irregularities, and the shaft rear is as compliant as any chain-driven machine. And hey, a shaft-drive rear is virtually maintenance-free too.
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Track capable, but not as happy as the KTM. |
BMW seem to have finally sorted out the power-assisted brakes, and the fronts are eye-popping strong with good graduation, although maybe a tad lacking in feel. The GS also comes with optional ABS which works very well unless you’re hitting bumpy stuff at speed, at which point it can get a bit confused and release when you want it to be fully on. Thankfully, there is the ability to turn the system off if you prefer.
Although it’s only 1 kg heavier than the KTM it does feel its weight more. It’ll tackle twisty roads well, but it’s more work than the KTM. This became apparent when we took them both to the track, where it was more work to flick around and would grind out quite readily, but fun nonetheless.
Comfort wise, it has great wind protection with an adjustable screen for different rider heights. There’s plenty of legroom too, although yer arse would tend to get mildly sore sooner than you’d expect … due to the seat that is.
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Well done everyone ... |
Okay, let me say that all these bikes work very well on the road.
The Caponord and Tiger are about equal in their abilities to happily eat up the miles and keep you entertained in the twisty bits. However, there’s no getting around the fact that the ‘Nord is quirky, and the Tiger doesn’t like it so much when pavement irregularities show up. It can also be argued that the Tiger’s motor is a bit too linear, thus lacking a bit of character.
Talking of character, this is where the KTM excels. As soon as you hit the more interesting roads, laughing-out-loud-in-your-helmet moments are easily achieved. However, getting to these interesting roads can be painful as this same character doesn't translate to the long haul.
The BMW has a capable foot in both worlds – able to pull grins in the twisties yet cruise along happily all day on the highway. With its superb suspension, torquey motor, and unyielding flexibility – it is the king of the road!
Just having to sit down and process the reams of information and notes about all these bikes has been a real eye-opener. Okay, it's been a right pain in the arse as well, but comparing each bike's abilities in various terrains has yielded a pretty good idea of their standing in respect to each other.
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However, in order to get a valid grading, we have to define the importance of a bike's prowess in the dirt or on the road. Although this will vary from rider to rider, realistically most owners will likely spend the majority of their riding time on highways, hitting the twistier pavement at times and occasionally going down a gravel/dirt road in between.
With this in mind, we've given the most weighting to how the bike could eat up the miles, then perform in the twisties and finally explore the dirt. We cap it all off with a comparo table of their specs, performance data and options. There's also a price comparison of each bike after the costs of the options has been included to help level the comparison playing field.
So, without further ado, here’s the CMG definitive count down:
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To the embarrassment of all, the KTM would get too excited and puke. |
4th) KTM 950 ADVENTURE – The Adventure is a real gem and surprised us all by just how well it could attack the dirt, and more effectively than all the others. However, it's firmly on the dirt side of the spectrum, although it will handle the twistier side of pavement (and track!) very well, it falls short when it comes to highway riding.
There is a big question of reliability though, as both of the examples we rode had problems with over-heating, the first one chewing up its gearbox to boot. It's the only one of the four that comes with a limited 12-month warranty (the 'Nord and Tiger getting two years, and BMW three!), which wouldn't be enough to put my mind at ease.
Basically, the Adventure dominates the dirt side of the spectrum, does very well in the more gnarly paved stuff, but fails to reach into the touring side with any great effect, thus the grading.
2nd =) A tie between the Tiger and Caponord!
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The only triple of the bunch. |
TRIUMPH TIGER – Realistically the Tiger isn't that far from the Caponord in what it can do and where it sits on the dual-sport spectrum (i.e. firmly on the road side). It's also a chunk cheaper than all the others once the options are factored in (see the comparison chart below) which helps to excuse it for its limitations, but the fact remains that it can't really do dirt.
It can do road though, and makes a good sports-tourer, scoring points over the Caponord with fewer quirks and a finished feel thanks to many more years of development.
I do think that it’s a shame that Triumph have moved it more towards the road than the dirt though (they don’t even mention dirt in their online blurb) when they could have done a split model – one heavy-duty real dual-sport and one sporty tourer with gravel capabilities.
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The 'Nord is very capable but needs tweaking to release its full potential. |
APRILIA CAPONORD – although the Caponord grew in charm with all those who tested it, it feels somewhat unfinished. Add to that, severe off-road limitations through lack of protection (and a price that should really be a couple of grand cheaper – especially when you factor in some necessary options), and you have a decent dualie that would be a lot more attractive during a big dealer sale.
On the plus side, it does have a certain depth of character that only reveals itself with time. We all grew quite fond of the 'Nord by the end of our tour and would like to see Aprilia develop the model further, as it's got a goodly amount of potential.
Note - The Caponord that we tested (and that is still the current model in Canada) is the 2003 model. The 2005 version comes with optional ABS, stiffer suspension, modified front brakes, new exhaust, higher bars and hand-guards, and is not available in Canada ... yet.
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This is GS-able, but getting close to its limits. Photo: Mr. Lewis |
1st) BMW R1200GS - The Beemer's ability to be a superb touring bike (with a goodly amount of off-road ability too) helped it to grab the number one spot in this Adventure Touring comparo.
Despite having some problems when we really pushed it in the dirt, the R1200GS is a favourite at CMG. The new boxer motor, with less weight and more power, is a vast improvement over the previous models. It's a characterful engine, housed in a competent chassis and the bike spans a broader range of the dual-sport spectrum than any of the others.
I would not hesitate to take the GS on a multi-thousand mile journey that included smooth multi-lane pavement and rough gnarly trail. Its only downside is that it can get into serious trouble if you push it too far into the off-road world, but if you know that ahead of time, then you should be okay. Besides, that's what the Adventurer version is for, isn't it?
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I must say, I personally don't feel comfortable with placing the KTM in 4th place as it's a really fun bike, but when looked at with a criteria biased towards a bike's ability to tackle the long haul on pavement, that's where it ends up. Worthy of note is that KTM have done a lot of changes to their 2005 model, so some of its problems may have already been addressed.
The Tiger and Caponord are quite different machines, and although they encompass a similar amount of bandwidth on the dual-sport spectrum, the 'Nord errs more towards the dirt with the Tiger excelling on the paved. As a result, we decided to peg them as equal.
The BMW has the greatest spread and does it well well. Granted the KTM has the dirt covered better, but for all-round use, reliability and a chunk of character to boot, it's the clear overall winner.
Okay, time for the specs ...
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