It was inevitable, wasn’t it? KTM’s sister brand Husqvarna had to adapt to the ever-growing Adventure bike market with their own take on KTM’s ‘mid-sized’ offerings. Now we all know the two KTMs currently on offer are the 890 Adventure and the 890 Adventure R, both superb in their own rights, right? So, what could the Husqvarna engineers possibly do with basically the same platform to entice adventure riders into their stable? Well, quite lot actually and I must say the result is much better than I first presumed; Say hello to the Norden 901.
The latest additions to performance motorcycles are the controversial 'wings', which all began to appear in MotoGP. These extensions are now becoming quite common in our two-wheeled world; Designed to hold the front of the bike down at high speeds and improve force on the front end whilst cornering at vast speeds, or so they say. Suzuki already has them protruding from its gorgeous MotoGP RR bike so it was only a matter of time before they appeared on a road bike, which many would have thought would be stuck on the side of their GSX-R1000, well they'd be wrong.
One particular question that I get asked many times is…if you could choose just one bike to have in your garage what would it be? It is a very hard query to answer because motorcycles tend to cover such a huge range. Predictably many inquisitive minds all want to hear ‘an adventure’ bike of some sorts, and I for one cannot blame anyone for that desire. They’re so versatile on all counts from road to dirt lanes to touring, and even more if you’re capable.
Over 40 years have passed since the introduction of BMW’s GS, which was the R 80 GS. The concept has basically stayed the same, a shaft drive on/off-road motorcycle propelled by their iconic boxer engine. For sure that’s the only thing in common with this latest edition, still, it is one of the greatest success stories regarding sales.
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