Unsung heroes
We look at the adventure bikes that might just have slipped under your radar
It's not all about massive bike sfrom big manufacturers. When it comes to adventure bikes, there' s plenty of choice.
If you are in the market for a new adventure bike, you'll probably already have realised that we're a little bit spoilt for choice at the minute. All of the big brands offer a range of good options, in all shapes and sizes, and for many riders this is where your money is most likely to go; on a long established brand with security when it comes to parts and servicing, not to mention a predictable resale value when it's time to move it on.
But don't be so quick to write off the other options, because in the last few years there's been a steady swell of re-born brands or those launched for the first time, that might not have the clout of the big boys, but who have certainly been busy building solid products offering great value for money, not to mention taking a slightly different approach to how things are commonly done.
Here we assemble four such machines. The Benelli TRK 502 X is the budget road tourer, big in stature but small in price tag, whereas the AJP and the SWM are some of the last of the big singlecylinder thumpers, more dirtorientated, and possible alternatives to the likes of KTM or Husqvarna. Finally, the Fantic Caballero 500 Rally,the re-born Italian brand's stab at a stylish scrambler - but is it all for show like most modern scramblers, or does it possess the same DNA as the Fantic scramblers of old?
To assess the bikes, I headed down to Thor Motorcycles in Bodmin, Cornwall, a multi-franchise dealer run by Colin Treleaven and his team, selling all four brands as well as Indian and Norton (but let's not talk about that). The test was two days of riding each bike, largely on tarmac, but also taking in some of the trails around North Devon. Here's what I found.
There are some changes for 2020. Most are small and largely cosmetic, but all add up to a more premium feel to the bike. The switchgear is now chunkier and backlit with blue lighting, so that you can locate them when riding at night. The front mudguard is now colour coordinated, and the seat has been re-designed with new stitching and a slimmer, neater design. There's also a new rear rack incorporating passenger grab rails that replaces the old clunky steel design of before. The levers are now span-adjustable and overall the bike just feels that bit fresher and more premium than last year's model.
On the move the Benelli has a very well-measured throttle and clutch engagement, making slow speed crawling or U-turns easy to conduct. The fuelling is smooth, with the bike feeling peppy through the mid-range, starting to run out of puff at about 75mph, but will hit three figures if you keep it going.
The handling is another of the bike's strong points. It rolls nicely into corners, it's well balanced and the non-adjustable front suspension
The one for those with smallbudgets,but bigambitions
buttons make for easy locating when ridingat night
(fully adjustable at the rear) copes well with Britain's modern roads. Metzeler Tourance tyres give good grip and feedback, whilst the twin 320mm floating disc set up at the front gives healthy stopping power. The Honda CBS00X offers only a single disc at the front and sometimes it can be found a little lacking when pushing on. Only the rear brake on the Benelli remains its Achilles heel, not giving a great deal of feel or stopping power.
Standard equipment levels on the Benelli are high, featuring centre stand, 12v charger point in the fairing, as well as the butterfly-wing crash bars, that have the knack of getting caught on the garden gate when trying to squeeze the bike through, but do add a solid level of protection to the bike's plastics. The silver and black hand guards for 2020 look much better than the old ones and now appear to have a metal backbone, much like a Barkbusters, that should better take an impact or two. The only thing that lets it down are the cheap plastic feeling handlebar grips, which unfortunately are the first thing you touch when you sit on one in a dealer. These could be improved.
The spoked wheels of the TRK 502 X are tubed, rather than tubeless. At least you get the centre stand to help with tyre repair, although for maximum convenience the tubeless cast aluminium wheels of the standard non-X model (17-inch front and rear) will appeal to some, as will its reduced seat height.
What might let the Benelli down, certainly in comparison to the
Honda, are the relatively short service intervals of 4000 miles, half that of the CBS00X.The Honda might be more expensive to buy, but arguably cheaper to service in the long term. In terms of residual values there's not a great deal to split the two. Both bikes depreciate by around 30 per cent in the first year or so before levelling off. You can usually find good deals on both of them.
Riding the X model on gentle
North Devon green lanes reveals it's exactly how you'd imagine it to be; more than capable of tackling easy to moderate well-graded trails and