10 Unique Adventure Motorcycles That Might Tempt You To Trade In Your Cruiser

Adventure motorcycles are like the Swiss Army knives of the motorcycle world. They crave dirt, gravel, and open, less traveled roads, with rugged designs built to conquer any terrain from smooth pavement to winding mountain trails, whether you're crossing continents or exploring hidden waterfalls. Typically, motorcycles like this have long travel suspension, which soaks up bumps like a champ and instills confidence when you're going through off-road sections. Their commanding, upright sitting position also offers excellent control and visibility, which makes tougher environments safer and more manageable. And no, they aren't the same thing as touring bikes — those are different.

Besides battling the elements, adventure motorcycles are surprisingly comfortable for long journeys. They offer wind protection, ample storage space, and creature comforts like cruise control. Below, we explore a range of cool motorcycles that inspire a sense of adventure at a wide variety of prices, from brand-new models like the Moto Guzzi V100 Stelvio to exciting middleweight contenders like the CFMoto 450MT and more.

CFMoto unveiled the 450MT in 2023, promising a unique entry into the middleweight adventure bike segment. The 450MT uses a 449-cc parallel-twin engine producing 43.6 hp at 8,500 rpm and 32.5 lb-ft of torque at 6,250 rpm. Despite having lower performance than most larger bikes, the 450MT weighs 385.8 pounds without fluids, making it lighter than most adventure motorcycles. CFMoto uses a steel tube frame and adjustable KYB front and rear suspension. At the front, the 450MT uses 1.6-inch upside-down forks, while the rear gets a multilink mono shock. The entire setup, coupled with the 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels, helps give the 450MT 8.7 inches of ground clearance and 7.9 inches of travel.

In addition to its performance capabilities, the CFMoto 450MT has plenty of standard features, including a rear rack, wrap-around handguards, a slipper clutch, and an adjustable windscreen. Furthermore, the 450MT has the Bosch dual-channel ABS and traction control systems, which the rider can disengage from the curved 5-inch TFT display. While CFMoto has yet to reveal the price or availability of the 450MT in the U.S., its 450NK and 450SS motorcycles, which share the same engine, have starting prices of $5,399 and $5,699, respectively.

Harley Davidson launched the Pan America 1250 in 2021. This was the brand's first take on adventure motorcycles, promising riders an explore-it-all machine. The Harley Davidson Pan America 1250 is a rugged adventure motorcycle with a cutting-edge design, a powerful Revolution Max engine, and a $19,999 starting price. The Revolution Max is a 1,250-cc liquid-cooled V-twin with 150 hp and 94 lb-ft of torque. This engine promises flexible and engaging performance, delivering low-speed throttle control and smooth low-end torque for off-roading.

Unlike most motorcycles, the Pan America 1250 doesn't have a traditional frame. Instead, Harley Davidson bolts the front, mid, and tail sections to the powertrain, resulting in a stiff chassis and reducing the overall weight. The Pan America 1250 also gets an aluminum swingarm, helping reduce the unsprung weight. This helps Harley Davidson achieve a wet weight of 534 pounds on the Pan America 1250 and 559 pounds on the Pan America 1250 Special.

For off-road riding, Harley Davidson fitted the Pan America 1250 with passive front and rear suspension with adjustable compression, rebound, and preload damping. The Pan America 1250 has 1.85-inch upside-down Showa forks at the front and a Showa Piggyback reservoir shock at the rear, giving it 7.48 inches of suspension travel. As for the tires, the motorcycle rides on 19-inch front and 17-inch rear tires fitted around lightweight and strong-cast aluminum wheels. Additional features of the Pan America 1250 include five riding modes, a 6.8-inch TFT touchscreen, and cornering rider safety enhancements.

At the 2019 EICMA show in Milan, Husqvarna unwrapped 10 thrilling models, including the Norden 901 concept. This was to be the brand's first adventure motorcycle, boasting a twin-cylinder engine and a distinctly modern design. After the show, Husqvarna confirmed production of the Norden 901, and the model hit dealer floors in 2021. Powering this modern adventure machine is KTM's 899-cc twin-cylinder engine with 105 hp at 8,000 rpm and 73.7 lb-ft of torque at 6,500 rpm.

In addition to its torquey motor, the Norden 901 uses a steel trellis frame suspended with fully adjustable WP Apex shocks. At the front, the Norden 901 uses 1.69-inch upside-down forks, offering 8.7 inches of travel. The rear uses a WP Apex mono-shock, which offers 8.5 inches of travel, as well as preload and rebound adjustability. Like most of its adventure rivals, the Norden 901 uses 21-inch front and 18-inch rear wheels wrapped in Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tires.

Husqvarna offers the Norden 901 with an array of components, including a quick shifter, three standard riding modes, cruise control, motorcycle traction control, and off-road ABS. All these features contribute to the 2024 Norden 901's starting price of $14,899, over $400 more than the 2023 model.

The V100 Stelvio is Moto Guzzi's take on a modern Stelvio, ditching the 1,200-cc air-cooled engine of its predecessor for a compact 1,042 cc liquid-cooled V-twin engine. The 2024 model shares its engine with the V100 Mandello, and both produce 115 hp and 77.4 lb-ft of torque. The V100 Stelvio also shares features like cornering ABS, cruise control, and traction control with the Mandello. However, Moto Guzzi's adventure bike retains some unique stylistic and technical features, including the shaft final drive and 90-degree V-shaped engine.

It also has exclusive features, like five riding modes: Strada, Sport, Pioggia, Turismo, and Off-road. These modes affect traction control and ABS cornering, and the rider can also tweak their parameters from the 5-inch TFT display. The V100 Stelvio uses a trellis frame and adopts the Mandello's engine as a stressed member architecture. This makes room for 19-inch and 17-inch front and rear cross-spoke wheels, wrapped in Michelin Anakee Adventure tires.

Unlike most adventure bikes, the V100 Stelvio doesn't have a semi-active suspension. Instead, it features 1.8-inch Sachs upside-down front forks with 6.7 inches of travel and an adjustable KYB rear shock. The 2024 V100 Stelvio lineup features two options: the Stelvio and PFF Rider Assistance Solution. The latter offers more advanced technological solutions, including 4D radar technology for a wider field of vision, forward collision warning, lane change assist, blind spot information system, and adaptive cruise control.

Yamaha introduced the Ténéré 700 in 2019, and since then, it has become one of the go-to middleweight adventure bikes thanks to its versatile chassis and torque-rich engine. For serious dirt riding, the Ténéré 700 features a long travel suspension with 1.68-inch upside-down forks at the front boasting 8.3 inches of travel. At the rear, Yamaha fits a linkage-type shock with 7.9 inches of travel. This shock has a remote preload adjuster, allowing the rider to finely tune for different riding conditions.

The T7 shares its engine with the MT-07 naked motorcycle, a 689-cc fuel-injected parallel-twin engine with smooth power delivery. This parallel twin engine boasts Yamaha's Cross Plane Crankshaft concept, which can be traced back to the XTZ759 Dakar dominating race bikes. Its 270-degree crank provides linear torque development and helps make the engine compact, giving the rider better off-road confidence.

Yamaha also gave the T7 with dirt-ready spoked wheels, which can mount 21-inch front and 18-inch rear tires. For the 2024 model year, Yamaha added three modes of selectable ABS, a 5-inch color TFT display, Y-Connect smartphone connectivity, and quick shifter capability. However, these improvements increase the T7's starting price to $10,799, $300 higher than the 2023's $10,499 starting price.