Australian Adventure Bike

Our goal in ULTIMATE ADVENTURE BIKE AUSTRALIA is to appreciate everyone that’s having a crack — big or small — and enjoying whatever it is that’s an adventure to you. Hopefully, along the way we can steer you in the right direction (pun kinda intended) and bring to the fore just how much fun and how liberating adventure riding is. The adventure bike scene is one of the most vibrant across the globe and nowhere is it more relevant than in this vast sunburnt country. We were built by adventurers and the need to explore is in our blood. There’s never been a better time to do it on a motorcycle with an amazing array of machines and gear available for all. And now they’re finding freedom once again on bikes that take them back in bush and well beyond, in a less aggressive environment. Now is the time to reach those riders. Readers will be treated to the highest quality photography and journalism with bike tests and bucketlist rides leading the features. Each issue will also have dedicated ride tutorials and handy on track how to’s and will be chockas full of gear and accessories that we know this audience loves.

Ultimate Adventure Bike

COULD IT GET ANY CLOSER?

SAND SURFING

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

LIGHT IS RIGHT

KTM BOOSTS 1290 SUPER ADVENTURE R

KOVE MOTO ON THE MOVE

PIERER SAYS: NO 490 TWIN FOR YOU!

CFMOTO 800MT GOES EXPLORING

SLOW COACHING

A FINE INTRODUCTION

ALPINESTARS TECH-AIR 5 VEST

TACKLE TASSIE WITH MOTOADV

RHINO REVISITED • When BMW Motorrad Australia offered us the chance to get reacquainted with the mighty R 1250 GS Adventure Rallye X, we couldn’t wait to get back in the saddle and do a little Rhino taming.

STARTING OUT • With so many new riders getting all fired up to hit the adventure highway, we figured the time was ripe to cover some vital topics that will help first-time ADVers enjoy a ride to remember rather than a ride to forget!

DACK ATTACK • Absolutely no-one is immune to the impact of the ADV riding bug when it bites. It’s been 30 years since Mr Motocross Craig Dack retired from racing, but just like the rest of us, he now has an adventure bike parked in his garage — and he’s keen to use it.

GRAVEL TRAVELLER • If you go down to the woods today, chances are you might just be confronted by a Suzuki V-Strom — or two. They’ve been breeding like rabbits, and while the venerable V-Strom 650 XT continues, there’s now a pint-sized 250 and an all-new 800 is coming. Two new 1050s have recently touched down in Oz, highlighted by the most dirt-ready V-Strom ever, the 1050 DE.

EDGE OF THE SEAT • Why pay for a whole seat when you’ll only need the edge! It’s a fabulous tout used by sporting and entertainment promoters for decades, and this year’s Dakar Rally certainly had us on the edge of our seats. In the end, Aussie rally racing overlord Toby Price came up just 43 seconds short after 14 days and almost 5000km of competitive racing. Amazing!

THE PROFESSOR’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE: PART 1 • Sometimes a bloke just has to do, what a bloke has to do. And if that means flying halfway around the world to help a bunch of your best mates get the suspension sorted on their new bikes, in return for a couple of weeks of awesome riding in northern California, well, you can count on the Professor to get the job done. His new motto might just be: ‘Have shim stacks, will travel!’

A PROJECT OF THE HEART • No sooner are we done with one project bike build than AAB Editor At Large Dave Darcy is launching into the next! And this time he’s going hard with a sizzling single-cylinder Husqvarna FE 501 Heritage weapon that is set to become a ripping lightweight ‘Adventure Rallye’ machine.

DAKAR DREAM MACHINE • Every year the leading factory race team bikes in the Dakar Rally get us...