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KTM890 Adventure R | BMW F 850 GS Adventure | Honda Africa Twin - Specs Comparison
Nov 15, 2022
This is NOT a road test or review of these bikes. Subscribe for those in the near future ;)
I've simply compiled a resources of specifications of the 15 most popular adventure bikes on the market today. In this video, I show where on the list the three most popular mid-sized adventure bikes fit in.
Check out the specifications of the 15 most popular adventure bikes at: https://adventurebiketroop.com/adv
For more on the BMW F850GS Adventure and Honda Africa Twin, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeg_D3XAOIc
For the 5 major upgrades of the KTM 890 Adventure R over the 790 Adventure R, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHDSZDGSQJA
Yes, the BMW F850GS Adventure has 95 hp in other countries, but in the US it is 90 hp (see: https://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/en/models/adventure/f850gs-adventure/technicaldata.html)
#BMW850GSA #KTM890AdventureR #HondaAfricaTwin
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0:00
In this video we chat about the BMW F850 GS Adventure, the Honda Africa Twin base model
0:09
and the new KTM 890 Adventure R. Hi I'm Fransu from AdventureBikeTroop.com where we chat about bike riding, maintenance
0:18
travel tips and more. Please give this video a thumbs up and subscribe to this video now
0:24
In this video we're looking at the medium sized adventure bikes around $14,000 to $15,000
0:32
and we've got three in mind. It's the BMW F850 GS Adventure model, the Honda Africa Twin, the standard
0:39
and the KTM 890 Adventure R and all available in 2021. Now these bikes cost almost exactly the same. If you look at the list here, they're right next to each other
0:51
So they are directly comparable. I just have to note here that it's the standard Africa Twin
0:57
And the BMW is the GS Adventure model. Those are more or less the same price
1:02
Now I have a very strong bias towards Japanese bikes. And this will come through in the video maybe
1:08
So for that reason I ask of you please. If you like any of the other bikes
1:14
Or if you own any of these three bikes. Please comment below with what you like about the bikes
1:19
If there's anything you disagree about. or if you have any questions please comment below and let's make this a
1:24
helpful and useful resource for anyone interested in these bikes. Now this video
1:29
I'm just going to look at the specs and obviously if you are interested in a new
1:33
adventure bike or any bike for that matter nothing beats getting on the bike
1:37
and test riding it for yourself. I mean these are just figures and on paper the
1:41
bikes might compare in a certain way but it only really what really matters is how
1:47
it feels and how it makes you feel when you're on the bike. So get out there get
1:51
on a buddy's bike or go to a dealership and take the bike for a spin. So if you
1:56
look at the prices there's about a $250 difference between the bikes with the
2:02
GS Adventure at the top end and this is the 40th anniversary Adventure so there's
2:07
new color scheme it's an awesome looking bike and then the Africa Twin for this
2:12
year it looks like they swapped around the colors the standard model on the US
2:16
site now has the Honda racing blue white and red colors whereas the adventure
2:22
model has the bland and simply black or red colors in the 2020 model range was
2:28
the other way around so that's nice if you're looking for the standard model if that is the case but as far as the website goes that is what it seems like
2:34
and I had a comment to this effect as well and then the KTM we're looking at
2:38
at this price is the new 2021 890 Adventure R. So if you want a more comprehensive video on this
2:47
newly launched bike, it was in November 2020 that it was launched or announced, you can check out
2:52
the video somewhere here or in the description below. So the 790 Adventure R is still available
2:59
but that's at $500 less, and it will most probably be discontinued since they offer both at more or
3:05
the same price. So let's start with power. For some reason power is always the
3:12
first thing that is created and that's the thing we love to see is the power figures and that also one of the figures that is very difficult to find online If you look at the manufacturers websites it difficult to find the power figures and also if you look at magazines and spec sites it often inconsistent So what I found and I looked at different sources
3:33
is the Honda is the most powerful at 105 horsepower, then the KTM is more or less 100 horsepower
3:39
depending on where you look, that's 10% more than the 790, so this is the 890 Adventure R
3:45
And then the BMW is quoted at 90 horsepower. It's quite a bit less than the other two
3:50
Someone or more than one person commented on my previous video linked up here or in the description below
3:56
that the BMW actually has 95 horsepower. Now, if you look at different BMW sites, BMW Motorrad sites, you'll find 95 horsepower in some cases
4:07
But in the US site, it's quoted at 90 horsepower. I've also got the description or the link in the description below
4:14
So that's 105 for the Africa Twin with that bigger engine. It's almost 200cc bigger than the other two
4:21
And then the KTM at 100 horsepower. BMW way behind 90 horsepower
4:27
But power figures on paper doesn't mean anything. If you get on the bikes, it's a very different situation
4:33
Where they deliver the power, how they deliver the power, how they put down the power on the ground
4:37
And if you couple that with the suspension. But what I can say is at this level, at these power figures
4:43
it doesn't really there's not much in it all of these bikes if you're at highway
4:48
speeds it's very easy to pass I mean they can all do 200k is an hour plus
4:54
that's 125 miles per hour plus so way above the speed limit and then if you
4:58
play in the dirt with a 500 pound adventure bike I mean 100 horsepower is
5:04
more than enough to get you to trouble and to seriously do some crazy stuff so
5:09
more than enough power but what is more important for me is how these
5:14
manufacturers have managed to get this power out of these bikes and there's a
5:20
big difference between the Honda on the one hand and then the BMW and the KTM on
5:24
the other so Honda has a much bigger engine I mean it's almost 1100 cc's
5:30
versus the others that is about 850 900 cc so that's a much bigger engine only
5:36
slightly more power and if you look at the compression ratio almost 10 I think
5:40
it's 10.1 to 1 for the Honda so much lower so much less stressed engine to get
5:46
that power versus BMW and KTM and if I look at the compression figures I'll put
5:53
it up on the screen as well BMW is at 12.7 to 1 and then KTM the 890 Adventure
6:00
are at 13.5 to 1. And all else being equal, that just means the Honda will be more durable and more reliable
6:10
And you can see that's why I like the Japanese stuff. The way they deliver the power, it might be more primitive
6:16
but if you squeeze out every ounce of power out of every cc
6:20
something has to be compromised. And if you go far out into the unknown on these very modern bikes
6:28
I would prefer something that is understressed rather than at the limit of the engineering
6:35
design. So the next thing we're going to compare is the weight and this is
6:39
maybe a bit more real or practical and a more important consideration if you going to tour this these bikes and this is where the KTM is miles ahead it at 464 pounds so this is weight weight so fully fueled
6:56
that is more than the 790 Adventure R so that's about how much is that 40 16 pounds more but
7:03
it's a bigger engine but it's still way less than the Honda at 498 pounds so the Honda is
7:10
at least slightly under the 500 pounds remember this is a standard model with a smaller tank
7:14
and then the BMW is still very heavy 538 pounds someone mentioned that the newer one will be
7:20
lighter but the adventure model that we're looking at here at this price is still 538 pounds that's
7:26
as per the manufacturer's website 40th edition. So the BMW is definitely a much heavier bike
7:33
But it is a very balanced bike. Now if you look at the power to weight figures
7:38
this is where the power delivery and how it feels makes a difference
7:43
So the power versus the weight, you'll see the KTM is ahead of all these by all the other two
7:48
but only slightly ahead of the Honda. That's 23, well, 0.23 horsepower per pound versus 0.2 for the Honda
7:56
the BMW because it's so heavy and underpowered at 0.17 so the KTM definitely the more dynamic bike in terms of power to weight ratio
8:08
and just to put that in perspective the KTM 890 Adventure R versus the BMW at the same price
8:16
same engine size more or less is a 35% more power to weight
8:22
And that's quite a lot. So it just gives you an idea of the sportiness of the KTM versus the BMW
8:30
And now another real-life consideration. I mean, these are adventure bikes. And if you are going to tour with this bike, fuel tank size is a big consideration
8:40
And let's be honest, we're not going to put some cheap plastic tank like an Acerbus or a Cherbis, Acerbus
8:48
I don't know how you pronounce it YMS tank on a BMW or a KTM
8:53
a 15,000 pound bike So if it has a big tank as standard
8:57
it's nice And also carrying fuel on an adventure bike there's the extra danger
9:02
the inconvenience it could spill fire dangers etc So if you get a big tank as standard
9:09
it's a big help Now because we're looking at the adventure model here for the BMW
9:13
that is the one with the bigger tank so that's 6.1 gallons that's a full gallon more than the Africa Twin, the standard Africa Twin
9:21
Now you can get a bigger tank on the Africa Twin Adventure Sports, the ES model has 6.5 gallons, so one and a half gallons more
9:28
That's almost $3,000 extra. So at this price, the BMW wins, and then the KTM slightly behind at 5.3 gallons
9:37
and the Africa Twin, 5 gallons. It would have been nice if the Africa Twin had the big tank on the base model as well
9:44
but it doesn't. so that's the tank size. Next, so now we're looking at
9:51
off-road ability. So obviously you have to ride the bike yourself to make any comment on the ability off-road and it's also going to depend
10:00
on the rider to the for the most part But the ground clearance is something that BMW doesn quote so I can show that but we have suspension travel and if you look at the list of all I think it 15
10:14
or 16 bikes there's also a link to the article on all the adventure bikes and
10:19
then you'll see it's in the top half that these three are all more off-road
10:24
biased and the KTM it's no surprise that it has the longest travel suspension
10:28
at almost 240mm front and rear and then the Honda Africa Twin is slightly behind
10:35
and the BMW almost level with the Honda so there's almost nothing in it
10:39
they're all long travel suspension they all have a lot of ground clearance
10:43
so these bikes are very capable off-road even though they are very heavy
10:48
so that is the specs comparisons so if we look at features
10:52
it's very difficult again I mean all of these bikes have a very long list of features
10:56
So I'm just going to mention one or two for each of these bikes. So the first one, let's start with the KTM 890 Adventure R
11:04
Something they mentioned there is that it has now a cruise control button as standard on the handlebars
11:10
but it still doesn't have cruise control. So you still have to buy that as an optional extra
11:15
It still has that dialable traction control. So that is an awesome feature
11:18
I think it's from zero to nine. You can dial in the traction control exactly as you like it for the amount of skid or amount of rear wheel slip that you want
11:27
So that's a very neat feature that the other bikes don't have. Then the Honda Africa Twin has cruise control as standard
11:34
Only bike, and this is the base model, not even the Adventure Sport ES model, has traction control
11:40
So that's nice. It's a pity that the other two bikes does not have this as standard
11:44
The BMW has it as an option, but only if you buy the premium package, which is $2,150 extra
11:52
There's a whole long list of optional extras on the BMW, but some standard features as well
11:58
which you can go and check out, again, at the link below or on BMW's website
12:05
One thing that the BMW does have is what? Oh, if you do look at the BMW press release, so for the 40th edition, there's a whole long list of additional or optional features that you get
12:20
But the main thing that they mention in the press release section for the 850 Adventure, the GS Adventure model, is the color schemes
12:30
I mean, really, that is the biggest difference from the previous model. So it's a pity that you have to pay that much extra
12:37
And that's why it is a bit misleading If you look at the prices At the same
12:41
So you really should be able to Or you should compare A fully specced 850 GS Adventure
12:47
With the Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports ES model And then there are more comparable bikes
12:54
And then on the Honda you get tubeless spoked rims Which is awesome
12:58
Thanks again for joining And if you have any comments or any additional information on any of these bikes
13:04
anything you disagree with, or if you own these bikes and want to share your experience
13:08
about the reliability and the cost of ownership, please comment below. Let's make this a useful resource for the watches out there
13:16
And please subscribe to this channel, give it a thumbs up and share it
13:20
and hit that bell button thing to get notifications in future. Thank you for joining, and I'll see you next week
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