BIG DIRT

Everywhere is arguably a good place to ride a motorcycle. But for going on a big dirt adventure, Utah ranks as one of the finest places on Earth. World-class scenery that includes five stunning national parks is connected by dirt roads and trail systems that take riders from desert to alpine forest. The vast expanses available make adventure bikes the logical choice because they offer the power, comfort, and range that allow a well-equipped rider to take it all in. It also makes Utah a great place to put adventure bikes to the test.

We sought the off-road-leaning middle ground in adventure machines—the Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sports DCT, KTM 1090 Adventure R, and Triumph Tiger 800 XCx—reasoning that 650cc singles don’t have the legs we were after, and larger adventure bikes wouldn’t be able to attack the technical terrain we wanted to experience. We’d hoped to include the new BMW F 850 GS, but it won’t be available until later this year (we are also looking forward to the forthcoming KTM 790 Adventure R and Yamaha Ténéré 700). So it would be three machines with similar intent but using differing engine configuration, suspension specification, and transmission type.

One thing would be the same: tires. Only the KTM 1090 Adventure R is equipped stock with dirt-worthy, Continental TKC80 rubber. The Africa Twin is fitted with