There’s no question about it: myself and AAB Editor at Large Dave Darcy are small-bore adventure bike fans. The fact we’ve just taken on a Honda CRF300L Rally as a project bike build certainly indicates that, not to mention the fact we’re already arm wrestling over who gets to keep the little red rooster when the project is over and done with.
But then again, we like mid-size and big-bore ADV bikes too. Yeah, we like ’em all. However, stacks of riders don’t, and instead look down their noses with disdain at the pint-sized power rangers: “They’re too small, too slow and you can’t carry all the gear you want!” they cry.
Now that’s a hard case to argue, but we’ll take any chance we can to head for the bush and live by the mantra ‘pack lean, ride light, go fast and go hard’. On a small-bore adventure bike that’s exactly how you play it, and we actually find it quite a refreshing ride compared to manhandling a big banger through tracks where they all too often work against you instead of working with you. And let us just say, there’s nothing like slicing past a big-bore bike on your pint-sized giant slayer when conditions are in your favour. Plus, it’s a bonus that you can pick your bike up on your own when you bin it, instead of having to wait
