HD ENTERING THE ADVENTURE MARKET
W
hile motorcycle sales in general
have seen a decline over the past
decade in the USA a few manufac-
turers have bucked trends and seen
sales grow. Honda, KTM and BMW
have all increased sales, thanks
largely due to the adventure market and this has seen a
traditional American maker change its overall outlook.
Harley Davidson has announced that it will enter the
adventure travel scene with a V-twin based bike called the
Pan America.
While keeping to the traditional V-twin engine format,
everything else is promised to be high-tech and provide
the adventure travelling motorcyclist with everything they
need. Exact details are yet to be released however, it has
been confirmed that the Pan America will be released
some time during 2020.
250 V-STROM READY FOR AUSTRALIA
Suzuki has announced that the small capacity of their
V-Strom range of bikes will be available in Australia as we
go to press with issue 08 of Traverse.
Priced at AU$7,190.00 the smaller of the DLs will also
have Suzuki's 12-month, unlimited warranty.
Based around Suzuki's successful GSX250R the 250
V-Strom will weigh in at just 188kg wet, perfect for new
riders or those wanting something at the small end of the
range.
The DL250 looks the goods but will it match up to the
expectations of its larger siblings?
LONG WAY UP
News broke recently that the long rumoured Long Way
Up adventure will finally go ahead.
The duo that starred in the previous Long Way Round
and Long Way Down television series, Ewan McGregor
and Charley Boorman, will again take on an epic ride this
time from Ushuaia in South America to Alaska in North
America.
Planned for filming in 2019, Long Way Up (and the pre-
vious two series) has long polarised the adventure motor-
cycle community. Regardless of your views there's no dis-
agreeing that the series set many adventurers on the road.
TRAVERSE can't wait for Long Way Up to hit the screens.
RENT A RIDE
BMW Motorrad has launched a motorcycle rental pro-
gram that allows riders to short term rent the BMW bike
of their choice directly from dealers.
Riders can book the bike through a web platform or
smartphone app and complete the package with rented
gear and accessories. Rent A Ride matches BMW Automo-
biles similar DriveNow program and is currently available
in Germany, Austria and France.
TOURATECH EVENT
Touratech Australia's popular Travel Event, Adventure
Challenge and Expo returns in 2019.
The event will again be held at Myrtleford in Victoria
over the weekend of March 15 - 17.
TRAVERSE 8