WITH THE EVER – BULGING ADVENTURE – TOURING MARKET GROWING IN POPULARITY, WE ASK: DOES BUDGET&EALLY AFFECT FORM AND FUNCTION?

scant few years ago, seeing bikes like these in Fast Bikes was a rare occurrence. As the years progressed, however, they began to encroach into our kind of territory. This was because these bikes were coming with added flair, bit by bit, until they were so much fun, we could ignore them no longer.

There are now several tiers in this division, differing in their range of usage to budgetary considerations. But what are these bikes actually used for? The truth is that the majority of them will never see real dirt in their lives. Of course, some do, but the mainstay of buyers mostly buy these because of whats delivered – a cracking road hack.

Many also go touring on them, because these kind of things are belting when ridden somewhere like the Alps and, should the highly unlikely scenario occur where you actually do need a modicum of off – road talent, be coincidentally pertinent at the same time.

So if this is the thing theyre most used for, surely they all do exactly the same job along differing slants? Also, do we go buy a hideously expensive Ducati Multistrada or image – perfect BMW GS, or a proper hardcore adventurer from KTM? Or do we set our sights lower, finding the gem amongst the race – derived bling?

A sensible place to start would be the Ducati Multistrada because its cool as hell, pricey, and ridiculously fast. A Ewan and Charlie clone, it aint. Thinking at the budget end, we could honestly look no further than Suzukis revamped V – Strom 650.

Never mind the brown colour scheme on our test bike, its a bike that exudes more cool than it has any right to, and looks like a bargain before its even turned a wheel. To mix things up further, we decided on a proper wild – card in Hondas Crossrunner – a bike boasting rave reviews but which nobody actually seems to be buying. Back on the Crossranners launch, I mentioned that I was reminded of thrashing a TDR250 around my home island of Jersey. That doesnt sound much like an adventure – tourers remit, but rather a lot of fun. So what better place to see whether the Crossrunners oddball charms can surpass the exotic Ducati and bargain Suzuki in the touring stakes, than Jersey itself. Hello, Condor Ferries?