Sure, its a nice looking bike. If I was going to travel Europe or Latin America by road, this or something like it would be on my short list. Comfortable, fairly nimble, room to add several month's worth of gear, and suspension made to soak up those cobblestones and potholes. It definitely has a purpose.
But why, oh why, would anyone want to do this?
That's 500 pounds of bike with just fuel and fluids on board. Apparently the best thing to do with a 500 pound bike is add storage all over it so you can carry, according to BMW, another 465 pounds!
To compare, my XR400 tips the scales at about 287 pounds when my oversized 3.8 gallon tank is full to capacity. Granted, my bike is terrifying on the freeway, but who gets a dual sport to ride on the freeway? Every organized dual sport ride I've seen has one thing in common: maximum dirt mileage, minimum on pavement. Or is that two? So to me I would think a bike that is better on dirt would be the obvious compromise. According to my adventure bike brethren, not so much.
I asked once, and the best reason anyone could give me why they'd rather ride 500 lbs of expensive parts just begging to be snapped off, is that an adventure bike makes even an easy trail challenging...
To me that's like deciding to live your life in a wheelchair because "legs are easy man".
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