KIWI RIDER 07 2019 VOL.1 | Page 56

bikes poncing about on everything-catered- for “adventures” – which is not at all in the spirit of those two intrepid avatars of off-road glory, Obi Wan and Whatsisname, is it? Shall I amount of time and grace I spend climbing turn off the sarcasm now, or have you got it? single-track mountain passes, I’m far better Is the Triumph Scrambler XE a better bike off on a 1982 250 Honda chookie – just so than the BMW GS? you know. Not on any objective level. The GS is brilliant. That said, I had never considered buying a dedicated “Adventure” bike. I’ll ride what I got, The Triumph’s certainly less electronically complex, and normal people will be able to to wherever it needs to be ridden, or perish take it everywhere they can imagine they can in the attempt. I also don’t much like the overt, almost elitist take a GS. So it’s no less brilliant in my view. But this is not about which bike is better. wankery that goes with so much of this new wave of Adventure rider thing – basically This is about which bike I would buy if I had cashed up greybeards with little skill, less of to choose. a clue, but with fully-loaded, uber-equipped And I would buy the Triumph. STATEMENT 3: I WOULD BUY THIS OVER A GS. QUALIFIER 3: At my level of skill, and with the 56 KIWI RIDER