In my past contributions to this page, I have been typified as a negative complainer. Such is not the case! I have a deep love of motorcycling, its history, and its culture. I simply fear that the things that we appreciated about motorcycles in the past, the ideals that made us enjoy riding, are vanishing.
Perhaps you feel differently, and that is fair enough. However, to show that I am no constant whiner, I have put together some positivity for you here. Here, in no particular order, are what I consider to be the best-looking adventure motorcycles in history.
BMW R100 GS
A pair of R100 GS models in action at the XVIII Costa Brava Historic Rally in Palamos, back in 2021. This full-frontal photo shows the difference between the low-mount and high-mount fender. Obviously the high-mount is practical when riding off-road, but if you are sticking to tarmac and easy unpaved surfaces, the low-mount looks much better. Photo: adolf martinez soler/Shutterstock.com
It is only fitting to start this list with the bike that turned so many to the adventure travel scene. The R80 G/S was not the first adventure bike, but it laid out a pattern that has held for 40 years.
The first-generation BMW R100 GS in Paris-Dakar trim. Look at those business-like cases. Very Teutonically sensible. Photo: BMW
The second model in the series was the far better-looking R100 GS seen here, which came in both the Paris-Dakar style and a more road-going standard style. Both those models were good-looking, and so was the R80 GS, which was basically the same machine but with a smaller bore.
This will be debatable to some readers, but for my money, BMW’s GS line looks its best in the classic “bumblebee” yellow-and-black paint. See it on the R80 GS below:
The 1991 BMW R80 GS. Both the R80 and R100 models got a slight redesign this year. Both were still very good-looking machines. Photo: BMW
I think most people agree with me, because these bikes seem to attract a premium on the used market. Your opinion may differ, but that is all right. You have a right to be wrong. The fact that people shop for mass-produced art at Wal-Mart proves the point that good taste is not universal.
Honda XL750 Transalp
Photo: Honda
I have heard some dislike for this bike’s styling. Pay no attention to the detractors. In an age where moto designers have given up trying to gracefully disguise the radiators and electrical components of a motorcycle, choosing instead to haphazardly throw plastic covers at the bike in a mish-mash of colors, Honda’s staff did the opposite. The current-generation XL750 Transalp is a beautiful bike.
A pair of Transalps in Sicily, in 2023. Honda’s tricolor paint scheme seals the deal on these very gorgeous machines. Photo: VILTVART/Shutterstock.com
Yes, it is covered in plastic to hide the ugly parts, but that plastic flows gracefully, just like the original Transalp models. The European version of this motorcycle, with its red/white/blue paint, is one of the best-looking motorcycles for sale today, especially since it has no silly and un-needed “beak.” Sorry, for you Yank readers—the black model that Honda is selling you is terrible-looking. Perhaps you will get the proper colors as an option next year.
KTM 990 Adventure
Visually arresting, as soon as you see one. This styling has lived on in some of KTM’s newer models, but none of them nailed it so well. Photo: KTM
Speaking of plastic-covered machines: It is possible that no motorcycle outside the world of sportbikes has ever worn its plastics so well as the KTM 990 Adventure. The aggressive angles all over the bike tell you exactly what the machine is about, and the sharp-contrasting blue and orange paint perfectly complements the attention-grabbing lines.
The white-and-orange version from 2013, also a good-looking bike. Other paint versions were made over the years, including orange fairings. I have yet to see a paint job that made this bike look bad. Photo: KTM
Years later, I suspect this plasticky perfection is what the Honda CRF250 Rally was aiming for. It missed, badly, thanks to too much visual clutter jammed into the smaller bodywork panels. KTM’s 990 is mean-looking yet also beautifully simplistic, and I believe it is one of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made, of any genre. Designed as big bikes faded out of the Dakar Rally, the 990 still whispered dreams of extra-terrestrial speed across desert landscapes. Or at least endless wheelies down your local back lanes.
Yamaha TDR250
Photo: Yamaha
This bike’s bodywork is too blocky for my liking, but Yamaha has two other good points here. The blue-and-yellow paint scheme is highly distinctive, and that big expansion chamber is a visual cue that this is not your standard 250 piddler. Finally, while this bike could have used more smoothing out, visually speaking, the squarish tank and sqatted stance makes it appear surprisingly futuristic, considering it is a design from the late 1980s. Perhaps the designers had spent too much time watching Akira on repeat, as this machine appears to be directly influenced by the bosozoku bikes in that film.
CCM GP450
Everything you need, nothing you do not. One part I especially appreciated is the small luggage mount in back, which is both aesthetically pleasing and practical. If a small company like CCM is able to figure this out, why are the major OEMs not smart enough to do so? It would improve their products immensely.
Another small-bore adventure bike that sold around the mid-2010s. It is most unfortunate that CCM was not able to drop the price low enough to capitalize on the interest in this bike at its launch. At the time of its creation, serious adventure travellers were quite keen on the idea of someone finally building a lightweight adventure bike. I remember hearing quite a bit of chatter about it, but I know nobody who bought one. It was too expensive.
The GP450 was really a rally replica, but perhaps too early to capitalize on that market. Photo: CCM
Aside from its excellent power-to-weight ration, the GP450 was also a very good looking machine. It is easy to avoid any needlessly ugly parts bolted on if you are emphasizing light weight, and you have no space to attach hideous plastics anyway.
Suzuki DR650 Djebel
This French advert shows a lovely machine in its natural element.
I believe the current Suzuki DR650 is a very good-looking motorcycle, but it is more of a dual sport than it is an adventure bike. The original kickstart-only DR650 model of 1990 was more of a travel-oriented bike in its Djebel configuration, with larger fuel tank and what I consider to be a practical mini-fairing. The adverts of that era very much portrayed it as a motorcycle capable of knocking out hard desert miles, as you can see above. Earlier DR650s had more of a hulking, take-all-comers look than the current models, and I consider this to be one of the best-looking 650s ever made from any manufacturer. The hulking shoulders of the fore-end say it: This bike is made for hard business. This bike has nothing it doesn’t need, and everything it does.
Well, except for an electric start.
Interestingly, the Djebel badge was also thrown at the DR200 and the DR250. On the DR200 Djebel, the tank explicitly said “For Touring,” although most Western riders would shrink from the idea of using such a small motorcycle for travel. Nevertheless, these bikes came with reasonably long fuel range due to their petrol-sipping nature. A metal headlight guard and rear rack gave them a no-nonsense look, and some out-of-the-box capability. See a slightly modified version here. While far from the size that most American riders want, these are a good-looking and practical machine to explore Latin America or Asia on a budget.
Harley-Davidson MT500
What red-blooded boy could resist a spin on this martial machine? This 1999 model sold at auction in 2017. It appears to be in very good nick, with all the army boxes included. Photo: Bonhams
I expect I will draw some heat for this one, but I do not care. For my money, this is one of the most interesting-looking adventure bikes ever made. Perhaps it is a stretch to call it that, but given that it was made to haul massive loads of equipment over long distance, I think it could fit the bill.
Purely utilitarian styling that screamed Cold War, even long after the Berlin Wall had fallen. There was also a 350 version of this bike that was probably a better machine. Photo: Bonhams
Most readers will probably know the MT500 was built around a Rotax engine and sold to militaries around the world. The machine was a very early 1980s design that somehow lasted far longer than it should have. The bikes themselves were generally fairly terrible, but visually, they are quite unique. Dual shocks, plus massive cases attached to the front of the bike, plus a gun case, plus an olive green paint job all added up to a bike that looked like it belonged in a GI Joe cartoon. Yet, believe it or not, these were reportedly available in American Harley-Davidson showrooms at some point. Or so Internet legend would have you believe.
It is too bad that Harley-Davidson did not develop this model with better suspension and slightly updated engine. They could have had a proper adventure bike years before the release of the Pan Am.
Husqvarna 701 Enduro LR
Photo: Husqvarna
The Husqvarna 701 Enduro has beautiful modern aesthetics, but the short-lived LR version, with its larger tank, is preferable to me. Given the readily available rally fairings on the market today, a buyer can turn this machine into whatever they want, if they require bodywork for housing a roadbook or simple weather protection. Or they can leave the bike un-changed, stripped down for long-distance enduro riding as the name implies. There is something inherently attractive about a bike with no-nonsense capabilities, and the 701 Enduro LR has that look, in spades.
Honda XRV750 Africa Twin
While the paint jobs weren’t pretty, the bike was visually excellent otherwise, and backed up its looks with good performance on and off road. Photo: Honda
The current-generation Africa Twin is a perhaps the best-looking adventure bike over 1000 cc, but I am not sure if it will be a classic, and I am sure that the original XRV750 is most certainly a classic. One of the best-respected adventure touring bikes ever, Honda also blessed this machine with gorgeous bodywork that drew heavily from the endurance racing look. Those big dual headbeams combined with a choppy-looking tailsection and massive aluminum bash plate all screamed capability.
BMW F650 GS Dakar
The F650 GS Dakar was perhaps not as capable as its looks implied, but many people traveled the world on these sensible singles. Photo: BMW
Let us end this where we started, with BMW. While the big-bore GS models drew all kinds of lavish praise over the decades, the 650 singles sold extremely well and were often a more practical choice for many round-the-world travelers. I think it is a hard pick as to which was the best-looking, although it easy to pick the worst-looking—that would be the Scarver, which drew its inspiration from the iMac.
Almost all the 650 models had excellent styling for their time. Photo: PT Pictures/Shutterstock.com
Aprilia was heavily involved with the early 650 development and production, which is probably a good part of the reason why most of the single-cylinder bikes looked good. I personally believe the choice for best-looking of the singles would come down to the Dakar model above or the G-series XCountry, which had a bold neo-scrambler look.
This G650 XCountry has been tastefully set up for touring. Photo: @rockydog
I think most people prefer the Dakar, though, and it’s hard to argue with them. Visually, the only real downside is the horribly spindly fork. Would it have killed BMW to put fork gaiters on that bike at least?
