Africa Twin vs. KTM 790 Adventure vs. BMW F850GS: Real Life Adv-Review 

...really, you should be the poster-child for all things ADV - you just represent the entire industry so very well and are an inspiration to get out and start yet another adventure ride as soon as possible - much thanks for all you do!

You are very lucky to have ridden these bikes where you have. Hats off to you sir and thank you for all your hard work

Very impressive that the panniers were large enough to bring a couch.

Great review. Thanks for doing this. I just bought a 2020 KTM 790 Adventure S. No buyer regret at all.

Could listen to this guy all day. He knows his stuff and actually uses the bikes as they were designed for. Excellent channel 👍🏼👏

Probably this is the best comparo/review i`ve seen on youtube

Excellent review of all three bikes - always hear about actual travel experience.

Just a few thoughts out of our garage. Weights - KTM out the door with good prep and fueled up - 198kg. Bmw with standard setup and some panniers fueled up - 230kg Africa twin advsports with all goodies - a whopping 256Kg. If You brake the tube type or the ktm front wheel whilst offroad - cost to repair 200-250 EUR. If You brake the BMW cross pattern (new for AT and the new tiger etc) about 800 eur. Air filter change - on the ktm 3 minutes. AT about an hour for both sides if You have crash bars etc. Full service for AT is 3-4hours . KTM about 1h20 minutes with sparks etc. BMW previous engine would run cooler and on good days the F800 used 3,6-3,9l/100km. Now with the 270 crank it has smaller tank and uses almost 5l/100km. :(

The best adventure bike channel on the entire internet

Nice work. You have a talent for reviewing while remaining open and un=biased. Something most others cannot do. Its hard to understand manufacturers and making such blatant missings, such as the AT, and that tool box, but far worse is, they themselves market it as more of a off road weapon, as seen in every single picture and video they produce. With different tires on it. But, the air filters???If you use the bike the way they market it, cleaning those filters, regularly is an absolute joke and embarrassment for them. For touring I think it a great bike and should be marketed that way. Not as a dirt bike. BMW, never had one, would like to try it, but 15 ltr's of fuel does not work in canada, anywhere. So Ktm it is.

Best big trails reviews. Keep that way.

We could have met at the M41.... been there last May with my 1090R. Awesome place! I thought about selling my bike and getting a 790R.... but as I do not ride any technical stuff but much mire onroad I will keep my 1090. Grear review!

This is how a review of adventure bikes should be done- by actually going on an adventure like how regular (i.e. non moto-journalist, non-racer etc) people would. It's odd how Dakar racers take adventure bikes for riding but forget the luggage in their camera van and backup vehicles and then decide to judge what is the best adventure bike out there! SMH Thank you Drivemag for always giving such honest content and logical reviews.

The 2020 Africa Twin has a whole host of improvements including cornering lights, cruise control and many others.

I loved watching all three documentaries and this follow-up comparison. Thank you for the massive effort and your unbiased reviews.

Another excellent review. You really are lucky to have ridden these bikes on the trips you completed, any one of which would be the trip of a lifetime for me from the UK. I bought the KTM a couple of months ago and agree about the screen, it's the worst of any bike I've had, not just lack of protection but the noise levels are crazy. But now completely cured by fitting a Madstad screen.

Took the F850 GS for a 3 hour test ride and liked it a lot. Even more then the 1250 GS. I took the 790 Adventure for a small ride on the highway. Seemed really nice but a bit light for highway riding. Nice engine. I will need to try it for a longer ride to make sure. Next is the new Africa Twin adventure Sport. Need to know what the new smaller version feels like. SO hard to make a choice. Thanks for all the videos.

Thanks Cristian, another work of excellence! Beautiful photography! PaulB

loved the unbiased review.

The Africa Twin has a hex key to open the tool kit attached to the underside of the seat. 😎

Torque is why I bought the Africa Twin. Torque is your friend in the slow technical stuff

You guys are awesome, I really enjoy your reviews! I like the angle of view you approach the comparisions! I also loved your Africa Twin tour to Kyrgyzstan, very honest video! Keep up the good work!

I applaud this review just for including adventurers that are well matched

Wonderful Review, i can clearly see how much you love what you do and its such a joy to watch your videos! Also ypu not forget to mention the little, but still important things (Light Performance, Onboard Tools, if the Tires are Tubeless or not). Keep it up this way, its great! Also the Camera work (especially when you are on tour) is just brilliant!

Hey KTM ! More work on that front on look ! Honda has it looking great, BMW is making strides in the right direction. All a work in progress, thank you for the ongoing efforts ! Cheers

Thks,good to hear your view.

Like the Really Annoying section. Every bike has at least one really annoying feature. KTM 790ADV is best bike there but it's screen adjustment is a joke. You are very entertaining. More reviews please.

You guys are literally crafting a new niche and showing how motorcycle vlogging should be done. Your camera work, cinematography, narrative, story telling and knowledge, yet keeping the wittiness and humour is just amazing, feels like watching netflix series. Loved your kyrgyzstan series, fell in love with your channel. From someone who loves travelling and have done 66+ countries and counting, you guys are so inspiring. Lots of regards and best wishes for future guys. I am so torn between BMW GS1250, Tiger 900 and Africa Twin right now, like nail biting dilemma. Here in India where i am based these days, Top Models of AT and Tiger 900 only have like 2-3K $ difference from top specced BMW GS1250, i love doing tarmac more but in India one can never be sure of what roads to expect so some off-roading and Himalayan road would be great.Hope you guys can provide some insights for me on this. Honda wins in servicing and parts costs, especially in India for sure.

Great review and honest opinion. The best thing about this review is that you actually went on a long and cross-terrain 'adventure' which is what these bikes are made for.

The BMW's power outlet is a standard Powerlet unit. Advantages over a regular automotive socket is (a) it's locking - your plug won't bounce out and (b) it has a much higher current rating.

this channel is so cool and honest. I really like the style of commentary,,, One question - how tall is the comentator? Comfort is a pain when you're tall :(

Great video, like always! It’s a pity you don’t have the latest version of the Honda for an actual comparison.

Uuuaaauu !! Great analysis about these motorcycles ! Congrats

Great review on these bikes!

You guys are really great in making detailed review .....

7:43 The tool is mounted underneath the seat (affixed to the seat).

Thanks for great video again. However to be fair you should compare new AT if comparing with new 790. New AT has new engine with more fun and it remebers the settings of TC, etc...

How fid u carry the Sofa to the jungle😁 curious to know.

Great comparison 👍🏻 thanks! I’m going to get a 890 KTM this summer if I’ll like it when I could try it after the snow gets away. It’s still some ice on the roads in the begging of April in the middle of Russia. It’s gonna be my first allroad bike after 100 thousand asphalt kilometres on Honda VTX 1800. Wish you lots of interesting trips in this season!

You have to use „User-Mode“ to save your settings, on your Africa Twin. I like, that I can‘t mess the default-modes permanently...

This is so unintentionally hilarious, great review.

Awesome recap and input. Thank you so much. Keep up the great work. Loved it.

if you ask me the most annoying thing on africa twin is that it doesn't have tubeless wheels. Just for the model 2020. So if you got a puncture on your back wheel you are done with the trip....

Hello, I've been trying to decide between Africa and the 790 for about half a year. My problem is that I am 1.64m tall and I weigh 55kg. I will use the motorcycle to go to work and do easy offroad, because I live in the mountains. I'm afraid that the weight of more than the Africa Twin and its high center of gravity compared to the 790, will end up throwing me to the ground some day in off foad

You guys are great. All of you. I really hope I could meet you and shake hands with you when I go to Romania touring. And your English (already good) really improved a lot during the last 2 years.

Having never ridden any of these bikes, I feel pretty confident I would choose the Honda.

You need a tool to get to the toolkit! LOL I love the orange sofa in the woods. (And the cow skull)

Great review, thanks for your work! Really balanced presentation and really well explained. Subscribed!

Good review,however, why you compare the regular bmw instead of the adventure model? Of course this one has less fuel. Second, I wish more reviewers were more mechanic inclined, and mention that,for example, the "ready to race" bikes have excellent feeling when changing gears,but you know why?, and why the bmw,for example,does not feel that smooth? Is because the ktm,in order to save weight, has tiny little gears compared to other bikes. Of course when the bike is new it will not matter, but after a few miles,wich one will be still running?. Don't take me wrong, I love all bikes,but each one has particular advantages, the ktm was built to be light, and as consequence, everything is minimalist, including the frame. On the opposite side,the heavy bmw,and I know because I have one, feels 10 times heavier than the ktm,but guess what, is made to be stronger,and even carry a passenger in comfort, and their gear. Same as the honda. Of course when you built the chassis and subframe for this it will be heavier . I disagree also on the protection of the bmw and Africa twin. I have the f850 adventure in exclusive model,and is way better than my friends afrika twin, but my bike comes from factory with the bigger screen and comfort seat. The bmw and honda are closer to in specs and way better on the road,and the ktm is the new klr 650 of the world, close to the tenere 700,bikes made way better for off road but worse for highway riding. Here in the states, highway riding is a must, since is a big country and you have to make hundreds of miles just to get anywhere. You are still one of the most awesome reviewers in you tube.keep it up!

I rarely comment but wow, great great video!

have an f850gs and totally agree. slipper clutch, gear shifting, quick shifter not so great but definitely not annoying after you figure out how to use them in the sweet spot and avoid just throwing it carelessly. The fork though, it's the first thing I'd consider changing if you ride on the street a lot. It dives uncontrollably and gets unpredictable at high speed cornering. Hoping to solve it with an aftermarket cartridge

Perfect vídeo full of details. Thank you!!!

For my 2019 Africa Twin, the traction control has 7 stages, and works well. It only resets if you have it completely off at 0, and on 1 it is very free and will remain on 1 if turned off and on. There are a few more changes for 18/19 models that improved the bike.

The tool for the afica is under the front seat.

Thanks for sharing about all the times you dropped these bikes. I dropped mine in a parking lot while touring with buddies, then a couple days ago putting it on the center stand in the garage. Felt so stupid, but I guess it's just part of owning a bike. Protip: don't wear flip flops when you're lifting the bike onto the stand!

On the bmw is really annoying the gps location if you use a tankbag, because you cant see the fckg gps, and you cant turn the handdlebar to the limit without hitting the tankbag.

Excellent video!! Good job.

As always, lots of great info and I like your presentation! 👍😊

Great video!! Very nice studio sofa!!!

Another informative and unbiased opinion piece, thank you. With the improvements made in the Africa Twin and alternative options on the GS adventure, even the manufacturer’s tests revealed similar areas to address. That said, still does not make my life easier since there are components of each bike I really want and I still can’t settle on the ideal compromise, even while riding on any of the bikes I own and having an honest discussion with myself of what I really need. I think the main issue is there are deal breakers in each of them despite their other fantastic characteristics. Yeah, I’m fussy, but it’s still my money currently in my bank account I’ll need to depart with.

Great youtube channel, very informative, unbaised and great content!!! Liked and subscribed!

The best review which I found on youtube! Thank you! Real life only.... real true only....!

Having owned F700GS and I could not find anything to say bad about the bike other than it needed a the power. I tried the F850GS and BMW changed the torque settings and riding an F850 from an F700, I did not like it. The F700 was more fun. I could push the bike on 2nd gear, whilst the F850 forces you to quickly change the gears

Thanks for a great review. Keep posting

love your passion mate.your adventures are always enjoyable.cheers from new zealand...

DUDE! You’ve been on some sick adventures! I gotta get out more with what I got and stop wishing I was as lucky as you 😂

Very informativ video. Thank's man 👌

when i saw couch in the middle of nowhere, i liked. 😂

A road trip video on triumph tiger 800 please

I want your job. Period. Great work guys, love your videos and your honest opinions!

Hi, All your reviews are excellent. Can you please review Ducati 950s ?

Thank you another great adventure bike video. 👍✔️

You’re the best moto reviewer on the internet. Wonderful adventure videos. I just bought a BMW F 850 GS 40 years edition and I’ll pick it up next week. Just one question fo you: how did you manage to film with your drone? Which model did you use on the road of bones? I was wondering how you can control it while riding the bike. Thanks a lot.

The tool for the tool kit is an allen key under the seat.

Great real life review. Thank you.

Great review, on the engine part I much prefer the honda, it just needs an exhaust to sound meaner :) The bmw felt very boring to me almost like and inline 4, without the sound or punch at the top.

Nice review, great high lights. But would check the dry weight. The AT Honda luggage is inconvenient to transport by hand due to those huge hooks. Lack of cruise control is a bis miss. The AT has a great reliability reputation compared to the KTM.

Perfect detailed review

So the allen wrench that is used for a good portion of the Africa Twin, and to access the "toolkit" is clipped into the bottom of the seat. The "toolkit" that the africa twin comes with is a screw driver and a small plastic clip, the screw driver does not actually fit in the little plastic box that honda calls a toolkit. There has been much talk in the Africa Twin community about what we can use that silly plastic box for. So far the leading suggestion seems to be mounting a plug for a battery tender.

Excellent job man!

Great honest review

Where do you guys drive, the views are insane

Very good video,please more details and vs Video.

If you have too take off luggage and bags to just be able to pick up the very bike you bought to ride on off road adventures, like in the video, then it is the wrong bike for the environment. The bigger an adventure bike the far less it becomes an adventure bike. Yes, an adventure touring bike, not an off road capable adventure bike. That fall was in a near perfect condition, image what it would have been like in a crappy spot. KTM is as big as we need for solo riding, make more 600cc bikes for us real adventure guys. great vid.

Great Review. Thank you.

tool to get the tool pack is under the seat, read manual. It's annoying but it's not confusing if you read the manual.

would like you to add an extension to this review to include the Tenere!

I guess the tool is called Allen Key.

Hi, thank you for the comparison. Do your feet get hot on the KTM? I mean, the fuel tank deflects all the wind? I had such experience with my current bike and small side bags mounted on the crashbars.

great video, very informative

Please review MULTISTRADA 1260 ENDURO!

So in the end.........no winner. Lovely.

Amazing job👏👏👏

I have a F850GS. The power socket is a minor issue. The stock windshield is useless and the engine sounds like a farm tractor compared to the Triumph Tiger. Also the fuel tank is small but it is very efficient and I have a one gallon Rotopax if I need it. I would rather do that than have a bigger tank (extra weight up high). Great summary, ugly couch!

Can your share which mapping app you use on your smartphone? We’ve done bicycle touring in Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Mongolia...and have historically used paper maps. But, am intrigued with modern technology.

Really great comparison! I am buying the 790 adventure soon. Keep up the good work! Best review between these I have seen so far.

Thanks for great review. How are tall are you?

nice video! what do you think about the Tiger 800 xca? how would you compare it to these 3?

I’ve looked through the video twice but I didn’t listen the final word - what is YOUR personal favorite among these bikes? What bike would you prefer to have in your garage for that kind of trips as the only one???

The respective engines of both BMW and KTM are based on naked sport bikes. But Africa Twin is a dedicated Adventure tourer, not a street bike converted into off-roader.