Why Big Bore Dual Sports Are Better Off Road Than Midweight ADVs | T7 vs 701 on Fast ATV Trails 

I own a 2023 T7 and a 2022 KTM 690 enduro r. I enjoy both bikes for different riding scenarios. The T7 is a great option for longer distances on the road and moderate off-road terrain. The 690 is a great option for shorter trips and more extreme terrain, and it's an absolute blast to ride! It's much lighter than the T7 and more maneuverable on the road and off, although it's not as comfortable to ride on long distance rides as the T7. The 690 is my go to bike for most of my rides. I have absolutely no problem keeping up with other riders with the 690 on the road regardless of the size of the bike other riders may have, and off road the 690 surpasses most all bigger adventure bikes (depending on a riders skill level) this is just my opinion and the experience I have with the KTM 690 enduro and the Yamaha T700. Both bikes are great!

Lots of expierence on that ride, and not only bike knowledge. Best rides are with dad, any family time is great time, whatever you do. Ben and Gerry...do you make ice cream? 😁😁

Those are some sweet looking trails! I'm envious. I'm inspired to go out and ride some back roads around here that are like those trails. Always a good ride when you get to go riding with your dad!

Everyone here kind of misses the point of a klr650…..it get you in the thumper game for cheap! I have over 200 for sale around me 100 miles or less. Gen 2 and gen 3. Heck there was a 2023 with 800 miles for under 5000. They are nice on the highway and a workout on any trail wide or not. If you choose to go off-road, you will be stressed the whole time. I like my klr on the street or dirt roads but not off road. It’s a great camping bike or a pack bike for day trips.

"Midweight ADVs"???? Unless you've attached the luggage to an ADV and then carried the camping gear and food to camp at least a few nights beside the dirt you're riding for a few of those ADV rides... I don't think you actually know what the word(s) 'ADV' mean. If you're back in the house or in a motel/hotel at the end of every day's riding, you're just doing day riding or motorcycle touring while carrying some spare clothes - not overnight dual sport/ADV that requires riding with the additional camping gear, food, clothing, etc. That said, if you choose to buy a bike that has the additional weight and associated design features of an ADV bike that affect handling for riding such as you're doing in this video, that doesn't mean you're wrong. It just means that you're comparing two bikes in an apples to oranges comparison that penalizes one bike to the advantage of the other. "test them on the ultimate dual sport / ADV proving grounds!" ??????? That's the ultimate dual sport/ATV proving grounds? That riding area? How many nights did you and those bikes camp there? You mentioned right at the beginning of the video that both bikes are bikes many people will put luggage on to ride around on camping for days and weeks at a time across the country - not bikes ridden with only the rider on them for a few hours at a designated off-road riding area before returning home. This is nowhere near "the ultimate test" or meaningful test of dual purpose/ADV bikes, nor is this test being run with both bikes set up for a dual sport/ADV ride versus a day ride for a few hours away from home. I'm posting that as somebody who has numerous times ridden the more remote and mountainous parts of the Continental Divide Trail - possibly the most favorite dual sport/ADV ride in America. Strap enough luggage on that Big Bore Dual Sport (a Giant Loop Great Basin that fits everything from WR250's to KTM Adventures riding the CDT should be fine) to enable it to do three or four days riding and camping on both the slab as well as the dirt. NOW ride it to the dirt of this off-road area and THEN compare the riding and handling characteristics of that big bore dual sport to the ADV bike carrying the same load. Both of these are very nice bikes. And this seems to be a nice riding area. But this isn't anywhere close to being a riding area comparable to dual sport/ADV riding like the CDT, and these two bikes aren't being compared in this test with both set up carrying the same kit to do overnight dual sport/ADV rides across the country.

My home trails - I live about 3 miles from the trails. They got pounded up pretty bad from the holiday weekend UTV traffic. Break out the T-Dub and come join us Aug 10 for the 1st annual Northwoods TDub Fun Run partially on these same trails.

I still think the best bike has to be 2 bikes. A performance dual sport (crf450/ktm500/husky501) and a midweight adv touring bike (t7/f800gs/tiger800) for road and longer adventures. Then if you break one bike you've still got the other to go have fun with! Not to mention the 500 is just so much better off road than the 690/701

I knew an 890R was no dirtbike, but I got one and its a great roadbike, and average gravel road bike...................then I found a deal on 21 690R..................Now that is a dirtbike, a big dirtbike but a dirt bike for sure, and it hauls ass, slides great, loves jumps, and does fine on the road....a really FUN bike!..................................reality is a 690 weighs close to 120lbs less than any 890R....it feels like 200 lbs less.

I just traded my DR650 for a FE 501s. So far I love it so much more than the DR. Is it perfect, no but the 501 is awesome.

Hum... T7 is a road bike able to go off-road. 690 is a dual sport bike able to go on road. Easy definition. If you're on gravel road (like a road so), T7 can be better and faster (if faster lot more tiring). As soon you're on track, 690 every day. I've a 690 and 890 adventure R. Friends have T7 and prepared Transalp. There are 3 road bikes here and 1 dual sport. Reliability? I know lot are bashing KTM but so many 690, 500... Have done more than 50000km, 60000, 75000, 100000 without problems. T7 , Transalp no problems? Haha... Search you'll be surprised, a lot. Let a T7 fall right side, bit had, not too hard, in the best case only exhaust is dead, can be worst. Japanese bike? Are you sure? Developed and manufactured in Thailand with lot of chinese components, more or less same as KTM😁

Gonna be different depending on what people want. I've owned a dr650 and now have a tenere 700. I just love the looks and attitude of the T7 and it can tear up some twisites in a way the dr could never do. Of course it won't be as good offroad in tough stuff but with good tires and a skilled rider it's just fine. The thumpers are excellent bikes for a do it all. You can do an adventure ride with long kms and hit single track on the same day. I won't be hitting skinny/twisty single track with my T7 and I'm ok with that.

Thanks for the great comparison! I see a comment in here about the 500s and they are right. If we could replace your T7 with the 500/501 the script is completely flipped. It’s interesting how the levels work. I’m familiar with the area you’re riding and it’s a great area. Our test area was always black river falls, I owned a 2010 husky te630 brand new and picked up a 2014 ktm 500exc brand new and boy I never looked back…it’s a real eye opener I will own that bike probably forever. However I bought a new Tuareg last month and took it about 3miles into the Black river falls sand and was very very quickly reminded of what an absolute weapon the 500 is. The Tuareg is going to be my all road multi state touring machine. The 500 is the bike of choice for pure off road and connecting trails. I know a lot of people don’t have the ability to own multiple bikes but if you could only have one I’d imagine with the right set up the 701 could cover everything ok and that would be the compromise. Maybe some day we will run into each other on the trails 😊

Weight. Say no more

I have been riding the ATAS more lately, lots of storms and rain too. I ripped the valve stem on the KLR rear, who would have thought.

The T7, Yamaha claims 70 or more HP......not in real life. I would think a 701 would pull away from a T7 in a drag race. 701 is 74HP at the crank, and is over 100lbs lighter. T7 is one top heavy scooter, with bargain bin suspension. But is a cool bike.

I’ve heard you mention husky reliability on this video and others, have you ever experienced any issues on your 701?

My 701 was slowly consuming oil with the recommended Bel-Ray oil. I switched to Amsoil and oil consumption is pretty much gone now and the bike seems to shift smoother.

Are those MSR pants good for hot weather riding?

Hey Swanky, does the company who made the skid-plate for the 701 make any for other bikes? That ones nice. peace

Those trails are great. Would love to have a go at them.

Just remove the baffle…