It's easy to go fast where the road is smooth and the path is clear. However, since the dawn of motorcycling people have gone off the beaten path and into the bush. Especially in the teens and 20s before WWII, many motorcyclists traveled long distances on sand, mud, gravel, and combinations thereof.
That trend never stopped in many parts of the world where robustness and ability to successfully navigate among obstacles were more important than top speed or luxury features. Because this a huge deal, and a large sector of the market, we picked several models that are among the most versatile of each makers' lineup.
10 Rokon TrailBreaker-Ranger
This is a new application of street lighting to the long-running range of two-wheel drive motorcycles made by Rokon. While this is not a bike you could take out on the highway, it can successfully navigate around town and on back roads at speeds up to about 24 miles per hour.
The two-wheel-drive allows it to cross areas that no other ATV and or almost any other personal vehicle can negotiate due to its small size and lightweight. The disc-shaped wheel option act as air tanks for flotation or storage tanks for liquids such as water or fuel. There are auxiliary kits such as water pumps, racks, and a small foldable sidecar for carrying supplies. This model offers enough to lawfully drive on farm roads.
9 Zero FX
This model is among Zero's older offerings and is good for around a 35-mile cruising range in between charges. It's a very reliable and easy to own electric motorcycle, and it weighs a few pounds more than most of its riders. It comes with various battery options and makes enough torque and power to hit just above 60 miles per hour.
It is highway legal, but it's more at home on the trails or in the city. There is a different version that also makes a great SuperMotard Bike using street tires. While something like the Harley Livewire tries to be super fast and very complicated, this bike is very minimalist.
8 Ural Sportsman
This is basically among the same offerings Ural has had for about 10 years based on the pre-WWII design copied from German Military Cycles. In the mid-2000s, Ural increased reliability with Brembo brakes, a fork upgrade, and a better ignition system. Where this bike differs other than the paint scheme is the canvas coverings to keep the passenger in the sidecar dry. Like all Ural models with a sidecar, it comes with dual-rear-wheel-drive.
At one point, Ural had a sidecar rig without the dual drive, but it wasn't on their website when checked recently. Because of the low gearing for off-road mobility, Ural recommends road speeds be kept under 65 miles per hour. All three wheels interchange and most buyers get an optional fourth wheel to use as a spare.
7 KTM Adventure Touring 390
While nowhere near their top-spec adventure bike, this one sells as fast as they can make them. It has plenty of power for most people and the lightweight of its single-cylinder engine makes the bike easy to take anywhere. It will maintain normal highway speeds just fine and it is a very comfortable and forgiving bike to ride. Because it's lightweight it is equally at home on or off-road.
The model range is available all the way up to the 1290 C.C. range but most people outside of Texas, Florida, and California would not be exposed to conditions to take advantage of the increased power and the heavier weight does limit off-road function.
6 Kawasaki KLR 650 Adventure
This is a staple that has been available with only incremental changes for years. The U.S. military even bought some for the various Ranger Battalions and Special Forces in the Army, but had them converted to a single-cylinder diesel engine so as not to have to include gasoline in their inventory.
It's a well-sorted motorcycle with great availability of spares as its engine dates back to the late 1980s in design. The bike has good power, but it's not a rocker and it need not be. Everything is about function on this bike and the faux carbon fiber paint scheme is about the only option for 2020. It is among the lowest in price point because the tooling long ago paid for itself.
5 Yamaha Tenere 700
This is a model that has been around for years but has been updated several times with better-looking parts, conversion to fuel injection, and installation of a classy muffler over the years. The bike has more power than the Kawasaki it competes with, and an even bigger engine is available but most people would rather have the utility of the smaller 700.
The lightweight gives this bike great balance and the tire size makes the bike easy to flick around corners. The long-travel inverted fork makes the bike easy to ride over rough terrain.
4 Triumph Tiger 800 Adventure
This is the smaller of the two Tiger model lines. It's also the only triple that is an adventure tourer. The bike could easily top 100 M.P.H. if the rider could put up with the wind noise. If you do live in a wide-open area that also has trails this might be a good bike for you.
The triple Triumph engine is a well-developed engine from 20 years ago, so the parts are easy to find. It has the best components available for suspension travel and is considered a premium model. The extra cylinder biases the bike a little more towards the street but it still can manage trails quite well.
3 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Tourer
This bike has grown over the years in size and weight, as is the case of upselling. It is among the heaviest and most powerful with a liquid-cooled high compression 1100cc engine. The bike traces its routes to the earlier 650 and shares many parts from the earlier generation save for the smaller engines and long gone carburetors.
This bike has the power that a 600cc supersport has but at a much lower R.P.M. range so speed is not an issue. There are still variants available in restricted markets with older models in smaller sizes but none listed for the North American Market.
2 Buell Ulysses XB12X
A long-gone bike from a manufacturer that got double-crossed by a now failing parent company. This bike is frequently still seen being sold through vendors of used cycles due to its versatility. Using the 1200 C.C. Sportster engine modified for Adventure Touring Duty it worked quite well as it was robust, torquey, didn't need a radiator, and was lightweight.
It's among the ugliest bikes of the lot, but the manufacturer made enough changes to the frame pattern to make this bike surprisingly successful. It gets an honorable mention because the thing did what customizers have done to Harley bikes using Sportster components as it was sold.
1 Ducati Scrambler Desert Sled
This bike uses a modernized 1100cc air and oil-cooled V-Twin dating back to the early 1980s at its roots. For guys that want to ride rough and fast, that is a good thing. With plenty of power to do just about anything, but without the complexity of their more aggressive Adventure Touring bikes, this is a perfect knock around bike for ingressing into the backcountry on day trips.
While not as light as a single-cylinder MX bike, the extra weight isn't so much as to make the bike unwieldy. What also makes it great is that you can ride it all day long and you don't have to bring it to the wilderness in the back of a truck like you would on a dedicated MX machine.