Adventure-lite! Four small-capacity ADVs go head-to-head

First published 14 June 2023 by Michael Guy

The adventure market is a busy place, bristling with tech and ever-increasing engine capacities as manufacturers strive for sales and bragging rights.

But there is a whole sector that doesn’t take itself as seriously and in the real world of riding in the UK is arguably a lot more fun.

So forget your 150bhp, 250kg-plus monsters for a minute, allow your brain to go back in time and think about the early days and some of the most fun riding you’ve done on your biking journey… and we bet it was on smaller bikes.

Just like the middleweight and heavyweight adventure bike sectors, the competition for lightweight adventure supremacy is fierce so in order to find out which is best we took the Honda CRF300 Rally, KTM 390 Adventure, BMW
G310GS and Royal Enfield Himalayan along with some knowledgeable riders on a two-day on- and off-road adventure throughout the heart of Devon taking in Dartmoor and Exmoor…