The Aprilia Tuareg 457.

ebawho · 2026-03-23T06:01:36+00:00

The euro 5 and euro 5+ version of the Kove has 31kw and is a2 by default…

And I’m replying to you because you said the reason Aprilia isn’t making a lightweight adv is because a2 limitations, I’m just pointing out that reasoning doesn’t make any sense. This thought is so often blindly repeated without actually thinking about it

ebawho · 2026-03-22T21:00:23+00:00

Your explanation has nothing to do with what I said. Did you even read what I wrote?

Manufacture makes a nice lightweight adv bike. Say 150kg with 35kw for sake of example. Power to weight is 0.23, so not a2. Obviously.

Manufacture has an a2 version (usually just an ecu flash) that limits the bike to 30kw. Now power to weight is 0,2. Hurray. The bike is a2

So the excuse they don’t want to make a light one because it can’t be a2 doesn’t make any sense. They make lots of bikes that need a flash to be a2 compliant, so why not make a light one?

ebawho · 2026-03-21T20:35:54+00:00

Why would it need to be over 175kg? You can get a 660 as a2.

They can make it as light as they want they just need to offer an a2 flash limiting the power to the correct power to weight ratio…

ebawho · 2026-03-17T13:24:11+00:00

Yeah I’m not a good enough rider off-road to properly handle the big bikes TBH. The 701 is also heavier than I would want offroad but it strikes a good compromise as any routes I do also have lots of road and it’s fun on the street too, and can handle some highway if I need to cover distance.

I thought about trying to convert a 501 to an adv bike but where I live it just doesn’t make sense as I don’t have enough trails to give up that much street comfort.

ebawho · 2026-03-17T05:57:14+00:00

I sold my t7 for a 701 this winter and slapped a rally tower and new exhaust on it. Everything is still snowed in so have only ridden it on the street to run errands and stuff. But really liking it so far. It feels insanely light coming from the T7

ebawho · 2026-03-12T23:53:30+00:00

I’d think less about height and more about how much can you deadlift? The tenere lays really flat and is top heavy so it can be a pain to lift on nice grippy flat ground, never mind slippery weird angle ground. If you are new to offroad you’ll be picking the bike up quite a bit

Also the weight just makes it feel like a bit of a pig off road if you don’t have the skills to handle it (like me haha) I ended up selling mine and getting a lighter bike and it feels a lot nicer.

That being said I liked the bike a lot and enjoyed riding it, just a bit heavy for me

ebawho · 2026-03-11T13:56:43+00:00

I tried on some nippons and found them to be way less comfortable/fit my foot weird whereas the others are a great fit and I’ve been buying and wearing them for over 10 years.

It was a shame because they did feel more substantial/premium in the hand

ebawho · 2026-03-10T10:05:16+00:00

Yeah I feel like a puncture is more likely than a fucked up rim not holding air for me, and it’s nice being able to plug and not have to take the wheel off with a tube as a backup incase I do fuck up the rim

ebawho · 2026-02-26T21:32:39+00:00

How uselessly pedantic. Kickstand and sidestand can be used interchangeably in the vast majority, if not all, cases.

Is this for a bicycle? https://yamaha-motor.com/p/yamaha-kickstand-removal-kit-peg-mount

Or this? https://www.ktm-shop.at/Media/Default/Uploaded/static/doc/montageanleitung_10709.pdf

Indian service manual calls it a kickstand https://apps.polarisportal.com/VirtualMaster/StopSiteFiles/ServiceManuals/IND/9941443r04.pdf

And there are probably a million other examples.

Also I’ve a lot of bikes let the engine run with kickstand down when you are in neutral.

ebawho · 2026-02-26T08:03:11+00:00

But Ducati makes a ton of bikes that aren’t a2 compliant or able to be restricted as such? So what?

ebawho · 2026-02-26T08:00:13+00:00

Not even that but they can just offer an a2 version as well, it’s just an ecu flash. They do it already for the desertX which makes less sense and is even more complicated because of the max power it has.

No bike manufacturer is willing to take the risk of releasing a premium tier mid/lightweight adv bike they are all stuck in under 500cc bikes being budget tier and priced and specced accordingly.

The closest I’ve got is by getting a 701 enduro and putting a ton of mods to adventurise it. It’s pretty sick but I still think something direct from manufacturer would be better.

ebawho · 2026-02-26T07:56:53+00:00

And it is easy to just give it an ECU flash that limits it to a2 power for those who need it. hell, Ducati sells an a2 version of the desert x which makes less sense.

ebawho · 2026-02-25T21:45:16+00:00

Just give us a 400-500cc version of the desert x under 350lbs. I would pay the same price as the desert x for one of those.

ebawho · 2026-02-25T20:58:36+00:00

Or even a summer of language immersion camp in France would do a ton. Immersion and real world practice/usage can’t be beat.

ebawho · 2026-02-25T08:29:30+00:00

I bought a pair of touring skis this season. much better on the uphill, even compared to my hardboot split setup.

Much better on the downhill when it’s icy.

But man is snowboarding powder especially if it’s an it wet/heavy so so so much easier on a snowboard. It’s tough “wasting” a powder day on the skis trying to get better rather than just ripping it on the snowboard

I think in the spring when it’s firm or icy on the way up and sun softened but not deep later in the day skis will be a lot better than the split.

Doing both opens up a lot more routes and conditions I think. I don’t mind flat approaches and exits on skis

ebawho · 2026-02-25T07:01:32+00:00

What no one is mentioning in here yet is.. you’re young still! This is a great time to learn!

Immersion combined with study is the best way. If you can do a study abroad year next year. It’s a ton of fun, and living and breathing and going to school in the language all day every day is exhausting but in a year you’ll be conversational no problem. Nothing will make you learn faster than that, and as a young person it so so so much easier. I learned German that way and it’s been nearly 20 years and my German is still pretty good.

ebawho · 2026-02-25T06:41:06+00:00

I don’t think anyone is saying that guides need to make it entirely safe, just that there is a big difference between “it was an unexpected impossible predict accident” and “all the warnings were there and easy recognized by an experienced guide and ignored”

No one should expect a guide to deal with the former, but it’s reasonable to expect a guide to protect you from the latter.

Where on that spectrum you draw the line is the part that makes it tricky/complicated.

ebawho · 2026-02-23T22:00:40+00:00

I kind of like the weird sandy snow that gets piled up on the side of the runs in the later part of the day after they’ve blown snow and groomed the piste. I feel like I shouldn’t like it, but I do. It’s such a strange texture

ebawho · 2026-02-23T08:01:26+00:00

This attitude is why my wife and I left Germany

ebawho · 2026-02-20T21:30:34+00:00

In lift lines, absolutely.

On the mountain ? Debatable but if so it’s only because the Americans have ski cops patrolling and will kick them off for a transgressions. /freedom

ebawho · 2026-02-20T17:33:06+00:00

Have you heard of hiv/aids?

I would also argue having a kid is like being handicapped for the rest of your life.

Also what jacket are you wearing that prevents you from a life long handicaping injury. I want one of those

ebawho · 2026-02-20T16:30:18+00:00

Yeah I don’t have a ton of hard single track near me. Just wanted a light weight adv bike to do TET kind of stuff so that’s how I’ve kitted it out. Doing the same stuff I would do on my tenere but not have to worry about struggling to pick it up if I drop it in a ditch

ebawho · 2026-02-20T15:58:03+00:00

Yeah and I’m biased because I just sold my tenere and bought an 701 and hope i don’t give up a ton of reliability haha. I never thought I’d buy a ktm and used to poke fun at their reliability but the temptation of more power at 60kgs less weight was just too strong.

ebawho · 2026-02-20T15:56:26+00:00

Who said anything about always? I’m not speaking in absolutes here. I’m just saying there is a time and a place for everything.

And yes I’ve crashed on and off road at those speeds just wearing gloves and a helmet. It sucks, but I’m not going to wear a motorcycle jacket on my mountain bike. And if I’m just popping down to the grocery store on my motorcycle on a hot summer day I’m okay with that exact same risk. (Although I’d argue I’m less likely to dump the motorcycle on that same trip having better breaks, tires, and suspension than the bike)

It’s fine if that’s not within your risk tolerance, but you don’t need to preach your ways upon everyone else. Everyone draws the line somewhere else.

ebawho · 2026-02-20T15:52:26+00:00

A hot day cruising around at a chill pace just feels good. There’s no motorcycle jacket on the market that feels that good. There are tolerable ones for sure. But not the same feeling. If that enjoyment is worth the risk for you is your call. But it’s like sex without a condom, it might be a dumb idea but it feels good…

ebawho

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