The adventure bike that offers luxury without the price tag

You can now get an adventure bike in every conceivable color, shape, size and brand. It is, in a way, the fastest growing motorcycle segment. While other segments continue to shrink, riders looking for the occasional roll in the mud are truly spoiled for choice.

Several companies with no previous experience with off-road cycling are now taking action. We’ve been inundated with all kinds of Chinese motorcycles at the lower end of the market, but it’s the Italians that offer the most food for thought in the luxury segment. One Italian brand has gone one step further by offering an impressive middleweight at a price that’s impossible to ignore.

In order to provide you with the most current and accurate information, the data used to compile this article was sourced from MV Agusta. While the opinions are ours.

The MV Agusta Enduro Veloce delivers luxury without the price tag

MSRP: $16,998

While $17,000 is certainly nothing to sniff at, it’s important to note that the Enduro Veloce retails for €19,900 in most of Europe. That works out to about $22,000, a full $5,000 more than the listed price in the US. That makes the Enduro Veloce a bargain, but even at this rather attractive price it still has stiff competition in this area.

Triumph is the only other brand to offer a triple-drive ADV in the form of the Tiger 900. The latest Desert Edition is well equipped but lacks luggage and is more expensive. In many ways, however, it’s a safer bet as this platform has been around for quite some time and has no known issues aside from the usual vibrations that come with any triple. Triumph has also grown into a true luxury brand, but still represents a more alternative choice in the adventure motorcycle segment.

Ducati surprised everyone with how good the DesertX was when it first came out. It’ll get the new 890cc V2 later this year, but for now the old 937cc Testastretta engine still offers an impressive balance of performance and versatility. The BMW F 900 GS Adventure has a bit less power compared to the other bikes, but is also the most affordable, at least on paper. Getting it up to the same specification level as the MV will require a number of option boxes to be ticked, which will also likely make it more expensive.

The Enduro Veloce has a sports bike engine

Power: 124 hp

Since virtually every modern ADV runs on a modular platform, this isn’t unusual, but in this case the sportbike came long before the ADV was even a dream. This triple was first used in the F3 supersport, having been reworked for more street-friendly applications. Like most middleweight models, it is optimized for mid-range performance, with the vast majority of its 75 Nm of torque available from around 3,000 rpm.

This Triple has a few skeletons in its closet

The unusually long 5-year unlimited mileage warranty is a bit suspect. It clearly exists to allay any reliability concerns, and that’s mainly because this triple was known for dropping valves in its previous configurations. Of course, this only happened at high revs, and in this 931cc configuration there have been no reports of engine failures yet. It seems highly unlikely because it’s so different, but it’s still something buyers should be aware of.

The Enduro Veloce is an affordable luxury adventure tourer

In the rest of the world this costs more than $20,000, so the feature list is extensive. Cornering ABS, lean-sensing traction control, a TFT dash with smartphone connectivity and a quickshifter have all been there since release, but this year it gets some major upgrades. It now comes standard with crash protection and side cases. This adds even more value to an already impressive package. For the money you simply can’t get better than this. The only bikes that can offer a similar level of specification at a similar price all come from Japan and are less powerful.

An ADV with a heavy emphasis on touring comfort

No bike is perfect, and the MV is no exception. Although it is defined as a middleweight ADV, its wet weight of 528 pounds, without fuel and without panniers, makes it a pretty chunky middleweight. There are even a few true full-size bikes that weigh less than the Enduro Veloce.

As such, this won’t be the all-conquering off-road ADV that some marketing would suggest. It’s more of an adventure tourer, and in many ways MV would have been better served by giving it more street-oriented 19/17-inch wheels, because this bike will excel on the street.

If you’re looking for an ADV that can handle a bit of the rough stuff, this is ideal. Although the sticker price is very attractive, it is also a model that cannot simply be taken at face value. This is a bike from a luxury Italian motorcycle manufacturer, so the build quality is excellent.

But there will always be the odd quirk here and there to deal with. You will also have to be prepared to pay a premium for parts and maintenance, as operating costs will be slightly higher than average. That said, we still think it offers great value for the right buyer.

Chassis, suspension and weight specifications