Top 5 Lightweight Adventure Motorcycles in 2024
In this article you’ll find a summary of the top five lightweight adventure motorcycles available in New Zealand in2024 for less than $10,000, a bonus scrambler for comparison, and a fairly comprehensive comparison spreadsheet that I’ve put together as part of my own research into buying a new motorcycle.
I’ve hit the mid-life crisis stage of my life, so it’s time to start looking at motorcycles. Why fight it, right?
I didn’t grow up around bikes, instead having my first taste of bikes in the PC game Full Throttle, then later in the PS4 game of Days Gone. I’d stop doing the stories in the games and instead just play around on the bikes. That’s an origin story that seems to be a world away from many of New Zealand’s current motorcycle riders, with many seeming to have either grown up on farms with access to motorcycles, or having had ridden them less… legally… in their teenage years.
More recently, YouTube encouraged me to start following the adventures of Australian motorcyclist Joe Ryan during his time in New Zealand on a Royal Enfield Scram 411. His awesome videos really hammered home what I was missing out on, between sitting behind a desk in Christchurch and following local trails in North Canterbury on my mountain bike.
As a resident of New Zealand’s South Island, I’m regularly told that 80% of our roads are gravel, and there are some incredible motorcycle trails right on our back doorstep. Another motorcycle influencer on YouTube, Adam Riemann, called New Zealand “one of the planet’s ultimate offroad playgrounds.”
Joe’s videos helped me settle on the idea of either a scrambler or an adventure motorcycle, but as someone who had never sat in the business seat of a motorbike, I knew I would have a lot to learn. My position as a marketing manager in the car industry has taught me a lot about the need for research (did you know car buyers spend an average of 15 hours researching cars before they make a purchase?), so I turned to Google.
Initially starting with the Scram 411, I very soon realised just how many options there were on the market. Luckily, for every type of motorcycle, there are thousands of video reviews on YouTube.
Researching motorcycles was proving quite different to researching cars. Some realisations were:
- The New Zealand version of the world’s motorcycle brand websites are pretty lacking, many with limited specs, some with missing pricing, and some even missing current models
- New Zealand’s motorcycle dealer websites aren’t all that better, with most just linking back to the national website when you click ‘new models’ and hosting no information of their own
- Unlike cars, motorcycles don’t seem to have spec sheets. The closest you might find being more of a brochure-style PDF with a short table of key highlights (I assume because there are less features to talk about)
- Motorcycle promotions are very different to car promotions due to the smaller price tags; e.g. a “Save $15,000” offer on a new car translates to more like “Save $500” on a motorcycle, as you’d expect as a percentage of the total price, of course
- There tends to be less stock of a particular model bike in the country versus a car model. A new car model may have a few hundred units in the country, while a specific new bike model may have in the tens.
Some big positives were:
- Motorcycles seem to offer good resale value, with $9,000 brand-new bikes selling three or four years later for $7,000 to $8,000
- Many people buy a learner approved motorcycle (Learned Approved Motorcycle Scheme, or LAMS) and then only use it for a few thousand kilometres, then when they get their full licence they upgrade to a new bike and put their LAMS model on the market
- There are some great reviews on YouTube, and some even better motorcycle films that are hugely inspiring and encouraging
- Some motorcycle experts are big fans of smaller bikes in the LAM category, often recommending them to both new and experience motorcycle riders thanks to their low cost, light weight, but high levels of manoeuvrability and fun to be had
I’ve found the research part of my motorcycle journey to be pretty exciting. With each new video I discovered a new potential motorcycle to explore, and once you start talking about motorcycles with your friends, family, and colleagues, all of the motorcycle enthusiasts come out of the woodwork, and so far they’ve been almost as enthusiastic as I am about my potential new purchase (thank you for your support to date, Shaun Grob, Lee Parkinson, and Neil C!). It’s a hugely supportive and tight community.
The negative in that has been the feeling of guilt in going down this road. In a family with two young children, investing in such a substantial purchase that only you will get enjoyment out of comes with, for me, high levels of guilt. After all, working parents get to spend so little time with their kids to start with, so to add solo motorcycle adventures into that mix only reduces that time further, let alone the expense of the bike purchase, the lessons, the gear, the registration, and the insurance. You have to balance that with the enjoyment you’ll get from the bike and the benefits to your mental health, plus the fact that the bike and the gear are assets that can be sold later on in life.
And of course, there’s a risk of injury when it comes to motorcycles, but then other hobbies I’ve had include rock climbing, mountain biking, and solo hiking, and each of those come with plenty of risks. Is the alternative to sit safely on your sofa
Criteria for the ‘top five’ list
To make this list of top five lightweight adventure motorcycles, I’ve focused on criteria of:
- Bike must be learner approved (LAMS in New Zealand, A2 Licence elsewhere)
- Bike must be available for under $10,000 New Zealand dollars
- BIke must be under 600 cc (for newbies, and also keeping the price down)
- Bike must review well
- I need to be comfortable sitting on it, at 6ft 2in tall
- Bike must be visually appealing
Obviously the latter is subjective, but I’ve also taken on board styling comments from professional motorcycling enthusiasts and journalists.
My Motorcycle Buying Comparison Spreadsheet
I over-research any significant purchase (my wife will testify to this), so I fired up a spreadsheet and started comparing specs. You can view this fairly substantial spreadsheet here, which includes a lot more models than on this top five list.
Note that at time of writing this is a working file with more details to follow, and note that – as you’ll find – I started on Scramblers and then moved to Adventure and Touring bikes, with a couple of roadsters for comparison. I’m interested in a bike that I could feel OK riding across the South Island on, including some lighter offroad riding, so there’s no serious dirt-oriented bikes in there, and I have realised since that some of the bikes included wouldn’t be suitable for my needs, especially as someone who’s 6ft 2 tall.
A big disclaimer here is that a lot of specs are missing from the brand and dealer websites, so I’ve had to piece together the specs available from the official channels with specs I’ve found on review websites and videos, with some of those being for slightly older models or for overseas spec bikes, so take some of these with a pinch of salt.
The details are also subject to change, with the information included mostly relevant to models available in New Zealand and in 2024.
I wouldn’t buy any of them they are all underpowered and you will soon be looking for something with a bit more performance. At 6ft2 with the exception of the 400 Trumpy as I have never sat on one so cant comment the rest must seem like sitting on a mini bike, I’m only 5ft7.. Have you looked at some of the larger 650 + lams bikes in the dual purpose range, or some of the more enduro / off-road oriented bikes? With a more road suited tyre or a set off 17 inch rims it makes for some pretty good road handling. For a first bike I would never go new, the first time you drop it will suck big time. At the end of the day it’s your money and your bike so whatever you decide its a motorbike and it gunner put a smile on you dial so you can’t go wrong.
Disclaimer This is just my opinion and like arseholes we all have one :)
Thanks heaps for the input, Michael. I’m with on the size thing, but I also need to balance that with being on a learner licence and on a budget, while also preferring to buy new. Funnily enough, I asked this in a Facebook Group and a *lot* of people suggested a dual sport bike instead of the adventure/tourers that are on my shortlist, but I really have my heart set on the look of the bikes in this list. I’m going to have quite a limited amount of ‘bike time’ available to me and don’t want to be worried about maintaining an older bike or modifying a new one, I just want to get out there, with that being open, winding roads and a few flat dirt and gravel trails, nothing too serious at all. I’m more set on a bike that would suit this purpose well while I’m learning and then potentially for a few years after that. Still, food for thought. Appreciate your input, thanks again.
Hey Mark,
Great review on the bikes. I thought I over analysed bikes, but this is on another level (in a good way!) I’m Christchurch based too, if you ever want to discuss bikes or go for a ride once you get an ADV bike, you can contact me on IG at @_wesleyjames_
I’ve been seriously looking at the new Himalayan as a potential new bike. Don’t discard the second hand market either, you can get some great deals, as long as the owner has legitimate service history evidence etc.
My honest opinion. It’s between 3 models, the Triumph 400x if you want style, and a bike that suits 6″2. I’m 6″2 myself and found it very comfortable. Then the Himalayan & CF Moto are very strong contenders too. I think the CF Moto is probably the winner, but I’m a visual guy, and it just doesn’t look as good as the other 2.
Good luck with your decision!
Wes
Awesome, thanks Wesley! And very handy to hear from another local who’s the same height! I get you on the visual side as well. I know there are a lot of practical reasons to get other bikes, but I also want something that looks good and matches my style. It’s the heart vs brain thing there. I’m going to drop by CMG this week and look at their new CFMOTO 450MT and sit on the BMW G 310 GS while I’m there, and will also get to First European to check out the new Himalayan 450.
And thanks for that – I’ve subscribed and followed on YouTube and Instagram! Love the way you’ve put your videos together – I’ll add your recent Triumph 400 video to this page and my spreadsheet.