ADV motorcycles are becoming quite advanced their technology now and some even have cruise control. We’ve done the research for you!
There are numerous adventure motorcycles in 2020 that have cruise control. These are:
- Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200
- BMW R1250GS
- KTM Adventure 1290
- BMW F850 GS
- Honda Africa Twin 2021
You’ll notice that these are all big-bore adventure and dual-sport motorcycles. They are derived from the bitumen-world as opposed to being dirt bikes which very rarely have cruise control.
Cruise Control on Adventure Bikes
Some people say that having cruise control on a motorcycle is a wonderful thing. You don’t have to try and match your speed with an arbitrary number on a road sign all the time. Others say it could lead to an accident due to your lowered response time.
Then again, fatigue could lead to an accident too and the increased focus you need to keep checking that you’re not speeding. Of course, speeding is quite typical on these big bikes which is why we believe they come with cruise control.
When to use cruise control on motorcycles
What would we recommend? On long stretches of highway, then cruise control is certainly helpful. Certainly we don’t recommend using a motorcycle cruise control system when riding offroad and especially on gravel tracks because excessive torque at the rear wheels could spin you out.
Also, don’t use cruise control on motorcycles when it’s raining. The same theory applies where the torque could cause you to lose traction and aquaplane with your motorcycle, on both the road and gravel tracks.
It’s also difficult to use cruise control in heavy traffic so leave it for the open country where you can trail behind another vehicle quite comfortably.
Dual Sport Bikes with No Cruise Control
While motorcycle technology has come along way in 30 years, there are still plenty of dual sport and adventure motorcycles that don’t have cruise control, including these:
- Yamaha Tenere and Super Tenere
- BMW 310GS
- KTM 690R and 790R
- Yamaha WR450R
- DRZ-400S (indeed Suzuki hasn’t put much at all on this bike)
- Beta 500RR-S
- Husqvarna FE450
- KTM Adventure 990
- Kawasaki Versys
- Suzuki V-Strom
So what can you do if you own or plan to purchase one of these motorcycles? Well, you can actually get an aftermarket cruise control system off eBay or Amazon for relatively cheaply. These are relatively in-expensive and you can expect to pay under $200 for a dual sport cruise control system for any of these adventure motorcycles.
Do you really need it?
One of the biggest questions is the need to have cruise control on a dual sport motorcycle. Do you really need it? We don’t believe so, because you’ll only use it 5% of the time.
Sure – it’s a “nice to have” feature when your’e in the showroom, but such time looking at such motorcycles generally doesn’t transfer to genuine time on the road and dirt trails.
We wouldn’t place the use or availability on our list when we’re consider a new adventure bike. As the years roll on, more and more manufacturers will undoubtably add these to their model lineups. Cruise control has its place on motorcycles but yet, will seldom be used anyway.
After all, dozens of people have ridden the entire world without some ‘push button’ device successfully. If you do need it, then the cost and time to install is minimal, but as too will be the real world use….in most cases.