I would argue that "designed for [off] road mix" is pretty charitable. A 500-pound dirt bike with a comfortable seating position wins the tough-aesthetics competition, but off road performance is meager at best. I built decent off-road skills on a DL1000, but the weight was always such a liability as to make it impracticable. I moved to a smaller and lighter bike and have more fun, but 99% of people I met in Arizona are happy with their big ADV bikes— with zero interest in going off road.
I think the most interesting take-away is that there is a segment of people who value being given an excuse for something rugged— I heard lots of "I just like the peace-of-mind that I could go anywhere if I needed to" whether they believe themselves or not.
Even on a street only trip I'd prefer an adventure bike to most street bikes, the rugged factor shouldn't be discounted when you're 1000+ miles away from home and outside of cell signal.
You'd be surprised. I've taken my 500-pound dirt bike (KTM 990A) to the end of Baja (all dirt), across the Trans America Trail, and to Alaska and back. Did most of the hard splits on LA-Barstow-to-Vegas a few years ago, and endless dirt riding in the Sierras and Nevada. And I'm by no means the best rider I know.
Single track is hard work but there's nothing quite like ripping open the throttle on a 100hp dirt bike and throwing up a tornado of sand. I owned an XR250R for a few years and just found it boring.
To be fair the VStrom 1000 the commentor was riding is fairly heavy and street oriented. A KTM, Tenere or smaller GS blows it out of the water off road.
I've ridden with some others on big KTMs who struggle a lot more than the guys on the smaller bikes. I think once a certain weight threshold is crossed there's no argument that the bike is appropriately called an "off-road" bike, no matter how knobby the tires. Conversely, aesthetics are always in play. Especially for the GS guys at Starbucks ;)
Well there's shades of grey between paved tarmac and proper off road.
Not a motorcyclists but I assume these adventure/dual sport bikes perform much better over say unsealed roads, and are at least workable on fire roads.
This is exactly right. The contrast that piqued my interest was something like knobby tires on a heavy bike that spent its life on the street. Turns out people value comfort (here, seating position and long suspension travel), but those things only seem to sell with a rugged aesthetic. Balancing these needs is something of a Hard Problem, so it's interesting to watch this play out throughout the industry.
I think the most interesting take-away is that there is a segment of people who value being given an excuse for something rugged— I heard lots of "I just like the peace-of-mind that I could go anywhere if I needed to" whether they believe themselves or not.