Some pics of our rides over the last few days.
Neda had sold her F650GS a while back and she was in the market for an ADV bike to replace it.
When the original Norden first broke cover as a concept bike a few years ago, it was an interesting bike, but not compelling enough to want to put money down. The first production year came and went and we kept tabs on owner reviews regarding performance, weight, handling etc.
The Norden is based on the KTM 890 Adventure bike, and slotted somewhere between the base 890 Adventure and the off-road-oriented 890 Adventure R. The most interesting thing about this platform is the gas tank situated under the engine, which lowers the centre of gravity considerably. Makes the bike feel lighter and more agile.
The Norden 901 Expedition was leaked at a dealership meeting less than a year ago. It added quite a few upgrades to the base Norden: upgraded 48mm WP Xplor front forks (vs the base 43mm Apex), taller touring windshield, beefier wrap-around skid plate which also protects the gas tank, center stand, heated grips and seat, soft panniers included and Bold New Graphics.
At only 2K more, the newer version seemed like a bike that would be worth getting. Just the Xplor forks alone would have justified the price increase.
Contour map graphics. Such a gorgeous shade of blue!
The Expedition is basically the R1250GS
Adventure version of the base Norden.
Some riding thoughts:
The bike is tall! The 35" seat doesn't tell the whole story. The heated seat is actually quite wide, which makes it very comfortable for touring, however, it splays the legs out and makes reaching for the ground at stops a bit more of a deliberate act. My 30" inseam is telling me that it's around the same height as the KTM 1290 Super Adventure R.
The bike is a bit underpowered. It's touted as one of the new "mid-weight Adventure motorcycles". But at 500 lbs with 100 hp, it's around the same specs as my old R1200GS, which was considered to be a flagship heavyweight 20 years ago. The parallel twin makes its power higher in the rev range, so compared to the boxer, it needs to be spooled up quite high to elicit any kind of grin-inducing kick from the engine.
The other model that often gets compared to the Norden is Ducati's Desert X. I was secretly hoping that Neda would pick this bike, but she likes the Husky better, and it matches her enduro FE501. The Desert X has the same engine as my Hypermotard and it's quite a bit more powerful than the 890 engine.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the Expedition model will soon house the KTM 1290 engine, and the base Norden will remain with the 890 engine. It currently feels like it's a flagship bike with a mid-weight engine in it. It would do a lot better with 160 hp vs the current 100 hp.
Still, 100 hp is fine for dirt and gravel roads. Anything more than that is just free wheel-spin. The off-road mode on the Expedition already limits power from the engine.
Expedition also comes standard with the base Norden's optional Explorer pack, which unlocks a ton of electronic goodies
The heat from the engine is insane. From the owner forums, the catalytic converter is the issue, and it's close enough to the rear shock that on hot days and stop-and-go traffic, the heat is enough to cook the shock. There are two popular mods that owners opt to do to solve this: a cat delete, and/or a heat shield between the cat and the rear shock. We're going to be doing the cat delete on first service.
Seating position is very comfortable, as is the wide seat. The tall windscreen blocks all air if you're 5'8" or shorter, because of the laminar effect created by the small opening in the middle of the windscreen. Very effective touring set up.
Wide bars gives lots of leverage for turns, the tires are Pirelli Rally Scorpion STRs which are supposedly 80/20. I've never tried these tires before. They've very street-biased, they perform very well on asphalt. Haven't gone too deep into the woods with these tires yet, don't think they're oriented for anything more than gravel roads.
As mentioned, I think they will make a flagship heavyweight Norden soon. Things they will probably upgrade from the current Expedition which are missing:
- 1290 V-twin engine from KTM
- hydraulic clutch
- full electronic suite including TPMS
- keyless ignition/fuel cap
Wife really likes the bike. It's not as torquey as her R1250RS, but definitely a step up from her F650GS. She's okay with the power if we're going to be hitting gravel roads often. She likes the near-telepathic handling in the twisties with the wide bars, and that it's super-comfortable which will make long riding days quite pleasant.
Two thumbs up! Or two fingers up...
