Another Ontario (Canada) member :D

[Tazmool]

Greetings Everyone, 

Nice to see quite a few people pre-ordering the T7 in Canada.
I'm in SouthWestern Ontario, pre-ordered mine on Dec 3rd.

This will be my 2nd Adv-type bike, my previous one being a '16 VFR1200X CrossTourer. 
I had a love-hate relationship with that bike, and I put 12,000km on it in the first season (which is a LOT for me)
I loved the seating and standing position on it, the way it opened up gravel and dirt roads for me, just the pure fun of exploring roads I would never consider riding my previous bikes on before (ST1300, Valkyrie, B-King etc)
I loved the DCT tranny, and I even did some real off-road with it (just experimenting in sand and open dirt areas)  It was a great highway bike, great range.

I hated the height (I had the honda low seat, which was not available from Honda Canada for some reason), the weight, and high center of gravity of the bike. 

Ultimately, the bike was just too big and heavy for what I wanted to do.  I dropped it a few times, and pulled muscles both times I had to pick it up (solo) after which I dreaded dropping the bike again, and I knew if it went down on soft uneven terrain, I would probably never pick it up solo.  It was about 650lbs wet, with the installed accessories (empty saddle bags, crash protection on it, and thats with no actual luggage) 

 

Fast forward, the VFR-X is long gone, I have an interim bike to ride around on, but I miss going off the beaten path.
I considered the Africa Twin, almost bought one, but it too is just tall, and still fairly heavy. 
I seriously considered the KTM 790 Adventure almost pulled the trigger, but on the same bike-research trip I looked at a T7, it was love at first sight!

I'm hoping the T7 will be the Anti-VFR-X!
Its mission will be light-touring, dirt & gravel roads, maybe some trails if my skills improve enough (part of the mission will be to improve skills enough to be confident and competent in the dirt with it). 

I will also en-devour to keep the bike as light and simple as possible.   Long term, I'd like to take it Coast to Coast in Canada, exploring and keeping off the highways as much as possible. 
 

Tazmool

Edited December 14, 2019 by Tazmool
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