What’s a KTM 990 Adventure without big boxy luggage?  Just another highly capable but impractical motorcycle.  Slap a couple boxes on and you go from a fire road terror to continent crosser, which is where companies like Twisted Throttle come in.  So here’s our thoughts of the Rhode Island firm’s offerings, as the KTM 990 Adventure gets twisted.

Approximately 20,000 kilometers ago, Touratech USA offered to kit out OWD Photographer Kevin Miklossy’s KTM 990 Adventure Dakar. Much slab, highway, twisties, dirt, gravel and Baja sand later, here’s how the company’s offerings have stood up.

By the specs Twisted Throttle’s Denali D2 LED light kit is a tempting proposition, especially with a 70% increase in effective brightness (higher luminous flux) over the Denali D1 kit we ran on our Baja Adventuring Honda Varaderos.  Given the D1s made a nighttime ride into Mike’s Sky Ranchero more feasible, and on and off road the D2s are an appreciable improvement.

The downpour is torrential, and within minutes there is the cold creeping dampness seeping into my underwear of a waterproof promise broken. At a moderately premium price, I expected more out of the Olympia Moto Sports X Moto All Season Transition Pant purchased 10,000 kilometers ago, but those expectations haven’t borne out.

Let’s go out on a pretty thick limb here, Photographer Kevin Miklossy’s Honda Varadero wouldn’t have survived the Baja intact without Twisted Throttle’s Adventure Kit. The silver ’08 from Honda Canada’s livery took the majority of the abuse, in large part due to the nature of photography.

The rain is falling in sheets as we pull out of San Luis Obispo, ditch the 101 and its stutter-step panic braking traffic, and head for the Pacific Coast Highway. Pre-Christmas 2010, these are the worst rains to lash California in recent memory. It’s the right day to break out the heavy weather gear, but in the name of science I’ve refused instead relying on Alpinestars’ Frontier Gore-Tex Jacket and Apex Drystar Gloves to resist the onslaught.

The name says it all, really, “waterproof”… or in this case not in the slightest. Spotting a deal on Axo’s entry level “Waterproof Touring Boots”, I read the reviews, pay-pal’ed up and received a set of Q6’s.

Some things you love to death, wearing them relentlessly until the bitter end. So it was the case with my Five Stunt Gloves, but 65,000km of adventure and street riding have taken their toll. After a little under two seasons, the Fives are retired… I think. The Fives were recommended to me by Westcoast Superbike…

It’s a debate as contentious as oil, octane or tires… the ultimate luggage question, soft or hard bags. ‘Round the World traveler Andrew Lord weighs in as he reevaluates the option 50,000 miles and fifteen countries into his trip thanks to an accident and Giant Loop.

The Teiz Motorsports’ Ventura is a 5/8th length motorcycle touring jacket, so where are we putting it though it’s paces? The Baja and neighborhood, which should evaluate this handsome garment’s touring and adventure credentials. We decided on hi-viz yellow for our Teiz Venturas, reckoning that one can never be to visible on or off road….

Some bikes were never designed with a tank bag in mind, my own KTM 640 Adventure for example. A narrow seat runs most of the way up the tank, and that leaves very little room for mounting or fitment. Enter the Giant Loop Fandango, a tankbag near perfect for your problem child bike.