Others talked about both post 2017 690 and 701 ...and said similar about certain traits of the earlier bikes, were still present in the latest bikes
As for comparisons....
Similar price point
Similar power point
Different engines
Different weights (T7 about 40kg heavier)
Both percepted as adv or dual sport bikes
Both go well off-road and perform fine
Both have faults
Both have strengths
Why is the T700 the better seller over the last 18 months ?
You forgot to add they both have two wheels
You could substitute a R1200GS for the T7 in the above list (pretty much the same weight as well) but would you compare the GS to a 701/690?
Why is the T7 the better seller? Dunno as to me, they aren't comparable bikes. It'd be like saying way is a 850GS a better seller than a Suzuki Bandit
I know which bike I'd prefer to load up and ride through France to get to the Picos on and I know which I'd prefer to be on the trails once there. As Cookie and Mikeyboy say, 'both can do both' but have had different compromises made.
Honestly, they are so different I just don't get why some people try to compare them as similar bikes
I've got it!
There a thing we do at work, it's known as the 'halo effect' and is to do with the 'builds' in store (where we place product on shelf).
What you do is you take a premium product that customers recognise as being 'aspirational' ie top quality, niche, high value/low margin and you surround it on shelf with other products that customers may associate with the 'aspirational' product. These are a slightly lower cost but much higher margin. They don't even need to be exactly the same type of product as the 'aspirational' product but there has to be some kind of connection, even something as tenuous as the design/colours of the packaging......
The 'halo' products will sell as there is a subconscious connection with them and the 'aspirational' product in the customer's mind.
So that's it. That's why some T7 owners compare their bikes to 690/701's. It's the 'halo effect'. The hope that a little bit of 690/701 rubs off onto their T7 giving them kudos in the eyes of other motorcyclists.........................
QED
Andres