Let’s talk new dual sports

Okay, I’m the past few years, dual sports have been available in the purest off-road form possible.
Long gone are the days of : the engine has acceptable loafing power but the electric add ons are floppy, the weight is higher than acceptable and the suspension is adequate on road but lacks tremendously off tarmac.
Oh it’s okay but I really wish it had a six speed! Are you hearing us Suzuki?!

With the Austrian invasion and subsequent Pseudo Swedish brothers , and the Italian pasta rockets from Beta, that old guard is now just a placeholder for Sunday city runs and starving college kids.
True you can still make a venerable lumpy XR, Drz, and other older style dual sport steeds and have a great time. But wow. The new stuff is pretty damn fantastic all rounders.

I decided I wanted a city scoot , fun run and backroad bomber that I could hit some two and single track while on the way to and from. I test rode a couple bikes from local dealers here in Dallas and my mind was instantly sent into , “ I could compete in harescrambes and enduros on this thing “. Like really compete not just make it to the end.

Blown away by the weights, the power”albeit on one without any upgrades and a few on the other. “

I rode a used Ktm 250excf. I was expecting anemic , revvy, busy and uncomfortable. Well two out of three ain’t bad, It want anemic at all. It was revvy, it was uncomfortable but let’s be honest , these ain’t gold wings.

I rode a stock ktm350 excf. Blown away the difference in power , the 250 uncorked felt faster actually. I read about ecm and exhaust with reed valve and intake upgrades. It was quiet, like mouse in a hayfield quiet. But it just felt flat. Overall it was a great motorcycle. But without the upgrades, just meh.

I rode a ktm500excf. This I can see why people flock to it. Good ergos as did the other two ktms. Suspension quite good. Power? Well honestly it was quite adequate. Honestly felt like a torquey 350. Might go as far as Saying a cammed down 350sxf.
I honestly was a little disappointed in the power output.
A little surprised even. Again. Overall I see why people flock to it as it’s a solid bike. The great part of Ktm and husky ownership is aftermarket support to massage your machine into any amalgamation of motorcycle nirvana you wish. Literally anything.
But as always , there is a point d of flesh to be spent to get that gold.
And then,

I rode a Beta.

Forget anything I said about the KTMs because it didn’t matter anymore.
I rode a 500rrs power? Well it felt as if the Ktm may have had a little bit more right off idle, but the Beta quickly proved to have more in the meaty midrange area. The audible sound from the exhaust and I take is a little more but nothing like a closed course machine.
I went back and forth on the power thing and the dealer then said , hey if want hot we can flash the RR map in it and you can run an FMF exhaust. Picks up a good bit of power across the board. He let me ride his personal bike and well…. Impressive. It was like a full on off-road race bike.. which honestly, I like the smoother power for dual sporting but it sure was fun.

I then rode the 390, I know on paper the weight is like 4 lbs less than the 500. But it feels like 30. very tractable , lightweight on the bars and ran smoothly with no hiccups, stalling or leanness I could see.
Great suspension, horrible seat as always though.

But then I rode the 350rrs and I kinda felt at home.

Let’s cut to the chase here. I took it home. It was love at first sight. I saw her from across the room. Our eyes met, she look was me I melted. And I knew she was the one. Lol.
It wasn’t the high strung 350 I have at home. It was like an electric power. This thing felt like my xc bike in the garage. The tires on all the betas were Michelin off-road and they do well on the asphalt but hook up great off-road. Like great great. Might as well be full knobbies.
Ergonomically, this bike was like dual sport nirvana as soon as I sat my 5’9” 180lb frame on it.
Things I think Ktm does better ? The front brake, why can’t everything have brembos on the front?
Stock tires, For my application I’m gonna eat these maxxis tires up in 100 miles. Tkc80 suck off-road but are really good pavement pounders. So I’ll have to get something a little more streetable but who doesn’t change tires anyway? Tires are a very application specific mod anyway.
The way the 350rrs runs is so wierd, it has really really good power but it’s muted a touch from tall gearing and epa specific tuning but completely fine as is. It’s hard to explain. There is no hit. Not a touch of surge just linear power all the way to redline. Grab another gear and whack it open, smooth minimal vibration easy building power all the way to the top.
I don’t know why this is the one for me but it just felt right.

I really liked that the Betas come with a traitech voyager stock, lifting handles built into the rear fender, no tool air filter access, No tool seat removal, which will come in handy when I get that seat concepts in and don’t feel like breaking out a 10mm and an 8mm! Are you listening Kawasaki? Wow we are spoiled aren’t we?

I am on the fence of getting the RR map flashed in and putting the fmf powerbomb combo in because the power is really really good on this thing.
I like that it isn’t obnoxiously loud and even when I go out on the backroads and act 16years old , lofting long wheelies, backing it into 180s and power sliding for the fun of it, it’s fine. Better than fine. Outstanding even. I’m afraid if I retune it I’ll loose some of that character that I love. I never thought in a million rides that I’d like a bike with less power. But here we are.
I can see how a Supermoto setup on this bike would get my license revoked. But they sure are sexy.

Honestly , I think I could compete quite well in a hare scramble. I think with some clickers here and there I could make a podium in a vet class mx race with a good set of mx tires on here. These bikes are that good stock.
My other two bikes are a Ktm 350sxf, and a Kawasaki450x. I think this red head fits right in.

So in all this long winded blabber I guess I’m trying to say I can’t believe just how far the dual sport category has come. Just how much fun I’m having slipping this red rocket around Dallas. Just how cool it is to be living in the time we do now and how good we have it with bikes now a days. There really isn’t a bad bike on the market anymore.