2020 Dual Sport Shootout - Dirt Bike Magazine

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hi and welcome back to dirt bikes 2020 dual sport series now we've got them all together we have the KTM 500 exc Husqvarna EFI 501s the beta 500 R RS the Honda CRF 450 L and the s WM rs500 these bikes are the absolute elite in the dual sport world what's long ago that we didn't have bikes like this we had to make do with 650 cc street bikes that were lightly modified to go in the dirt he's the real thing all these are dirt capable they're fast they're light they have good suspension it really is a good time to be a dual sport fan in America a year ago you might recall we did a 450 dual sport comparison in that we had a slightly different group of bikes but more than anything else these bikes have changed not only are they 500 those bikes were a generation earlier especially in the case of the KTM the husky and the beta last year we did not include the swm rs500 which was new to America that year and now we have a returning competitor we have the Honda CRF 450 L which made a great splash last year it is unchanged though so here we go let's start going through the bikes one by one [Music] first of all the KTM is more or less the go-to bike in the dual sport world that's the motorcycle that people think of when they think of hardcore dual sport riding for 2020 it got a lot of the same modifications that the motocross bike got at the end of 2018 that means it has a smaller head more compact motor a more rigid frame and all-new bodywork more than anything else KTM has gone in and rethought the suspension they are the same components that they had but everything has been revamped it's a little stiffer it's a little more aggressive this bike differs from the other bill sport bikes and that is the only one with PDS rear suspension that means there's no linkage in the rear the shock connects directly to the swing arm and internally it has a progressive damping system the KTM is advocated for years off-road guys particularly enjoy this because of the increased ground clearance the 2020 KTM 500 exc has undergone a moderately significant redesign although it doesn't look that different in the clients it got a PDS version of the stiffer frame that most KTM is and Husqvarna got in 2019 the motors of the KTM and husky are identical they both got a more compact head like that of the 2018 and a half factory edition they both use the Reed valve in the intake boot and they both have the Explorer fork which has been reworked for 2020 the KTM uses Brembo brakes and the Brembo master cylinder for the hydraulic clutch it comes in as the lightest of the group 244 pounds without fuel the price a little steep eleven thousand three hundred ninety nine dollars [Music] [Applause] in 2019 the Honda CRF 450 l made a huge splash this was the bike that people thought Honda should have made years and years ago and it is an amazing bike and this year it returns pretty much unchanged the fork and the shock are the same showy units to come on the MX bike aside from the spring rates and set up the motor has a lower compression ratio and is in a much milder state of tune with a tamper-proof EFI unit it also uses a six-speed gearbox full d-o-t equipment and a single sided muffler that is ultra quiet they headlight blinkers and tail light are a notch above anything else in the group you could ride the bike at night with no trouble Honda is no lightweight though on our scale the CRF 450 L weighs in at 278 pounds the Honda is the only bike in the group without oversize bars without hand guards and without a hydraulic clutch the price for 2020 is ten thousand three hundred ninety nine dollars [Music] [Applause] [Music] last year our 450 shootout the beta 430 RR s was a big hit it was the hands-down winner in that group for 2020 beta redesigned all of its dual sport bikes but the four models that is the 350 the 390 the 430 and the 500 all are based on basically the same platform be sure they all got a relocated crank a different frame and new bodywork many of them major components however are the same the suspension at both ends is bisects the frame is redesigned although it remains the same steel construction with a central backbone just like always along with the new bodywork is a new tank with 2.4 gallons of capacity it has a hydraulic clutch oversized bars Nissen brakes and Michelin tires plus it comes with a trail tech Voyager GPS in stock trim without fuel in the tank the base weighs 250 pounds it sells for ten thousand eight hundred ninety nine dollars [Music] [Applause] [Music] of course the KTM sibling is Huskies big dual sport bike which is much more closely related to the company's motocross model than is the case with the others in the group now it's quarter uses linkage for the rear suspension which is a major difference between it and the KTM it also separates itself from the KTM with an integrated subframe and airbox it has a Magura clutch and Magura brake components just like all of huskies off-road bikes however this bike has a six-speed gearbox and full street equipment unlike the motocross models it's super quiet and it passes all the proper emission tests without any intrusive and awkward charcoal canisters or smog pumps the FE 501s chassis uses the WP shock and explorer coil spring fork it comes in at 248 pounds without any fuel but with both mirrors installed it is the most expensive in the group at eleven thousand four hundred ninety nine dollars [Music] the new bike in this group is the 2020s WM rs500 you might not have heard of s WM but you might recognize this motorcycle it's a direct descendant of the 2006 Husqvarna te 450 that was the first of the hardcore dual sport bikes and eventually KTM Husqvarna and other manufacturers took a cue from husqvarna and started making bikes that were more off-road capable after the KTM takeover of 2013 the old Husqvarna factory was reopened by swm and it started producing Italian era huskies under a new name the RS 500 has a modern mikuni fuel injection system KYB suspension has been beefed up in a number of ways the bike has top-notch components like oversized bars hand guards hydraulic clutch and michelin enduro nabis some of the old Husqvarna features are still there though it still has the dual muffler exhaust system the six-speed gearbox and the central backbone frame somewhere along the way the swm gains significant way it comes in at 285 pounds without fuel on the plus side the bike is actually priced about the same as it was in 2006 the swm RS 500 sells for seven thousand seven hundred ninety five dollars which is an amazing value [Music] [Music] [Music] we took all five bikes to the high desert of Southern California spent days crossing the desert visiting famous landmarks got to know them pretty well all of them extremely capable off-road bikes all of them are fun to ride and all of them are miles ahead of what we had just a few years ago in the dual sport category in terms of outright power the beta is the king no surprise there even the 430 was the king of the group last year it seems to us like beta follows a different set of rules than everyone else the bike is a little more noisy and you get the feeling that's a little less bottled up throttle response is crisp and it doesn't do any of the popping or overheating that you expect from super lean epa-approved motorcycles second on the list of just sheer power output has to be the swm it's an old school slow revving motor that feels much bigger than the other motorcycles it might not be as crisp and sharp down low as a modern 450 motocross bike but it does make a lot of power what you have to adjust to with the swm is more of an old-school feel when you roll off the gas there's a lot of engine braking and it doesn't seem to Rev that high the KTM and husky are pretty much on par terms of engine performance they do have the same motor and they roll out of the same factory they can't quite keep up with the two Italian bikes in a straight line but they're super crisp and responsive and make excellent low-end power as the revs climb on both those motors power kind of tapers off they are however ultra quiet perhaps the most quiet in the group the Honda has a little bit of a displacement disadvantage in this group but it does have excellent sharp hitting low end power the Honda is very close to the two Austrian bikes and performance it might even have a touch more lower in power and it also has a super responsive willing feel on top it tapers off but by then it's already done a great job the biggest complaint with the Honda motor is it has a tendency to die we won't say it coughs and dies or flames out like other EPA bikes have in the past it just seems to stop running when the idle drops too low a quick fix for this is to turn up the idle all these bikes have locked efi units that means the government doesn't want you playing with the emissions as they're certified however as we all know they do get modified in the real world if you stick just a muffler on any of these bikes in an attempt to get more horsepower you're going to go backwards the mapping and the EFI units they're all designed for quiet exhaust systems so that means it's a domino effect you have to remap them which often means you have to replace the whole ignition for us we love the quiet bikes we love the fact that they're clean we love the fact that people can't hear you riding where you might venture off the beaten path our advice they even stopped leaving quiet there's nothing wrong with the performance of any of these bikes in stock floor [Music] these five bikes all come with slightly different takes on what they should have for dual sport rubber the KTM and Husqvarna actually come with cotton LT kcat tires which are excellent for big adventure bikes not so good for lightweight off-road bikes we replace them both with STI tech 2 tires which are full knobs but are d-o-t legal in the case of the swm and the beta they come with Michelin do T knobbies these aren't full nabis though they're shortened versions that are made particularly for European off-road races again on those bikes we installed STI tech two's the Honda has the most street oriented tires of all the IRC tires that come stock on the CRF 450 L aren't suitable for off-road use they're more designed for people who want to commute get around campus and they're also very quiet again STI Tech 2 tires were the answer there and they made it so we're comparing apples to apples with the same tires on all five bikes you should also be aware that the Honda does not come with rim locks when you put on full knobs you have to put on rim locks as well and then if you just put one in each wheel you'll find the wheels are out of balance it takes a little expertise to balance the dual sport wheel KTM and Husqvarna give you a rim locks but they're not in the bike you have to install them yourself [Music] moving onto suspension this was the big handicap on the KTM last year the Explorer Fork was simply too soft for really hardcore off-road riding same thing with the husky both have been upgraded significantly for 2020 now they come in with suspension that is among the best we still have to say they are soft as you might expect for an off-road bike that has to cover Street use trail use and the occasional impromptu race both bikes are miles ahead of what they were just a year ago in the case of the Husqvarna it does have linkage suspension and that is a major difference between it in the KTM it loses a little bit of ground clearance and you have always have to be aware when you're crossing over a log that it could hang up on that knuckle it hangs down below the swing arm not so with the KTM that's why people love the pds rear suspension it has a little more ground clearance and it also has a slightly different feel that off-road riders have come to love the beta's big advantage in our 450 shootout last year was perhaps suspension this year that's been nullified somewhat by the advancement of the KTM and the Husqvarna it is however still very good its off-road appropriate suspension and can be used for play racing and everything bright up to full-on motocross which might not be appropriate for a dual sport bike of any time the swm has KYB suspension front and rear this is a huge improvement over the old school Husqvarna 's of twenty years ago in fact some people say the swon suspension is as good as anything in the tests the beta husky and KTM are similar in outright dirt capability the Honda leans a little bit more towards the street and the swm is even more in that direction the Honda single greatest asset is its suspension it's the best of the bunch striking a very happy balance between cruise speed comfort and hard-edged performance weight plays a huge role in dirt performance though and the Honda and swm are handicapped they're they're heavy you just can't escape that if you have a good memory you know the beta 431 are 2019 450 dual sport shootout it was the most powerful and surprisingly enough had much better suspension than the KTM and husky the beta 500 went into this test with high expectations but KTM and husky made big progress in the suspension department for 2020 [Music] [Applause] [Music] on the trail most of the bikes were trouble-free we did have some problems with the Husqvarna x' license plate bracket once you put on full knobs it would get caught in the rear wheel and you might lose the license plate which is the most valuable part of a dual sport bike the beta's right rear blinker was right in line with the exhaust it actually melted you might want to relocate that before you do any off-road riding all the bikes have large d-o-t legal mirrors the Honda's swm KTM & huskies are rigid the bait is the only ones that fold up and a mere touch sounds great however we have broken these mirrors because the pivot is plastic it's not terribly durable for night riding the Honda far and away the best bike it has the brightest light it has the easiest controls to reach and as we said the blinkers are going to last longer than any of the other ones in the shootout none of these bikes have particularly large gas tanks this is major shortcoming however for the Husqvarna KTM and bata larger fuel tanks are available they're just now becoming available for the Honda as well the swm is the one oddball there you might have a hard time finding an aftermarket tank either way don't expect to get much over a hundred miles out of a tank on any of these bikes in stock form there are some things you might have to be aware of on any extended off-road ride in the case of this WM don't ever leave the key on you can run the battery down without even writing the bike the KTM and the husky however turn themselves off if you just walk away and accidentally leave the key on on the other hand the beta has this excellent Trail Tech GPS system it's called the voyager which is the top of the line unit and you can use it for navigation as well as speed mileage the beta also has a map switch that lets you mute the power slightly when you're really slippery conditions on the lines of street capability the swm and beta are geared taller than the other three bikes you can go faster longer and in greater comfort simply because the motor isn't revving out it's just loafing along on both of those bikes vibration isn't a big factor on any of these bikes on the road however if you have the KTM and husky they might vibrate the most all these bikes are quiet the Honda KTM Husqvarna are the quietest by far with the swm coming slightly louder and the beta the loudest of all the power of these bikes is a perfect inverse of their noise level the beta is the horsepower king of the group and it's the loudest it's also geared taller than the KTM husky or Honda the swm is closest to the beta in power noise and gearing it's clearly a powerful motorcycle and there's an old school slow revving feel with a lot of engine braking [Music] [Applause] [Music] the toughest thing in choosing a dual sport bike is really evaluating who you are and what you want out of the motorcycle the swm for instance is an extremely capable bike with excellent components it doesn't have the dirt capability of some of the others though and if you're oriented towards street riding it might be the best choice mostly because it is so much less expensive than these other bikes next in terms of street orientation and value probably the Honda it's not nearly as inexpensive as the swm but it's the type of bike you can ride forever and ever with very very little maintenance with the Honda if you decided you wanted to do more serious dirt riding there would be some aftermarket components that you might need to get as we said earlier it comes with an undersized handlebar and a lot of this small bits and pieces on it aren't quite what you would expect in a true off-road dirt bike on the other hand it's extremely durable whereas some of the other bikes have lights that might break off in a crash or even fall off on their own the Honda's are on there to stay this is an extremely reliable motorcycle from our experience then we have the beta the beta is a dirt bike it's basically what you would expect from a company like beta which might fly under the radar a little bit as far as EPA and carb restrictions just like last year we love this motorcycle just for its power if nothing else and then there's also the fact that it has such top-notch components the hydraulic clutch is flawless the suspension is good everything about the beta is much much better than you would expect out of a tiny Italian company the choice between the KTM Husqvarna very difficult they're separated by subtleties that you have to be kind of a KTM / husky expert to really appreciate the obvious difference of course is the rear suspension overall though we have to say that in outright performance they are essentially a toss-up [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] which bike that our guys choose as their favorite dual sport bike of 2020 well to a man everyone came up with the KTM 500 exc is the top bike this year mostly because its suspension is vastly improved and the bike is pretty much ready to go once you put on better tires we have a distinct off-road bias of course and not everyone feels the same way we see as dual sport bikes is merely a legal way to connect trails you might not think that way [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] if you'd like to hear more about each of these bikes you can check out the individual videos we've done for each one and as always you can go to dirtbike magazine.com for all the latest and dual sport off-road and motocross coverage

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Id: I-omtbN2KVI

Length: 24min 16sec (1456 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 24 2020