Anywhere, Anytime
CW COMPARISON
ANYWHERE, ANYTIME
Four paths to adventure
MARK HOYER
RIDING IN HEAVY RUSH-HOUR traffic on Interstate 5 south of Los Angeles, all I can smell is the scent of freshly burning pine. Bashing wooded single-track on a KTM 950 Adventure does allow the bike to obtain a certain aroma that you can take back to civilization with you. But considering the previous two days of sun, wind, rain, snow, sand, fire road, beaches, water crossings, jumps, granite shelves, 9000-foot elevation and temperatures as low as the mid-20s, this big adventure bike was in pretty good shape. Actually, everything we dragged through the wilderness-this KTM, a BMW HP2, a Honda XR650L and a Husqvarna TE610E-was all looking great.
Even us. The "us" on hand was a solid collection of indi viduals, too. Off-Road Editor Ryan Dudek was a natural choice, while for local trail knowledge in and around the Shaver Lake, California, area of the Sierras we enlisted the assistance of Ed Mann, who, in addition to being an excel lent guide, also seems to handle a bike pretty well. Turns out he is actually related to that famous guy with the same last name. He also is a 30-year veteran of the fire depart ment, so in the event that something did go wrong and one of us needed to have a femur reconstructed trailside, he was, ahem, the man. Filling the fourth spot took some head scratching, but not for too long. The name Gary Jones should ring a bell...well, because it should. Jones, who currently works on special projects for White Brothers, has run his own motorcycle company (remember the AMMEX?), was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000 and was, depending on whether your ask him or the AMA, a threeor four-time 250cc motocross champion in the early ’70s. That was a long time ago, though. So when I called to invite him, I was a little cautious. “You’re still in, uh, pretty good shape, then? We’re going to be riding some pretty hard trails, and the bikes are kind of big, so...”
Mr. Jones had a chuckle and was matter-of-fact. “I just finished eighth overall in the Glen Helen 24 Hour. Me and my team were all over 50, won the plus-40 class and we only missed sixth overall by 30 seconds.”
Okay, great, you can take care of me, then...
The planned trails were tough, and we always decide to do harder things than we plan, so proper dirt-worthy tires were procured. The KTM’s Pirelli Scorpion A/Ts were swapped for Metzeler Karoos, standard on both the BMW and Husky, while the Honda got Dunlop D606 DOT-legal knobbies.
Autumn had stayed fairly warm, even in the Sierra foothills, so when we arrived, there was a chill in the evening air, but no more. In fact, we reveled in the sunshine and warmth of the first day, just playing around with some street riding and fairly easy trail work.
Naturally, the BMW HP2 was of greatest interest to everybody, because it is hard not to be interested in an 1170cc, 86-horsepower, $20,000 dirtbike. The dirtbike part is both the bike’s strength and its weakness. The HP2 is narrow and tall, with a hard seat that is, by the CWtape measure, 37.0 inches above ground (a 1.6-inch lower version is available).
In other words, not the most comfy place to sit while riding on long stretches of asphalt, and full-on tip-toe material on or off the road. The lack of wind protection also somewhat limits street usability, especially in cold weather on the highway, but available heated grips help in this regard.
The HP2 feels as though it is made for big people, with the handlebars abnormally high in front of the rider. A few corners into the ride, the ergonomic weirdness is forgotten, and if you are an apeman, it actually feels pretty good. You are simply in command. Power is excellent and seemingly never-end ing. There was a sec tion of tacky fire road that underlined how magnificent this bike is in its element Slides were perfectly easy to control, the front end felt stuck like velcro, and we could dial in with the throttle any degree of wheelspin or lift the front end with ease.
Rocky uphills, however, challenged rear traction, even with BMW'S fancy air-only shock (air functions as both spring and damping medium). The shaft final drive is said to be quite light, but unsprung weight is still greater than with chain-drive rears.
"This bike was more awkward to jump than the KTM because of the engine torque effect and drivelash," comment ed Jones. "And it landed a little harsher, too?' Dudek echoed these comments after seeing Jones hurling the KTM off a `pretty big jump and demanding possession of the BMW to go do the same with it.
BMW
HP2
$19,990
A Coolest Beemer ever A Did you really just get away with that?! A Spacious and roomy A Rally-ready A GPS, heated grips available
`%~~ `v Rear brake pedal hard to find v Needs more fuel range y Drivelash v W-i-d-e cylinders
h Summed up The Dude: "Too big to be a serious dirtbike, and it doesn't have all the features and comfort needed for a true adventure-tour. But it does kick butt off-road, and you can charge harder than on the KTM almost everywhere, as long as you mind the width of the engine."
We did bash some pretty gnarly single-track trail, and following the BMW was like following a farm combine, cylinders mowing foliage quite effectively. Also, rocky crags and narrow passages were tricky.
That being said, this bike shredded almost every trail, torched the knobs right off the rear tire, and when Dudek finished chucking giant sand roostertails and generally playing desert racer on a huge beachfront near one of the lakes we visited, I never saw a smile larger.
While there were places the big Beemer might fear to tread due to its width, there was no such trouble with the tried-and-true HONDA XR650L. In some regards, you want to call it tired and true, if only because the bike has been around in its air-cooled, single-cylinder, 644cc glory since 1993. Where the BMW is almost too spacious in its seating, the Honda feels cramped, with low bars and a fairly tight seat-to-footpeg relationship. Tipping the bars forward from the as-delivered position alleviates some of this. Then you just keep on riding, no matter what.
“The old XR650L is an old XR650L,” said Jones. “It never did anything bad. It started easily, it ran good and was a smooth runner. And for the price, you can't beat it."
HONDA
XR650L
$5799
A No surprises A King bargain A Almost unstoppable
v Like HP2, needs more fuel range v Time for a six-speed gearbox v Cramped riding position for tall neoDle
As with the other bikes, we made a few trail-friendly mods. The BMW and Husky got aftermarket handguards (Acerbis and Cycra, respec tively), for example, and in the Honda's case, the coun tershaft-sprocket size was reduced by a tooth. This made first gear a real rock-crawler and dropped second (a big jump from first gear) enough to make it much more useful. Highway cruise in fifth gear was still happy, and fuel effi ciency was quite good.
Unfortunately, the tank is small, which limits range to well under 100 miles, including reserve. This was the bike we always had to think of in regard to fuel stops (although its 2.8-gallon capacity was hardly smaller than the BMW'S 2.9gallon capacity). Power was softest of all the bikes, which was reflected in performance testing.
Said Mann, “For a bike that hasn’t changed much in almost a decade and a half, it still provides a solid ride on the street and in the dirt. The suspension can be adjusted to handle anything the bike is designed for. I own an ’05 and use it extensively in Baja and for dual-sport rides, as well as commuting. The bike is rock-solid and reliable but could use a well-spaced six-speed and a diet.”
Despite some of the XR-L’s shortcomings, there is no doubt that this is much more of a true dirtbike than either of the biggies. While you might cry great big tears if you dropped your 950 Adventure or HP2 on a rocky uphill (the latter has an epoxy valve-cover repair kit available as an accessory!), you wouldn’t even flinch with the XR-L. A bike that costs $5799 gives a man a certain feeling of freedom.
Of course, you could simply bypass tipping over at all on that rocky uphill by riding the HUSQVARNA TE610E. While this ain’t no enduro-race-ready off-roader-with-lights like the 2006 TE450 and 250, in this group, the 610 feels like a flame-throwing lightweight trail-shredding device.
“The Husky did great berm shots,” enthused Jones. “You could just bury the thing in corners and lay it down like a really good motocross bike-it was the most dirtish out of all of them.”
Dudek, a Pro-level rider in his own right, concurred. “This Husky is the most current dirtbike-like machine in the group. The controls are up date, and it feels lightweight and slim, making it the most comfortable for me because dirtbikes are what I ride all the time. Power was decent, though nothing spectacular, especially compared to the big boys. But I would not be afraid to take this bike on any trail."
HUSQVARNA
TE610E
$7199
A Feels like a real dirtbike A Strong power, smooth engine A Lightweight (in this group)
VDowns Reliability questions? v Not as much of a real dirtbike as the street-legal TE51 0 v Where~s my chrome-paneled fuel tank?~~~~
Unfortunately, the jetting was off to the point that the bike didn't like to run cleanly at altitude. We also had trouble with the digital speedo/info display, which worked intermittently. In the course of continued testing, first the display quit altogether on a nighttime off-road ride back in Southern California, then the engine barely ran at the end of the ioop. Husqvarna USA (headquartered in Pennsylvania) chose to send us another bike as an expedient, which ran better but popped the main fuse to the instruments, also killing the electric start. So, the bike had to be push-started because, like the rest of this group, there is no kickstarter. We replaced the fuse for less than a buck and the TE61OE is running fine now, but you can bet we're going to carry extras (perhaps in the available accessory saddlebags) on any ride. It is a shame to have such a worry in the back of your mind, because this bike-with its competent, fully adjustable suspension, accessory skidplate and 3.2-gallon fuel capac ity-feels like it could conquer anything you throw at it. With proper jetting, power was snappy yet smooth, the bike was comfortable enough to ride on the road for reasonable trail connecting distances, and it ripped in the dirt. Due to its lighter weight and smaller size, it was-like the Honda-easi est to handle when we encountered heavy snow on the sec ond day in the mountains.
That being said, Dudek passed my KIM 950 Adventuremounted ass like I was standing still in the several-inchlayer of white we encountered on the morning of Day Two at 7000-plus feet, not seeming to have any trouble at all in the nasty conditions with that big Beemer he was riding. Having had 10 more years of life than him to discover the fragility of the human form, I chalked this up to caution on my part, but there might also be a slight talent deficit, too. Nonetheless, the KTM was quite a willing companion in these tough conditions. Even with 91 hp at the rear wheel, the connection with the throttle is excellent so that the rider can dial-in only as much as he needs. The tank-like, 485-pound dry weight should have been more intimidating, too, but it is carried so well that you don't think anything of it. The seat height helped here, which dropped 0.8-inch to 34.4 inches this year and is 2.2 to 3 inches lower than the others.
And when the going wasn't frozen, the game was on. On big gravel roads, we all could stand up on the 950 and just power slide forever, in perfect control, grooving with the trail. Jones was flying through the air with the greatest of ease and didn't even cause any earthquakes upon landing. "If you hit the right kind ofjump, it felt so good," he said, "and it didn't land hard at all." In the rocky stuff, it was pretty easy to go fast, but like on the BMW (itself 422 pounds), it was best to be more mellow because rims suffered dings on both bikes.
KTM
950 ADVENTURE
A Great engine! A Wind protection A New lower seat height ACenterstand A Handy tank-top storage compartment
VDowns v Devours rear tires v Heavy v Carries 5~8 gallons of fuel, but 28 mpg?! v How about a helmet lock? (Husky/Honda have `em) v Europe has EFI 990, how `bout us?
In more technical going or on single-tracks, both the big bikes had their shortcomings. We always were aware of the KTM's additional poundage (especially if the 5.8-gallon fuel tank was full), but even in the narrow stuff, everybody liked how well the KTM could be made to turn. Said Jones, "You could whip that KTM in and out of little corners and stuff so easily." The Austrian bike invited a leg-out motocross style, while the BMW's cylinder heads were always in the way.
Further, the KTM is plush and cushy, and it makes you feel like you could ride from Georgia to Utah because you wanted to ride on the rocks in Moab. And then you could actually ride the rocks in Moab.
While we added carbon-fiber fuel-tank and case guards, nothing could protect the KTM's kickstand safety switch, which was crushed and killed the motor on the trail. We wired around thc trouble and got back to the adventure at hand.
There is no doubt that torching knobs at 9000 feet is about as much fun as you can have on a motorcycle. The pine aroma back on the daily commute was really just a bonus. Still, crawling between lanes on the super-slab made it hard to believe that two days earlier, we had this mega bomber on trails hardly wider than the 160mm rear Metzeler. Even in this selection of just four bikes, there is one for every budget and for every kind of use, especially if there is a lot of dirt in the coming miles.
For us, however, the 950 Adventure is fast becoming a clas sic. It accomplished everything the smaller bikes did without too much more trouble, and while the Orange Bomber is a lot pricier than the Singles, it is also far more versatile due to its power, smoothness and comfort. At the same time, it rings in $6000 cheaper than the BMW does just about as well off road, particularly in narrow going, and ended up being the favorite of everybody on the ride. If you need any more con vincing, just think of all the money you'll save by not having to buy those little Christmas-tree air-fresheners.
