2019 DUAL-SPORT SHOOTOUT
COMPARISON
P92
anyway. Those situations are a
commute to trails, not the ride
they're intending to do.
Here, the Honda's slight edge
in less vibration was quickly
discounted. But the Husqvarna's
slightly less buzz made it a wor-
thy competitor. Beta, too, raised
eyebrows with its smooth ride,
but in the end the KTM has the
handling prowess of the Husqvar-
na, with added torque. So it won
more riders over for the overall.
It is the lightest bike in the
class, it shares the largest fuel
capacity and the longest range.
It incorporates easy maintenance
tasks, the aftermarket is in full
support of lighting options, lug-
gage options and more. It can be
comfortable racing Baja or going
fishing and gives up very little to
any of its competition on either
end of the spectrum.
Plus, it's a 500. Why not have
the extra displacement in a dual-
sport? It doesn't come with many
disadvantages.
The only complaints we had
from testers on the KTM were
about its vibration at high speeds
and on the pavement, some sus-
pension grumblings around the
fork performance, and about the
lackluster license plate bracket
that nearly immediately falls off.
That's it.
