2019 SUZUKI DR-Z400S VS. 2019 K TM 500 EXC
C O M PA R I S O N
P106
to be on the street, and it's no fun
on the street. But it can—legally—
be ridden on the street, which is
a very good thing. The 500 EXC
wants to be ridden on the dirt, and
that's where it's designed to be.
So if you find yourself having to
log a lot of pavement miles on the
KTM right off the bat, the fun-factor
meter needle won't budge. It'll stay
right at zero. Advantage: Suzuki.
The Suzuki is a decent street
bike, and if that meeting place is
some 50 miles from your driveway,
or if you have to hit the freeway
for a bit, you'll still show up at your
meeting place feeling pretty fresh
and anxious to get started for what
you came to do. So, for the DR-Z,
this is a huge advantage over the
EXC, and this could make the dif-
ference between having a good
day or a bad day.
We had a third bike on this
ride, our Beta 430 RR-S test bike,
which was recruited as our work/
photo bike for this trip, so three of
us could take turns on the Suzuki
and KTM.
Finally, we headed out. After a
quick stop for fuel and a few more
miles of pavement and
stoplights, we even-
tually got on the dirt
and left the craziness
of real life behind us.
Ah, relief—dirt! Rennie
happened to be on the
DR-Z at the time and
was anxious to "give the
ol' gal a go" on the dirt,
in this case, a twisty fire road head-
ing up the canyon. But it didn't take
long for Rennie to start bitching.
Our first stop, and he was
already ranting through his helmet
(Right) When the
trail gets tough,
the KTM shines.
(Below) The
KTM's $11,999
MSRP is hefty but
is one heck of a
dual sport bike
on the dirt.
