Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127732
1995KTM L 4400 and 620 RlXCs C (Lett) Most dual sport bikes are street bikes that can be ridden in the dirt, but the KTM RlXe dual sport bikes are dirt bikes that can be ri dden on the street - legally (but not comfortably). (Above) A min iscule, weight-saving 12-volt battery, located underneath the seat, supplies just enough juice to keep the lights running while the eng ine Isn 't. 22 important to you, then you might prefer the 620 over the 400, since it only weighs about three pounds more than the 400. However, the 620 feels more than just a few po unds heavier th an the 400, and KTM credits this to the centrifugal force of the larger spinning crank and reciprocating piston of the 620. The 620 didn't seem any hard er to sta rt than the 400, and, pricewise, the 620 costs only $100 more than the 400. But the 400 is definitely less intimidating than the 620, which might explain the fact tha t the 400 outsold the 620 in '94. As mentioned, the 400 has a super-me llow powerband tha t is simple to control and manage, an d it vib rates slightly less than the 620. . What the 400 - an d the 620, for that matt er - migh t lack in the horsepower department is more than mad e up for in the suspension and handling departments, this is where the R/ XCs stand way out over the rest of the bikes in their class. In fact, there is no comparison , really. They are that good. Remove the mirrors on the light and twisty trails and you'll simply forget you're on a dual sport bike. Though, once in a while you might be remind ed that you're not on a full-on dirt bike when you first open up the throttle or try to lift the front end over an obstacle. Otherwise, there really isn't much of a difference between the E/XCs and the R/XCs when it comes to the.dirt, just like last year. The suspension is basically identical to that of the E/XCs, and hasn't been softened up or modified for better street performance. Instead , the suspension was left alone and is well up to the task of hard off-road riding. Most of our rides on the 400 us ually wound up on tight single-track trails, and many times on rocky two-track dirt roads, and the WP inverted 4057 fork and WP 4681 shock handl e the rough stuff extremely well. So metimes the front end would d eflect so me what violently after sla mming into a rock or rut, but muc h of this has to do with th e bike's excessive weigh t. Ot herwise, th e bike was quite stable over rocks, rut s and wh oops. Pe r ha ps the si ngle big g es t thing hold ing the R/XCs back on the dirt is the tires, which don ' t inspire much confidence, as they s kitter around on th e trail. However, th e Pirelli MT21 semiknobby tires are many times better than tire more street-oriented rubber that comes stock on many of the Japanese dual sport bikes, whose tires are downright useless for aggressive off-road riding. . The Brembo brakes work extremely well, es pecially the very progressive front binder, which offered excellent feel. We quickly removed the rubber pad that KTM installed on the footpegs to red uce vibration while riding on pavement. Not only do the pads give the sensation tha t the footpegs themselves are sagging, bu t become very slippery after riding through water. As far as engine performance, the only d iffere nce between last year's 49state models a nd th e 50-state models mostly revolves around the carburetors. On t he QuickSilver-carb-equipped bikes, you can feel sligh t surges of power while cruising down the pavement at a steady throttle selling. It feels as though the bikes are starving for fuel. which, according to Harden, is exactly the case. "We have to set up the carbs as lean as possible for emission reasons, and that causes the surging." says Harden . Also, sometimes you could feel a sharp hesitation, or bog. when you first back off the throttle. It was tough to feel the difference between the non-counterbalanced 49state models and the counterbalanced 50-state models, at least wi th the 620s, bu t you can feel the difference between the two 4005,albeit slightly. Riding the R/XCs can be a funny experience. At least it was with me. You see, it's rea lly easy to curse eit her bike while riding them on the street, due to their dirt bike ancestry. Then once you get them on the dirt, they're so good that you can't help but start comparing them to their pure dirt bike cousins, the E/XC 400 and 6205, and suddenly find yourself complaining that they're too slow and heavy. You have to keep the bikes in perspective and once you do that, you realize you're ridi ng what is in my opinion the best street-legal dirt bike that money can buy. At least here in the U.s. Unfo rtunately, it's going to take a lot of mo ney to buy one, bu t in the long run, it'll probably be cheaper and, more importantly, a lot less of a hass le than to legally convert your full-on d irt bike into a licensed street bike. Why bother when KTM has do ne all that for you? And now, for Californians too. a While Cycle News believes the foregoing test reliable, it is the opinion of the reviewers only and should not be relied upon in determining the performance or safety of the vchicle(si. The reader should make his or herown investigation.