Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

ourse lf om pared to most mot or cycle ca tego ries, the dual sport segment of the market is pretty, broa d . When yo u're ta lki ng motocrossers, for exa m ple, yo u p rett y mu ch know what you' re ge tting, since the variance is minimal eve n from company to company . But the term "dua l-sport bike" could refer to a Yama ha n V200 or a BMW R1100s - or anything in between. The mai n poi n t of va riance seems to be orien tation, as in, "What is the bike or iented toward? " Since there are so ma ny concepts of what dual-sporting is, there are just as many ideas of how to make a mot orcycle that d oes it well. The Honda XR650L in the acco m panying test, for exa m ple, is intended p rimarily for brief pavement jaunts, twisting fire roads, and smooth trails, and it does a ll those things well. But for some people, a good OS bike sho u ld be more di rt-oriented. It's prob ably safe to say tha t the folks at ATK a nd at Whi te Bro thers are inclu d ed in that di rt-oriented group. We recentl y borrow ed a '99 ATK 605 END from the latter company (ATK had len t WB the bike for d evelopmen t of a possible aftermarket exha ust system), and tried it ou t alongs ide the big Hond a. The END is actually an off-roa d mod el tha t can be fa irly simp ly converted for stree t legality with a kit fro m anyone of a number of aftermarket su ppliers. Our bike was stock, exce pt for one such kit and the pro to ty pe WB E-Series d isc exha us t (a Su pertrapp disc sys tem is stock , but th e Bros make dirt tracker A.J. Herr era's one-o ff AT K megap hone exhaus t as well). Like the Honda, th e ATK boasts electric s tart, but u nlike the Ho nda , it's go t a backup kick sta rt lever as well . Th e Paioli for k is conv entiona l in configura tio n only, as it d rew mo re stares than the trickest inv erted fork we' ve eve r used . Rear suspensi on is also exotic, handled by an Oh lins shoc k with no linkage. This is typi cal for the two bik es, the XRL nearl y invisible, and the ATK a head-turner. The la tte r feat ures a host of trick alumi nu m pa rts, inclu di ng Talo n hubs, a Radialite sp roc ket, a Pro-Ta per ha nd lebar, a n d a w orks-lo oking ai rbox and skid plate. Despi te bein g at a deficit of 46cc, the WB-exhaust-ou tfitted ATK pulls C harder than the Hon da , especially on the uphill tu rn exits so com mo n w hile fireroad ing. Of course it does so at the expense of quietness , and we were qu ite selfconscious w he n rid in g the boo ming END through town. You 'd also expect th e ATK su spension to ou tpe rform the Ho nd a's, and althoug h it is ind eed better for ro ug h tra ils, we were n' t ext reme ly im pressed overa ll. The rear end isn' t much stiffer tha n tha t of the XR650L, and the fro nt end is so firm that we had trouble ge tting it to settle goi ng into turns; thi s makes for a high-front sensa tion that is only amplified by the bar-to-seat relationship. A bit of se tup time wo u ld iron ou t the worst of these flaws and leav e yo u wit h a very trick motor cycle - one mor e than worthy of the attention it gra bs . Of course when yo u shell ou t $7295 for a bike and then coug h up some mor e for a dual-sport kit yo u kind of expect that to be d on e for yo u. As supplied, this ATK 605 EN D's biggest real ad va ntages over the Honda XR650L are its knobby fron t tire and its less-res trictive exhaust. Though they look like radiator shrouds , the plastic s coop s (right) are on ly to direct air to the tried-and-true air-cooled XR motor (above). Honda XR650L Specifications Engine Type 644cc air-coo led dry-sump single-cylinder four-stroke Bore and St ro ke 1OOmm x 82mm Compression Ratio 8.3:1 Valve Train SOHC; four-valve RFVC Carburetion 42.5mm diaphragm-type CV Sohd -state CD with Ignition elec tronic adva nce Five-speed ...#520 Osnnq -see led chain; Transmission Final Drive 15T/45T SUSPENSION Front .43mm air·adjustable leading-axleShowa cartridge fork WIth 16-po siti on co mpress ion dam ping adjustability: 11.6 inches travel Rear . ... Pro -Link Showa single shock with spring preload. 20,posltion co mp ress ion and 20- pos ition reb ound - damping adjustability; 11 .0 inches travel BRAKES Front Single disc with tw in-piston caliper Rea r Single disc TIRES Fro nt 3.00-21 Rear .4.60-18 Whee lba s e 57.3 inches Sea t Height 37.0 inches Grou nd Clea ra nc e 13.0 inches Cla imed Dry Weig ht 324.1 pounds 2.8 gallons. Fue l Ca pac ity including o.s-ocuon reserve Co lor . . . . . . Red Suggested Retail Pric e $5499 C aliforn ia version di ffers sligh tly due emiss ions equipment. to gra p h ics hov e ac tu a lly s p ruced it up enough tha t if you squ int and blur your eyes, you can almost imag ine it really is the new di rt bike. (Check out the spec bo x or th e "Tech ti cker" si deba r fo r a more complete analysis.) ON A ND OFF THE ROAD AG A IN Our testing included d esert trailriding, a 'l Ofl- rni le Ca liforn ia Trail Rid es-orga- ni zed eve n t in the Sa n Ber nard ino Mountains, and several weeks of street commu ting to and from work. To be hon est, we had been prepar ed not to like the old -design L-model. It is ve ry h e a vy , h a s 0 highly restricti v e exha us t sys tem, is softly suspended and has tires that look more like street rubber than knobbies. But th e H onda su rprised u s. O n smooth, twisty fire road s, for exa mp le, it actua lly ha s a n adv antage ove r m ore "seriou s" dual-sport steeds. Here, the electri c p ow er and smooth rea r meat allow the back end to slide predictably , and the soft springs let the bik e settle d own in its travel for a lower center of gra vity. And while the pow er is choked d own considerably, we' re tal king abo ut 644 cubic centimete rs here, so the re 's still so me thing left. Besides, it's nice having such a qui et exha ust no te. If ou r ridin g co ns is ted p rima rily of dirt ro ad s, smoo th t rails a nd p avem ent (a nd for man y people, that describes dual spo rting to a T) , we'd thr ow a DOT-approved front knobbi e on the XR650L and run it. Ob vi ou sl y , th e a bove- me n t ioned cha racteristics do have their downsid e, a tru ism that becomes im med ia tely apparen t wh en the trail ge ts gnarly. In those condi tions , the rea r end often bott oms harshly and occasionally rebou nd s wildly. And while good riding tech nique can ma sk the we ight pena lty some what, the poundage is gla ri ng ly obvious d uring m iscues, o r when throwing th e bike back and forth. Also, the mu sh y se a t foam that feels so nice on groc ery-store jau n ts allows yo u r keaster to slam the seat base on rou gh er trails. Those same trail s will expose th e rid iculously tall gea ring; the 15/45 sproc kets ma y help the Honda pass em ission s tests, but they result in a huge gap between first a nd seco nd gea rs . An other EPA-appea sin g cha racteristic is the lea n carburetor jetting, which ret a rd s thrott le respon se and causes cou ghing and gasping when the engine is cold; the conveni ent han dl ebar-mount ed cho ke o n ly p a rtl y makes up for this . If you r ou tings are akin to an end uro or observed tria ls, then yo u're better off going wi th a more d irt-biased steed, but it probabl y wo n't sli de as well on fire roads or be as comfortable on lon g tar mac exc u rs io ns (see "Orient yourself" side bar). Basically, the tru sty XR650L is ver y good at wha t it's designed for - an d a verage a t b est o n eve ryt h ing e lse . Ma ybe that doesn't sound like m uch of a co m p lim ent , but when y o u thi nk ab out it, the same hold s tru e for even the best of bikes (includ ing, no do ub t, CN the XR650R). r-:~ t .c E CI) > o z 13

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