2014 KTM 500 EXC (DUAL SPORT)
RIDING IMPRESSION
P68
All-new plastic
gives the 2014
500 EXC a
fresh look.
they were the same – they shared identi-
cal 510cc SOHC motors, chromoly-steel
frames, footpegs, handlebars, WP forks
and PDS rear suspension systems. Any
differences were small and had to do with
emissions and a few other government
regulations that KTM had to comply with
so the company could sell the EXC as a
street-legal motorcycle. And the EXC was
also only about six pounds heavier. So,
you can see that the EXC really was (and
is) a street-legal XC-W. Basically, you can
thank the latest in fuel-injection technol-
ogy for this and KTM doing its homework.
Bottom line: The 2012 KTM 500 EXC
was a godsend for hard-core off-roaders
looking for an honest to goodness street-
legal dirt bike that worked like it should
right off the showroom floor. KTM got it
figured out, so there was no need to mess
with the EXC's emission system as soon
as you got it home from the dealer. In fact,
KTM actually advised against it because
you would be doing more harm than good.
The bike was designed to run as good as
possible with every part, hose and breath-
er in place. If you did tinker with the EXC's
emissions system in any way, even mess-
ing with something as seemingly as harm-
less as the gas cap vent tube, it would
hinder performance and would probably
require a return trip to your dealer and his
computer to have the EXC's tamper-resis-
tant hard-drive reset.
Unfortunately, as excited as we got
about the 500 EXC, we were also quickly
brought back to earth by its near $10,000
price tag. Yikes! That's a lot of dough
