Australasian Dirt Bike – June 2019

Sherco’s 300 two-strokehasbeen

knownasabitofamonsterinthe

enginedepartmentoverthelastfew

years. Thishasbeenaddressedfor

2019 withanewcylinder,tweaked

exhaustpowervalve,newignition

managementsystemandlightened

ignitionrotortoimprovetorqueand

delivermorelinearpower.

Didittamethebeast?Yesandno.

Onthetrackwiththepowermap

switchinHardmode,itstillmakes

class-leadinghorsepowerbutata

morecontrollablerate.Itcanstillbe

intimidatingifyougrabafistfullof

throttlebutnowit’salotmore

controlled.

Thisengineisalsotheonlyone

herethathasanelectronically-

controlledpowervalveandbooster

thatalsoaddstotheslightlyunusual

power.Easilymyfavouritefeatureof

thisbikewasthemapswitchinSoft

mode.Itfeelslikeitcutsthepowerin

half,makingitreally manageable

inextremeterrain,especially

whentired.

Newthisyearisthe WP Xplor 48

forkmatchedtoaWP monoshock.

Bothforkandshock are on the firm

side,comparedtothe opposition and

rewardafasterrider, or someone

abovethe90kgmark. I’m only 84kg

anditworkedwellfor me on the

grasstrackandextreme loop. The only

timeIfeltitwasatad firm was on the

endurocrosssection.

Iwasalsoimpressed with front-

wheelgriponoff-camber corners,

especiallyonthegrasstrack. The

slightlylowerseatheight of 950mm

madeitalittleeasier to get my feet on

thegroundintricky situations.

Trailriderswilllove the 10.4-litre fuel

tankasit’sthebiggest in this group. It

alsoboaststhelowest price tag of

$12,390,makingitexcellent value for

moneyandaveryappealing option.

2019 SHOOTOUT #5 | 300T ENDURO

Engine has been tamed, but only a little bit Oxiataperedhandlebar steers the ship

Sherco 300SE-R

48 | JUNE 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au