Australasian Dirt Bike – May 2019

Iamsupposedtotellyouaboutallthe
upgradesandupdatesthatKTMhas
madetothe500EXC-Fbut,well,KTM
doesn’tbelieveitneedsany.Boldnew
graphics,anewseatcoveranda
strongerbatteryiswhatyougetfor
your$14,695.Thereyouhaveitfolks,
KTMisstickingbythe500EXC-F
withan“ifitain’tbrokedon’tfixit”
approachand,tobehonest,that’s
okaywithus.Afterall,the 500 is
currentlytheworld’sfastestenduro
bikethankstoDanielMilnerandhis
ISDEOutright-winningrideandalso
let’snotforgetTobyPricedominating
Finkeforyearsona500.
The500EXC-F(actually510.4cc)has
easilythestrongestmotorofthelot
andthefivehungewehadforourtest

wasrunningparticularlywell.Not

onlyisthemotorstrong,butitis

incrediblyuseableandyoucanselect

thirdgearandchugthatthingaround

likeit’sgotcruisecontrol.Lowdown,

mid-range,top-end,thisbikejusthas

oodlesofpowerateverystepofthe

range.Itisnowonderthatthoseboys

winonthesebikes,theyarejustso

easytoride.Butdon’tbefooledbythe

torque,ifyougivethebikeahandful

ofthrottle,you’llbeatthenextcorner

quicksmart.

TheKTMalsohasaWPXplor 48

forktakingcareofthefrontend.This

yearithasfirmersettingsand,while

theforkissoftatpace,itisvery

forgivingonthetrailandcomplements

thepowerverynicely.ThePDSXplor

KTM 500EXC-F

http://www.adbmag.com MAY 2019 | 59

Amazing the Euros can produce such nice pipes Some testers felt the PDS jumped around a bit