66 |MAY 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au
Isaythisaftereveryshootoutbut
thesebikesarealmostgettingtoo
closetocall.Thereisn’tabadbikein
thisbatch.Eachhasitsownstrengths
andit’ssurprisinghowsimilarthey
allfeelwhiletesting.Thereis,
however,awinnerandthatisthe
KTM500EXC-F.
Weknow,notalotthathaschanged
ontheKTMfor 2019 butKTMsold
more500sthananyotherbrandin
2018 (accordingtotheFCAI)andit
wasthemostpopularfour-strokein
theirrange.Ithasanamazingengine
that is so damn strong and easy to
ride. It is a little pricey but we feel the
value in perfromance justifies it. It
does everything you want it to do,
regardless of the terrain and for that
reason, it takes the cake!
It is closely followed by the Husky
while,roundingoutthepodiumisthe
BetaRR480.Partofourscoring
criteriawasprice,whichiswhatheld
theHuskyback,asidefromthatitis
excellent.TheBetaoffersgreatvalue
forseriousriderswhiletheSherco
suitssmallerracers.WehaveaSherco
500SEF-RFactoryasalongtermerand
theKYBsuspensionandAkropipe
makethisbikeadifferentbeastand
possiblyaclasswinner.
Andhowcouldwenotmentionthe
SWM,because,for$8990,youwon’t
findbettervalueformoney.We
couldn’t believe how well it did against
a group of brands that have spared no
expenseinthepursuitforperfetion!
Gotsomethingtosayaboutthisyarn?
[email protected]
More images and info at adbmag.com.au For the money, it was the best all-rounder
TheHuskyperformedwellbutcomesataprice
2019 SHOOTOUT #4 | 500cc ENDURO
WINNER!
KTM
500EXC-F
2ND
3RD
And the verdict is...