250lb Adventure Bike Test - KTM 500exc 

Good question! I had everything I needed on my bike, here’s a rough list: My coyote bag: Tent Sleeping bag (summer rated) A cot (I have a old man back) Stove+gas Sandles Clothing Drone Some of my tools Extra oil Rain pants And a small chair strapped to the back of the bag. Tank bag: Sony camera Action camera Cables + lithium battery pack Handlebar bag Tools Lighter A couple snacks There’s a link in my description to most of my camping stuff Water I carried on my back in little USWE pack. The only thing someone else was carrying was tire spoons. Figured we didn’t need 3 sets of tire spoons in the trip. I have a link in bio with most of my camping stuff, but I

@rangeroadmoto That's impressive, including drone & camera equipment. I guess I was thinking of a week VIGL trip to San Josef Bay this summer where I was prepared for rain with small tarp, ground sheet, full rain suit. Stuff for no campground amenities, compact fold out chair & mini table to jet-boil on. 3 days food, 5 days socks & undies 😁. I gallon water, tire tools, Hatchet, bear bag... I couldn't fit the kitchen sink but had a backpackers collapsable one. Our weather ended up great without a day of rain, so I guess you could say I had excess weight, but I like to be prepared for the worst-case scenario.

I forgot, I had a chair too! And rain gear, my jacket is waterproof but I brought rain pants. (I edited my comment) Sounds like a fun trip!

@@mrjay4000start backpacking in alpine country and everything you learn and obtain through that will greatly translate to efficient lightweight adventure riding. Who wants to carry/load that much weight anyways? 😎 I’m extremely comfortable on 3-5 day trips with 40-50lb of gear including water, fuel, food, chair, tent/pad/bag/pillow, camp clothes, tools, tube, etc.

@@mrjay4000 the amount of cheap amazon but light and small gear these days its easily packable on a 500, i have been moto camping on week long 500 trips for 7 or 8 years now and can even pack enough food for a 7 day trip if ipack dehydrated + snacks, that includes rain gear and tablee and chair(naturehike) as well as all the above stuff he listed.

What's the maintenance intervals like? Is it in hours?

Thanks man! I appreciate that

Thanks for watching Jason!

Haha thank you friend! And thanks for watching

Totally agree!

Yes! Me too!

I put a link in the description! I think we are going to try to do multiple little big locations next year, but most likely the first one will be the same date in June 8th ish. Hope you can make it out!

Thanks so much!

That’s awesome man! Thanks for the kind words

Thanks man! Appreciate that, love the Volvo in your pic btw.

That’s awesome ! The 640 is amazing

Bahah she sounded so mad! Someone must have fallen over on the slippery deck in the rain or something.. or she’s just grumpy.

Your set up is the ideal set up :P haha my only real tool is stubbornness

Thank you for telling me about the battery ! That makes 100% perfect sense. This is the first fuel injected bike I’ve owned so I never even thought about that priming of the pump.

@@rangeroadmoto For big trips you could carry a battery booster but the capacitor set up is small and with a 9v can start your bike.

Thanks friend, really appreciate that.

Yeah it’s such a good bike! One of the things that surprised me about this sheepskin on this trip was how not hot it was in the heat. Even being black I never had a sweaty behind.

Thanks for watching!

I am a big fan of the 690 platform, I almost bought one after testing a couple out. I do have more concerns with reliability on that platform than I do with the 500

​@@rangeroadmotoYeah, I do carry a fuel pump and a clutch slave just in case. All bikes have issues though, including the Japanese ones. It's still a thumper and generally straightforward to fix when issues do arise. Anyhow, enjoy your build and avoid the highways:-)

Thank you friend!

You’re the first, and thank you! I honestly did not know that, I always sort of assumed (wrongly) that the Rocky Mountains were the whole area/range and then there areas within like the Cariboo and such... Are these the Selkirk mountains then?

@@rangeroadmoto I was a long time climber and mountaineer, so I learned al these subtleties more from that. It is not unusual to see even news reports that refer to the 'Rockies' when mountains near Whistler are being referred to! Now more info than you probably wanted: The geological break-down of the mountains in Canada is significantly different than that of the American Rockies. The "Canadian Rocky Mountains" is a single major range, dominated by sedimentary rocks (lots of limestone, as in around Banff/Canmore) which runs from Glacier National Park in Montana, all the way up to the Yukon border area. The massive valley system to its west is often known as the Rocky Mountain Trench. In the southern part of BC, the Kootenay and Columbia River systems dominate this feature. The cluster of mountain ranges that come next to the west are known collectively as the Columbias. The separate ranges that your trip would have passed through are the Purcells (Gray Creek Pass and the St. Mary valley), the Selkirks (west of Kootenay Lake to about Christina Lake) and then the Monashees as you go from there to the Okanagan Valley.

Thank you for watching!

That sounds awesome! Where do you live? The only downside with North America is we have fast large highways and sometimes there’s no option other than to use them, makes having a slower bike a little hard.

@rangeroadmoto in Indonesia, here the road consist of washed off tarmac that destroyed after few big rain or landslides, or unfinished road that made off rocks and soft clay... alot of twisties and very rare of long long highway...

Yeah with my camping stuff, Ti exhaust I was figuring right around 300lbs, the Africa Twin is probably pretty close to 600lbs with the racks and the panniers boxes full

The mighty DR is great for what it is, and it's price point. I feel that it's biggest disadvantage is weight, suspension, and lack of fuel injection. It's definitely a solid option, though.

That sounds so awesome! That windshield is made by Puig, they are available on Amazon. If you buy the smoked one just keep in mind you won’t be able to see through it

Thanks for the reply. Any chance you remember which Puig model? They have hundreds, and none specifically for the 500 EXC...

Thanks so much! Love the drz btw

Where’d you get that number? I changed it after the trip when I got home. If you’re riding off road you aren’t covering the same mileage as you are pounding the interstates.

Working on it!

@@rangeroadmoto 100% can't wait, subbed right now and turned the bell on to know when that video drops! Hopefully the CRF has an ECU and a better seat (the main complaints). Really interested to know how the weight difference feels, and a pickup test.

It’s coming up next! Hopefully not too long now

@@rangeroadmoto MY BODY IS READY!

@@rangeroadmoto could be too late, but it would be really interesting to know about the weight difference e.g. picking them up from laying them down - if the CRF450L really is top heavy to the point of being unusable

I am right around 6’2” and 220lbs (188cm 99kg) Bike feels good to me, I can get both toes on the ground when the suspension is compressed. It’s a stretch to get my foot over when I have my bags on the back but I can just do it

So it looks I was wrong on that information! If the battery is totally flat it can’t prime the fuel pump and it won’t start

@@rangeroadmoto If someone didn't already say it here, get yourself a capacitor so you can kick on a dead battery, I just ordered mine.

No not better than the 300! Just better than the adventure bikes, the teneres and AT’s

Lol, I have had a Husky 501s, BETA 430 RRS, KTM 990A, and currently ride KTM 1190R and KTM 300 XCW. I have riden them all (except the KTM 300) all over N.America and mostly in western Canada on and off-road, often in very challenging ST and DT situations. I could not disagree more with your statement. True, big bikes make things more challenging off road but it's very doable. Heck, how do you figure the KTM 950 won the Dakar repeatedly?

@@taurkon The KTM 950 won Dakar once, in the hands of the great Meoni who died in that race.

​@@grayl5514he died on a 660 Dakar in 2005, not the 950. Regardless, I'm saying that it's ridiculous to claim the big Adv bikes are not good at technical off-road. I've ridden them, and I've ridden with lots of folks who have ridden them in extreme environments. Look up Cory Hanson to see examples of guys riding them on extreme single track...

250lbs? Damn that is a short list of bikes. I get your point, my DRZ400 would probably be ok.

By saying he died "in that race" I was meaning he died in a Dakar race. I do my research

It’s a lot faster than my Dr650

Power to weight ratio.....

Thanks buddy 👍

Oh man I thought the same thing, right up until I went and road my buddies 450!

@@rangeroadmoto enjoy the rides and good luck in the choice 🙂

Yeah. Rocket surgery. You don’t need a degree in it.

Hahahah it’s not THAT bad.. I mean compared to your 890 motor I guess it’s pretty bad .. you change the oil every motor rebuild right? I’m just kidding!!!

I changed my FE501 oil at 25 hours and 720 miles, about 1100 km. The oil was fine, I do have an extra 300ml engine case from Nomad. I'll be sticking to 25 hour oil changes. My 2024 Husqvy has decent road manners. But I do have a fair few mods. Seat Concept, bigger tank, Nomad Adventure tower, Haan rear cush drive and even on full on Enduro tyres, it isn't awful on the road. It's acceptable and I've done a couple of hours on tarmac on the 501 and honestly, in this trim, it really isn't a bad place to be.

@@rangeroadmotoJust change the camshafts once a year.