Will the 2025 KTM 390 ADV replace the Suzuki DR650? Best suspension for Honda CRF300L & Rally? Q&A 

I rode my 25 year old DR650 to work and back today. She is wearing brand new Dunlop Trailmax Missions. I never knew she was such a capable road bike also!!!

If Suzuki did actually do it . and made an EFI 6spd DR650 they would dominate that area of the market place.

Heya Solid, I live in Pune, where KTM India test their bikes. I saw the 390 Enduro, it's coming brother. Wait till December

Lots of truth here, even if is comes with a dollop of sadness. The real solution is 2 bikes. One scary-fast for pavement and one dirt bike with turn signals. Buy the one you will use the most first, and 2-3 years old if you need to save 40% on the price. Hope you feel better soon!

This is what the ADV industry needs: a 320 lbs or below 60HP ADV bike with a 5+ gallon tank, 19" front wheel, 17" back wheel with some Michelin Anakee Adventures on stock. That would be the unicorn bike.

Thanks, mate. Feel better. I'm in the States, and hopefully Honda will keep making the XR650L for 2025. Saving up but still not there. Cheers mate.

Honda CRF450L Rally

I’ve just replaced my CRF300L suspension with a k tech razor shock and a 10nm fork spring re valved with the k tech valve kit. Cost me £800 for all parts and fitting and made a huge difference, as good as the cartridge kit just not adjustable at the forks but as long as you get the correct spring for your weight you don’t need them to be adjustable. It’s a great result for the price

Hey Solid, hope your daughter is well! As a dr rider, a 390 is just to small to fit a full sized anglo dudes frame. Also, I know the internet will have everyone believe that the dr needs a six speed, however, I feel its kind of redundant with the torque curve of the 650. Juat go 14 tooth for local off road and 15 for touring. Efi on the other hand...

The drz400 has been removed from the line up for 2025 in America. I suspect they are redesigning it with fuel injection. Hopefully they add a 6th gear.

excellent video. this subject has been on my mind a lot lately and you really drilled down to the important comparisons to make. i could really see the new 390 enduro being a unicorn bike. I used to own a Vitpilen 401 from that platform and it was a blast to ride. Or like you say, a new DR 650 with EFI and 6 gears and i'm sold.

I've noticed a big jump in the use of the KTM/Husq 500cc and Honda crf450rl category as a light adventure motorcycle. As people have been using oil analyzes and that databank has increased for more reference, I've seen Round The World riders getting 2-4k kms out of each oil change AND getting 60k kms before their first valve adjustment. Motorcycles in this category are also getting long hours before top end rebuilds. Adding a more comfortable seat, some wind protection and a bit more fuel range on a very good platform is still easier than swapping out all your suspension and squeezing an extra 2-5 horse power at a costly premium out of a regular dual sport

Good news everyone. I just looked in the garage and I had a good look around the market place and the dr650 hasn't suddenly disappeared at all. It's still here! We don't need a substitute.

The KTM 640 Adventure came out a not long after I bought my 1100 GS. The big thumper and narrow seat wouldn't be great on a long trip. The 390 Adventure looks like an update to that bike. The longevity and aftermarket support have come a way since then. I would be interested in this for long distance travel.

KOVE 450 Rally is the best out the box dualsport right now in my humble opinion. Many reasons to love and hate it but if it would carry a Honda badge it would sell like CRAZY. They still need to prove hardware longevity and long term customer support.

Good vid. We still get the DR Have three years wirth to choose from. 6500 to 7000 USD.

I've changed CRF300L suspension to Hyperpro Streetbox - rear shock and front spring +7,5 oil. What I've noticed - bike is MUCH harder now, like on the opposite scale it was before. It is MUCH better on sand, more predictible, more controllable, better corners on asphalt, no more stress on three or more consecutive jumps. BUT I must admit that I sometimess miss that soft and soothing suspension when I need to ride for some relaxation - it had it's merits.

My 690 KTM Enduro is middleweight, and its an adventure bike. I am not 100% sure if 10kg less would make a real difference offroad, and on the road the engine is great as well.

Hope you are feeling better real soon 🙏! What the KTM 390 lacks is low speed torque, and having owned all three I’d have to say the best “replacement” for the DR650 is the KTM 690 Enduro 😉.

Thanks, Solid, for taking the time to make this video, I hope by now you are feeling much better .

Ran the 2019 CRF450L for 2 years and liked it but being 6 foot 200lbs the mods needed to the suspension and the tuning issues I swapped it for a 2023 Beta 390rrs. No tuning problems and the suspension is a major improvement even in it's stock form.

For 20 years I have ridden only Japanese bikes but just recently bought a KTM just to see what the fuss is all about. After 400 casual miles, the bike doesn't start anymore. Turns out the battery somehow "went bad". Put in a new battery, connected the positive terminal and when connecting the negative, it throws sparks. Never buying KTMs again.

My 2019 CRF450L came with 2 x ECU’s . One USA spec and the other the European spec. I can say,as someone who has come from a Husqvarna FE501, that the CRF with the USA spec ECU is close to the FE501 in terms of power. It does still need a pipe to get the maximum out of the engine. Do not be put off by these bikes , they are truly amazing.

Hope you feel better Solid ! I keep forgetting that it is Winter there in dual sport paradise.

CFmoto 450mt, taken mine from Sydney to Ayers Rock this week, it’s been bloody fantastic. Fully loaded averaging 4L per hundred.

Answer, Beta 390 110KG Long stroke piston torque monster.

Solid - I don’t hear you discussing the new RE 450 Himalayan? Won’t that suit an on/off-road requirement? We don’t have it here in the USA yet, but I’m down to test one as soon as it comes out. Eat more oranges! (for your illness)

I had a WR250R and while they’re good at most things if you put soft panniers on them and go on an adventure you will not keep up with your mates if they decide to sit on 100-110 into a headwind or on corrugations . Also you need to cover the headlight before hills That’s the CRF300L is no unicorn

If you get a KTech rear shock for the 300L, add 80 pounds to your weight and use that as your spring rating, unless you like bottoming out or just ride pavement.

Can confirm … the gen3 is struggling a lot in the woods.

CF moto 450. Job done, end of. Damn good value to.

Good stuff as always...and I agree that when I bought my 990 in 08, people thought we were crazy to be taking them on "wide" single track trails. There is something special about putting big bikes in small places. Hope you heal fast!

Thanks!

If they put a 6th gear on the DRZ400 my KLX300 is gone , even though it is a great Bike...

Did race tech front and rear spring tires ,bars tubes been happy.

Suzuki has had the DR-Z400S for decades. Procycle offers wide-ratio gearsets and other goodies for it. Ditto for the Mighty DR.

More than the ram air advantage, the high forward intake allow for less likely water ingestion. I'm tired of airboxes under the seat. I live in Central America and during rainy season the water gets deep and I have come close to drowning my under seat intake box bike.

It's interesting to hear you say this new 390 may be the replacement for the DR650. The 690/701 platform already exists and I'd say it's much closer to that mark in everything but price. The modern ones have proven be pretty solid in terms of reliability and the performance difference is worth the price difference for sure. I went from a DR650 to a 701 enduro, I loved my DR but the 701 makes the DR feel like a cheap chinese knock-off. Which it probably should do that as the msrp is nearly double. If my market(PNW region of USA) is an accurate reflection of the rest of the world, you can get some killer deals. I paid $7500 for my 2019 701 with 2k miles on it. Easily a much better buy than a DR650, it's not even a question. The weight is fine, the power is amazing, and the suspension is good from the factory. People talk about the unicorn, but honestly unicorns are just impossible. Everyone has their own subjective idea of what a unicorn is. For some people, the 50/50 bike looks like an adventurized 500 exc. For others, that bike still isn't quite good enough on the road. For me it's the adventurized 701 for sure. For others it's something like the T7 or 890. There's a lot of factors here. I have a buddy who rides an 890R like it's a dirtbike, he can outride me on single track easily and he does a lot of crazy shit on his bike. He's skilled enough that he doesn't need to make the weight trade off for performance like I do. In his hands, the 890R is more offroad capable and more road capable than the 701 is in my hands. For some people, good performance on technical two track is enough. For others, they want their unicorn to do tight woods single track like a 500exc would. I have a friend with a 501 and it's his unicorn, he just needs a bike that can do the sub-1 hour of road riding to get to the harder single track he wants to do. Ultimately if you want the unicorn you have to build it yourself. Personally I've found the 701 to be the perfect 50/50 unicorn platform, but I still had to put work into it to tailor it to my needs. On top of that, basically any 50/50 bike is kinda killed if you're able to have 2 bikes. Having like a 350/500exc and a T7/890R is always gonna be better than just having a 701.

Weight is still the issue here. My 701 Husky is under 160kg fully fuelled yet there’s the lighter 400cc alternative? I rode a Kove 450 in the States of a month back. Sadly it had a hideously loud can on it and ability hadn’t been properly set up so hard to get a balanced view. The engine needs hard revving to get it moving and heavy engine braking made it feel very on/off. Potentially a great dual sport with monster range.

If you really want the best suspension for the CRF300 go with the Rally raid/tractive products ❤

Great stuff, thanks for battling through the illness. Keep up the good work.

About ram-air effect: The ZX4R makes 77hp without RAM an 80hp with RAM - this is at top speed (~240km/h) Very marginal gain for sure, but in racing that matters - and it makes it look just that little bit more like the bikes your idols ride

Honda needs a de-tuned CRF 450 (enduro/adventure) that has the same maintenance interval as a CRF300.

I would love to see you test and compare an old XR650r to all these bikes

Local KTM dealer mentioned due to clips of 390 Adventure Enduro R being published from India, that they are invited to a meeting with KTM in a few weeks. Another local KTM dealer can only state that the 450 MT, which they themselves do not sell, is sold out and more are waiting in line and that it is the 450-600cc Adventure + Dual Sport models the market want to buy. Especially now with inflation and recession. The market in India is in demand for RC 490 Duke Adv Enduro R , i.e. middle class bikes. But the manufacturers still don't seem to understand the market.

For me, a middle weight is a motorcycle that I can lift every 10 times in a row i'm 180cm, 100kg military person

Just for the records, the gs1100, 30 years ago was officially 243 kg (likely real weight was even higher). It’s not one story of the last 10 or 20 years. And also bwm is doing a 21 inch wheel middleweight since 2008.

Hope you are feeling better soon mate, my opinion is with today's technology the big companies could easily make a Unicorn bike around the 400 to 600 size. But their profit margins on the bigger flag ships are much better for themselves. It's like cutting their own throats. Until a smaller company destroys them & captures the market. I'll put a years wages on a Chinese company doing exactly this if they haven't made that bike already. They're not stupid & theyre making a play at it. It might take a few years to get that good reputation for reliability. But they'll get there.

Hey, Solid. Why are people ignoring the Himi 450 as a DR 650 replacement? It has the same output numbers yet smaller capacity. Under 200 kilos and built to be an all round Swiss Army knife bike. Royal Enfield can't seem to import enough of them

I've gone the enduro route. 2024 FE501, be aware, spanner men who I really appreciate and respect say it is a bitch to work on, but it is a dream to ride off road in tough terrain, very good on twin track and surprisingly good on the road. But that's with a Nomad fairing, cush drive rear wheel, balanced wheels, Seat Concepts seat, a largely useless larger tank (fuel pump in a stupid place) steering damper and in my pretty talentless hands, that set up is my unicorn for mixed on and off trail riding. Its 40 kg lighter than my 701 and the 701 was pretty bloody good, but the 501 is amazing.

Discussion about Unicorn shall last forever. Perhaps we don't have unicorn but we have a closest thing possible: Narwhal. That is Husqvarna 701 Enduro with comfort seat and long range tanks. Or KTM 690. All the rest, including KTM 390 are falling short of Unicorn status even if upgraded with 490 engine. 790/690 can be easy modified to suit your daily needs by mounting 17'' wheels and turning them into superb SM vehicles that will suit city riding to office. Search no more.

I think the lines between enduro, dual sport, and adventure bikes have been blurred since adventure bikes became popularized as the cool, trendy option. A small light bike for offroad is never going to blend with a higher powered, on road cruising machine. The qualities of offroad bikes differ vastly between a comfortable bike for long distance highway cruising. 1 bike to do everything is going to be a compromise, either in handling, power, comfort, or reliability. Personally, a yz250x is great for the offroad riding i do. That frees me up to have a dyna for long distance trips and an mt09 for shorter fun riding. No 1 bike is capable of everything.

The new Himalayan 450 is a 452 cc single cylinder liquid cooled bike that generates 40hp and 40 Nm. It is a proper off road bike with great ground clearance and suspension. Another Indian brand Hero is said to be testing its new 400cc off road bike that will produce similar numbers. That is also said to be single cylinder liquid cooled.

Kove 450 rally already available for the US Market.

There is a turbo available for the Yamaha CP2 engine.

Dunno. Sounds high-strung.

Hey mate can you do something on the DE 800?

Nunca cambiaré mi DR650 por nada,dudo que creen una moto tan a mi gusto,saludos¡

New tenere have side saddle fuel tanks? What the black covering hiding?

I’m 70 bought a crf300L as my last bike , but it’s still heavy. I would love a lighter more powerful bike.

After years of trying adv bikes, heavier end dual sports like the wr250r/crf300l and converted enduro bikes, I've come to the conclusion that I've wasted my time and money trying to find/achieve the perfect 50/50. Why is that you'll ask? Well, if you wanna have the most fun offroad, youll have it with real offroad tyres, mounted on the lightest bike possible with the most balanced amount of power for your level and needs(in my case any enduro 250 4 stroke fits the bill) and if you wanna have the most fun onroad, youll have it with full onroad tyres on the bike that best fits your needs, of course you can have plenty of fun riding a dual sport/adv bike but 50/50 tyres just dont allow you to use the full potential of your bike offroad, a heavy dual sport/adv bike is okay but after trying a real enduro bike imo there is no going back, there is just no comparisson, yes I understand that people who wanna have a big adventure will benefit from a lightweight adv bike with lower maintainance (AJP PR7 is the best bike for this purpose imo) but lets be real here, most of us spend years planning that big trip which just never happens, and in the meantime spend our precious time riding a bike that is just not as fun or as capable because we handicaped ourselves with the idea of riding to another place far away, for years looking for and riding bikes on the search for the best 50/50 compromise ive just come to the conclusion that i have been missing out on the fun and capabilities of a full offroad machine just because I did not want to purchase a cheap/small van to transport a bike to the trails or even the track lol. Sorry for the rant, this is just my opinion but wanted to share, maybe its useful to someone.

Hi Solid You have spoken in the past about the DRZ400E and why hasn't Suzuki upgraded with a 6 speed gearbox and fuel injection I own a 2011 DRZ400E and I was at the Suzuki dealership who also have Husky's and KTM's getting some parts. I spoke to the sales man and had a look at the latest DRZ He was telling me tthe DRZ's where brought into Australia as a primary industry bike and thats why you can still get them here.. he said they are not available in NZ. He went onto to say farmers here were switching to 390 KTM's because the Suzuki is getting expensive at $12,000 The other interesting thing he told me was that they had a visit from a Suzuki guy from Japan and he said there was a rumor that Suzuki may get out of dirt bikes and concentate on Electric and Hydrogen road bikes I guess we'll see what happens PS. Love my DRZ400E

Often wonder if Suzuki could build a DRZ500/DR550 as replacement for the old DRZ and DR. I suspect it would be heavier than most would like. Ideally it be 340-350 lbs, 45 hp, and 45 lb-ft torque, and 3 gallons of gas. Fuel injection, A sixth gear, good gear ratios, and CRF300L ergo's could make a killer bike.

Fantic Caballero 700...Is it offered where you live?

I test rode a Triumph Scrambler 400 recently. Such a fun bike on the street even if under powered, I think it has the potential for dual sport applications. Well worth a look.

What you are saying is that bikes have become heavier and therefore definitions of middleweight have changed by manufacturers have become heavier. Despite what you have suggested in the past about market latent demand for lighter adventure bikes... 😮

You could try new Beta ALP 4.0 '24

there is the GS class, those are Super Havyweights. The Aprilia 660 the Tenere and the 990 KTM-Husquarna would be Light Heavyweight ... Then bikes under 200kg could be called middleweight :)

Oh, btw, I haven't had a single day sick since I started masking. I don't miss it.

I'm ( a fairly fit) 58 and am returning to biking after a 20 year break, I'm not interested in huge power just a fairly lightweight bike for the 4 mile commute to work and weekend light off roading...I really can't decide between the Honda CRF 300 rally and Motor Morini Xcape 650, obviously one is bigger and heavier than the other but the new cost is the same...if the Suzuki DRZ 400 was still available in the UK then that would be my first choice....any thoughts would be welcome.

yep riding offroad in the UK is so bad, where is allowed is reducing and even places that are allowed local people try to be super difficult

An entire RU-vid channel devoted to wishing for some motorbike that doesn’t exist. 😵‍💫

I want a 690 power in 500exc or 450xc weight.

Well I can only pray that it comes from Yamaha when we get it! This 300l has me quite underwhelmed anymore.

New Beta Alp 4.0 looks to be OK at 35HP.

I think KTM has brought over 200 different NEW model lines to market since the last time Suzuki has done 1.

The Tenere 700 in the spy shot DOES NOT HAVE RAM-AIR!!! It is clearly the World Raid model and has the same ducting as the outgoing model. Look at pictures of the current World Raid. I suppose it is some kind of duct to mix cool air with warm air from the radiator to reduce the heat coming out of the outlets on the side of the fairing. Can't say for sure tho, I have the Extreme Edition.

It's sill the drz400sm with cams

The KLX 300 has adjustable suspension

MT450 is the new DR650 but with a smoother and more fun motor

Do you think BMW will make the bike they obviously are super keen to make? An R1800gsa weighing 500kg dry? They've got the motor and their riders seem to like super heavy bikes (think 850gs adv at 260kg)

Just because the biggest bikes keep getting bigger does not mean we need to redefine "middle-weight". We need a new term for the 1200cc+ bikes rather than calling 1000cc a middleweight.

KTM dropping the 450twin is the biggest mistral they have mad since they dropped Ewan and Charlie! I can see that the 390 will be the lightest way to get 40hp I just hope it doesn’t come at the price of frequent expensive servicing.

Motorcycle Weight classes : where Mohomad Ali would now be the Fly Weight Boxing Champion of the World Three weight classes : flagship middleweight beginner : where WEIGHT & DISPLACEMENT have no effect on class ... MARKETING is QUEEN

Where is that 40hp 400 unicorn: it’s called the 501 and 500 EXC.

The US Supreme Court just overruled Chevron, which puts the EPA in check. This opens up the door for updates to the Suzuki DR and DRZed.

Hope you get better

Isn't the 40hp 400ish cc dual sport the MT450 from CFMoto

Kove 800x is the solution (I hope)

I've had a lot of bikes.. but the one I kick myself for selling was a 500exc😂😂

drz400e 39.8hp at the wheel stock crf450rl 38hp at the wheel stock xr400r 31hp at the wheel stock crf300l 22.7hp at the wheel stock

The KTM390 is more likely to be a viable alternative for the DRZ than the DR650. It's just so far removed from the DR650 that it's hard to compare.

beta alp 4.0?

The answer is Kove 450 Rally

Where you can still get them, bikes like the dr650 or xr650l with a hand full of mods are still really good adv bikes. The cfmoto 450 will sell well as there's nothing quite that size in a lot of places. I have ben around a bunch of cfmoto atv's, I wouldnt trust the cfmoto adv bike at all long term. They put a ton of electronic bs on that bike and that's what fails on cheap chinese bikes.

Don't know much .but CF Moto 450 looks sex on wheels if it wasn't Chinese 😅

Mt450

So the KTM 500 excf is still king.... noted.

I want the RAM intake on the Honda 300 Rally,! 🤣🤣🤣

I think the new himalayan is the spiritual successor to the KLR650 and DR650 just guessing