OUR BIKES
ADVENTURE RIDING ? There are people out there who advocate this style of machine for adventure riding . Personally , I think you ’ d be wasting your time . It ’ s an offroad race bike and a horrible road bike . Sure , it ’ s okay to do a few kilometres on the road , but to go any distance on it ’ s a well below average experience . There are much better choices if you want a road-going dirt / trail bike to go exploring on . Honda ’ s CRF450L , for example , is hugely more refined for tarmac and gravel road work and it ’ s not too bad at real off-roading either . Then there are the 690 KTMs or the old rock-solid Suzuki DRZ400s as just two more options . If you ’ re looking for a machine to do serious kilometres exploring on , I ’ d say to get a twin-cylinder , proper adventure bike . If actually trail riding off road , then stick to dirt or trail bikes .
Would I race this bike in NZ Enduro if I was still a keen competitor ? The short answer is ... no , but if there was a 500cc four-stroke class then perhaps . For NZ conditions . which are generally very wet , I still don ’ t think you can go past the much lighter two-strokes over the course of a day in tough , muddy conditions . So that ’ s about it . I love my KTM 500 Six Days for the riding I predominately do . It ’ s an awesome machine that never fails to bring a smile to my face , even though I get to test all of the latest trail and dirt weapons . It makes a fantastic trailbike , I love it in the Woodhill Sandpit bike park and it ’ s more than happy to do the odd race if I feel like it ... plus it ’ s never missed a beat . Can ’ t ask for much more than that .
56 KIWI RIDER