strong, usable torque with an incredibly smooth and linear feel. There’ s no clutch or gearbox, so power gets to the rear wheel instantly. You get a real sense of connection through the throttle, and the response is crisp without ever feeling too aggressive, at least in open terrain. That said, I did notice something unexpected when riding in tight, technical trails or woods. It’ s harder to carry momentum compared to a petrol bike. When you chop the throttle on a four-stroke, the engine’ s rotating mass gives you a bit of push, a kind of rolling inertia that helps you maintain speed in a controllable way. The VARG doesn’ t do that. When you close the throttle, the bike just stops. There’ s no coasting effect, which makes it easy to be a bit“ off-on” with the throttle, especially when trying to tiptoe through slick roots or loose climbs. It’ s manageable, but it takes a conscious adjustment to your riding style. On a motocross track, this isn’ t nearly as noticeable. You’ re riding faster, flowing more, and the lack of engine inertia doesn’ t affect the riding in the same way. In fact, the instant
torque and lack of gear changes can actually help you stay more composed in corners and get on the gas earlier. My takeaway from this is the power is fully there and easy to tailor to your liking, but the way it delivers that power, especially offthrottle, is different enough that it’ ll catch you out in slower, more technical terrain if you’ re not ready for it.
SUSPENSION AND CHASSIS The VARG’ s suspension, built around a KYB package, is solid out of the box. It handles fast MX tracks well. There’ s good support on landings and decent hold-up when you’ re pushing hard. But … it’ s not flawless. Under braking, especially on hardpack or over braking bumps, the fork feels a bit harsh and lacks plushness on small-to-mid chop. It also tends to dive a bit deep on big hits, which could be a spring rate issue or valving setup. Same goes for the rear, planted overall, but can kick when things get rough. When you order a VARG, you actually select your suspension spec based on rider weight,
62 KIWI RIDER