RUST magazine: Rust#4
RUST magazine: Two-stroke or four-stroke…? It’s the age-old debate that’s perplexed dirt riders the world over. So, armed with a KTM 250EXC and a Husky TE350, RUST decided to try and settle the argument once and for all. Find out what happened when they went head-to-head in a two-day French enduro. And if you’re looking for a compact Adventure Sport bike but don’t want to break the bank then this lightly modded Honda CB500X may be just the ticket.
RUST magazine: Two-stroke or four-stroke…? It’s the age-old debate that’s perplexed dirt riders the world over. So, armed with a KTM 250EXC and a Husky TE350, RUST decided to try and settle the argument once and for all. Find out what happened when they went head-to-head in a two-day French enduro. And if you’re looking for a compact Adventure Sport bike but don’t want to break the bank then this lightly modded Honda CB500X may be just the ticket.
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Enduro<br />
couldn’t get it turned in time or went in way too hot.<br />
There was another telling moment too… On day two<br />
just after lunch I swapped back onto the Husky for a<br />
brief spell to compare it to my morning’s ride on the<br />
KTM. A short section of blacktop took us out of town<br />
from the checkpoint and up towards what looked to be<br />
a steep section of woods. Sure enough where the road<br />
continued to zig-zag its way around the contours, the<br />
course veered off and took us directly up the hillside -<br />
straight up a smooth, steep and exceptionally slippery<br />
section of track.<br />
There were bikes everywhere, spinning their tyres<br />
and struggling for grip, I aimed the Husky straight<br />
up the centre, selected second gear and gunned it.<br />
About a third of the way up the rear tyre began<br />
spinning wildly and I throttled off to try and regain grip<br />
to the point where the 350 threatened to stall. Still no<br />
grip, and eventually I ran out of forward momentum<br />
and had to get off and push.<br />
It was about that time that I heard JK on the twostroke<br />
KTM coming up behind me, the bike was<br />
labouring hard, digging deep into its ultra-low-revving<br />
reserves of torque. “BWOOO-AAARRGGGHHH” the<br />
KTM grunted past, its tyre spinning much more slowly<br />
on the slippery rock, but the power it was making kept<br />
on finding grip, and - assisted by JK’s windmilling legs -<br />
it made it to the top. Ten minutes later I got there too,<br />
drenched in sweat and struggling for air after pushing<br />
the rest of the way. Don’t let anyone ever try and tell<br />
you that four-strokes always hook up better. As trials
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