2017 KTM 500 EXC-F | The bikes we buy | MCN

#ktm #500excf #enduro #mcn
Staff Writer Nye Davis talks us through his 2017 KTM 500 EXC-F enduro bike, which he uses for both on- and off-road use.
We'd love to hear your views so get them down in the comment section!
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[@motorcyclenewsdotcom]

What's the furthest you've ridden on your bikes? Let's see your inspirational riding journeys below 👇

[@philipshore6924]

"You can't do more than 50mph outside Europe"

[@phillipchandler8862]

Just goes to show what long distance traveling on a bike does for you. What a mature young man for 26.👌👍

[@abladerunner831]

Fascinating interview... Great questions Carl and relaxed enough to bring out the best here. Had me hanging on every word from a very, very experienced intrepid rider who gave so many thought provoking comments

[@keithclyde733]

I have a 21 xcw. It has finished 2 Baha 1000 races. I rode it all the way across Montana and back. Sweet bike that does it all.

[@Davidlouis3]

Amazing young guy doing these trips

[@1990-t1j]

Good lad. Good rider, good mechanic. And a good KTM. I love them. I've had a 950 Adventure and a 390 Duke. No problems.

[@MM-xr6tz]

Cracking interview. What an interesting chap Nye is. Main thing for me is servicing on something that needs an oil and air filter change very 35hrs. Nye covered it briefly but is he saying you can just run it as long as you please, no oil changes every five minutes, no engine rebuilds etc? Reason I ask is I agree 100% re lightweight, it makes no sense to be riding 200kg bikes off road, but the service intervals are far less. Be great to get your thoughts and advice?

[@bengraham6672]

I had a 2020 model year 500 exc from new for nearly 5 years. Best bike I've ever had. Did everything from fast enduro events, mx days on track, weekends away riding through all sorts of terrain in Australia. It never missed a beat and never even needed the valves adjusting

[@avothfis]

Great info and reminder on why a smaller humbler bike makes for travelling more off the beaten tracks.

[@husky701rider9]

This is dangerously close to home. I’m going to look at and potentially purchase a 2017 501 today after work.

[@ogasi1798]

did you get it? see my post above about mine

[@tigerrider6711]

Get the 500, a rear subframe is so handy

[@husky701rider9]

@@tigerrider6711 I bought the 501 last night took it through a ride in some Utah mountains today. I’m in love. I don’t miss the weight of my 701 at all and I got such a deal on the 501 it’s crazy 6k with 200 hours a fresh rebuild and a bunch of expensive mods including a trail tech voyager.

[@husky701rider9]

@@ogasi1798 I did end up buying it. I can’t believe how much better it feels off-road than my 701 did. Been riding it in some Utah mountains and just around my neighborhood this week and I love it. Got way too good of a deal in my opinion. Bike was entirely re built by an engineer and aside from finding a few loose bolts it runs great.

[@ogasi1798]

@@husky701rider9 enjoy, and yes I 100 %agree after riding a690 myself for many miles, don't come close to my 500 or the 501 Great bike, well done

[@lukewarren9979]

It’s great to see you guys at MCN doing this really good, accessible KZbin content. Thought for a while you were going to get left behind and just focus on the physical publication

[@franknunez7204]

It really says a lot when I can say I arrived at my (2) 500's for all the same reasons as you've spelled out here. We are forced through these thought processes to improve accessibility, ridability, and safety, and the 500 is THE platform for the kind of riding you describe. I most recently abandoned my crf300l because, at the same weight as the WR, it was too much weight - a safety issue as a solo rider - sluggish responsiveness, lack of power. The climbability of my 500 with an ECU and pipe end cap mod is incredible, I literally now fall over or fail 30-50% less in some hill situations with the ECU because the power becomes sooooo available anywhere, anytime you need it. My only regret I'm struggling with is road miles and engine damage, I blew my top end and got a bunch of metal in the bottom end by (according to ktm), doing too many sustained miles on the highway at too high a speed. I didn't think I was but, ... bummer.

[@captaintahoe1]

Totally agree! The 500 does so much, riding on long distances of road isn’t that appealing, the perfect bike to explore off the beaten path

[@magellanicspaceclouds]

I like the way Nye thinks. I hate heavy ADV bikes too. I would really hate having to pick it up from the ground.

[@andrewadams7628]

Great review and as a fellow 500 owner I agree with everything said. A great, versatile and reliable bike. Ok on the road when you have to, superb off road, loads of grunt everywhere, 150 miles from an 11 litre tank is enough in most places. Ideally I’d have a 300 as well but that’s me being greedy 😊

[@marcusgeorge1825]

Nice one! A cross continent trip in Australia is on my bucket list. The question I have is do I go east to west or north to south with either one stopping in the middle at Alice Springs.

[@Jagknorr]

The lightweight really is king for motorcycles and confidence, i swear. My klx is still 300lbs roughly but feels miiiiles better and tightly controlled than my 500lb versys.

[@AZFarmFun-hp1cu]

I’m almost twice his age, and still doing wheelies on the 2018 500 EXC I bought new.

[@creedm3040]

Awesome video! Great content and well presented. Great questions. I love to hear this, very inspiring . Great job. Best!

[@ogasi1798]

love my 500, 11k hard and all year round British weather miles now and the only thing that has failed is the rear running light - the brake light still works though haha, it is an unreal machine and really is a super bike for day to day as well as nutty stuff - the 500 is a legitimate, multi skilled powerhouse and really is a supreme platform that i feel many ignore at their peril

[@sk2283]

I had a 500 EXC-F back around 2014 / 15 … fantastic bike but a bit too much for me on tight green lanes and enduro’s at the time, I now have a 350 which is awesome, a little play with gearing changes these bikes a lot if you are more road or off road it will do both with just a sprocket change !

[@percusski]

Great review

[@yahoodlums]

This is what adventure bikes should really look like.

[@RandomPunter-xo9tx]

I've got a 350 exc and I kind of wish I'd bought the 500 because the road miles are a bit of pain on the 350 - I feel like I'm wasting the miles that should be on dirt. Really nicely set up bike you've got👍

[@ToyCollectr]

I have the exact bike, and a 1290 SAR, agree with everything you say, I bought mine new, I have the Cush drive, got my Cush drive from eBay never had a issue with it, I can send you the link to the seller, you might just be surprised at the cost.

[@bevanpyates]

I'd love to know more about the trip to Cape Town.... any blog link would be welcome:-)

[@glennwr450]

Own a 2018 500exc and a tenere 700, the 500 eats the tenere in every off road situation

[@Enduroxoriates]

HELLO FROM GREECE BROTHERS ❤

[@woutervanteerling]

Inspiration.. Inspiration. Inspiration

[@EJK1965]

Some cars have integrated umbrellas in the doors, does this bike have a ladder that pops out of from the frame?

[@Skatefishofficial]

I'll keep my WRR for reliability though, best bike plus I'm not rich enough

[@franknunez7204]

I bought my used ktm 500 14 with 600 miles on it for only $6k, same price as a new crf300L (the "wr replacement" according to some).

[@Skatefishofficial]

@@franknunez7204 bought mine 3k with 10k km on it But I'm talking maintenance, not the same expenses WRR reliability is crazy, oil change etc, never comparable to a proper Enduro like the 500 Ps : the CrfL is terrible, don't let anyone tell you it's a WRR replacement 🤣

[@franknunez7204]

@@Skatefishofficial good to know, I only ever heard great things about the wrs, can't say the same for the 300l

[@RaymondClement-v7l]

191 Katelynn Forest

[@mosca3289]

See the light 😉

[@kennethwolfe3726]

I’ve always wanted a 2015 500, with the kick start. But my Husqvarna TE610 is just too good as a light ADV bike.

[@franknunez7204]

Trust me, you don't. I have a 14 with kickstand and a 22 without. The 22 is by far waaaaay more nimble feeling than the 14. Ok, maybe not waaaay, but it's a noticable, appreciable and functional difference in tough situations in the dirt. Bring an extra starter (or the parts for one to save space/weight), and have a mini battery jump starter with you on a post 20 exc, and you replace that kick starter. BTW, if you want to rely on your kick starter when your battery is dead, you need a capacitor hack. Just paid $300 in towing fees after making this mistake.

[@kennethwolfe3726]

@@franknunez7204 I really appreciate the insight Frank. That definitely makes me think twice about the older bike.

[@franknunez7204]

@@kennethwolfe3726 If you ride around on a post 20' for half a day, you won't even believe how it was possible they improved so much on the previous bikes' handling, my 14 feels like the perfect dirtbike (having started riding on bikes from the late 80's as a kid), with a kind of slight top heaviness that you are familiar with but learn to deal with. But, the 22', it really feels like a big mountain bike, it's just an awesome feeling of freedom of motion and flickability (in as much as a 500 can be). I honestly asked myself how the engineers could have improved the handling that much when the 2012-2019's were already so good. The only drag on the 22 is you need an ecu/pipe end cap to get the engine to behave like the 14' with a euro ECU map. But, with that mod on the 22, it then improves on the 14 by enough to really see a difference on critical hill climbs and or on the street where you want to surgically place your bike at a lane position exactly when and where you want it. I think of my 14 as the second best option for that class of bike (maybe 17-19's are every so slightly better), but the post 20's as unicorns. I mean unicorn relative to what's out there, because it seems every 3 years ktm engineers are really changing things up. I haven't tried a 24 yet. Good luck, go test ride one or borrow a buddies post 20, you'll feel it right away.

[@cdcddf-m6e]

Brown Rapid

[@JoeReed-v4z]

Just get a Husaberg 390 on motard hoops with 50/50 Nobbys

[@NatalieCosta-g9w]

O'Hara Mall

[@RolandQuincy-d9e]

Bailee Trail

[@SusanDalton-m6e]

24607 Collier Falls

[@MorganGavin-n6q]

Heller Mews

[@KeynesIna-d3r]

Olson Pass

[@GCTO239]

Well, I am happy for you. KTM is a hard pass in my eyes. So many red flags. From a reasonable point of view you cannot recommend buying a KTM. If you look at the current condition of the Pierer group, you get the Impressionen that KTM is about to hit a big wall.

[@franknunez7204]

They may, but folks are saying it's market cap value and it's not going to affect them the same way.