Weight

The energy a rider spends on a difficult trail is directly proportional to the weight of the bike. The weight of the bike similarly affects the probability of spills and the energy spent on recovering from them and continuing the journey. Picking up bikes is energy consuming. Even with the 690, there were two or three instances, when I couldn’t pick up the bike by myself after a spill. All cases involved the bike being on a muddy trail. I was tired and could find no purchase for my MX boots on the slippery surface. I felt utterly helpless and embarrassed having to be helped with my “light bike”. The stock 500 EXC weighs around 112 kg without fuel, which is around 27 kg less than the 690.

Suspension

The 500 EXC has great suspension already in stock form. It needs very little modification to work well in adventure enduro. The PDS design is very simple and has a minimal amount of bearings down low in harms way. The bikes with linkage suspension have many more bearings prone to dirt and water, which results in more maintenance and more spare parts to carry.