Bmw G650 Xchallenge
BMW G650 XCHALLENGE
A true dual-sport from the Black Forest
RYAN DUDEK
I AM SICK OF BROCHURE BABBLE, and the hype for BMW's G650 Xchallenge put me over the top. "A competitive off-road dirtbike...extreme enduro fans will be in heaven...the most modern hard enduro..." Jeez, enough is enough!
Once I hit the dirt outside of Tucson, Arizona, at the Xchallenge press launch in March, I realized that BMW’s copywriters apparently misinterpreted who an extreme enduro rider is and how a real dirtbike performs. Despite what its ad copy may claim, the Xchallenge is a dual-sport bike-and a pretty good one, at that-but it’s not a competitive enduro machine. It fits into a segment of four-stroke on-/off-road Singles headed up by Honda’s XR650L and Husqvarna’s TE610E.
CW RIDING IMPRESSION
Fair enough-except that the Beemer has a premium price tag of $8975. That may be cheap compared to other offerings from BMW, but it’s ultra-pricey for the category. The Husky is $1676 less expensive and the Honda goes for a whopping $3126 less. Yow!
BMW would likely respond with the old catch-phrase: You
get what you pay for. In this bike’s case, what you get are undirtbike-like features such as EFI, an underseat gas tank and an air-only rear shock.
Powering the Xchallenge is a 652cc, dohc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected Single, a reworked version of the previous F650 engine that’s now equipped with a closed-loop threeway catalytic converter. A claimed 53 horsepower at 7000 rpm, if accurate, would give the Beemer a sizable power advantage over the Husky and especially the Honda.
So yeah, it’s fast, but its strong, linear torque is what you appreciate most when riding the G650 off-road. The throttle response is crisp and the flow of power smooth and consistent. The engine lugs down well in tight, technical sections but also accelerates impressively when the trail opens up. On the pavement, the X can top 100 mph easily and quickly, and it’s not annoyingly buzzy on long straights.
Most of our guided tour on the Xchallenge press launch consisted of desert roads south of Tucson. The terrain was relatively undemanding with a good variety of hardpack, sand and rocks. For riders with a fair bit of off-road experience, the Xchallenge made easy work of the landscape, but for the less-seasoned, the big 650 often was a handful. Don’t necessarily blame the BMW, though; 650s aren’t good beginner bikes. At 36.6 inches, the X’s seat isn’t quite as tall as the Honda’s or Husky’s, but it’s still way up there; and at a claimed 318 pounds dry (figure more than 340 with gas and fluids), it’s far from a lightweight.
Surprisingly, though, the bike feels lighter than that when you’re riding it-unless you have to pick it up after a tipover. And for a bike of its class, the handling is quite good. The X steers nicely, and the 45mm Marzocchi inverted fork soaks up most off-road terrain, bottoming only on the biggest bumps, jump landings and g-outs.
landings g-outs.
Out back, the Xchallenge is fitted with the same BMW Air Damping shock used on the HP2 Twin. Instead of relying on steel coils for springing and oil for damping, this shock uses air for both. While it seems simple-merely adjust the air and go-the shock is pretty fussy. When the adjustment is just a little off in one direction, the rear suspension bottoms too easily, and when it’s off a tad the other way, it rebounds too quickly. But if you get it right-which can take a lot of fiddling-the rear suspension works smoothly and effectively.
A comfy seat and ideal sit-down and stand-up riding positions prevent all-day rides from turning into torture tests.
The fuel tank is located under the seat, which helps keep the center of gravity low and makes it easier for the rider to scoot forward for better turning in the dirt. The brakes need to be toned down, though, as they’re much too sensitive for most off-road conditions.
But the biggest, urn, “challenge” this bike faces is not its performance on or off the road; it’s a price tag just $25 short of nine grand. That’s as much as $2000 more than what you’d have to pay for a top-shelf, competition-quality dirtbike. The Xchallenge is a very capable dual-purpose bike that in many ways is a good match for the 610 Husky and better than the 650 Honda. But despite what BMW’s promotional materials might claim, it’s a long way from being a competitive enduro bike-and an even longer way from being competitively priced.
