Lucky for me the XChallenge comes standard with electric start. I must have stalled at least 50 times in the first 1 mile. Did I mention I was riding on the stock tires? I’m thinking to myself I have 85 miles of this sh**t! Whose idea was this anyway?

Back to the bike, as I said before, the motor is based on the liquid cooled F650GS mill, it has a chain-driven DOHC with bucket tappets producing 53 hp at 7,000 rpm. Compression ratio is 11.5:1 and has 4 valves per cylinder 36mm intake, 31mm for exhaust. An aluminum radiator remains intact from the F650 design and is mounted horizontally just under the steering head, gearbox is F650 equipment as well. The frame is constructed out of tubular steel with cast aluminum sections on the sides, an aluminum sub frame bolts on and an aluminum-alloy double swing arm rounds out the skeletal design. The swing arm pivots on the main frame, and being positioned relatively close to the counter shaft sprocket serves to provide even faster drive train response, but also reduces the tolerance (less loose) of the O-ring drive chain. The 2.5 gallon (including 1 gallon reserve) fuel tank contains the fuel pump and gives a range of 155 miles. Another carryover from the F650 design is the tank location within the frame triangle beneath the seat, a key factor in giving the XChallenge such a light, nimble feel. Claimed dry weight is 318 lbs, which is about the same claimed dry weight as the Honda XRL 650 but the XChallenge feels much lighter and smaller. Final gearing is 15-47.

The 45mm upside down front fork provides 10.6 inches of travel with the unit adjustable for compression and rebound damping, compression on the top left fork cap, rebound on the top of the right. This makes adjusting compression damping very easy, no crawling on the ground to get to the adjustment screws. The rear suspension employs the Air Damping System just like the HP2.