Boasting track-caliber suspension, powerhouse thumper engines and just enough equipment for street legality, today’s 350 to 500 cc dual-sport motorcycles are truly a hooligan’s dream come true. Often descended from real-deal cross-country racers, these 2024 street-legal dirt bikes pull double duty so you can leave the ramp and trailer at home.
Don’t expect stellar road manners or comfortable long-range highway cruising, but if you’re after a machine with enough dirt prowess to make you feel like Ricky Carmichael, and a license plate for the trip back, these bikes from Honda, KTM, Husqvarna, Beta and Christini are worth considering.
Honda CRF450RL Based heavily on the modern CRF450X cross-country racer, the Honda CRF450RL is the street-legal triple threat that Team Red riders were demanding. The 450RL is completely unchanged for 2024, but Honda’s always been an if it ain’t broke sort of brand.
Before the 450’s debut in 2019, Honda had a sizable gap in their street-legal lineup between the 250L and XR650, and riders were begging for a more aggressive option. Instead of a bigger, badder 250L, which is what many anticipated, Honda delivered a real 450 cc class contender, borrowing all the best stuff from the 450X and 450R motocrosser.
Despite being softer all around than its off-road cousins, the 450RL brings the fight to the Europeans in a big way. The 450 cc Unicam engine puts out 41.7 hp with all emissions equipment affixed, and its adjustable Showa suspension returns around 12 inches of travel at both ends. It’s also quite a bit cheaper than the competition, priced at $10,099.
It’s hard to go wrong with a Honda, especially when it comes to build quality, maintenance costs and an extensive dealer network—all reasons why I have a 450L in my garage. [Honda]
KTM 450 EXC-F Six Days Any off-road machine with a license plate affixed is somewhat of a compromise, but if your compass points toward the extreme, Team Orange has a little something for that. KTM’s 450 EXC-F is one of the most aggressive bikes in the segment, and checking the box for the special ISDE-inspired Six Days version gets you a machine that KTM assures you is 100% ready to race.
KTM’s entire EXC range receives extensive updates for 2024, and the 450 EXC-F Six Days is said to have 95% new components. It all starts with an orange chromoly frame, with new 48 mm WP XACT fork and XPLOR PDS rear. With a peak power output of 57 hp, KTM’s 449.9 cc engine is seriously potent and weighs just 64 pounds. Fit with a new clutchless Quickshifter, the Six Days four-stroke models can be shifted a wide-open-throttle without depressing the clutch.
Inspired by the International Six Days Enduro event, the 450 EXC-F Six Days is littered with enhancements for the roughest riding. The standard saddle has been swapped with a special gripper seat, and you get Metzler Six Days extreme rubber, a special map-select switch, high-strength wheels from GIANT, a composite skid plate and a host of signature orange off-road components.
Choosing between the 450 and 500 EXC-F Six Days machines is all about preference, as both bikes weigh about the same, with the 500 dishing out an extra 7 ponies. While we haven’t thrown a leg over the big 500, we found the 450 to be lethal in the dirt and well-balanced. But it’s your checkbook that will need balancing, as the Six Days 450 sells for $13,949. [KTM]
Husqvarna FE 501s The big 500 cc thumpers from KTM and Husqvarna are one of the final steps up you can make in the street-legal, pseudo dirt-bike world before you take a big step up in weight. Beyond looks, choosing between the two really comes down to the rear suspension—and while it’s splitting hairs—we’re admittedly linkage guys.
Husqvarna’s FE 501s received much of the same updates as KTM’s EXC line for 2024, including a new chromium molybdenum steel frame, new subframe, die-cast aluminum swingarm and WP XACT suspension front and rear with 11.8” of travel. The lightweight and compact 510.9 cc engine delivers north of 60 hp, which is the sort of grunt you’ll definitely notice in the saddle if you’re used to a 40 hp bike.
Offering brutish power, premium suspension and a competitive dry weight of 258 pounds, the FE 501s is one of the least compromising street-legal machines money can buy. As such, you’ll need to pony up $13,049 to get one. [Husqvarna]
Beta 390 RR-S All the displacement in the world doesn’t mean anything if you can’t control it, and when the going gets rough, there’s something to be said about a well-balanced machine. Italy’s Beta is well-versed in enduro competition, and their catalog of street-legal dual-sport machines offers four different power levels from 350 to 500 cc.
The street-legal RR-S line shares many of the same components across the board, including new ZF Sachs forks, progressive linkage rear suspension, titanium intake valves and integrated traction control. Closely related to the prior year’s RR race-edition machines, the RR-S models are sold in basically race tune and only gain about 4 pounds from their DOT-friendly equipment.
One of Beta’s best sellers is the 390 RR-S, a bike that’s not afraid to break convention. There are no published power figures available, but the 390 RR-S is probably in the low 40-hp range and weighs just 241 pounds (wet, without fuel). Given the similar spec between models, Beta’s larger 430 and 500 RR-S models offer more power without an appreciable jump in weight, but again, that’s not always the name of the game.
Sold on a BYOB (Build Your Own Beta) basis, pricing hasn’t been announced for Beta’s street-legal dual-sports just yet, but expect the 390 RR-S to sell for around $11,599. [Beta Motorcycles]
Christini AWD 450DS Every list is best concluded with a wildcard, and even among such racy company, the Christini 450DS has an unparalleled trick up its sleeve. Concealed within the frame and fork of this street-legal dirt bike is a trick all–wheel-drive system that delivers game-changing performance off-road, without sacrificing street manners or suspension travel.
While it sounds a bit like reinventing the wheel, Christini has been perfecting its AWD motorcycle formula since 2002, and the system has reached a new level of seamlessness. In a nutshell, power is taken off the drive sprocket by chain up to a gearbox in the frame. From there, a driveshaft runs to the head tube where opposing bevel gears are housed. Then a pair of gears and chains in the lower triple clamp power two telescoping driveshafts along the fork tubes to the front hub.
Sounds complicated, but an untrained eye wouldn’t even notice the system, and the big-name publications have reviewed the quality of Christini’s AWD parts favorably. Of course, this system leads to a whole different experience off-road, most of which is good, but that’s a bit outside of our scope here.
Christini’s bikes are getting better and better, and the AWD 450DS would nearly stand on its own without the trick front drive. The 450 cc liquid-cooled single makes a competitive 42 hp, and the adjustable Fast Ace front end is good for 12” of travel. You’ll pay for the AWD tech, as the bike sells for $16,500, and it weighs as much dry (288 pounds) as the competition weighs at the curb, but you have to keep things in perspective here. It’s an all-wheel-drive 450 cc dirt bike that’s 100% street-legal—what a time to be alive. [Christini]
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