COMPARISON: 2024 KTM 350 EXC-F AND 2024 HUSQVARNA FE 501S
Words:Chad de Alva Photos: Olivier de Vaulx
What’s better than a new Austrian dualsport Bike? Two new Austrian dualsport bikes. What’s better than two new Austrian dualsport bikes? Two new Austrian dualsport bikes and the better part of a week in southern Utah to get to know these bikes. The first is the 2024 Husqvarna Motorcycles FE 501s, and second is the 2024 KTM 350 EXC-F. Together we had the opportunity to try both of the KTM Group’s dualsport motors (the double overhead cam 350 and the single cam 500) and both rear suspension systems (PDS and linkage) back to back and side by side across a very diverse landscape. All of the KTM Group dualsport bikes are 95% new for 2024 which means there is a LOT to cover – so let’s get into it starting with the 501.
Husqvarna FE 501S
The 2024 Husqvarna Motorcycles FE 501s is the latest and greatest ‘premium’ interpretation of a fully street legal KTM Group 500. As a card-carrying member of the KTM 500 fan club, my expectations for this new generation are very high. 500s have been outstanding motorcycles for years (can I get an amen from the 530 owners out there?), and for good reason; A 500 can be built to work very well for so many different types of riding. A 500 can be built into everything from a great snow bike to a rally bike. A 500 can crush technical single track after work and perform equally well when loaded with luggage for moto camping or running a BDR. If I was only allowed to have one bike in my life, it would most likely be a KTM 500. With each new generation of 500, the KTM Group has carefully revised their recipe to improve on an already good thing, and I’m happy to report that it’s almost entirely all good on the new 2024 edition.
Let’s start with the headline features. The new chassis is certainly stiffer than the previous generation, but after 10-odd hours of ride time, it settles into something that is – in a word – awesome! This new generation of chassis has perfect ergos and feels agile, precise, and delivers point and shoot stability. If big thumpers are known for feeling less agile than their smaller displacement siblings, this new chassis does the best job yet of managing the inertial effects of more than 500 cubic centimeters of motor. The position of the motor in the chassis has been revised as well, which provides improvements in mass centralization and anti-squat. (Improved anti-squat means that the rear suspension compresses less under acceleration, which improves handling and grip.) Without stock, zero-hour examples of previous generation bikes on hand to compare against, we can’t really speak to the degree of change, but it’s pretty evident that KTM has cooked up a brilliant chassis for the 2024 model year bikes. The FE 501 frame also happens to look great thanks to its metallic blue powder coat.
Suspension is another big win on the new gen bikes. WP’s XACT Closed Cartridge forks are a welcome change over the split function open chamber XPLOR forks that previous gen bikes have used. The XACT Closed Cartridge forks have much better hold up, much better big-hit absorption, and with a bit of tweaking they can provide great bump compliance. The new shock is also a win – and my favorite features are the finger clickers for all the adjustments. It’s important to note the Husqvarna and GasGas dualsports use a linkage type rear suspension, while the orange bikes have a PDS (non-linkage) design. Annoyingly, adjusting the compression clickers on the 501’s shock requires removing and then reinstalling a cover panel, effectively negating any time savings gained from the finger clickers. Riders who follow Husky’s various racing efforts may have noticed that the factory race bikes do not have this cover piece, so here’s hoping that said factory bits end up for sale to us mere mortals. Finger clickers are awesome when you don’t have to remove a cover to use them.
As a street legal dualsport bike, the FE 501s is subject to the full measure of EPA regulations, so yes, the bike has a charcoal system and a smog pump, and its mapping has been designed so that the bike can pass EPA testing requirements. That’s the price of a street legal dirt bike these days. With that being said, the FE 501’s motor is still a hoot to ride, and still a textbook example of why 500s are so much fun: you’ve got torque for days, and power absolutely everywhere. Feel like doing a power wheelie on the slab while you’re heading to your favorite trail? Just bounce the bike and brap that throttle. Need to make a spicy climb? Just let the FE 501s eat. Not only are these motors great fun to ride, but they’ll go for hundreds of hours with regular maintenance. The only real issue I found with the way that FE 501s ran was a tendency to cough-stall off of idle when you gave it a quick burst of throttle, say to pick up the front end while doing a pivot turn. Yet by recalibrating my inputs, I was able to largely mitigate this issue, and even with the stock dualsport TKC 80 tires, I quickly felt quite confident pushing the 501.
KTM 350 EXC-F
While I stated that I’m a card-carrying member of the 500 fan club, I have to say that I’ve also really enjoyed my time on every 350 that I’ve had the opportunity to ride. When you consider that 350’s make quite a bit of power, and pick up agility over their larger-displacement cousins, the appeal of these smaller displacement bikes is obvious. There’s also something that never gets old about holding a 350 on the stop. Our lizard brains do love the sound of revs.
The KTM 350 EXC-F also received the 95% new treatment for 2024, and just like the FE 501s it’s almost all good. In 350-size, the new chassis delivers an agile, stable, and confidence inspiring experience, and the ergos here are equally dialed as well. The KTMs get the same new WP XACT Closed Cartridge forks, but the orange bikes have a PDS shock instead of a linkage shock. Many riders swear by linkage rear ends as they prefer the feel compared to a PDS system, but jumping back and forth between the FE 501s and the 350 EXC-F while dualsporting and trail riding didn’t cause me to really miss the linkage when I was on the 350. To be clear, both rear suspension systems felt great everywhere we rode them. I did however, find the linkage more than once while playing in the rocks on the 501, (I’m used the PDS clearance, which may have been a factor in all fairness) and I like having fewer bearings to care for, so the PDS rear end certainly isn’t a drawback in my eyes.
Two other areas where I prefer the KTM over the Husky are hydraulics and plastics. KTMs feature a Brembo clutch and brakes, whereas the Huskys have BRAKTEC hydraulics. After riding both bikes back to back, I have to say that I prefer the feel and performance of the Brembo brakes over the Husky’s BRAKTECs which felt more vague and spongy. I also prefer the plastics on the KTMs which do not block the finger clickers on the shock. Making compression adjustments on a KTM is as easy as it gets, but Husky’s choice to cover the shock clickers with a body panel is a perplexing form-over-function choice.
A feature on both bikes that isn’t a change for the better over the old generation is the new stop / start switch. More than once, I clicked the switch on both bikes into the kill position, yet the bike didn’t stop running. I had to use my pinky finger to firmly press on the kill icon to get the motor to stop. Having the start / stop switch in one cluster is an upgrade over the old two cluster system (one switch on each side of the bars), but it’s always nice when a kill switch works as intended.
If your understanding of what an Austrian 350 is like comes from riding a competition only 350 (like a XC-F), know that the 350 EXC-F delivers a different experience, but that’s the price paid to have a 350 that comes with a license plate. The 350 EXC-F feels less powerful than its competition cousins, but even with all of its EPA accouterments, the bike still runs well and pulls addictingly hard once you get the crank wound up. Hopping off the 501 onto the 350 makes the lack of low-end torque very obvious, but this can be effectively compensated for by utilizing the wonderful Brembo clutch to put the power down. After a couple of hours of getting used to the 350 EXC-F, I was able to ride it however I wanted. I could wheelie it all day long, and I was able to put together trials type lines on slick rock where I was hopping up onto a boulder that was little more than a bike length long, before hopping off the back side. When it came time to stretch the 350’s legs on miles and miles of high speed dirt, hanging with larger displacement bikes was no sweat, thanks to the rev happy motor that really comes alive once it’s spun up. If 500s grunt their way through the world with their ample supply of low end torque, 350s sing through the world with their torque output on top. These two bikes deliver different riding experiences, but they’re both a great time.
350 or 501? It’s a great question, and the short answer is that you honestly can’t go wrong with either. They’re both great bikes that, in stock form, performed well absolutely everywhere we went over the course of our several days riding in southern Utah. There wasn’t a single time where I found myself on one bike, wishing I was riding the other. Both bikes were all fun all the time. Everywhere from the highway and on high speed dirt, to playing in desert washes and on big slick rock formations, the limiting factor was the rider not the bike. That being said, depending on who you are, where you ride, how you ride, random KTM vs Husky preferences like the aforementioned brakes or rear suspension, and how much tweaking you want to do to your bike, the answer of which bike to get may be a little more clear cut.
The 2024 KTM 350 EXC-F is a great option for riders who like to rev their bikes out and that prioritize a more agile chassis. This additional agility pays off in the tight and technical places of the world, and there’s something about a 350 that feels a little more approachable than a 500, but don’t think for a second that a 350 isn’t capable. This bike can be built to do just about anything, and a skilled rider on a 350 can hang with his buddies on 500s all day long. Even though 500’s have a special place in my heart, this 350 has very much piqued my curiosity and I’m eager to spend more time riding it.
The 2024 Husqvarna Motorcycles FE 501s is the latest chapter in the book of why 500s are awesome, and this new generation of bike is more capable than ever. Like the 500s before it, the FE 501s serves up that grin-inducing torque and plenty of power, so if you’re a fan of the twist, the 2024 500s are going to be your huckleberry.
Whatever size and color Austrian dualsport you pick up, there are a lot of little details and quality of life features on these bikes that you’ll discover as you spend time with them. That’s why it’s smart to spend time riding the bike stock to get a baseline before you start making changes. 10-15 hours will give the chassis a chance to break in, and give the rider a good feel for the bike. A couple of first adds we would suggest are a skid plate and rim locks if you’re going to make a tire swap. These new gen bikes have so many changes, that there’s a lot to get used to if you’re coming from an older Austrian bike. A couple of things we’re digging are the single bolt seats and the Offroad Control Unit (which replaces all of your fuses and relays with solid state electronics).
The KTM Group did it right with their new gen bikes. They’ve succeeded in improving the performance of their last gen bikes (which were damn good to begin with) and in the case of street legal dualsport bikes like the 350 EXC-F and FE 501s, produced incredibly versatile, capable, and fun to ride bikes. We sure had fun on our first date with these new bikes in Utah and we are eagerly looking forward to many more adventures on these bikes in the years to come.
For more information visit your local dealer or KTM.com. Or husqvarna-motorcycles.com
