AJP PR7: FULL TEST

In the bike world, specialization has been good to us. It’s made the adaptation between enduro bikes and extreme enduro bikes, and between motocross bikes and Supercross bikes. In the case of the AJP PR7, the concept of specialization has been taken a step further than ever ahead of. It belongs to a category of American off-road bikes so particular and centered that it doesn’t yet admire a name. We’ll call it a rally bike for now, despite the indisputable truth that the process doesn’t no doubt exist over here—no longer yet anyway.

THE PLAYER FROM PORTUGAL
You would possibly perhaps perhaps also be forgiven whereas you occur to admire got never heard of AJP. It’s an organization from Portugal with a no doubt short history within the U.S. It turned into based by Portuguese enduro champion Antonio J. Pinto and is named after his initials. For now, the corporate makes simplest the chassis for its merchandise. The motors come from all the arrangement thru the realm. The PR7 is the flagship of the operation. It uses an Italian-made SWM motor. We know, at this point even SWM is a rather unknown name stateside.

However, there’s one company within the bike’s history you would perhaps perhaps perhaps also simply be conversant in—Husqvarna. Must you were spherical within the times ahead of Husqvarna turned into bought by BMW (and therefore by KTM), you would perhaps perhaps perhaps also keep in mind a motorbike called the TE630. It had one among the closing motors to be designed by the Italian engineering group ahead of they were all pushed apart. Must you no doubt effect carefully, you would perhaps perhaps perhaps also detect some similarities that run the full arrangement succor to the distinctive Husqvarna 510 of the ‘80s. That turned into basically the most evolved off-road four-stroke of its time.

On the sign time, the PR7’s motor is a 600cc, DOHC four-stroke with an Athena/GET gasoline injection. It has a hydraulic clutch and a 6-high-tail gearbox. The body is love nothing else on earth. It has a metallic steering head bolted to cast-aluminum aspect beams. The gasoline tank is found beneath the seat, and it uses Sachs suspension front and rear. The total ingredients admire a no doubt excessive cool notify. The use system is a downswept titanium Doma with a carbon fiber end cap, and the brakes are Brembo. It has a fairing that looks love it’ll even admire come magnificent off Ricky Brabec’s Dakar bike and two radiator followers. Inventory equipment entails wraparound handguards, an aluminum skid plate and a coolant overflow tank. The list of bling entails billetaluminum footpegs, billet triple clamps, anodized hubs and a carbon fiber airbox duvet magnificent next to an airplane-grade gasoline filler. To top it all off, there’s a pill mounted within the succor of the fairing that hyperlinks with your cellular phone for navigation.

FINDING A PLACE
One of many hardest aspects about testing a motorbike love the PR7 is figuring out where to take a look at it. If the Sonora Rally turned into next up on the calendar, we would rob it straight there. As it turned into, the timing turned into magnificent for the 24 Hours of Glen Helen. We didn’t officially enter it within the high-tail; that would possibly well perhaps rob a group of riders, a trailer of spares and a world of commitment. The PR7 turned into the exact plod car. It carries 4.5 gallons of gasoline and has heaps of room for tools and aspects.

First of all, the elephant within the room, whereas you occur to would possibly well well pardon the imagery, is the bike’s weight. All that bling and rally equipment doesn’t blueprint for a gentle-weight bike. The PR7 weighs over 400 kilos with a stout tank. How powerful over? We don’t know. That’s as excessive as our scale goes. It’s roughly inappropriate, attributable to 5 minutes on the bike tells you more about its meant motive than 10 pages of specifications. It’s exact too powerful bike for a closed route, even one love the 24-Hour.

The first time you set up the bike on a middle stand it’s a puny of a shocker, attributable to it no doubt doesn’t effect that heavy. The bike is de facto as slim as a identical old 450 motocross bike. The seat height would possibly well well even be a puny decrease. Whenever you occur to open riding, though, it’s particular that it doesn’t love low speeds. There’s exact too powerful mass there. The faster you run, the simpler it will get. If truth be told, the PR7 is more extremely effective than almost any off-road high-tail bike. The motor is downright amazing, particularly in the case of the low end. It’s no longer motocross energy, though. It has thick, relaxed torque love four-strokes had within the olden days. The powerband starts early and ends early with deep, rumbling pulses rather than a shrill buzz. The 600 doesn’t rely on rpm to blueprint its point, and that’s emotionally gratifying if nothing else. No longer like the four-strokes of the previous (we called them thumpers, keep in mind?), the AJP is orderly and civilized. It doesn’t cough, backfire or flame out. It no doubt does combine the exact of each worlds.

Finding a dispute to wring out the PR7 would possibly well well be a anxiousness. Nearly all the pieces appears to be like confining whereas you admire got a motorbike that wants to live 100 mph. Whenever you occur to live rep some contrivance, it’s amazing to roll the throttle originate and let it flee. Even whereas you occur to’re already going 50 mph, the AJP can yank your fingers with more acceleration any time you twist it more sturdy.

As the high-tail went on, it turned into an increasing form of subtle to search out that more or much less originate contrivance. The whoops got better and better with every passing hour. The PR7 has relating to the exact fork that Sachs gives. It has 48mm tubes with a closed cartridge, and the piggyback shock is fully adjustable. Every ends were tall soft when the route turned into relaxed, however they were instant overwhelmed. The rear, in particular, is simply too relaxed for in fact rough terrain. Can or no longer or no longer it is beefed up? We don’t no doubt know. Whenever you occur to’re talking a pair of 400-pound bike, most suspension retailers would possibly well be in uncharted territory.

THE RALLY FACTOR
If the sport of rally takes off within the U.S., AJP will clearly be within the driver’s seat. It’s a superbly made bike with magnificent aspects in each place in the attach. Except then, its finest role would possibly well be as an outlaw twin-sport bike. In some states, you would perhaps perhaps perhaps also prance magnificent into the DMV and obtain a license plate for the PR7. Now now not California, needless to pronounce, however even out here on the left float we detect Arizona plates on all the pieces from two-strokes to quads. A license plate on the PR7 will be a excellent fit. It has somewhat about a almost 200 miles, and that can obtain you halfway all the arrangement thru the Mojave Desolate tract. On the toll road, you would perhaps perhaps perhaps also tuck in within the succor of the windscreen and blueprint good time. It already has the full switches for blinkers, horns and hazard lights.

AJP’s U.S. importer is Central Powersports Distributing, and apart from they are within the contrivance of homologation magnificent now. The motor has already handed emission testing on two varied cases; first because the Husky TE630, then because the SWM Superdual. So, it’s simplest a topic of time except the PR7 can rule basically the most no doubt good category within the U.S.; it’s the king of the non-streetlegal great-bore rally class. We exact gotta come up with a better name.