Enduro motorcycles are designed specifically for the sport with deep suspension like on a motocross bike but with the features and accessories required to be road legal

 

The engine will generally be single-cylinder two-stroke between 125 and 300cc or four stroke between 250 and 650cc.

There can sometimes be an advantage to having an engine size smaller than 650cc in some events, as they are generally lighter, enabling the bike to have better handling for manoeuvring around trees and obstacles.  However, larger engines allow riders to get up hills without going down a gear or two, therefore maintaining their top speed.

 

There are many enduro manufacturers past and present, these include BMW, Bultaco, Gas Gas, Hodaka, Honda, Husaberg, Husqvana, Kawasaki, KTM, Maico, Montesa, Ossa, Suzuki, and Yamaha.

 

An enduro bike has many extras compared to that of an motocross bike, including:

*Headlight for on road use after dark

* Brake like for road use

* Protective Hardware

* An exhaust system that is road legal and meets legal

   regulations for noise

* Wide gear ratios

* Narrower handlebars to allow movement between

   branches and trees

An enduro motorbike closely resembles motocross bikes.  Motocross bikes are often selected by many riders for Enduro racing (with modification).

An enduro bike will undergo a lot of severe treatment in a race compared to that of a road motorbike.  They therefore require a lot of maintenance to keep up their operating capability.

 

Since the early 2000's the trend has been to use MX racing bikes as the platforms for enduro bikes.  This has been promoted since the recent conversion from 2-stroke to 4-stroke engine designs in MX.

Early enduro trail bikes or dual sport traditionally had a higher proportion of 4-stroke to 2-stroke models.  The power to weight ratio of these 4-stroke trail bikes wasn’t that good, this was mainly due to the weight.  When MX bikes evolved to the 4-stroke the design on power to weight ratios became more important, because the 125 and 250 MX classes have minimum weight limits.

 

From the new design of these MX bikes, manufacturers re-configured them to produce an enduro motorcycle that is today lighter and more powerful than its predecessors.

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

Text originated from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enduro

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enduro-motorcycle