Enduro Veloce (MY2024)

On pavement this bike earns its keep. I fed it corners of every shape and it stayed unflustered, holding the arc I set and letting me adjust the throttle through a bend without the front pushing wide. What impresses me is how little the fork sinks under hard braking given the travel underneath it, so the geometry stays put right when I want the power back on. The range of adjustment is genuine as well: wind it firm and it steers sharp and stable, back it off and it soaks up the rough. Dirt asks more of you. The chassis lets me pick a precise line on loose ground, but the engine's eagerness to rev wears on you across technical terrain unless your throttle hand is patient. And since you can only alter the damping stopped, a day that mixes gravel and rougher trail leaves you tuned for the surface you just left.

Keep things moderate and the stopping power is perfectly good. It's when I chase a real sporting pace that the ABS shows up as the limiting factor. The system offers no aggressive road calibration, which leaves two choices on fast tarmac: run the default intervention or switch it off through the off-road mode. Push hard and you feel the software capping things well below what the tires and chassis could give, and by then it's the one part of the bike I'm fighting.

The bike's ease over a hard day caught me off guard. We spent hours inching through stop-and-go, and every rider dismounted relaxed rather than stiff, the saddle supportive and the seating angle keeping the load off wrists and lower back. Just as notable was how cool it stayed. No heat built up against my legs even during extended low-speed slogs, with fresh air reaching rider and engine alike, which you rarely get from a strong triple laboring in slow traffic. Threading tight spots, swinging it around, backing it into a bay, the bike stays predictable and unintimidating at walking speed, so nothing ever threw me. The one shortfall is up front: the screen doesn't move, and at higher speeds a taller rider will want more coverage than it gives.

The motor is the part I trust most on this bike. Crack the throttle and the response is instant yet measured, so a small input gives a small result and it never snaps at me in traffic or halfway through a corner. The exhaust carries a deliberately shaped voice, sporty and alive when I push, calm enough that highway miles don't grate. Shifting is just as sorted: every gear engages cleanly and the clutch gives good feedback as I ease the revs going into a bend. My one gripe is narrow. Layer firm braking over quick downshifts into first or second and the rear kicks, and the chassis needs a beat to settle. I only found it riding hard on the brakes and gears together; ordinary decel never brings it out.

Over my time with it, nothing worked loose or misbehaved, and the componentry stands up to a hard stare. Surfaces are properly finished and the parts you actually grab feel high grade, the standard this kind of money ought to buy. The ownership backdrop reassures me as much as the metal: stronger corporate ownership has steadied spare-parts supply and dealer support far beyond what this badge was once known for. A multi-year factory warranty is standard, and what I saw at handover suggests few riders will ever lodge a claim.

What makes this bike usable is how wide its comfort zone runs. The same machine that let me attack mountain roads all day carried me home through clogged city streets, and neither job felt like a sacrifice. Give it open tarmac and there's real excitement on tap; drop it into a commute and it stays easygoing enough that you don't resent the miles. Plenty of bikes make you pick one of those lives. This one won't, and that's what turns it from a weekend indulgence into something you can lean on daily.