520 exc or GP450

[Snaf MKII]

Snaf MkII.... interesting reading the above (albeit I'm not remotely 'into' KTM's).... do you own/run/work at an off road school/rental set-up?
OP - sorry to go off topic but I'm curious ☺

I have done in the past but not since 2006.

[PHILinFRANCE]

...............i do

P1020864 by Philip Parkinson, on Flickr

[Jak*]

I have no experience of the 520, but my GP450 was the most unreliable bike I have ever owned. It really should have been great but the engine and electrics are fragile, coupled with poor finish on many components, an awful seat and a very cavalier attitude to customer service and warranty claims, mine was a total nightmare.
I replaced mine with a Himalayan and have no regrets. The Himalayan is not an enduro bike, although some have used them for that with some success, but it is a real go anywhere adventure bike.
CCM seem to now be concentrating on making two wheeled ornaments (the Spitfire) which seems to be their forte.
Cheers

[RichP]

Two mates and me rode from Bulgaria back to the UK using the TET where we could. I was was on my 500EXC and my mates were on their CCM GP450s - only one bike made it home and it wasn't made in Bolton!

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Mooching about on the web, it appears that CCM has off-loaded all its spares for non-Spitfires to Haines & Co

http://hainesmc.co.uk/ccm_motorcycle_spares/

[Sanqhar]

Mooching about on the web, it appears that CCM has off-loaded all its spares for non-Spitfires to Haines & Co

http://hainesmc.co.uk/ccm_motorcycle_spares/

Note: it says parts are non genuine ccm.

Tom

[Stewie]

CCM's bit like saying hands up for Marmite... A few folk I ride with have the GP450 and love them, but more folk have brought and had problems with them and moved on.
I have a KTM525mxc which i use a for the occasional trip, handles the distance and luggage well.
Question has to be if your prepared to buy the CCM on tick, them surely you can get any bike on tick.
Have you concidered the likes of the DRZ400 DR650/350

27832963668_8a990dd747_o.jpg (114.33 KiB) Viewed 2983 times

[Scrumpymonkey]

I can't comment on the KTM but on the CCM , you really felt like it would go anywhere; I did a 10, 000 mile trip on mine and it was very easy to ride each day. I do have reservations though on how long CCM will keep supporting this bike as they have moved away from specialising in what could have been a very promising ADV bike portfolio , into the Sunday ride' custom' sector. The CCM was a very promising low-weight Adventure Bike , albeit with it's own shortcomings; which could have easily been sorted if the commitment to the sector was maintained. I'm not sure what their spare parts inventory looks like long-term?

This is another of my main concerns about the GP450, going to be a bugger if CCM don't continue to support the model.

[Scrumpymonkey]

Lots of great replies here with lots of pros and cons to consider. The 520 exc sold before I even got to see it but hey, obviously wasn't supposed to have it. My main concerns about the CCM are reliability and availability of spares.
Having searched fleabay, there's a 530 exc-r which has caught my eye

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Mooching about on the web, it appears that CCM has off-loaded all its spares for non-Spitfires to Haines & Co

http://hainesmc.co.uk/ccm_motorcycle_spares/

Note: it says parts are non genuine ccm.

Tom

You are right...CCM have offloaded spares for all the others, but not that one.