Cycle News Staff | www.cyclenews.com

If you drool over the motorcycles raced in the Dakar Rally and daydream about having a bike with a navigation tower, tall windscreen, large fuel tank, and a relatively lightweight single-cylinder motor, you will be hard-pressed to find anything like this at your local motorcycle shop. A handful of true rally bikes like the ones raced by the KTM and Husqvarna teams are offered for sale to the public and will set you back about $40,000. On the other end of the spectrum, you can buy a Honda CRF300L Rally for about $6200, but that is far from the performance level of the bikes you watch racing in the Saudi Arabian desert, where the “Dakar” now takes place. There is a long list of twin-cylinder adventure motorcycles, including the Yamaha Tenere 700, KTM 890 Adventure, or Ducati Desert X, that look a little like a Rally motorcycle, but those are more like the previous-generation twin-cylinder Rally motorcycles that were replaced by the current 450cc single-cylinder bikes that have raced Dakar for over a decade now. So, if you want something like the current generation of Rally motorcycles, you are left with two options: the Chinese KOVE 450 Rally (which is a legitimate Dakar Rally finisher) and the AJP PR7. You can read our review of the KOVE here and for this story, we spent several months riding the AJP to learn what type of conditions it thrives in.

Photography by Scott Proffer, Ray Conway and Sean Finley

The PR7 is a 600cc single-cylinder, fuel-injected motorcycle that includes a navigation tower with a Samsung tablet, a tall rally-type windscreen, stacked dual headlights, and a 4.5-gallon fuel tank positioned under the seat (a trademark for other AJP motorcycles dating back to the early 2000s). It includes a lot of other trick parts like closed cartridge Sachs forks, billet triple clamps/bar mounts, 12-volt power supply, DOMA exhaust, carbon-fiber airbox, Brembo brakes, heavy-duty aluminum skid plate, and billet suspension linkage. The total weight is 373 pounds with a full fuel tank. That is around 100 pounds less than the lightest twin-cylinder ADV motorcycle if you want to use that as a benchmark of how capable this bike may be off-road.

You may not be familiar with the AJP brand. It is a small Portuguese motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1987 by Antonio J. Pinto (AJP). Pinto was a seven-time Portuguese Enduro Champion. He founded the company to create entry-level motorcycles with unique designs. They make a wide range of motorcycles, with the $11,299 PR7 at the top of the food chain and a budget-targeted SPR125 four-stroke for $4999 at the bottom of the seven models that Texas-based Central Powersports Distribution (CPD), the U.S. distributor, offers. They make their own chassis that blends a steel headtube and cradle with aluminum spars and source the motors and other components from well-known and lesser-known manufacturers. The engine used in the PR7 has roots back to Husqvarna before that brand was bought by BMW and subsequently purchased by the KTM group. The old Italian Husqvarna factory was bought by SWM, another small brand that sells their own bikes and sells motors to AJP and a few other companies.

How does it work and where does this bike shine?

CPD website says, “The PR7 is in a class of its own and redefines the Adventure bike concept.” We must agree with this statement as there really isn’t anything like the PR7 on the market. Yes, the KOVE 450 Rally is in the ballpark, but the larger displacement 600cc motor tilts the PR7 more toward the adventure category. It is much bigger, heavier, and has more fuel capacity than a dual sport motorcycle, so it won’t shred singletrack like one of those bikes, but it is far more capable than a twin-cylinder ADV bike when the roads or trails get gnarly.

The grunty power of the 600cc motor is impressive and makes the bike fun to ride. The motor pulls right off the bottom and combined with the six-speed transmission, will keep pulling up into the triple digits on the speedo. This is where it is much different than the Kove 450 that is soft on the bottom and needs to rev to make power. The counterbalancer makes this a very smooth motor with very little vibration for a single. The Athena GET fuel injection is tuned well so the bike ran great in a wide range of conditions and altitudes that we rode it. The cooling fans on both radiators are a nice feature that helps keep the bike cool if you decide to wrestle the big bike through some slow trails. The Magura hydraulic clutch actuation worked okay for us.

The chassis is very stable at speed and manageable on chunky trails. The Sachs suspension works well, and the settings are a good balance for compliance on the small stuff but still capable of hitting bigger bumps or G-outs at speed. Having the fuel tank under the seat contributes to a low center of gravity and a nice slim cockpit that is easy to move around on. Speaking of the cockpit, the bike is very comfortable, and the large seat is great for pounding out miles. The seat height is also a little lower than a standard off-road or dual sport motorcycle, which helps when you need to dab or just put your feet down at a stop.

The Brembo brakes worked well for us in most conditions. The only time we had any issues was when we took the bike down a huge downhill with rolling baby-head rocks. The rear brake locked up a little too easily, and the front brake got a little spongy at the lever. This was not the kind of trail that we would choose to take a big bike like this on, but sometimes the road turns into a much tighter trail than you expect. In normal conditions, the brakes were good.

The Samsung tablet is a really great feature for getting out and exploring. You can add a plugin that allows you to connect to the motor to see the rpm, speed, etc., but it is more useful as a navigation device. We didn’t sign the device up for cell service since it was a temporary loan, but doing so would allow you to use On-X or other navigation apps. The tablet is much larger than a phone for navigation, and the visibility, even in sunlight, is pretty good. Just plan to wipe the dust off often.

The PR7 shines in exploring dirt roads and stands out when the roads get a little too brutal for a full-size adventure motorcycle. We mostly rode mountain forest roads and liked that we could keep going when those roads deteriorated. Open desert roads are also a highlight on this bike since it is very stable at speed and can handle unexpected chunky sections much better than bigger bikes. With 4.5 gallons of fuel, you have at least 200 miles of range, so you can really get out there. Being a single-cylinder, it is not as smooth as a twin-cylinder ADV bike on the road, but it is surprisingly decent for short road stints, and that comfy seat also helps with the road.

Speaking of roads, the PR7 is not currently approved as a street-legal dual sport bike, and that is something that would make it a more versatile motorcycle. CPD is in the process of getting the necessary homologation and hopes to have a street-legal version available by spring 2025. That being said, it is possible to get an off-road bike like this registered for street use in some states, so if you are lucky enough to live in one of those states, the current off-road version may be a better option.

Overall, the AJP is a very fun motorcycle in a class of its own. It includes many great components that work well together. If you want a great desert or mountain off-road bike with more fuel capacity than a standard off-road bike, the AJP is a great option. If you want something smaller and lighter than a standard ADV bike, this is also a great option.CN

2024 AJP PR7 Specifications

MSRP	$11,299
Engine Type	4-stroke, single
Valvetrain	DOHC, 4-valve
Cooling system	Liquid
Displacement	600cc
Bore x Stroke	100mm x 76.4mm
Starting System	Electric
Fueling	ATHENA GET Fuel Injection 45mm
Transmission	6-speed
Clutch	Wet multi-disc clutch with hydraulic actuation
Frame	Aluminum-steel composite
Front Suspension	48mm Sachs closed cartridge w/adjustable compression, rebound
Rear Suspension	Aluminum Body Sachs shock w /adjustable rebound and compression
Front-Wheel Travel	11.8 in
Rear-Wheel Travel	11.0 in
Front Wheel	21 in.
Rear Wheel	18 in.
Front Tire	90/90 x 21 in. Michelin Tracker
Rear Tire	140/80 x 18 in. Michelin Tracker
Front Brake	300mm floating rotor, Dual-Piston Brembo
Rear Brake	240mm, Single-Piston Brembo
Seat Height	36.2 in.
Ground Clearance	12.2 in.
Wheelbase	60.6 in.
Fuel Capacity	4.5 gal.
Weight (wet, measured)	373 lbs.