NEW! STARK VARG EX is here!

[Beagle]

Gotta say, attention to detail and design are crazy. Redesigned switches and so on, they do listen and improve the product almost in real time.
Does the stand work?

 

[Philip]

The new titanium footpegs are below.

The kickstand anti-lock blob and the boot-shredding spring attachment link hardware are both still there, unchanged.

 

[Bpspecs]

Maybe us mx only guys buy the Ex take lights off and have an updated varg!

 

[Aleksandar13]

The more I read, the more I'm convinced I'll sell my month old Varg and buy a Varg EX. I was going to respring/revalve, add handguards, and buy the gray plastics anyway (wanted gray but had to take a red to get discount pricing), so I may instead spend that towards the Varg EX with the bonus of the head/tail/brake light, turnsignals, bigger battery, enduro-focused frame flex, stronger chain guide, flag-type handguards, horn, etc. When you select front brake, it still gives you rear brake (which is required for street legal in US, Canada and some other countries, but they give you a free handlebar rear brake perch/cylinder with it, so win/win. Race guys, and even trail riders like me, may appreciate the horn for signaling riders in front of you (rather than screaming at the top of your lungs. Ha.)

Will just have to see how much I lose on my Varg that was ridden 3 rides before winter set in. I'm sure it will be quite a bit, but that may be influenced if Varg prices go back up to the "normal" price rather than the sale price. Dealership put on HD tubes and good enduro tires before I even picked it up. Minus those, if I can get close to what I paid, I'll do a Varg EX in the spring. At least they announced it now rather than spring so I didn't dump money into suspension and plastics over the winter.

I just relvalved my suspension on mine, it does come road legal already and apart from the larger battery I guess I could retrofit some of the stuff like the Headlight... I am not sure you would want to take the hit on the stark ( in Uk they drop around £1500 to £2000 with just a few hours on them) that being said the new enduro looks slick.. On another note if most parts are interchangeable you might want to buy them and make it as an enduro ( suspension setup with a proper shop for your weight will be much better than a stock suspension made for masses anyway)
I will buy the headlight for sure , maybe the switch if it becomes available as a part for retro fitting ( the current switch is £68 so the new one could be £100) . I am more interested if they can provide more updates on the wiring loom which seems to have sorted some of the issues we have been seeing with the water ingress.

 

[Philip]

Maybe us mx only guys buy the Ex take lights off and have an updated varg!

They seem to have shortened the suspension though to 300mm of travel, both front and rear. I am not sure what the deal with this is. Is the regular MX suspension travel too long for some riders?

 

[Aleksandar13]

Maybe us mx only guys buy the Ex take lights off and have an updated varg!

Headlight would be ideal for mine... as the current one is a bit of a monster

 

[Aleksandar13]

They seem to have shortened the suspension though to 300mm of travel, both front and rear. I am not sure what the deal with this is. Is the regular MX suspension travel too long for some riders?

Would 10mm make such a huge difference ? I mean the seat is so narrow surely most riders are ok with it... Saying this I am 6.4

 

[AL_V]

The new titanium footpegs are below.

The kickstand anti-lock blob and the boot-shredding spring attachment link hardware are both still there, unchanged.

View attachment 12699

You can cut off the "boot shredding" cylinder at the line.
It's there for "automatic" retraction of the kickstand.
Also, they have been promising an updated bracket for the original bike we all have, perhaps we will finally get it?

 

[Bpspecs]

Husqvarna has 10mm shorter travel then there sisters KTM & Gas Gas. Keeps seat height lower for better cornering lower CG. In theory.

 

[Theo]

• The fact that it's rideable with an A1 licence in Europe is crazy! It means it can be ridden at 16 y.o.!
Getting a driving licence in the EU - Your Europe
• Here in Italy every year there are incentives for street legal EVs; I think that for that price the discount whould be 3.000 €.
• The tubes look different from the current red ones, judging from the valve stems. EDIT: They still call them the power tubes, though; maybe they are still the same.
• The gearbox cover looks the same: enduro riders complained about the fact that it's not sturdy enough for rocks.
• They've stressed that the power switch is now water resistant: some complained that the one of the MX version is too little resistant.
• They've highlighted that the kickstand, another component disliked by owners of the MX version, is new.
• At the end of the video from the Stark Youtube channel they said that production is limited; I'd like to know more about this.

 

[Swank171]

Is this bike the same weight as our 2023 MX??

 

[Bpspecs]

It’s heavier. 4 1/2 lbs or 2kg

 

[Chadx]

Is this bike the same weight as our 2023 MX??

2 kilos/4.4 pounds more

Based on website:
118kg vs 120kg (260.2 lb vs 264.6 lb)

 

[Bpspecs]

So it seems the ex seat height is taller 96.6 cm to mx 94.7. Not sure why with the ex suspension having less travel and all

 

[Swank171]

Hmmmmm…..can we put the headlight on I wonder? Or is this new harness make the light not an options for us?

I’d like to have the light. Don’t need the street legal….just a headlight.

 

[jeremyconnors]

Omg omg omg

 

[Philip]

You can cut off the "boot shredding" cylinder at the line.
It's there for "automatic" retraction of the kickstand.

I cut that blob before my very first ride. My boots are shredded against the spring attachment linkage and its bolt.

 

[jeremyconnors]

Hmmmmm…..can we put the headlight on I wonder? Or is this new harness make the light not an options for us?

I’d like to have the light. Don’t need the street legal….just a headlight.

^this! ⚡️

 

[Chadx]

Long version of the press release video. I'll add it to my first posts further up, too.

 

[happyinmotion]

I haven't seen any mention of ABS, so let's just clarify my statement that "if it's NZ road legal then it must have ABS".

All road-legal motorcycles in NZ must have ABS, meaning there's a heap of European enduro models that don't get imported and our choice of enduro/dual sport models is limited to those with ABS, eg we get CRF300L with ABS.

There is an "enduro" exemption that allows non-ABS bikes but those bikes are only allowed on the road during FIM-accredited events, not for general riding. And here's the thing - the national body that's affiliated to FIM doesn't run enduro events with road sections. So there are no FIM-accredited events and the exemption is not meaningful.

Some bike shops are selling non-ABS bikes under this exemption but they shouldn't. The exemption isn't legal for that bike for general road riding. If a cop pulls you up then you're screwed. Your insurance won't be valid, etc...

Do Stark know this? I hope so and I hope the EX comes with ABS. However, Stark also sold their first bikes in NZ with a 10 Amp plug and a 15 Amp set on the charger. That's against regulations. They said they made the decision based on advice from their "AUS/NZ consultant partner" but that partner didn't understand the rules. To be fair, they changed it pretty rapidly once we told them but I am not convinced that Stark understand NZ regulations.

So does the EX have ABS? Until Stark confirm one way or the other, we don't know.