AJP's PR7! The unicorn bike we've been waiting for?︱Cross Training Adventure

After all these years we finally get to ride the AJP PR7! Is it the unicorn everyone hoped for? Is it the lightweight adventure motorbike we dreamed of? Can you go dirt riding and adventure riding? We only spent a few hours with the AJP so I would not call this an AJP PR7 review it's more of a AJP PR7 preview.... our overall impressions, pros and cons. Spoiler alert. I was impressed. Really impressed. And this is potentially at the top of my list for my next adventure motorbike. About 13 years ago AJP came to Australia. Welcome to Cross Training Adventure, we are into all things dual sport and adventure on the east coast of Australia. I emailed the Australian distributor saying I would love to review the AJP PR7. The response? I emailed the local dealer. I left phone messages for both. Eventually I gave up and thought maybe they went out of business. But there's been a change of ownership apparently. AJP contacted me and asked if we would like to ride some of their motorbikes including an AJP PR7 review. My response? Hell yes. A quick bit of history. It's got the larger capacity and plenty of changes since then. If there is a unicorn motorbike this might be the closest yet. The overall handling was very stable. These dirt roads had a loose surface so the PR7 was slipping on the corners and slightly locking up the brakes coming into corners. But the AJP PR7 felt incredibly predictable and confidence inspiring due to that inline stability. The suspension certainly helps. There weren't too many opportunities to hammer it through rough terrain, but the Sachs ZF forks and rear shock behaved really well. It's easy to throw around in corners due to its lightweight. It's 165 kg or 364 pounds with a full 17L fuel tank. AJP was founded in Portugal in 1987 by António Pinto, a seven-time Portuguese Enduro Champion. The PR7 was launched in 2018. The engine is based on the old Husqvarna TE610, a motorbike I owned years ago and loved for its meaty midrange. The AJP PR7 had very popular reviews from the beginning but has mainly proved popular in Europe. Overall impressions? Wow. Keen on adventure riding in Australia? Check out our vids. That means an AJP PR7 is around the same weight as KTM 690 which is great considering the weight of the rally tower and other extras. We loved the power delivery. Two of our three riders have owned Husqvarna TE610s years ago. It pulls very strongly from low revs into the meaty midrange. The AJP PR7 will certainly rev but on dirt roads it just led to wheelspin. I suspect it will really suit riders who mainly stay in the midrange. If you like dual sport riding in Australia then you might like our adventure riding vids. I said to one of the guys "This is like a DR650 on steroids" and he laughed as he was thinking exactly the same thing. A similar kind of power delivery but just way more across the rev range. The clutch was light. The gearbox feels very precise with a good spread of ratios. The stock gearing was quite high and it just burbled along at highway speeds. If a rider was going to do a mix of dirt tracks and road riding I think the AJP PR7 could be geared lower and still be fine on the highway. The Brembo brakes do a great job. Road handling? Great. That inline stability made it feel more like riding a big twin. The central fuel tank is low which keeps the weight low. It allows the air filter to go up the top and be easily accessed. When you take the seat off it's easy to access the fuel filter, fuel pump, battery, fuses etc. We weren't game to throw it around too much as it wasn't our motorbike but it felt great in corners. The AJP PR7 seat was a dream come true. Almost all single cylinder motorbikes come with hard enduro-style seats. This seat had plenty of padding and I suspect would be great for all day rides. The ergonomics? Our shorter rider pointed out the footpegs appear to be higher than usual due to the rally-style exhaust. We taller riders didn't really notice this but I googled and I did see some owners lower the footpegs. I'm the tallest rider by far and still felt comfortable on the PR7. A metal subframe allows carrying luggage, and there are mounting points for a rack. I would probably add bar risers, but I do that to every single motorbike. The AJP PR7 seat height of 920mm or 36.2 inches is quite standard and actually lower than a KTM 690. Short riders might want to fit a lower seat or get the suspension lowered. Like other rally models the windscreen is not adjustable. When sitting I was tall enough to get wind buffeting around my helmet at highway speeds. Less so for our shorter riders. Apparently some AJP PR7 owners fit a cheap wind spoiler. Others fit adjustable aftermarket screens. There were a lot of design features I liked. The Samsung tablet would be awesome for using a GPS while riding. #crosstrainingadventure #adventureriding #adventurebikes #ajpr7 #ajp