Brixton Crossfire 500 Storr first ride review: X marks the spot
The Crossfire 500 Storr will be Brixton’s first adventure motorcycle in the country. Will it get the success that the Crossfire 500 X and XC didn’t?;
Brixton’s innings in India started with the Cromwell 1200 and the Crossfire 500 X and XC. These models, while impressive in their own ways, didn’t exactly take the market by storm the way the brand hoped it would. To rectify that and to make a more rounded lineup, Brixton India plans to bring in the Crossfire 500 Storr, a full-fledged ADV based on the Crossfire 500 XC. Is this going to be what puts Brixton on the map in India? A long flight to Vienna was what I had in store to find out.
The 486cc parallel-twin engine is the same as on its siblings — Shot by Brixton Austria
We landed in a brisk, early winter Vienna and headed to the KSR Group headquarters on the outskirts of the capital city to meet the folks who make the machines and to also ride the 500 Storr. After a conversation on how the KSR Group functions and what other brands it has under its umbrella, we finally set out to ride the upcoming 500 Storr. Austria and especially where we were riding, is beautiful and against that backdrop, everything looks beautiful too. That made my job of evaluating the styling of the motorcycle quite hard. The 500 Storr has classic ADV styling cues. A tall windscreen, a big round headlamp nestled in a fairing that looks purposeful with the mounting rails that extend up to the large and well-proportioned 16-litre fuel tank. The tank flows nicely into the 839mm tall seat which continues to a steeped pillion seat that gets a saddle stay at the rear. The motor which is in more or-less an identical state of tune is finished in matte black and is there for you to see in all its glory. After admiring the very Husqvarna Norden-esque design of the motorcycle and taking a step back, one major design flaw revealed itself. The large gap between the rear wheel and the rear rack. It looks disproportionate and is the only weak link in an otherwise beautiful design. The chassis setup has also been adapted from the Crossfire 500 XC but does get a few key changes that make it more ADV than scrambler.
It gets a large 16-litre fuel tank along with an 839mm seat height — Shot by Brixton Austria
Suspension duties are handled by a KYB fork and monoshock at the front and rear, respectively and offer similar levels of adjustability as the scrambler – preload, rebound and compression. What is different is the travel. The good news is that there is more of it. 180mm at the front and 175mm at the rear. That’s 30mm and 25mm (front and rear) more than the scrambler. The wheel and tire setup has been carried forward as is, as have the brakes – a 19-inch front and 17-inch rear setup with Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR rubber and J.Juan callipers. The fuel tank holds more dino-juice, 2.5 litres more to be precise. That along with the added fairing and kit has resulted in a weight gain of 14kg, with the 500 Storr tipping the scales at 209kg. In terms of kit, the 500 Storr gets a massive vertically oriented 7-inch colour TFT screen, switchable dual-channel ABS, switchable traction control and aux lamps as standard equipment (at least in Europe). This rectifies one major shortcoming of the 500 XC, which felt very under-equipped given its hefty price tag. On to actually riding the motorcycle, we didn’t get a lot of saddle time – some highways and twisties, and a little dirt.
Gets a KYB fork at the front, a 7-inch large TFT color display and a 19-inch front wheel — Shot by Brixton Austria
As you would expect, the roads in Vienna are pristine and that meant no bad roads to test ride quality. That said, the 500 XC’s ride quality was one of its standout features and with more suspension travel and the same kind of adjustability, I suspect the Storr will handle our roads rather well too. On the engine front, as mentioned earlier, the power and torque outputs are identical at 46.9bhp at 8500rpm and 43Nm at 6750rpm. Like with the 500 XC, the performance feels plenty but power delivery doesn’t feel as urgent as the similarly powered Aprilia 457’s.
The motorcycle does feel top-heavy but once you get used to that, it handles quite well — Shot by Brixton Austria
Tractability is good and you can run one, maybe even two gears higher than you should and comfortably get away with it. On the handling front, the motorcycle does feel a little top-heavy, but once you get used to that, it does handle quite well, and does enjoy being thrown around in the twisties. The ergonomics are well-judged too with the riding position being very natural and comfortable, both when sitting and standing. We also got to ride a short dirt trail and there the Storr felt at home, happy to put its tail out and jump over rocks and small crests. How it fares when the going gets tougher is something that remains to be seen. Braking performance remains similar to the 500 XC, in that there is enough performance but the bite could be sharper. All in all, while my opinions are not fully formed, owing to the short ride in rather pristine conditions, the initial impressions are solid. Will the 500 Storr have better reception than its neo-retro Scrambler sibling in India? I certainly feel so. The build quality seems better, the feature set finally puts it in 2025, and as a package, an ADV is definitely something that Indians seem to like more. What it will all boil down to is the pricing and MotoHaus expanding its sales and service network. Abroad, the 500 Storr will be priced on par with the 500 XC. If Brixton manages that and launches it with ₹10,000-20,000 off the discounted price of the Crossfire 500 XC – ₹3.99 lakh, I feel that the 500 Storr should have quite a few takers