Quick! What was the best dual sport that Honda ever made … that wasn’t even street-legal from the factory?

Ask a rider from the late 1990s, and they might tell you the answer is the Honda XR400, a trail bike that came from the factory sans turn signals (at least, in North America it had no turn signals). However, many, many enterprising owners did a bit of fiddling with their machines and sorted out questions of street legality. Once done, they reckoned the Honda XR400 was a fantastic street-and-trail, with enough power for the road, and excellent handling—but also a pretty reliable dirt bike.

Barry Morris of the Cross Training Enduro YouTube channel (and Cross Training Adventure) is here to share his take on the machine:

A couple of interesting things to note here, starting with—check out that supermoto version of the XR400. I can tell you I’ve never seen one in any North American biker mag, ever, so it must have been an Asian or Aussie market thing, and it looks like it was street legal from the factory. Too bad it never came here; it would have blown the anemic 250 supermotos away, and given the Suzuki DR-Z400SM a run for the money, most likely.

Also interesting to note the made-in-Brazil ADV machine using the XR400 platform, with large tank and EFI as standard. Nowthatlooks like a fun machine for a rip around South America!

But most of all, I’m curious to hear inmates’ thoughts: Do you agree with Barry? Has Honda lost its way, at least in the dual sport world, and was it right around the time the XR400 and XR650R were canceled? Sound off below?