KTM Reliability

[lgst75]

G'day All, First time poster in the KTM section. Have had a 2000 DRZ and loved it. I am now looking at stepping up to a CRF 450X or KTM 525 EXC. I am looking @ a 2004 525 EXC with 13,000km. It has been maintained consistently.

Comments or advice much appreciated !

Cheers

[breedlove23]

My buddy has an 05' KTM 525 EXC. It is a pretty sweet bike. He had a few problems with the radiator in the begining but that is all squared away now. I rode it once and it had good power throughout it just wasn't very snappy. It took a while to build that power up. My other buddy has a CRF450R that is bored out and that sucker has got some snap so.....I would think that the CRF450X would have some pretty good power as well. I know that people love their honda's.

[HemiOrange]

13,000 km is 8077 miles, that's quite a few miles for a dirt bike. I'd guess that the bike has 300 to 500 hours on it. True, KTM 4-strokes are known for going longer than that without a rebuild, but I wouldn't recommend buying one approaching or due for costly top end work.

[Halfcab76]

That is a lot of miles on a "Racing Four Stroke". Your DRZ is not a RFS and made to handle that kind of miles better.

The bike could be great shape, but I would do a leak down test before I bought it.

My DRZ was good, but my KTM is just better at everything.

[Chas_M]

At that mileage, the top end will certainly need freshening up now or very soon. That is not such a big deal but should be taken into consideration when negotiating the price of the bike.

[gibber1967]

I'm a DRZ convert myself, and I can't speak for the X, but I couldn't be happier with my KTM. The oil changes cost a little more, and take a little while longer to do, but there is really nothing to it.

They got the controlable power like the DRZ, just more of it.

Get a KTM, but I wouldn't get one with that kind of mileage on it. Keep looking.

Gibber

[Dez Dude]

KTM reliability is the best, but that is a lot of miles. I would consider a rebuild.