Have to ask

[smileyman]

I am a Yamaha guy from way back ( 70's ) I own and race a 05 yz250f in cross country / off road races.

My question is , have any of you rode a new ktm ? and how did you like it. I am thinking about getting one but my yamaha has never let me down and I do not handle change well ?

Thanks in advance ,

Robert

[WR250F Captain]

what KTM are you looking at?

and what do you want to know about the new ones?

[Beejay]

The KTM300 is a sweet bike expect to pay a little more for your pleasure, on the other hand the Yamaha's are so darn reliable & a little more cost effective.

[smileyman]

My friend is trying to get my on a 250exc . He loves his . I race against at least 15-20 of them ( ktms very popular here ) in my class ( over 40 ) I am top 4 in my class ,the top 3 are on ktm's ? .

I guess I just need to ride one , but I thought I would bouce it off "everyone" first.

I have heard they need more maint. than mine. which is not a problem I have been a mechanic since the late 80's , but I do not want more work and less riding time. Jap bikes have done me well !!

robert

[tnash]

From my experience, guys on KTM's swear by them...

[smileyman]

man that is what I am talking about , it seems to be a cult ???

robert

[WR250F Captain]

there isn't more maintenance.

smooth power delivery, extremely agile. sometimes twitchy.

only problem I have with the ergo's is that I can't quite grip my seat with my knees as well as I could on my old WR

[smileyman]

there isn't more maintenance.

smooth power delivery, extremely agile. sometimes twitchy.

only problem I have with the ergo's is that I can't quite grip my seat with my knees as well as I could on my old WR

I like the "extremely agile" part. I guess I will go ride one.

Thanks

Robert

[SUnruh]

robert,

yes i've ridden one. several actually.

in deep sand whoops i needed a seat belt as the rear wanted to go over the front with that "nice" pogo stick suspension they have. jetting was horrid and while the mags might praise the motor, i'd take a green or red bike over it any day!

i'm still laughing at their "race ready" slogan.

[madmaxter39]

I am a Yamaha guy from way back ( 70's ) I own and race a 05 yz250f in cross country / off road races.

My question is , have any of you rode a new ktm ? and how did you like it. I am thinking about getting one but my yamaha has never let me down and I do not handle change well ?

Thanks in advance ,

Robert

If the yamaha has never let you down, why would you want to change brands? If you need a little more power to move up past the leaders, give Jesse Williams a shout for his head and carb work, that should give you just enough extra power to move around the top 2.

Good Luck:thumbsup:

[Adammoto]

The Yamaha suspension is excellent. Especially coming off an 08 KTM.

[WR250F Captain]

I wouldn't know anything about the bad jetting. I bought a jet kit before the I went to go pick up my bike.

I went through my manual and under suspension, it tells you where to put the clickers for what you want to do. those settings worked good, but I had to up the rebound dampening because when you let off the throttle over whoops it liked to buck.

but I don't know what your talking about pogo stick. all last weekend I was in ocotillo wells wheeling off 5 foot drop offs and my suspension ate it up and didn't rebound and jounce me off

on hard packed, the suspension is a bit twitchy over 40mph, but a steering stabilizer/damper fixes that problem

in sand without a damper is really twitchy

Why doesn't the OP go post this in the KTM forum.

If these bikes were so horrid, how does KTM win the Dakar rally every year, and why does everyone pick them

I read an internet magazine about the 450 XCW, the guy took a completely stock off the show room floor KTM and raced it in a D37 race, and if I remember correctly, he only placed 5th behind KTM's David Kamo and Quinn Cody

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/179/2482/Motorcycle-Article/2009-KTM-450-XC-W-Bike-Test.aspx

robert,

yes i've ridden one. several actually.

in deep sand whoops i needed a seat belt as the rear wanted to go over the front with that "nice" pogo stick suspension they have. jetting was horrid and while the mags might praise the motor, i'd take a green or red bike over it any day!

i'm still laughing at their "race ready" slogan.

[fox_yamaha27]

If you dont like change then definatly dont switch. KTM's ride sooo much different.

I rode my friends KTM 250f and almost crashed like 4 times! It feels so weird under you.

[av]

It's their backends with no linkage system. They bounce around too much for me, I've ridden a few and they all seem to do this... The rest of the bike is great though ?