VOL. 54 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 15, 2017 P127
I
t's 2017 and the year is only
half over and we've already
had a taste of the revolution-
ary 2018 KTM 250 TPI fuel-
injected two-stroke and like
everyone else, we can't wait for
them to land on U.S. soil. But
for those who want a traditional
carbureted two-stroke, and
not ready to make the transi-
tion from carb to FI, KTM is still
selling the 250 and 300 in its
carbureted form for 2018.
Notorious bike builder Jay
Clark didn't want to wait for
a fuel-injection model, so he
set out to build the best KTM
two-stroke trail bike possible,
starting off with a 2017 KTM
300 XC.
A MIX OF GOODNESS
While this might be a 2017 KTM
300 XC, it looks like a 300
XC-W thanks to the headlight
from an XC-W. It bolts up easily
and the plugs are already on
the XC and waiting for a light.
Completing the XC-W look is
the rear fender and brake light
off a KTM XC-W. Again, it bolts
up easily with the wiring and
plugs right in to the XC wiring
harness. The reason Jay didn't
just buy a 300 XC-W is simple:
he likes the transmission from
the XC more than the wider
ratio XC-W. He also prefers to
have linkage rather than PDS
and wanted the WP AER fork
over the Xplor fork.
While the stock XC suspen-
sion works decent for trail
riding, for this particular project
Race Tech revalved both ends
to still absorb small hits while
eating up bigger bumps at ag-
gressive trail riding speeds.
