Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

T h e tot al rea r sus pe ns io n packa ge is o ne o f th e best respo nding rea r ends on the ma rket toda y. T h e 420 's co m p lete sus pens io n p ac kage is soft eno ugh to a llow o ne 10 g lide ov er stut ter bu m ps , a n d a t th e sa me tim e provi de the ca pa bili ty of soa kin g up th e resultin g land in g o ver th e largest of j u mps. T he h ea t trea ted box section a l um in um swi ngarm hasthe sa me ove ra ll dimensi o ns a s las t yea r's KTMs wit h the on ly cha n ge we co u ld detect being the addition o f a few gussets for inc reased stre ng th. KT M listen s 10 input fro m their dealer netw ork a nd fro m KT M owne rs. Sou th eastern enduro com per i ror Cam Roos wa nted a bo lt- o n sidesta nd - so , Cam, for a ll vou do, . th is sidestands for yo u . A 21" stain less steel No rd isk rim , . made in Norwa y, is laced 10 th e spoo l h ub wit h 8 gauge spo kes, Set up for q ui ck cha n ges. the fro nt wheel ca n be removed by si m p ly loosen ing tw o 10m m nuts and then usin g a 17m m wre nc h to remove th e a xle. T ha n ks 10 the Brernbo di sc bra ke, the re is n o backi ng pl a te 10 wrestle in place whe n putting th e wh eel back o n . Se pa ra ti ng th e KT M 420 Irornrh e co m pe titio n is that Brembo front di sc bra ke. The MX C is th e o n ly two-stroke end uro bik e that comes with a di sc 'rra ke . H ow di d it work? It wo rk ed Teat, eve n in th e m uddiest o f co ndi tions it su p p lied excelle nt braking power, Comparing KT M 's disc brak e to o the rs o n th e ma rke t, you' ll find th e Brem bo m aster cvlinder is somew ha t larger. . The Ka wasak i KX and H on da XR 500 ca lipers a re better protected a s they are located behind the for k slider, rather than o n th e fro nt o f the slider as is th e case wit h the KTM . O n th e pl us side, the Brembo u ni t h as to ta lly done away with th e vu lnerab le banjo filling that th e brake fl ui d is p umped th rough immediately upon ex i ti ng the rna st er cylinder. Despite predictions 'Qf d isa ster as fa r as d isc brak es are concerne d , we've heard no re ports of rid ers havin g p roblems even under roc ky enduro co nditions, Considered by man y to be the ulti ma te ti re co m bina tio n, Metzeler ti res come stoc k o n th e MXC- a th ree-pl y 3.00 x 2 1" i n fro nt wi th a 4.50 x 18" fo u r-p ly o n th e rea r. R im p ins rather tha n rim locks a re u sed 10 a llow fo r fast ISDE typ e tir e chan ges . For stren g th , th e co n ica l rear hu b is laced with 40 eig h t-ga u ge spokes. New fo r '83 throughout the KT M line is th e wa y th e solid bra ke rod is tucked between th e inside o f th e fra me and th e swin ga rm. The rod is th us o u t o f the wa y o f the rider 's boot and ot h er potentia l hazards. F A fa int howl in g noise co u ld be hea rd w hen the full floating rear bra ke was a p p lied midway through th e muddy ra ce. T his never devel o ped into a problem a nd th e brak e co nti n ued 10 perfo rm well. Chalk u p th e ho wl in g as bein g a n noy ing , no mor e. T he so lid ro ller Reg ina GP chai n runs th rou gh a sturd y syste m of rollers, blocks a nd guides which mak e it virt ua ll y impossible for th e cha in to jump of£. When the stock chai n wea rs o ut, replacing it with a n o -r ing chain wou ld be the wa y 10 go. Black anodized Magura levers adorn th e rubber-mounted hand leb ars , T he cl u tch lever is no t mou nted on a split perch li ke the m aj ori ty o f its co m pe tition , so meth in g we 'd cha nge imme diately if we bought an MX C . A n ew' clut ch lever co ver keeps mud a n d gri t o u t of the adj us ter a nd cable. T he stock Ma gu ra grips are a lilli e lo ng, so we repl aced the clutch side g ri p with a n Ou ry. Cha lk th a t u p 10 rider preferen ce. T he new straigh t Magura 3 1-1 Duo th rall le opera ted smooth ly a nd earns a " p l us" p oint in th a t i t requ ires n o 100is 10 re p lace th e ca ble at th e to p , making th e o vera ll operation of ca ble rep lace me nt qui ck er. On e u n iq ue fea ture o f th e th ro ttl e is that it ca n be set for ei ther a shari p ull for MX typ e use or a lon ger pull wh ich ca n be adva ntageo us in the woods. T he n ew style whi te pl astic front fende r is fine under d ry co ndi tions, but shou ld be longer in th e rear portion to p reve nt mud from ca ki ng o n the engine. Vents have been cu t in the fender a n d wh ile th ev look neat and KTM clai ms th ey provide addi tiona l air flow to the engine for cooling, we' re not rea lly sure they serve a pu rpose. T h e co mbina tion rea r fe n der/ number pla te is th e sa me uni t found o n KTM rnotocrossers. A 3.4 gallon fuel ta n k all ows a cruisi ng ran ge of just over 50 m iles under racing conditions. An optiona l 2.4 ga llo n ta n k is avai lab le from KT M. An d we ca n ' t for get me ntion ing th e new sma lle r pl astic si de pa nels wh ich in o ur o p inion en ha nce the bi ke's appeara nce. The MXC co mes in mo tocross trim bu t KTM sells a lig h tin g kit , a n Acerbi s head light, th e same as is marketed by H i-P oint . It 's an im pro vement o n last yea r's KT M un it. Th e Acerbis h eadlight ha s two sw itches - a n off/ on swi tch an d a high /low beam swi tch. At first, th at see med sill y, bu t we soo n real iz ed we co u ld use the h igh/l o w switch for o ther accesso ries that n eed ed j u ice, li ke H ot G rips. The optional light ~. Front . Reu .,.. .n . Front tire . . . .. . . . . • . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reer tire ., Dimensions Wheelba.. -:=~;:.; ... . : 69 in. Seat height 37.8 In. Ground c"'rance ' 14 in. Dry weight 238 !ba. Fuel cepecity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3.4 gel. Suggested reteil price , : ...... . • 2.822 r: ' ~ -. ~ -~ ---- -- kit al so in cl ude s a small single bulb taillight, A brake light can be installed wi th Iiule effort. A VDO pacer for timekeeping is ava ila ble from KTM deal ers. T h e un it sells for SIlO. In th e " bits a nd pieces" department are such th ings as a blue seat wh ich is not th e "sa fety" kind . .. That 's fin e wi th us because yo u ca n st ill tape yo ur enduro sco reca rd to the tank . . . T h e fo ldi ng gear sh ifte r lever 's lillie ru bber protect or or wha t hav e yo u disap peared d ur ing the hare scra m bles . . . T hat's no t a n. " O h , no !" . . .T he fool pegs don 'r stic k o u t quit e as far as on previous models . . . H igh quality 8.8 grade bolts are used everywhere. All in a ll , if you 're in th e market for an Open class woods bik e and don't mind spending $2,800, yo u wouldn 't go wrong purchasing th e KTM 420 MXC. It has good power , handles very we ll, a n d will p ro ba bly h old toget he r longer than many of th e . o ther bikes i t's co m pe ti ng against. An d finall y, we'll tell yo u for the las t time (we' ve sai d tha t before), KTM stands for - now pa y at ten tio n because we're going 10 have a tes t so m eti me in the near fu ture - Kronreif T ru n ken p ol z Ma nigholen t - 15

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