Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Impression: X9fJ3 KTM S04GS Enduro , A big bore that thumps By Tom Mueller yo u get th e yellow spot i n th e win dow, it 's hard to keep it th ere whil e positionin g th e ki cks ra r te r . Once th ese procedures ha ve been accom p lished, position yourself alon gside th e left sid e of th e bi ke, pu t your rig h t foot o n th e kicksta rter , and kick lik e yo ur lif e dep ended on it ! Rep ea t: Yo u ca n' t j ust push th e lever th rough its stro ke; yo u hav e to br isk ly j u m p on it. If every th ing goes you r way, th e bik e will sta rt imm edi atel y. If it doesn't start within 10-15 kicks, sh u t the gas off, as you' re probably a bout to flood th e car bure to r. One key item to re me m ber is n ot to gi ve th e bike any thrott le wh en sta rt in g i t. We found th e best procedure was to keep o ur right hand on th e sea t wh en kicking. When hot, th e bike is even harder to sta rt , but KTM says th ey ha ve th e cure. Th e most recen t mod el s come with a lon ger , a nd thick er , pi ece of rubber betw een th e cylin der and ca rb, whi ch helps in sulat e th e car b a nd keeps it from crea ti ng a vapor lock , mak ing for more p redi ctable sta rt ing . On ce runn in g, yo u may hav e to help th e kickstarter back in to its return posit ion, as it sometimes hangs in its downst rok e. We used o ur bike for pl ay an d com pe tition an d found th at it worked well for both. Th e su sp ensio n ca n handl e th e bik e, though it does have a cu m berso me feel a fter a hard day's ride. An A level m ot ocros ser ro de th e 504 in th e Denver (Nort h Ca rolina ) 100 Cross Country race, a nd he took third in th e Four-st rok e class. H e said th e bik e was ge tt ing hard to th ro w aro u n d near the 100 mile ma rk, but th at for its d ispl acem ent a nd weight it was agile in the woods. On different occasions the rid er sta lled th e bike an d lost va lua ble time because he had d ifficu lty startin g it. So me wh o rode th e 504 felt it wa s a grea t pl aybike, an d th at with a bit more p ower it would be co mpetitive. A different ca m a n d th e Sup er T ra p p pipe, whi ch will both come on the U.S. models, wer e in stalled on our bike as an update. The new ca m added th e " bit more pow er" we were looking for, but the new pipe added so me unwelcome decibels to the exhaust so u nd. The' big plus factor the new cam del iver ed - and no one can tell us why - is easi er start ing. Veteran competitor Barry Higgins said, " I can't explain wh y it starts easier, and even Rod Bush, KTM 's national sales manager, ca n' t exp la in wh y the cam makes it eas ier to start.',' While so me of u s like to know why things work, or in the case of the easier starting, wh y the cam provides leg re lief, we'll accep t th e eas ier starting withou t asking a ny more questions. The KTM 504GS Enduro isn 't for everyone, but what big bore bike is? But if yo u 're man enough, th e 504 is • certainly bike enough. Fo ur-strokes used to rule the turf when dirt bike competition was pioneering its way into and through America, but in recent years attempts at producing a competitive production four-stroke racer have in so me respects fallen short. , Thumper lovers who,are of th e Open cl ass persuasion have fo u nd th at no one has been a ble to sta mp out a big bore four-stroke tha t would m at ch mo tors a nd handling with a two-stroke co unterpa rt, a t least until KTM ga ve th em an option. Au stria based KTM mad e its move in '83 with end uro a nd MX orien ted four-stroke race rs, wh ich utilize a Rot ax 504cc pow erpl ant, Rot ax , a su bsidiary of Bombardier , as is CanAm, produced th e engi ne for Ca n Am 's So n ic which was released last yea r. KTM nestl ed th e sa me engine in it s ow n fra me , wit h it s o wn sus pe n sian, a nd p rod uced a machine which is heav ier th an big bore two -strokes (278 p ounds dr y claimed for th e end uro, 270 p ounds for th e MX ) and more expensive ($3.095 for th e endu ro, $3,060 for th e MX ). But wa it! Before yo u di smiss th e KTMs th at yo u add straigh t gas to , read o n a nd real ize th at th ere is a defin ed seg ment o f ri ders who wi ll tak e the KTM four-stroke over any o ther techn o-advan ced twostro ke offered in '83. T hose riders are the o nes who h av e so me extra cas h to spen d for th e p rod uc t th ey wa nt , and wh at th ey want is thum per p ow erth is tim e in a u seabl e p ackage as it comes stock. T hat's righ t, thu m pe r pow er.. th at burst of low end torque th at will sta nd th e bik e on end or break the rear kn obby loose with a twit ch o f th e wri st. T ha t's predictabl e pow er-sliding thumper pow er, the kind of su rge th a t co mes o n best wh enshort shi fting. We tested th e end uro model , wh ich differs onl y sligh tly from the MXer.. T he en du ro mod el comeswith lights, a 3.4 gall on gas tank , 10.6 inc hes front wheel travel from a front en d" wi th 40 millimet er fork tubes, and it com es with a center stand. The MX model has no lights, has a 2.4 gallon tank, offers 11.8 in ch es of front wheel tra vel from a front end with 42 m illimeter fork tubes, and comes with a bolt-on side sta n d in stead of th e centel'stand. Both bikes come with Super T rap p pipes and silencers, whil e our bike cam e with a larger, L-sh aped pipe which will be on KTM 's European models. Both models ut ilize Moto-X Fox 's Twin C licker shoc k, coupled with KTM's Pro-Lever risingra te linkage rear sus pen sio n, for 11.8 in ch es o f rear wheel travel. With more weight comes th e need for more sto p pi n g power, and KTM has h andl ed the probl em wi th a front dis c brake that gets the job don e. It works wet or dry and requires m in im al effo rt to operat e, while ret aining a progressive feel. Rear braking is accom p lished through a sta n da rd internal shoe brak e, a un it KTM had sort ed out years ago. The stoc k grips a re fin e, a nd so is the front .brak e lever, but th e clutch lever doesn 't cu t it. You have to have a h and like G odzilla (lar ge, th at is) in /order to ge t a grip . An accessory lever will produce a quick cu re. T he sea t is nar row a nd hard , but breaks in with ust'.- T he foot pegs and rear brak e '''vel' feel righ t, and th e shi ft lever is in the righ osition . The problem 1 i II II II 11' •• •• • •• 1 II co mes whe n shi fti ng- the trann y has a lon g throw and requ ires a good lift of th e boot from gear to gear. T he h eadligh t/ front nu mber pla te asse m bly comes fro m th e Ital ian co m pa ny Acerbis, and h as sepa ra te switches for h igh and low beam. Both sw itches pro tru de o ff th e ri ght side of th e h eadl ight and are vu lne ra ble to trees a nd bran ch es in th e wood s, The h eadl ight ke p t work in g; th e taillight didn 't . Vibratio n and/or a few hard kn ocks trashed th e bulb. T he kill bu tton sto p ped work ing too; we used th e co m p ressian release to shu t th e 504 down . T he cen tersta n d is har d to use, once th e bike has been ridden th at is, as th e best pl ace to gra b th e bike a nd p ull it onto the sta nd is by th e silencer. T h e sta nd, wh en in use, is in a vertica l pos ition; th e bal an ce p oint whe n th e bike is o n th e sta nd doesn 't mak e th e bi ke very steady. Once mud works its way into the p ivot p oints of the center stand it's h arder th an ever to get th e bike secu re o nce o n th e stand. Our KTM came with Metzeler tires. a two -p ly fro nt a n d a fou r-pl y rear. T he brochure which co mes with th e bike says th a t fo ur -ply tir es will be stock fro nt and rear, an d tho ugh our tires d id th e job, we'll a p prove of th e fo u r-p ly that will co me o n th e fro nt o f la ter mode ls. T he plasticskid pl at e is un obtrusive yet effect ive, whil e th e co u ntersha ft sp roc ket cove r ten ded to collect mud , so we remov ed it. The rims a nd spokes a re hea vy duty, and the sp ok es staye d tigh t th roughout weeks o f use. En gi ne o il is ad ded through a plug which sits behi nd the steering stem, an d th ou gh we had no p roblems, it has been reported that th e ca p has po p ped off for o th er 504 riders du e to oil p ressure. On ce aga in, th e problem ha s been solved: Models now being relea sed , have a wir e safety ca tch to hold th e p lug in p lace. To ride the KTM you have to start it , and that is th e biggest problem we experience d with the bike. If not done co rre ctly, yo u ' ll find yourself tot ally exhausted, flogging away at the kicks tarter, with little or no cooperation from th e engine. For co ld sta rts, turn the gas on, put the ch oke (loc ated on the left side of th e hand le' bars) all th e wa yan , line up the yellow dot in the viewing window on th e left side of the cam drive co ver using th e compression release (al so loca ted on the left side of the handlebars ), th en very ca refu lly try to get th e ki ckst arter to the to p of its stroke. T he key word is try, because wh en L·~S,;U~IIJ:P:: :;;::.=re::: ~... ;';';';';';'~':',tj::'::1 '~===~~~===";";;~=:~=::::.1 ;. ~ated . .:.:tai:;::I:.·~.:';';" .. :; ": < 11 . ~ 1 1·11· ••••• J '. " • 19 ."

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