Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

_.- ~ ~ ~ 00 O'l ..... '" O'l >- ~ C'd ;::3 r:: C'd I-) The floating front disc is not rigidly mounted to the wheel. It is designed that way to reduce the chance of warping. The double leading shoe rur br8ke set up. and the rear sprocket are both mounted on the seme side of the hub. The kickstBrter lever is thin and short. A folding shift lever connects to a five-speed. close r8tio tr8nsmission. ' (ColIllIlIlI't/ (mill !Jllg,- /6) 28. ,. . line and kept the rear wheel to the ground, but bumps with sharp edges made the KTM hop around. Out of the crate, the front fork works much better than the rear end. With the power on while hitting large bumps, the fork worked excellently for most of our test riders. However, they all agreed that it was a tad on the harsh side through the smaller bumps. The biggest complaint about the fork came when braking hard over small- to mediumsize bumps. At a high rate of speed, with the front brake fully applied, the front end twitched back and forth; sometimes quite heavily. This would cause the rider's arms to pump up after a few laps. Only once or twice did we manage to bottom the fork harshly. When it did, though, the front tire barely scraped the front fender. The bigger the bumps, the better it worked. Turning the KTM requires a little extra rider concentration - when done right, the KTM turns well. Berms are where it works best, and the faster the rider hits the berm, the better it gets. For best results through a berm, ~he rider should be posi- lioned in the middle of the seat while leaning back, with his leg and arms straight forward. In this position, the KTM will go where you point it with the throttle wide open. If the bike isn't leaned over far enough, with the rider's weight too far forward on the .seat, the KTM has the tendency to drift up and over the berm. In a hair-pin type turn, the KTM turns best with the rider sitting as far forward as possible with his chest leaned over the handlebars. This puts as much weight as possible over the light front end so the front tire can dig in and make the bike pivot through the turn. The Metzeler tires help very well to make this all possible. We never had much luck with the front disc brake. just before we received the bike, a new swivel joint line was installed. After the first outing on the bike, we found there was still some air left in the hydraulic system. and we ended up havin-g no front brake at all. We bled the brake line, and after that, it worked very well. We rode the KTM [or a few hours before the brake started acting up I I again. Once we started really pushing the bike, we were once again left without a front brake. To get all the air out of the system a bleeder tool must be used. The rear brake isn't as strong a we thought it would be. When pressing down on the brake pedal, it feels as though it is hitting the frame, because it comes to an abrupt stop. At this point, heavy pressure must be applied to the pedal for the brake to work properly. However, braking power is better than most rear brakes systems on other bikes, and it never wants to lock up, even when the ground is dry and slick. Adapting to the KTM is very easy - all the controls are simple to use and are in the right places. The bike feels quite tall and level. The seat is narrow, tall and very firm - it shouldn't lose its shape. How does the KTM stack up against an 'S5 CR250R Honda? We took both to one of our test tracks and compared lap times. The course is hilly with a few long straights, and it has many turns - traction was excellent that day. We took the Honda out first and consistently lowered our lap times to an average of I-minute, 25.50 seconds; best time being 1:24.22. Our average lap time on th!,= KTM was I:25.66, bes~ being 1:25.22 - that's exactly one second slower than the Honda's best time. However, there is one hitch - the front brake on the KTM was giving us hassles that day and was never working 100%. With that in mind, we probably could have knocked a full second off the KTM's lap times, making overall times very close. Unfortunately our lap-lime testing day was cut short when a blanket of fog rolled in and reduced visibility to a few feet. The next day, we had to return the KTM so we didn't get the chance to do five- or IO-Iap comparison times. However, we do feel the KTM can go as fast, if not faster than any other 250cc motocrosser - japanese or European, but it takes more of the rider's energy on the KTM than it would on the Honda to do so. The very powerful motor combined with a pipey powerband and needs-work suspension can make the KTM a handful to manage - quite a bit more than the Honda. Even with its flaws - most of them minor - we liked the new KTM250. In stock form, the KTM will appeal best to the junior/Intermediate rider. The powerful, pipey motor may give a Beginner a bit more than he can handle, while the Expert/Pro rider will want more suspension. If you can afford the expensive $2997 retail price and want to break away from the japanese crowd, the KTM is the winning ticket. e Parts price list (retail): Piston assembly complete. $74.11 Piston rings only $11.83 Cylinder $290.69 Shift lever $24.63 Brakepedal $42.38 Front sprocket ...•....... $12.70 KTM250MX Engine type ••••• Single c:ylinder Iiquld·cooled. reed·valve two·stroke Bore x mvke 67x69mm Diaplllcement •••.•... 246.8cc Camp.....n retio •.•.••• 0.0:1 Cerburetlon .•. . . •• Bing 38mm H_power 43.4 bhp Ignition •.•....... Motop18t CDI Primery • . . . . • . • . . . • .. 2.413: 1 Finel .•.•.....••••... 4.000:1 6th .•.•.•••••..•... 0.964:1 4th 1.100:1 3rd ......•...•.•.•• 1.333:1 2nd •.........•..... 1.626:1 ht ...............•. 2.000:1 Frame .•..... Single downtube. split cradle Rake .....•.....•...... 26.6° Treil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. O-inch Front suspension type .•.... In· . verted fork Forit tube d18meter .••... 40mm Front wheel travel .... 11.8-lnch Rear auapenion type ...•• Single shock. awingarm Rear wheel 12.6-inch Front brakes 9.4-lnch disc Rear brak Double·...dingahoedrum Front wheel ••.•.•••••• 21-inch Reer wheel. ••.•..••••. 18-inch Front tire ••.•• 300-21 Metzeler Rear tire .••••• 480-18 Metzeler Dry _ight . . .. . .. 212 Ills. 68.6-inch Wheelbaae Fuel capacity 2.4 gal. Ground clearance 13.8-inch Seat height ...•..... 37.4-inch Colors.. . . . .. .. .. .. • White Retail price U997 trev"

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