Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

• mobike KTM GelandeMilitary Designed and built for the Austrian Army, the KTM Gelande-Military is a hybrid equipped with removable 'skis, An extra low seat height, large fuel tank and saddlebags are part of the package, but you can't go out and buy one. By Tom Kolnowski Security has been ultra-tight at KTM's' Lorain, Ohio; facility lately, and for good reason: stored inside the warehouse is a pair of hybrid motorcycles with " classified " written all o ver th em . Our very fir st peek , after gaining th e proper security clearance from outpost co m ma n der J ack Lehto, was a - 20 real eye-o pe ner. T he two mach in es, dressed in oli ve drab pl astic and coa ted in o live drab epoxy pa int, were no t th e modified lat e-m odel KTM end uro m odels we expected to eme rge from th e shro ud of military secrecy. In stead , they appeared to have been designed from th e ground up wi th a si ngu lar purpose in mind: to transport a sold- ier across th e co u n tryside (sno wco vered or o the rwise) in a quick , efficie nt an d ea sily-ma n aged mann er. And if yo u 're no t on th e ro ll ca ll lis t in th e Au strian Arm y, you ' ll probabl y never ge t a chance to tak e th ese machines o ut o n man eu vers. T here are two ma in features which separa te th e KTM G elande-Military from the garde n vari ety o n /off road bike. Th e first and most o bvio us differen ce is the additio n of a pair of sk is, mounted to function as outriggers in snow. What if there is no snow? The skis co m e off in a j iffy a nd stow a to p th e lugga ge rack on th e rear. T he seco nd differ en ce is an a u to ma tic cl u tch , which is mat ed to a sta n dard five-sp eed tra ns m issio n . A sim p le cent rifuga l desi gn, the clutch is basicall y a larger diameter applicatio n o f th e cl u tch used in th e Husqva rna 500AE en d uro bik e o r th e co m mon cha in saw. KTM also builds th e bik e with a stan dard co nve n tio nal clutch , and we were a lso g ranted a p eek and ride on th at mount. The skis are sim ila r to those on a snowm o bi le, but th ey a re shorte r a nd don 't have the sharp runner s on th eir bottoms. They are more than flotation devi ces - th e rider's feet have to be in pl ace on th e skis for th e system to work. Then, by weighting th e p roper ski, you ca n do all sorts of acrobatics and co me out looking like a pro. And while the skis themselves don't turn per se (turning is still done with th e wheel), th ey a re what gi ve th e mach ine a feel tot ally different in th e handling department th an a ny thing else. Sin ce yo ur feet a re sec u red in the skis , h ow do yo u sh ift gears? KTM 's engineers ca me up with a si m p le so lu tio n to tha t problem - a handlebar-m ounted sh ifter. A push /pull ca ble set u p co n nected to a rearward ex tens io n o f th e sta ndard sh if ter does the trick . The system is sti ll under developm ent, which so un ds good to u s si nce it wa s o n th e blink wh en we dropped o ur feet into th e skis on the first rid e. Si nce most terrain ca n be ne got iat ed in ei the r seco nd o r third gea r, lifting yo ur foot o ff th e ski once in a while to smack the sta ndard sh ifter is not much o f a p roblem . After watchin g severa l people (most dressed like th ey were em ba rking on an exped i tio n to th e to p of Mt. Everes t or for a bobsl ed run in th e Ol ympi c ga mes) try th eir numbed hand at rid ing th e snomobike, we ca me to th e o bvio us co ncl usion that no o ne rides it for th e fir st tim e without in cident. Fo r sta rters , even sta rti ng is a learn in g expe rienc e. You p ut yo u r righ t leg in th e ski, lift yo ur leg an d kick th e motor over , wh ich doe sn't so u nd v er y diffi cult until yo u try it o n icy grou nd . Once sha kily under way, yo u 'd better forget a bo u t u sing normal steerin g tacti cs, especia lly th e one abo u t ge tt in g your weight to th e inside of th e co rner. To ge t th e bike to turn, say to the left , throw a ll o f yo ur weight o nto th e right (o u tside) ski a nd turn th e bars until they h it th e righ t sto ps. T his technique might so u nd like it takes a bit o f gu ts, an d for th e first five o r six times i t does - especially when yo u come close to or succee d a t highsidi ng into the n earest snow bank. But o nce yo u get your feet wet a n d ta ste a bit o f sn ow , it 's pure fun . . What 's the rear tire doing through a ll o f this? Hookin g up ex tre me ly well, th anks to hundreds o f automotive-t ype studs (still in vogue in many U.S. sta tes during the winter months) dotting the surface. The front tire also gets a good bite due to (Continued to page 34)

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