Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

KTM (Co n ti n ue d from pa ge 20) the sa me tr eatment, a nd as long as both ti res a re in contact with ice or snow, you get a co n fide nt feel. Deep snow, however, can be a p roblem. The ski s p rov ide a certain a mo u nt of flotation, wh ich is th e hot ticket in powdery sn ow up to about a foot deep, or wh ere th e snow is hardpacked (similar to a groomed ski slope). But if the white stuff gets up where it 's waist deep, forget it. The skis will carry you high enough in the snow cover to wh ere yo u los e a ll traction at the rear wheel. Then you come to a sinking halt, as th e wh eel digs its wa y eart h wa rd. St ill, for military use on eithe r snow -covered or dry terra in , wh ere typi cal applicat ions would be main ly for co uri er and reconnai ssance duty, th e bike is a natural a nd very effective. KTM has already sold nearl y 800 of th e bik es - 500 with th e automatic clutch an d ap pro xima tely 300 with co nven tiona l clutches - to the Aus trian Army. The bike is currently under co ns idera tion for use by the Norwegi an Army and severa l other co u n tries, including the U.S. Army. And to meet the required standards, a mu ltitude of ch anges over their consumer line of machiner y has been designed to quiet th e bik e toa whisper compared to the average dirt bike. And since th e bike would be ridden by many soldiers with little or no motorcycl e expe rience, a lo w seat heigh t for easier ha n dlin g was a must. KT M met that criteria an d did so witho ut severely sacrifici ng suspensio n travel - somethi ng we 'd Visible here are the ski foot rest s and a portion of the automotive-type tire studs. The front brake is a disc. While the bike is heavy duty and outfitted for military duty, most of the components are well tucked in . The clutch is an automatic centrifugal design; weighted steel shoes press against the outer drum as engine speed increases and the clutch engages. KTM ' s Jack Lehto puts the warrior through its paces in the deep snows of Lora in, Ohio. The bike loves to be thrown into corners at speed . like to see applied to their consumer line. The seat height is a very comforta ble 33 inches, while travel is right in the ball park with the average competition enduro bi ke - 10.5 inches front and 9.5 in the rear. The -resu lting frame bears li ttle resemblance to anything offered to . the p ublic other than the basic engine cradle design, but the single-shock Pro L ev er suspen sion -of 1982 vintage-has been fitted. The sh oc k is a basic em u lsion type without a n ex tern a l reservoir, while th e swin garm is still a lu m in u m (coated in olive drab pa int). T echnol ogy in o ther a reas is a bl end of o ld and ne w. Up front is a n up-to-date versio n of th e Brembo di sc brak e, whil e th e drum brake in th e rea r is a holdover from KTMs o f th e ea rl y 70s. T he fork is a 40m m Marzocch i unit. The top end of th e air-coo led 247cc motor is virt ua lly ide ntica l to th at used on KT M en duro mo de ls in 1982, with a conventional clutch a nd sa ns skis wa s a barrel of fun. Sinc e th e tires we re shod with sh eet met a l screw s (a la ice racing p ractice) the bike wa s a act natura l o n icc. Tr ion was surefoot ed a n d the ligh ter wei gh t (since th e skis were removed) made th e bike eas ier to throw a rou nd. S till, we were m yster iously drawn back to th e bik e with skis . The snow was fall ing a t th e rat e o f a n inch per hou r (a co m m on winter happening in northern Oh io , th e loca ls told us) a nd o u r ridi ng gea r was soaked from ro lling in th e snow. Bu t th ere was while the bottom end could have been stolen from the '85 models (the left side case even has th e water p ump bul ge molded in). A morsel of high technology resides a to p the front fork - a rect angular h eadl igh t that stays li t (at full power) even after th e engine di es, this from an electrical system th at ha s no batter y. The tri ck here is th e use of a simple ca pac i tor, which stores electricity wh ile th e mot or revs. A more com mo n use of th e ca pacito r is in electronic flash units fitt ed to man y cameras. Since lo ng range was mandat ed , KTM fitt ed a fue l tank larger th an th at on a ny o rr-road bike this side o f Paris-to-Dak ar - 5. 1 ga llo ns in cludin g a one -ga llon reser ve. Non -stop exc ursions between fue l dep ots well over 100 miles a pa rt a re possi ble over dry grou nd. Plowin g through th e snow belt will drop m ileage co ns iderably. R idi ng the G ela nde-Mi litary fitted so me th i ng about ge tt ing a chance to pl ay Ri cky Graham a nd Franz Klammer a t th e sa me tim e th at made us want more. U nfort una tely, all go od things must co m e to a n end, a nd as darkness a rrived th e bike was p u t back under ti ght secu ri ty in a dark co rner in th e KTM wareh ouse. And as the gu ard p u t th e pa dloc k o n th e case-hardene d cha i n, we though t a bo u t h ow ni ce it would be to have one o f th em for o ur ver y ow n . Maybe so meda y KTM will turn a declassified versio n of the bik e loose so we ca n buy one. •

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