Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127137
about. H owever, the snappy response 'o ff th e bo ttom and strong m idrange make up for the bike's somewha t la zy top-end. Pow eri n g out of turns is easy with the hard -hi tting power and the easyto- use cl utch. Clutch pull was ext re me ly light, and it took less reach than o n most European bikes to gr ab th e lever with one or two fingers. Clutch action was very smooth and progressive , a nd there we re n o gri n d ing noises. But the cl u tch would heat up and become m us hy wi th prolo nge d use. Wi th normal use on the track, th e clu tch was plenty strong.' The five-speed , close-ra tio tra nsm ission worked o kay , but missed shifts d id border o n bother some, ma in ly beca use it was to ugh to get th e KTM bac k into gea r. You h ad to co mpletely back off th e th ro ttl e a nd reach for the cl u tch and sta rt all over. . T he KT M's moto r wa s very easy to live with and did n ' t have any major hang-ups; it fel t com petitive a~ai n s t anything in its class, and it dId n' t.vibra te excessively. The motor was ruce, Suspen sio n felt good, too, but didn't h ave that plush feeling like The KTM 250MX may look European. but on the t rac k. it has the feel of a Japanese motocrosser. The Austria nbuilt KTM has a tight. solid feel with a very responsive motor. It is also easy to work o n. Riding impression: 1988 KTM 250 MX It looks European but feels Japanese By Kit Palmer Photos by Kinney Jones , On paper, KTM 's latest 250 MX' is a state of the art motocrosser. It features new-wave, u p side dow n forks , KTM 's 'very o w n , sop h istica ted digitally controlled ignition system , floating front and rear disc brakes, water-cooling, an exhaust power -valve a flat. ' shde carburetor and a detachable rear sub-frame section. It looks good on paper but does it work well on the track? We got the ch ance to find out when the folks a t KTM invited us to be , " a factory KTM rider for .a day. " When KTM unloaded a ~ h my new 1988 250~X for u s to nde at our usual testing sue, we spent th e next four hours pretending to be Kees Van der Ven . Starting th e KTM is a breeze. The left-side kickstarter lever, a little aw kward a t ti mes because of its tall h eigh t and short stroke, is generally The somewhat pipey motor produces good low-end and excelle nt midrange. Top end performance is okay but nothing to brag about . Transm ission has a good feel. but m issed shifts did occur now and then. easy to use. In n ormal co nditio ns, our KTM a lw ays started on the first kic k, h ot or cold. But if we crashe d the bike, or laid th e KTM on its side for any len gth of time, it would take four or five jabs on the ki ckstarter to ge t th e en gine going. Unlike so me j apanese 250cc m otocros sers, espe- . cia lly th e H onda , the KTM never foul ed a sp ark plug - never. We liked that (a lot). I( you were to wear a blindfold and ride th e KTM at the same time, not only would you crash, but you 'd swea r you were riding a japanesebuilt MXer. That was our first reaction when hopping on the KTM. The KTM shares many traits japanese MXers are known for, such as sli m and narrow ergon om ics, a close ratio tra ns m ission, strong brakes and lit tle, if a ny, vibration. The KTM has somewhat pipey power charac teris tics but maintains decent low-end and good midrange response. Top-end performance is fair to middling - nothing to rave W ith an approximate $3700 price tag. the KTM isn't reall y priced out of the park anymore. The KTM is fun to ride . It feels light. has first- rate handling and snappy throttle response . Turning is a little sluggish . though.