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
Cl) The rear disc brake wasn 't all that im pressive but got t he j ob done. It need s stic kier pads. The W hite Power fork feels solid but need s so me f ine t uning ri ght out of the crate . The KTM has a narrow lay out , making it easy to throw around. The exhaust pipe tucks in nicely and comes w ith a repackable aluminum silencer. Qua lity of craftsmanship seemed first-rate. th e to p-of-th e-line Suzuk i RM 250, or the Yamaha YZ250. The KT M, right o u t of th e cra te, felt a li ttle 'harsh over the smaller bumps but had a so lid feel at bo th ends over th e gnarly stuff. In stock tr im , the fork was adequa te. For our liking, the fro nt en d felt a Iittle too twi tchy and busy over th e small stuff , but considering it was box stock, it was pretty good. Some m inor dialing in should do the trick. _ The back end performed similar to th e front - busy but satisfactory. The back wheel would hop and dance a bit, mainly wh en powering out of turns infested with nasty stutter bumps th at form after many turns. . The KTM really shined -over th e high-speed, sla m mer bumps. The rigid upside do wn White Power fork gave the KTM a su per sol id and secure feeling. You could j ust slam in to big holes and whoops wi th co nfidence; the KTM soaked up the big stuff extremely well with no ba d side effects su ch as swapping or big kicks. Overall ha ndl in g was good on the KTM , but its biggest downfall was turning. Hopping off a H onda or a Suzuki, then clim bing aboard th e KTM , the fir st thing you'll do is plow ri gh t through th e first berm you come to. The KTM didn 't cu t a sh arp line like th e Honda or Suzuki, but th e more we rode the bike th e more we became fami liar wi th its turn ing trai ts. The tires o n th e KTM we rode had Metzeler sand tires, a nd th ey were woefully inadequate o n the dry, hard-packed trac k we rode o n. But KTM rep s told us the tires that'll come stoc k on the mach in e will be more un iversal Metzeler MX/ Enduro tires. Brake action was adeq ua te wh en hau ling the KTM in for the turns. The fro nt disc brake had good feel a nd power, but th e rear brake wasn 't all tha t impressive. First of all, the rear bra ke pedal was tucked in a little too close to the engine case a nd hard to find, a nd the brake pad s di dn't seem to grip the d isc as well as th ey ' co u ld have. The rear brak e was strong eno ugh to get th e job done, but the re are other bikes o ut there with stronger rear brakes. Detailing seemed 'first ra te on th e KTM . The seat was firm and comes C ::s ~ in two heigh ts - tall and low. T he o ne we rode ha d the tall seat, which seemed more co mfortable th an th e lo w seat we had to co mpare it with. The waffle-pattern han d gri ps felt good and the handlebar /footpegl seat re la tio ns hip was ex tre me ly com fortable. The 3.1 ga llon gas tank held a t least 35 mi les worth of fuel. We ll? In the rela tively short time we spe nt on the KTM , we were quite - no, more like very impressed with its per formance. It 's go t a su pe r motor, good sus pensi on with tons of potential , solid handling, a nd seems to be reli able, although we did have o ne bolt (bra ke ped al pivot bolt) ba ck o u t and a pinhole size crac k appeared in th e exhaust pipe. . With the prices of Japan ese MXers go ing up an d up, th e KTM 's suggested retail price of a pproxima tely 3700 is looking more a ppeali ng, consi deri ng it costs o nly $300 more than a 1988 Honda CR250R. With the KT M 250 MX, it's fin ally affordable to be d ifferen t, a nd from what we could tell , you won 't be - sacrificing much to be diff erent. • Two seats are-available for the KTM w ith tall or short padding - we liked the tall setup best. 29