Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Lafferty does n't race horses - he's a fairly big guy, and to accommodate his full-sized frame , he's made a few adjustments to the bike's ergonomics. The footpegs have been moved rearward IOmm, and he runs a taller seat. Plus, the handlebar mounts have been raised in accordance with the seat to maintain the bike's even keel and to keep from having to roll the handlebars too far forward, so now Lafferty has a lo t more room to cond uct his business on Sundays. Lafferty also runs a GPR stee ring da mper and Enduro Engineering hand guards. In case you're wondering, lafferty'S GNCC bike isn't all tha t different from his National Enduro bike. In fact, Randt says t hey're the same , except for the lights , the odometer and the ICO computer he runs on his enduro bike . The Palatka race , as it turned out, was the perfect place to try out Lafferty 's bike, as the I I-mile course featured a little bit of everything: twisty singletrack, sand, roots, whoops, ruts, grasstrack sect ions, open dirt roads and, last but certainly not least , mud. I guess I wasn't really to o surprised that Lafferty's KTM got me off to a good start, as I came out of the first turn aroun d fourth: after all, I was on Lafferty's bike . But I was surprised to learn later on just how stock the motor actually was ; I was short on time in the morning and didn't get the full details about t he bike until after the race . "It [the motor] is stock except fo r the pipe and reeds," Randt said. "It runs good : ' Y it certainly does, despite the relativees, ly few engine mods. I don't even think I got the bike out of second gear before I started braking for the first turn , and it still got me there before about 35 other bikes. And there were more surprises in store for me. On the opposite side of the spe ctrum, Lafferty's bike was extremely tole rant in the slower, tighter stuff, w her e I was expecting to put the clutch to some serious work, figu ring the motor wo uldn't have much bottom-end after getting me that great start. I happily discovered that the KTM could also chug alo ng like a John Deere tractor in t he woods without even coming close to stalling. When in doubt, I fo und it best to just click up a gear and let the torquey motor do all of the work. "Sure ly this t hing is loaded up with flywheel we ights," I thought , but Randt later said, "Nope. Just what comes stoc k: ' Mud bogs? No The problem . motor pulled me o ut of every st icky situation that I got myself into (and there were a lot of them), and the superco ntr ollable power delivery even made ge tting over t he slippe ry tree roots relat ively easy. Overall, I was e xtremely impressed with how the bike was not only fast but also very forgiving off the bottom. I was just as impressed with the bike's suspension. Both the front and back felt very plush and subtle over the small bumps and tree roots, as well as over those friendly, soft-looking, fuzzy, round things found only in the Florida sand that are actually as hard as rocks. (Palmetto roo ts, I believe.) Yet the suspension is strong enough to soak up the big whoops at speed. It's one sound package and by far the best suspension setup that I've ever ridden on a KTM. But what probably impressed me most about Lafferty's ride was the taller seat, raised handlebars and footpeg placement basically the mo re spacio us ergos. The , Enduro Engineering seat, w ith plusher foam to boot, made it easier fo r me to stand up com ing out of the turns and to prepare myself for the upcoming whoops. Usually, I resort to the lazy-man's method of standing up: I simply sit unt il I hit the first w hoo p and let the force of the impact and resulting rebo und blast my butt out of the seat, where it should have been in t he first place . For my 6-foot frame , the taller seat, higher-positioned hand lebars and rearward-mounted pegs made it much more inviting to sta nd up on my own - wh ich, in turn , made me ride better and use less energy, whic h I needed every o unce of to get me to the finish of the two-hou r race . O verall, th e bike was ex tremely com fortable. So, was there anything I didn't like about t he bike ? No th ing, really. I guess the transmission felt a little notchy - every now and then, it would take me a couple of stabs o n the lever to get the tranny to shift into second and third but that was about it. Instead, I just remembe r thinking to myself many times thr oug hout the race , "Th is could be the perfect off-roa d bike." But the cool part abo ut the whole thing is t hat anyone ca n pretty muc h set up their own bike like Lafferty 's , since , as far as I've been told , just about every no no r iginal part on his bike can be bought over t he counter. Too bad yo u can't buy Laffe rty 's tale nt, too. Oh, well, www.cyclenew s.com so 15th place isn't a but that was defini ever had finishing t can't blame it o n t CYCLE NEWS • l(

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