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/128341
off-set for bette r stability.) The KTM's brakes are exceptionally good . to o. especially up front . The front binde r is super. super strong but bo rders on be ing too sensitive. Ifyou're sloppy on the controls . the front brake will bite you; if you grab a handful with reckless aba ndon w hile slightly leaned ove r on dry ground , you're going down. Done right. thou gh. the front brake. which do es have good feel. will slow you down like now! Y just have to be careful at first. The back brake ou isn't as touchy - it just works. We don't recall any of ou r testers ever stalling the mo tor. O verall. the KTM feels quite light. It's extremely maneuverable and easy to flickaround and. once you get it in the air. the bike responds well to midair corrections and body movement. Contribut ing to the bike 's nimble fee l is the superlight pull of the hydraulically operated clutch (and the "shorty " lever helps o ut. too ). Nice. very nice. As far as ergos go. the KTM stillhas that either-you-likeit-or-you-don't feel. For example. one of our tes ters loved the KTM's layout right away. while another comp lained of the KTM's handlebar/foot peg/seat re lationship. saying the front of t he bike - the handlebar area - felt to o ta ll. But even he got used to it after a wh ile. We all did agree. though. that the new seat's softer padding is far be tte r than the previous bricks. and that t he ta pered Renthal handlebar is a nice touch. So far. our KTM test bike has held up we ll to a few of days of pounding at Glen Helen Raceway and Cahuilla Creek MX Park. but we've had to adjust the chain a couple of times. and the grips are shOWing ser ious wear. O the rwise. ou r KTM cleaned up well after every ride and still looks new. Although we still have a lot of riding left to do on the 2S0 SX. we' re already quite pleased with the bike in its right- out-of-t he-crate cond ition. though op inions arou nd he re do seem to vary a bit. mainly because of the bike's handling. We all agree t hat the KTM's motor is really good (awesome. if you're a low- to mid-kind-of person) - that' s not an issue - but some of our testers have been more cr itical of the bike 's handling than others. But a day at t he t rack focusing on suspension and handling fine-tuning (i.e.• playing with the adjustable triple clamps) should bring us closer toget her. But for now. we can safely say that this is eN t he best 2S0cc KTM motocrosser yet . 2005 KTM 250 SX MSRP $6248 ENGINE Single-cylinder. two-stroke DISPLACEMENT 249cc BORE II STROKE 66.4 II 72mm EXHAUST VALVE 1VC Twin Valve Control COOLING Uquid CARBURETION ..Keihin PWK38 SAG COMPRESSION RATIO N/A IGNITION Kokusan digital2K-1 TRANSM ISSION 5-speed. close-ratio SX FINAL DRIVE 520 Regina chain CLUTCH Wet. rnultidisc, hydraulic FRAME Chrome-moly. aluminum subframe Tapered Renthal 28mm RAKE/TRAIL ..........27 degrees/4.56 in. HANDLEBARS SUSPENSION Front Rear WP USD 48mm WP PDSsingle shock WHEEL TRAVEL Front Rear 11.8 in. 13.2 in. TIRES Front ..Bridgesto ne M59 80/100-21 in. Rear ....Bridgestone M70 100/90- 19 in. WHEELS Front Rear 1.60 x 21 in. Excel 2.60 x 19 in. Excel BRAKES Front Rear 260mm Brembo disc, double-piston caliper 220mm brembo disc. single-piston caliper DIMENSIONS GROUND CLEARANCE 15.1 in. SEAT HEIGHT 36.4 in. CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT 215.4 lbs. WHEELBASE 58. 1 in. FUEL CAPACITY 2.0-gaI.