Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

200 1 KTM 250SX KTM breathed new life int o t he ' 0 1 250SX. B y KI T P A LM ER P HOT OS BY J O E B O N N EL LO '/ ets g et s traigh t to the point: O f ~ th e five (Honda, Kawasak i, Suzuk i, Yama ha a nd KTM ) 20 0 1 2 50c c motocr os ser s we 've ridden so far , th e KT M und oub t ed ly get s th e Mo st Im p r o ved Aw ar d. Unfo rtunat el y, b efo r e y ou c a n rece iv e su ch an award , yo u must first be, well, not s o good. Kind of like last year's (20 00) 250SX; e ve n KTM re p s admitted to us that the '00 250SX was the ru nt of their litt e r. But in all fairness, th e '00 250SX really wasn't so bad , it was j u s t that the other b ikes we re so good. If ther e was an yone ar ea that reall y he ld the KTM ba ck last year, it wa s its less- t ha n - t hril li n g m o t o r . KT M addressed this p roblem by des igning a new motor strict ly with moto c ro ss in mind . No m o re trying to m ak e th e c o m pa ny 's b re a d -an d -butt e r, E/X C based off-road motor compete aga inst the pureb red MX-des igned powerp lants found in the Honda , S uzuki, Ka wa sa ki and Yamaha . As a re sult, the new KTM 250SX got a n ew cyli nde r, p isto n, intake flang e a nd ignit ion c urve , and we c a n tell yo u right now tha t th e s e changes ha ve give n the bike some real sna p an d a rea son for be ing . La st yea r's ('00) motor made okay power, but lacked excitement. There wasn't m uch of a hit anywhere in the pow erband, just a smooth, linea r pu ll that left you wanting m or e , es pec ia lly if you were an intermediate or ex pert rider. The new moto r, howeve r, is far live lie r a nd more ex h ilarating. When yo u ride th e bik e for the first time a nd yo u firs t o pen th e th rottl e , though , th e m otor will lull yo u into be lievi ng that it' s th e sa me 0 1' m ellow motor a s before . Although th e '0 1 KTM has suffi cient power off th e bot tom , th ere 's no real hit down th er e , but that s oon c h a n g e s - quickl y. Fro m midrange on up , the new KTM hits hard and a ccelerates well. Th e hit is n't wha t we 'd c a ll an explosive o ne, but it's pretty darned close, and onc e it does come o n , the motor just pulls a nd pulls a nd pulls. It's ju st a down right strong motor. Per iod. Our Vet Pro te s ter im med iately fell in lov e with the KTM's mot o r, saying he th ou gh t it m a ke s a grea t "o ut doors " m ot or because of its strong acce leration and wide powerba nd , bu t he ha d some reservations about it on tig h t , s to p-a nd -go Su perc ro s s -t y p e tra c ks. He fe lt th e KTM ha s good bot to m-end b ut co u ld us e a bit more s nap o ut of the tu rns to clear doub les with s hort run- ups . Noth ing a c hange o'f gearing pro ba b ly co u ldn't fix, t houg h . But in stock cond ition , he was co m p lete ly ha ppy with the KTM's motor, es peci a lly at Glen Hele n Race way, where we ha ve spen t m o s t of our time o n the KTM. Our Novice testers ha d no pr ob lems com ing to te rms with th e KTM's stro ng motor, e ither, but s lopp y throttle control can leave th e less-experi e nc e d (a n d eve n th e ex peri enced ) rider with the fron t wheel cl im bing fo r the s ky when yo u lea st ex pec t it. Although ver y manageable a nd cont ro lla b le o ve ra ll , th e KTM ' s m otor c e rta inly deserve s th e rid er 's res pect. We found ourselves keeping a finger ne ar the clutch leve r at all times, but ma inly in th e tight turns - just in c a se. If yo u let the Rs drop too mu ch , a q uic k fa n of the clu tc h is nec e ssary t o brin g t hem ba ck ag ai n . Luckil y , the clutch le ve r is a sh ort re a ch away, has a light pu ll and good fe el. Misse d s hifts were few a nd far between , too . KTM c e rt ai n ly ha s the WP PDS s hoc k s orted o ut s inc e it s first nonlinkage KTM ca me o ut a few ye a rs ago. The ba ck end is far mor e com pliant than it used to be but s t ill not quite as plush in the initial part of the st ro ke a s some of the other linkage bikes. Ot herwise , the KTM's ba ck end tracks straight a nd tru e a nd soaks up the ugly stuff as good as a nything e lse on th e tra c k (if not a little better). Our t e s ter s h ad n ot hing re ally Displacement Bore/Stroke Transmission Final Drive Chain Fuel Capacity Fuel Carburetor Clutch Ignition Mainframe good o r bad to s a y abo ut the KTM's WP, 43 m m inve rte d forks. Th ey ju st work . O ur Pro teste r, ho we ver , sa id he woul d ha ve liked to s p e nd more t ime diali ng in th e fron t end (w hic h he will), bu t probably wou ld not have to do anyth ing m ajor. Ov era ll, the KTM is a good - han dli ng ma ch ine . It corners we ll, g oe s wh er e it' s pointed and d oe sn 't have the tenden cy to c lim b o ut of th e ruts. Hauling th e KTM in for the turns is a s im ple process. The front br ake is s uper stro ng an d the ba ck has good fee l a nd does n't tend to wan t to lock up as mu ch as it used to . As fa r a s e rgo nomics, th at "Euro fee l" seems to be a thin g of the past. Th e thin s eat a nd n arrower layout give th e KTM a "J a pa ne s e " fee l, and the new Magura taper handlebar is a nice touch . We've o nly put a few la ps on the 2001 KTM 250 SX but we 're al ready quite impre ssed with it , mai n ly because o f its strong er motor an d m ore p lush suspens ion. (A n d it doesn 't loo k too bad , either.) We're a nxious to pit t he KT M h e ads -up aga ins t th e ot her 250s , and we think eN it will do quite well. 249cc 66.4mm x 72 mm .5 speed SX. close ratio _. .14:50 .520 2.0 gallon 92+ octane, 32:I premixed. premium unleaded Keihin PWK 38mm AG Power Jet wet clutch/hydrau lic actuated Kokusan digital 2K-4 chrome-moly Subfram e aluminum Handlebar Fork Shock Wheel Travel Front Rear Wheels Front Rear Tires Front Rear Brakes Front Rear Wheelbase Seat Height Ground Clearance Claimed Dry Weight c ue ' Magura conical WP43mm USDMA WP-PDS 11.6 inches 12.6 inches Excel 1.60 - 21 Excel 2. 15 - 19 Bridgestone M77 80/100 -21 Bridgestone M78 110/90 -19 single 260mm disc single 220mm disc .58.3 inches .36.4 inches 15.2 inches 222.6 pounds e n e \IV S • S EPTEMBER 20, 2000 25

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