The jetting on the 36mm
Keihin carburetor was a little rich
for the places we rode the bike
in Moab, Utah and Northern Ari-
zona, which are 4000 and 5000
feet in elevation, respectively, so
we dropped the needle one clip
position and were happy with
the improvement, but it felt like it
could use a little finer tuning. Un-
like the TPI fuel-injected Austrian
bikes and Beta RR models that
have oil-injection systems, the
Sherco 300 SE requires that
you pre-mix the fuel with oil. This
may not be a big deal for some
people, but it is kind of a pain
when you have multiple bikes in
a group or need to fill up in a re-
mote location, as we did on one
of our longer rides (we carried
some oil). The latest generation
2023 KTM XC fuel injected two-
strokes (closed-course off-road
models) have already reverted
back to premix and we expect
that the 2024 KTM 300 XC-W
will also require you to pre-mix
your fuel (the Husqvarna TE and
GasGas EC models will prob-
ably follow suit) so this will likely
become less of a differentiating
factor for 2024 models.
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 1, 2022 P69
The Sherco really
shines on faster,
more open trails. The
aggressive map option
provides exciting
performance and the
suspension is a tuned
a bit stiffer than many
other off-road bikes
with headlights.
