T
he 300cc two-stroke motor-
cycle is a mainstay in the off-
road community. And for good
reason: It's the Swiss Army knife
of dirt bikes, the perfect combi
-
nation of lightweight handling,
response, torque and overall
rideability. In fact, for manufac
-
turers whose bottom lines are
directly tied to off-road sales,
300cc two-strokes often are their
best-selling full-size machines.
Everyone from the world's
top hard-enduro competitors to
cross-country, desert, grand prix,
and even weekend trail riders love
the 300cc two-stroke because
it offers a clear advantage over
everything else in technical off-
road and trail settings, especially
the heavier and more physically
demanding 450cc four-strokes
that sit atop of the motocross
food chain. For vet riders, there
simply is no better friend.
Today, the 300cc two-stroke is
such an important component of
the off-road market that it's dif
-
ficult to remember when the seg-
ment didn't exist. This incredible
sales success was born from a
desperate need to make KTM
relevant in the U.S. market at a
time when the company was a
very small player. Indeed, the 300
even helped pull KTM through
bankruptcy in the early 1990s.
Here's the backstory.
The impetus for a 300cc two-
stroke production model goes back
to 1984, a much different time in
the sport, and especially, in KTM's
history. Mike Rosso, the techni
-
cal service manager at the time
for KTM's U.S. distributor, KTM
America, had logged comments
from other KTM staffers, that
250cc models with longer strokes
seemed to have more rider-friendly
powerbands than 250cc engines
with bore-and-stroke ratios that
were closer to square.
CNIIARCHIVES
P112
BIRTH OF THE 300cc TWO-STROKE
THE DIRT BIKE THAT ALMOST WASN'T
BY SCOT HARDEN
Scot Harden aboard
the very first 300cc
KTM two-stroke
model offered in
1990. It was the
1990 300D/XC.
PHOTO: KAREL KRAMER
