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RIDE REVIEW I SLAVENS RACING KTM 300 XC-W PROJECT
You can view the parts list,
with prices, at the end of this
story. Slavens broke things
down into suspension, engine,
tires, comfort and ergos, and
protection. We explore each
category.
Suspension>>
We will start with the Slavens
Mule MX-Tech Raven Com-
plete Fork and National Shock.
They are handmade in the USA,
and Slavens has developed
its own off-road specifica-
tions to take advantage of the
high-quality components. The
closed-cartridge fork features
Kashima and DLC hard carbon
coatings, dual-compound SKF
seals, and billet-machined lugs.
fans who watch the videos to
fine-tune their bikes.
We had the opportunity
to spend two days with the
Slavens team touring the facil-
ity, exploring Jeff's personal
dream garage, and riding some
freshly rained-on single-track
trails in the mountains above
Colorado Springs. They let Ryan
Nitzen (CN Off-Road Editor)
and me ride this 2025 KTM 300
XC-W dream bike, and a project
Yamaha YZ300X, which you'll
be able to read about in a future
issue of Cycle News.
Building the Dream>>
Slavens Racing is known for pro-
viding top-quality performance
parts and gear for off-road
motorcycles. Jeff Slavens, the
founder, has decades of expe-
rience tuning motocross and
off-road bikes, dating back to
the 1980s when he tuned bikes
for legendary off-road champi-
ons Rodney Smith and Randy
Hawkins, among others. Today,
he is better recognized for his
extensive library of YouTube vid-
eos discussing his "Mule" test
bikes and the parts they test or
develop before being sold. His
focus on delivering valuable
information over high produc-
tion values is appreciated by
countless off-road motorcycle
Slavens Racing carefully selected
their favorite parts for this KTM
300 XC-W project bike. The
MX-Tech suspension and TSP
Engine mods made the biggest
impact on performance.
