VOL. 51 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 28, 2014
P51
COUNTDOWN
5TH PLACE
KTM 250 SX-F
T
he KTM 250 SX-F has plenty
going for it. Our testers loved
its light-pull hydraulic clutch,
electric starting, powerful brakes
and, above all else, its powerful
motor. This bike, like we said,
rips. But (there's always a but,
of course) the KTM would've
impressed us more if it had a
more useable powerband. As it
stands now, almost all of its 38plus power is found way up in the
upper arc of the rpm range, making this bike a bit of a handful to
ride compared to the other four
and less effective on smaller and
tighter tracks, especially if your
skills aren't up to intermediate or
expert levels yet. You simply can't
take advantage of the KTM's big
power unless you have the throttle twisted to the stop at all times,
which is asking a lot for the average rider.
Our testers also noted a lot
more "engine noise" from the
KTM than the rest of the bikes,
which didn't bode well with them.
The KTM handles and turns
very well, but we rate its WP sus-
pension as only average. Forks
leave a lot to be desired compared to some of the other bikes
(especially the YZ's and CR's
forks), but the back end is pretty
good.
A Catch-22 with the KTM has
to do with its weight. The KTM
is significantly heavier than the
other four bikes, which can partly
be blamed on its electric starting
system, something we like very
much. But electric starting isn't
so much a benefit on a 250 as
it is on a 450, so we could probably sacrifice the button for less
weight.
Overall, our testers very much
liked the KTM, especially on
higher-speed tracks, but felt the
other bikes that finished ahead
of it in our comparison could be
ridden just as fast as the KTM
but with less effort and for longer
periods of time. And it didn't help
matters any that the KTM costs
about $400 more than the other
bikes.
In a nutshell, the KTM is a
great bike but not for everyone.
