air spring forks. Even Honda has
ditched air forks on their 450 for
2017, returning to a traditional
spring fork, hearing the com-
plaints of the consumers.
The first few inches of travel
on the AER 48 is plush, much
better than any other air fork and
feels like a well-set-up spring
fork when compared to any
other air fork. The AER 48 holds
up in the stroke nicely while ab-
sorbing small bumps and chop,
both under braking and accel-
eration. The AER 48 provides a
progressive and predictable feel
through the mid stroke. The 4CS
fork had a tendency to bottom
easily while the AER 48 offers
good bottoming resistance.
All the way through the stroke
the AER 48 is smooth without
any harshness. It also has the
benefit of incredible front-end
traction and they work as a fork
is designed to. Every tester was
very impressed. The ability to
easily adjust pressure depend-
ing on the track conditions and
rider weight is a key feature of
the air fork.
The overall balance of the
2017 KTM 450 SX-F is slightly
improved thanks to revisions
to the fork and a softer shock
spring. We aren't saying the
2016.5 450 SX-F was unbal-
anced; it wasn't, but the 2017
450 SX-F is improved in that
department. Hammering into
braking bumps never resulted in
a twitchy front end or the back
end stepping out unexpectedly.
Predictable is the key descrip-
tive word when explaining the
KTMs handling. The softer rear
shock spring and internal revi-
sions might border on too soft
for very fast bigger riders, those
pushing the 200-pound mark.
For the average rider the shock
works well and provides great
rear-wheel traction. We hovered
around 105mm of sag for best
overall balance.
The suspension changes for
2017 are an improvement over
the 2016.5 Factory Edition and
massive amounts better than
the 2016 450 SX-F. The bike
handles great through the loamy
sand, over the hard pack, rails
any type of corner and is light
and easy to throw around. It's
safe to say the all-new 2017 KTM
450 SX-F is much improved
over the 2016.
NIMBLE AND LIGHT
It is pretty amazing that a pro-
duction 450 with electric start
can weigh as little as the 2017
KTM 450 SX-F. It borders on
crazy. That lack of weight is
instantly felt out on the track.
Throwing around the 450 SX-F
feels like riding a 250F on
nitros. Thanks to the overall
light weight, initiating direction
change is easy and the smooth
VOL. 53 ISSUE 39 OCTOBER 4, 2016 P79
With the AER 48 air forks, small
bump absorption is awesome,
bottoming out is controlled, in-
between is smooth and solid. It
also has the benefit of incredible
front-end traction
