TWO-STROKE TRAIL BLISS
The 2017 KTM two-stroke
engines now have a counter-bal-
ancer, taking the typical vibration
associated with two-strokes and
turning it into a faint memory. The
trade-off to a new engine without
vibration is change from a proven
Keihin carburetor to a more
finicky Mikuni. A large chunk of
our curiosity to ride Clark's KTM
was to see if his claims of better
jetting from the Mikuni carburetor
were true. We took his unscathed
and beautiful bike straight to
the technical trails, knowing the
rear trials tire would provide ex-
cellent traction while testing the
jetting and the suspension.
Response throughout the
rpm range was crisp and pre-
dictable. We spent a lot of time
lugging and crawling up rocky
canyons, many that were used
during the Last Dog Standing
race at Glen Helen Raceway
and the jetting was consistent
without any rich areas in the
VOL. 54 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 15, 2017 P129
(Left) Our
300 XC got
the full bling
treatment
whether it
needed it
or not.
(Below) You
really can't
have too
much fuel.
IMS makes a
great higher-
capacity
tank for the
300 XC.
(Bottom) We
love Scar's
titanium
footpegs for
the XC.
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