Cycledude
Well-Known Member
Nice tractor ! Don’t forget to mow the lawn.
Woo-Hoo….thought I was. My yard looked just like that until last Sunday. It just don't seem right mowing THICK grass in the middle of January.....I'm the only guy in the neighborhood who hasn't mowed his grass....
I'm mowing in Ms too on some hard as clay. We had record rainfall in January.Woo-Hoo….thought I was. My yard looked just like that until last Sunday. It just don't seem right mowing THICK grass in the middle of January.
I have had both over the years. My KTM 300EXC was the biggest money pit ever. My watercraft, current Beta, Honda XR 650R, and XR 600R combined, cost less to maintain than the KTM.I am an avid two stroke fan. Over the years I have had quite a few and the all time favorite would be the KTM XC300 in any of the versions. Superb motor. I also like the last few years models of the Yamaha yz250. In stock form it works well and was very reliable.
I think a four stroke would be more expensive to maintain and repair but they work well and if you are not racing it then it is probably a mute point.
The new 2020 KTM 300 is really an attractive looking bike. I have already pretty much decided I'm done with the KTM brand. The TM 300EN is by far the best 2 stroke 300 I have ever ridden. I have a local dealer who sells and races the TM. It's about the same cost as a KTM and way better in quality and reliability.I didn't want anything to do with KTM before 2017.
My boy has owned and raced them since 2010.
In 2017 they really came around and my two 17 KTMs are just fantastic bikes , have been totally reliable.
For one thing, before 2017 I did not like their suspension at all. That is one thing they just leaped ahead of in 2017.
My XC-W has the PDS rear shock and they have that spot on now and it has been trouble free. I even turn the clickers all the way in and can motocross it when I have to, although that is not what it's made for. But I do it a lot because one of our big riding areas that has 4 tracks and 400 acres of trails is free to ride but you must have a registered bike and my motocross bike is not.
Chris I would agree with your KTM assessment on them before 2017 but they are a whole new machine now days. And truly are "Ready To Race"
Motocross is a world apart from desert racing. Bikes get nowhere close to the wear and tear on a groomed track compared to nasty rocks, miles of whoops, sand washes, hill climbs, etc."If you like to wrench and spend money then the KTM's are fantastic race machines. I will tell you that after every race there is a minimum of a full day of tearing down, repairing, and replacing parts just to keep it in shape. If you are a track or mellow trail rider then they are not too bad. When racing extreme events, they are a throw away machine or break out the wallet."
My son raced a 2014 xc300 in amatuer level motocross. About thirty or forty hours a year of race and practice time. In those four years we changed spark plugs, cleaned the air filter, and replaced the chain and sprockets as needed. Routine maintenance and a couple of times the forks were serviced and bearings greased. The top end got rings each year. The only thing that broke was the exhaust pipe and that was fixed with a FMF pipe. Nothing else was an issue. We did wear out a few tires. We must have got a good one.
No argument from me on that point but the things that you list as failing on your KTM would fail on a motocross track as well except for hitting big rocks and bushes. Stuff like casing a triple, rubbing with other bikes, and so forth. The picture you paint of your KTM uses a pretty broad brush. The main difference between what you do and what we did is probably the amount of time one race took. Mx races are, as you know, short and that could account for some of the damages you incur but we don't.Motocross is a world apart from desert racing. Bikes get nowhere close to the wear and tear on a groomed track compared to nasty rocks, miles of whoops, sand washes, hill climbs, etc.
It's an Italian brand that is handmade. It's an amazing machine. More bike than most guys will ever need. I'm excited to swing a leg over the new 2020 TM 300EN. The one I rode a few years back was a beast. It could run down a CRF450 in a sand wash. It was almost too much bike. The new 300EN is still very powerful but the power is more manageable. I'm pretty sure the new 2020 models have an electronically controlled power valve. The older version power valves were cable operated.I don’t no everything, what’s a tm300en?
It's all about experiences in a different setting. My races and trail rides took me 50+ miles from the truck. Longer races and extreme intervals of overheating, clutch abuse, etc put a lot more wear and tear on a motor.No argument from me on that point but the things that you list as failing on your KTM would fail on a motocross track as well except for hitting big rocks and bushes. Stuff like casing a triple, rubbing with other bikes, and so forth. The picture you paint of your KTM uses a pretty broad brush. The main difference between what you do and what we did is probably the amount of time one race took. Mx races are, as you know, short and that could account for some of the damages you incur but we don't.