We rode in 12+ inches of new snow that varied from heavy and wet to fluffy and a little wet. The base was hard crusty spring snow. The trail into the riding area was whooped out and hard under the new snow. The bikes where 1) 2014 KTM 450 XC-F with the 2016 ST, 2) 2015 KTM 450 SX-F with a 2015 ST and 3) a KTM 500 XC-W with a 2014 ST kit. My very first impression was that the new suspension setup felt noticeably firmer and my second was that you can ride the whoops much more aggressively. We stopped on the trail and I switch onto the 450 w/2015 ST and tried go the same speed on the whooped out trail and the bike started to pogo, ie bounce hard front to back, before I could achieve the same speed. I believe that the 2016 is lighter on the ski and the rear suspension more stable when accelerating through the whoops. The 2015 bottomed out on me a couple of times while the 2016 either didn’t or didn’t feel like it did. In other bumpy sections of the road, the 2016 would give you some bounce and you could hear the bike rev a bit as the track would become unloaded. The 2015 was a bit worse through this section as you could hear more rev’ing, but felt comparable to the rider.
Once we got out into the open terrain I could tell that the 2016 was hooking up a lot better and the ski felt lighter. Going from slow speed to full throttle in second gear would launch the bike forward under hard acceleration while the 2015 you would feel track spin for a bit before hooking up and accelerate hard. This made the 2016 seem a lot snappier and a degree closer to feeling like a dirt bike.
Where the 2016 was the clear winner was in climbing. We did a good number of comparison climbs and the 2016 always outperformed the older kits. We had one pull where we did a standing start on a level area about 50-60 feet before the hill. The 2016 was out in front before we ever hit the hill, it just hooks up that much better. I was so far ahead after the first 100 yards that I pulled up and stopped to let the other 450 with 2015 catch up and the 500 with the 2014 continued up the hill. The two 450’s took off again and I let the 2015 lead. He was working the bike hard and having to reduce his angle of attack to keep his speed going up the steep slope. On the 2016, I was able to accelerate and over take the 2015 at will. I could turn the bike straight up the hill and accelerate and flat leave him behind. It was very impressive! Other comparison climbs were rolling starts on the hill. On long 3rd gear pulls the 2016 jumped out front and continued to pull away all the way to the top. On steeper 2nd gear pulls the 2016 again jumped out and could pull straight up the hill despite a rather slow climb rate and trenching on both kits. On the 2015 there were times when you wanted to lower your angle of attack to get your speed up while on the 2016 you felt confident to keep it pointed straight up the hill. We switched riders between bikes to factor out the rider weight differences and no matter who was on the 2016, it was the clear winner.
I definitely need more time on the 2016, but after just one ride I can tell you that it is a huge improvement. Now that TS has gone public with 2016 details I can tell you that I was not running the new TSS.
Once we got out into the open terrain I could tell that the 2016 was hooking up a lot better and the ski felt lighter. Going from slow speed to full throttle in second gear would launch the bike forward under hard acceleration while the 2015 you would feel track spin for a bit before hooking up and accelerate hard. This made the 2016 seem a lot snappier and a degree closer to feeling like a dirt bike.
Where the 2016 was the clear winner was in climbing. We did a good number of comparison climbs and the 2016 always outperformed the older kits. We had one pull where we did a standing start on a level area about 50-60 feet before the hill. The 2016 was out in front before we ever hit the hill, it just hooks up that much better. I was so far ahead after the first 100 yards that I pulled up and stopped to let the other 450 with 2015 catch up and the 500 with the 2014 continued up the hill. The two 450’s took off again and I let the 2015 lead. He was working the bike hard and having to reduce his angle of attack to keep his speed going up the steep slope. On the 2016, I was able to accelerate and over take the 2015 at will. I could turn the bike straight up the hill and accelerate and flat leave him behind. It was very impressive! Other comparison climbs were rolling starts on the hill. On long 3rd gear pulls the 2016 jumped out front and continued to pull away all the way to the top. On steeper 2nd gear pulls the 2016 again jumped out and could pull straight up the hill despite a rather slow climb rate and trenching on both kits. On the 2015 there were times when you wanted to lower your angle of attack to get your speed up while on the 2016 you felt confident to keep it pointed straight up the hill. We switched riders between bikes to factor out the rider weight differences and no matter who was on the 2016, it was the clear winner.
I definitely need more time on the 2016, but after just one ride I can tell you that it is a huge improvement. Now that TS has gone public with 2016 details I can tell you that I was not running the new TSS.
choices, choices...
