300 KTM will it work?

[snow gumby]

Put a kit on my 08 300 xc-w and it's fun around the house in 2 feet of snow and zipping in and out of the trees. Puts a big grin of happy on this face. I'm lucky to live across the street to IDPR land and private timber lands. So it's a blast for a quick fix after work from the house. As for the steep and deep riding with the big boys. I'm looking for a good used KTM 525 or 530 to put it on. My buddies have the bigger KTM 4-strokes and it's the way to go. You really got to put the rpms to the bike and I don't want to destroy my dirt season losing my favorite bike. Did the fan and carb heater and it's alot of strain on the bike. I'm a bigger person also. So just my 2 cents but try to find a 06 RFS motor or newer, KTM 525 or 530 for cheep.

 

[bdoe22]

carb heat

No real issues with the 300's. I would invest in the KTM hardparts carb heater. You will need to pre-filter the airbox/intake. Some are wrapping the pipe with header wrap for more consistant pipe temps. They seem to be working well. Possibly the best "Dual Sport (snow/dirt)" Machine....

 

[thejean]

Ok, thanks guys. The kicker is that I bought a 530 and a 300 at the same time (both 09's) and sold the 530 and kept the 300. The 530 needed more work so I went the lighter 300, which had more aftermarket parts on it as well. Of course at the time I didn't even know about snow bikes.

 

[thejean]

What about a 450 SXF, anyone ever try one of those? I got a guy possibly willing to trade for my 300.

 

[Jon Mutiger]

The 450SXF would be great. They make loads of power.. Although they don't start quite as nice as the XCFs/XCw's/EXC's

You'd be completely fine on SNOW on a 450SXF, but it will leave quite a bit to be desired in the dirt if you ride anything where first gear matters.

 

[thejean]

Can 2 strokes handle high sustained revs better than a 4? Seems like its might be another good reason to go with a 300.

 

[thejean]

Just picked up a used Timbersled today so will try it with my 300 XC-W and see how she goes.

 

[thejean]

Ok, I might have a shot at a straight across trade for a same year 450 XCW and wondering if I should do it. This bike needs to be both my summer and winter bike. What would you guys do? I don't want to give up the nimble 300 but also thinking that I might need to add the head mod in order to get enough power out of the bike for the Timbersled. Then maybe a CDI as well. Gets into a bit of money. Just wondering what I'll regret more - giving up the 300 in summer or giving up the 450 in winter. Any thoughts folks? Thanks, JC

 

[leeee]

3hun

try the 300, i wanna know how it works, cause i want one for my do all bike

 

[thejean]

Had the 300 out today for the first time. It went quite well. It couldn't climb quite as high as a 450 but nearly. ALthough could be just me being either heavy or a totally novice rider. Anyway, I think it worked well enough. I don't have the new ski but it definitely looks like the thing to have.

Strange issue also when I got home - kick starter seems frozen. Might have pulled some snow into the airbox and had it melt inside the bike and then freeze. At least that's what I'm hoping for because if it's not that then it must be a seized motor.

 

[jeffc]

I asked this same Q to a dealer here as I'm looking at both Ktm 300 and/or 450 and they just had a 300 come in w a blown motor. Said the snowbikes are favored towards the 450 and there's no comparison. I'm going 450sx for snowbike and if your 200lb+ & stronger, this should be fine in the woods too.

I'll be watching this to see if others post more on the 300's.

 

[dieselwerx.com]

I sell and ride timbersled kits I ride a 13 kx 450 I have a friend that has a 2000 ktm 300 he picked up for $1500 put a timbersled kit on with stock gearing and goes everywhere I go and runs about the same on gas as well. 300 works great

 

[thejean]

I didn't feel disadvantaged by the 300, I think as I become better and get more aggressive it will be a great setup. That being said, I was the only two stroke I saw up there out of maybe 15 bikes. But I can tell you one thing, a light bike is a real advantage when you drop it as I was exhausted after getting even mine uprighted a few times. That's why a lighter MX 450 is really good as well, aside from power delivery, gearing, etc.

One thing I am perturbed by is this freezing up issue. None of the 4 strokes seemed to have that issue when we got home, only mine. Maybe their air boxes are better sealed than mine though.

 

[tomk]

Had the 300 out today for the first time. It went quite well. It couldn't climb quite as high as a 450 but nearly. ALthough could be just me being either heavy or a totally novice rider. Anyway, I think it worked well enough. I don't have the new ski but it definitely looks like the thing to have.

Strange issue also when I got home - kick starter seems frozen. Might have pulled some snow into the airbox and had it melt inside the bike and then freeze. At least that's what I'm hoping for because if it's not that then it must be a seized motor.

that happened to me on my kx 500 when we were in cook, my best guess was the rings froze to the cylinder walls because of condensation after shut down during cooling, had to put a propane torch on the cyl for about 30 min eavery morning to get it freed up, but it ripped good otherwise

 

[tomk]

I have the boon docker intake btw

 

[Twostroke]

I didn't feel disadvantaged by the 300, I think as I become better and get more aggressive it will be a great setup. That being said, I was the only two stroke I saw up there out of maybe 15 bikes. But I can tell you one thing, a light bike is a real advantage when you drop it as I was exhausted after getting even mine uprighted a few times. That's why a lighter MX 450 is really good as well, aside from power delivery, gearing, etc.

One thing I am perturbed by is this freezing up issue. None of the 4 strokes seemed to have that issue when we got home, only mine. Maybe their air boxes are better sealed than mine though.

KTM airbox's are terrible, they allow a lot of junk into them, it could be your problem. I know when I rode KTM's I always added foam on the under side of the seat to fill the gap between the seat and rear fender and silcone throughout the poorly designed airbox. I also had problems with them cracking. This is a pretty common well documented problems, lots of idea's on the web and in mags on how to fix them.

it could also be condensation like mentioned above.

PS - add a 250SX iginition or 300sxs and get your head cut and it will really wake that 300 up. k1 or k2 flywheel will help some too.

 

[thejean]

KTM airbox's are terrible, they allow a lot of junk into them, it could be your problem. I know when I rode KTM's I always added foam on the under side of the seat to fill the gap between the seat and rear fender and silcone throughout the poorly designed airbox. I also had problems with them cracking. This is a pretty common well documented problems, lots of idea's on the web and in mags on how to fix them.

it could also be condensation like mentioned above.

PS - add a 250SX iginition or 300sxs and get your head cut and it will really wake that 300 up. k1 or k2 flywheel will help some too.

Thanks for the tips. I already added the high compression head and ignition. Hard to tell the difference because I haven't ridden in dirt yet, only snow.

I'll look into the airbox issues. I think that could definitely be my problem. If its condensation, I truly hope that won't be a common thing every time I ride the bike in cold weather. Really hoping it is simply a bizarre set of climactic circumstances. Will see...

 

[thejean]

Update. Bike was indeed frozen. Cranks just fine now.

 

[thejean]

What weight transmission oil are you guys running in your 300's for cold weather? My clutch is acting up (creeping/engaging with clutch in) and thinking I'll try some lighter weight oil next outing to see if it makes any difference. JC

 

[Ausm7499]

What weight transmission oil are you guys running in your 300's for cold weather? My clutch is acting up (creeping/engaging with clutch in) and thinking I'll try some lighter weight oil next outing to see if it makes any difference. JC

I run atf in my 300 and 500. Regardless of what oil you run change it after every ride the extreme temperature changes cause a lot of condensation in the transmission and your oil gets a lot of water in it.