Looking at a Enduro

[wjl]

Trail riders and motorcycle explorers.
Looking at buying a bike for this spring, KTM 450 Exc. I would like your opinions on it. Good.... bad whatever and any other bike options.
It would be used mainly for trails and exploring, I would like it street legal so that I can drive it to and from and not trailer.

Thanks

 

[Rixster]

450EXC all the way. KTM made their name in the off road sector of the motorcycle world. IMO they are the ONLY way to go !!!

 

[POWDR]

My buddy has that very same bike. That thing rips. Super reliable. 6 gears is great for highway speeds. However, only a 450 so you will get pushed around by wind, big trucks, etc. If you are just riding a short amount of road to get to the trail- no worries. If you are riding to Moab, Idaho, Nevada- get ready to work. KTM does a great job of making their dual sport/enduro bikes lighter than the competition. I am looking at the 690 for next year, but I already have my trail bike (2-smoker YZ250). The 690 for me will involve long trips via road, rough trail, fire road, and as the plan is to ride down South America- crappy mountain roads.

 

[xrated]

how far are you going on the road?

If I didn't have a paid for YZ125 I would buy a KTM.

Ready to Race for a reason, you will spend less time and money getting it trail ready then converting a MX bike and well KTM has 4 strokes and 2 strokes nailed.

 

[twsandrew]

Been riding/racing KTMs off road for years. Here is my take
1 - They fit big guys really well. If you are smaller you may think they feel big
2 - IF you are ever going to ride track you may want to look at an XC/XCF. They added the XC line for more agressive racers or guys who ride track and off road and Dirt Rider claimed the 450 XC/XCF the best all around bike ever made. The suspension is a little firmer, the motor is snappier and it works well on the track out of the box. It won't crawl on the really tight stuff like a EXC but they are more fun everywhere else. I would look at an XC/XCF unless you ride trails/woods exclusively. I ride a 450XC with a big bore kit for very fast single track (cherry creek) and big bumps and then I just change the clickers and it works on all but the tightest tracks or tighest trails. I had a 525 EXC and it was less fun overall because it is just to heavy feeling for tracks or better riders

 

[xrated]

Been riding/racing KTMs off road for years. Here is my take
1 - They fit big guys really well. If you are smaller you may think they feel big
2 - IF you are ever going to ride track you may want to look at an XC/XCF. They added the XC line for more agressive racers or guys who ride track and off road and Dirt Rider claimed the 450 XC/XCF the best all around bike ever made. The suspension is a little firmer, the motor is snappier and it works well on the track out of the box. It won't crawl on the really tight stuff like a EXC but they are more fun everywhere else. I would look at an XC/XCF unless you ride trails/woods exclusively. I ride a 450XC with a big bore kit for very fast single track (cherry creek) and big bumps and then I just change the clickers and it works on all but the tightest tracks or tighest trails. I had a 525 EXC and it was less fun overall because it is just to heavy feeling for tracks or better riders

going off what he said, my father-in-law went for the XC model when he bought his 200. He just like having that harder hit down low....even though it hit's so hard he feels safer in 2nd gear. He never, never rides tracks just tight single track and he loves the XC setup.

 

[wjl]

I would be riding from my home in Eden to Monte, Prov canyon, avon ect. If I were to goto Moab to ride I think I would throw it on my trailer.
Also would like to comute to work 26 miles round trip.
As for size I am 5'5" and 150, would the 450 be too big?(I do not think so?) I have sat on one and I can have my feet flat on the ground and that is with the standard seat.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[UTrider]

at 5'5 you may need to have the suspension lowered a couple of inches, only so you can ground check with your foot without completely shifting you weight to one side (which is completely counter productive) The KTM's are tall bikes.. I personally don't think the XC/XCW/EXCR means much more than gearing differences.. Any KTM suspension can be valved to work just about anywhere.

The XC/SX has Closed chamber forks, which supposedly has a greater resistance to heat. The CC forks "SHOULD" be stay consistent as they heat up.

The XCW/EXCR has a opened chamber fork. This design should provide a more plush ride on small bumps, but performance can fade with a rise in temp. One awesome thing about a OC fork is it has a external preload adjustment on top of the fork.

My riding buddy and I both ride 300's. Mine is a XC his is a XCW. I had my suspension valved my pro-action he had his valved my trail tricks. His fork is amazingly smooth, it truly soaks up everything. My fork feels more planted. If I was riding 50 miles I would chose the XC fork, if I was riding 100 I would pick the XCW. The difference in the ride could be simply the valve job. I think I can go faster on my XC but further on the XCW. The tranny difference is there, but when I've ridden a W I honestly had to really think about it to notice a difference. Of course the difference is pretty obvious at high speeds. My XC will do about 72 the W will do about 85.

I wouldn't get too caught up on the bike coming with a license plate. You can plate almost anything as long as you meet the min. requirements and take it to a dirt bike friendly place for inspection.

 

[UTrider]

I honestly think this is another case of wanting one machine for everything. The KTM "big" tank is 2.9 gallons. 2.9 gallons equals somewhere between 60-80 miles. IMS makes a bigger 3.4 gallon tank. That's nice and all but that's only a 1/6th increase in capacity and you replace your radiator shroud with fuel. Fuel in my radiator shrouds kinda scares me. Maybe this is because I usually manage a couple of high speed get-offs every season. In short:

Mountain single track- 2 stroke

Desert- Either 2 or 4 stroke.

Dual sport- 530 or 690.. If I was planning to ride 25% or less on the road I'd get a 530. More than 25% road a 690, only because of the range is better, especially considering the EFI.

ADS in Ogden is blowing out left-over 530's for less than 7g's and they come with lots of extras from KTM including; tires, FMF pipe, grips, gas can, oil, and graphics. There's more to that kit but I can't remember off hand.

If I had to cut down to two bikes, I would chose a 250SX and a 530EXCR.. One bike: 300XC