This year's KTM dealer meeting was held in Providence, RI, at the Convention Center in the downtown area. We left sunny Highland Park and KTM World, along with the weeks of record setting 100+ temps in Georgia, to find Providence overcast and almost cold, with highs barely touching 70 degrees in mid afternoon. The average daily temps were 30 degrees less than what we have been used to over the last 3 weeks, and we were wishing we had packed a sweatshirt or two. We stayed at the designated show hotel, the Westin, and it is connected directly to the downtown convention center by skywalks. The Westin was a "dee-lux" hotel, and I swear they spend more on fake plants than the GNP of a small third world country. They were some of the most realistic plastic plants ever, but I would prefer real plants that were not as perfect looking. I was very glad KTM reserved a giant block of rooms at a special rate for us, since the information sheet on the inside of the door to my room listed the room rate at $599 per night! $699 if you had 3 people in the room. Yeow! In typical KTM fashion, there was plenty of grub and grog, and at the end of show party, they even brought in kegs of genuine Stiegel beer from Austria. Pretty cool, and darn good beer too. The dealer show started with a meet and greet dinner at tables surrounding a walkway for a fashion show. We were then treated to the fashion show, which consisted of lots of extremely long legged girls with crazy hair-do's, modeling all the new gear found in the 2008 Hard Parts Catalog. It was entertaining and much better than watching some guy hold up each of the new apparel pieces on the stage. For sure. I have been to other dealer meetings for other brands over the years, and KTM definitely has the best. After all the meetings and partying are done, you get to go ride all the new bikes! They roll out about 50 new 2008 bikes and the dealers get to rip it up in them. Very brave of KTM, since as you can imagine, some of the folks from some of the KTM dealerships across the country don't ride as well as most of the crowd, and those brand new KTM's didn't stay on their tires the whole day. Ouch. At the business meeting, Jon-Erik Burleson (KTM North America president) and the Big Guys from Austria went over some things that were of interest and had me pop up an eyebrow from time to time. KTM had another record year for sales, and they have more models than ever, and even more planned. There is a big push going on for KTM to become a full blown powersports company, not just a motorcycle company. They want to be recognized as the powersports brand that is "ready to race" whatever the product. Watercraft were not part of the discussion, but at the rate KTM is attacking the different markets, can a KTM PWC be too far off? KTM Austria apologized for the parts back order situation we have all experienced in the last few months. This really struck home for me, since KTM World ships out as many as 70 boxes of KTM parts to customers every day and back orders are the most difficult thing we deal with in the parts dept. It was nice to hear them admit there was a problem, but nicer to hear they already have a solution implemented to correct it. 450EXCR New models were a hot topic, and there was plenty of talk about the RC8 Superbike bantered around, and it was made clear that KTM would be solidly in the performance street bike market. RC8 Superbike How about the 125 and 250 road racing machines? KTM is learning all about what it takes to win world level road racing championships, and don't doubt for a minute that they will be aiming at the AMA US Superbike Championship as well as the World Superbike Championship with the new RC8. Maybe a MotoGP Championship down the road. There was a 125 on display, bristling with cool technology and one-off bits. Having road raced for a long time, I drooled over the 125 GP bike, but I was by myself taking pictures - no one else was much interested in the slick world championship road racer present at the show. 125GP – about 64 HP The ultra cool KTM X-bow sports car was discussed, and they say it is coming to America as fast as they can figure out how to get it homologated and DOT legal. There was a lot of discussion about the new 450/525 ATV, and KTM head honchos said that if any of the competition thought these were the only two models they would come out with, they "were mistaken". So expect to see a more complete line up of racing and/or sport ATV´s for 2009. KTM 525XC ATV Also at the show was the KTM 690 Baja. Based around the motor found in the new 690 Super Moto, the 690 Baja is all off road oriented, and KTM took second overall at the Baja 500 this year with the new 690 in its first Baja outing. Impressive. The 690 Baja is not available yet, but I suspect it will be in the Spring. 690 Baja – lookin' good! Lots of KTM sponsored racers were in attendance, including Chris Carr and David Knight. Anyone seen Knight's girlfriend? Ummm – "Ready to race". Blake Wharton was at the KTM dealer show. Don´t recognize that name? You will soon enough. Blake is the young American KTM rider that won no less than 5 titles in Vegas at the World Mini Grand Prix, then went on to Bulgaria and swept both 125cc motos to win the 125 cc Junior World Championship title for KTM. There is no doubt he will be in all the magazines shortly. KTM also scored a second podium position in the 85cc class World Junior Championship with French rider Jordi Tixier. Pretty good showing in Bulgaria! All in all, the show was great. Informative, fun, free Austria beer, and you get to ride too. When I got back to Highland Park and KTM World, I was pleased to see we had received another truck load of 08´s while I was gone, and it was nice to get out of the urban jungle of the Northeast and back into the forests of North Georgia again. Going to a place of almost cold weather, tall buildings, concrete, alabaster, and plastic plants was a welcome break, but I prefer the tall trees, mountains, fresh air, and real plants we have here – even if it was 104 degrees when I got here in the afternoon! Troy Lee´s KTM
This year's KTM dealer meeting was held in Providence, RI, at the Convention Center in the downtown area. We left sunny Highland Park and KTM World, along with the weeks of record setting 100+ temps in Georgia, to find Providence overcast and almost cold, with highs barely touching 70 degrees in mid afternoon. The average daily temps were 30 degrees less than what we have been used to over the last 3 weeks, and we were wishing we had packed a sweatshirt or two. We stayed at the designated show hotel, the Westin, and it is connected directly to the downtown convention center by skywalks. The Westin was a "dee-lux" hotel, and I swear they spend more on fake plants than the GNP of a small third world country. They were some of the most realistic plastic plants ever, but I would prefer real plants that were not as perfect looking. I was very glad KTM reserved a giant block of rooms at a special rate for us, since the information sheet on the inside of the door to my room listed the room rate at $599 per night! $699 if you had 3 people in the room. Yeow!
In typical KTM fashion, there was plenty of grub and grog, and at the end of show party, they even brought in kegs of genuine Stiegel beer from Austria. Pretty cool, and darn good beer too. The dealer show started with a meet and greet dinner at tables surrounding a walkway for a fashion show. We were then treated to the fashion show, which consisted of lots of extremely long legged girls with crazy hair-do's, modeling all the new gear found in the 2008 Hard Parts Catalog. It was entertaining and much better than watching some guy hold up each of the new apparel pieces on the stage. For sure.
I have been to other dealer meetings for other brands over the years, and KTM definitely has the best. After all the meetings and partying are done, you get to go ride all the new bikes! They roll out about 50 new 2008 bikes and the dealers get to rip it up in them. Very brave of KTM, since as you can imagine, some of the folks from some of the KTM dealerships across the country don't ride as well as most of the crowd, and those brand new KTM's didn't stay on their tires the whole day. Ouch.
At the business meeting, Jon-Erik Burleson (KTM North America president) and the Big Guys from Austria went over some things that were of interest and had me pop up an eyebrow from time to time. KTM had another record year for sales, and they have more models than ever, and even more planned. There is a big push going on for KTM to become a full blown powersports company, not just a motorcycle company. They want to be recognized as the powersports brand that is "ready to race" whatever the product. Watercraft were not part of the discussion, but at the rate KTM is attacking the different markets, can a KTM PWC be too far off?
KTM Austria apologized for the parts back order situation we have all experienced in the last few months. This really struck home for me, since KTM World ships out as many as 70 boxes of KTM parts to customers every day and back orders are the most difficult thing we deal with in the parts dept. It was nice to hear them admit there was a problem, but nicer to hear they already have a solution implemented to correct it.
New models were a hot topic, and there was plenty of talk about the RC8 Superbike bantered around, and it was made clear that KTM would be solidly in the performance street bike market.
How about the 125 and 250 road racing machines? KTM is learning all about what it takes to win world level road racing championships, and don't doubt for a minute that they will be aiming at the AMA US Superbike Championship as well as the World Superbike Championship with the new RC8. Maybe a MotoGP Championship down the road. There was a 125 on display, bristling with cool technology and one-off bits. Having road raced for a long time, I drooled over the 125 GP bike, but I was by myself taking pictures - no one else was much interested in the slick world championship road racer present at the show.
The ultra cool KTM X-bow sports car was discussed, and they say it is coming to America as fast as they can figure out how to get it homologated and DOT legal. There was a lot of discussion about the new 450/525 ATV, and KTM head honchos said that if any of the competition thought these were the only two models they would come out with, they "were mistaken". So expect to see a more complete line up of racing and/or sport ATV´s for 2009.
Also at the show was the KTM 690 Baja. Based around the motor found in the new 690 Super Moto, the 690 Baja is all off road oriented, and KTM took second overall at the Baja 500 this year with the new 690 in its first Baja outing. Impressive. The 690 Baja is not available yet, but I suspect it will be in the Spring.
Lots of KTM sponsored racers were in attendance, including Chris Carr and David Knight. Anyone seen Knight's girlfriend? Ummm – "Ready to race". Blake Wharton was at the KTM dealer show. Don´t recognize that name? You will soon enough. Blake is the young American KTM rider that won no less than 5 titles in Vegas at the World Mini Grand Prix, then went on to Bulgaria and swept both 125cc motos to win the 125 cc Junior World Championship title for KTM. There is no doubt he will be in all the magazines shortly. KTM also scored a second podium position in the 85cc class World Junior Championship with French rider Jordi Tixier. Pretty good showing in Bulgaria!
All in all, the show was great. Informative, fun, free Austria beer, and you get to ride too. When I got back to Highland Park and KTM World, I was pleased to see we had received another truck load of 08´s while I was gone, and it was nice to get out of the urban jungle of the Northeast and back into the forests of North Georgia again. Going to a place of almost cold weather, tall buildings, concrete, alabaster, and plastic plants was a welcome break, but I prefer the tall trees, mountains, fresh air, and real plants we have here – even if it was 104 degrees when I got here in the afternoon!
Not all of my job at KTM World and Highland Park is as good as this part. This is "kid at Christmas" good. The 2008 KTM's are here now, and we are putting one each of the woods oriented models in our rental fleet. Somebody has to go knock the new off each and every one of them! It's hard for me to delegate such an important task to anyone else, so I end up stuck with taking most of the virgin bikes out for their maiden voyage. Yes, I know� it's a crap job no one would want, so I try not to bother the other folks that work here about it. I just take care of it myself... We recently put a 200XC and a 200XCW into rental duty, and after uncrating them and once again gawking over how beautiful the new KTM's look, we assembled them and started adding bark busters and prepping them for duty. I ran them both through a couple of heat cycles late in the day, then parked them in the service dept, ready for tomorrow morning's ride. I love going riding just after dawn. You have to be careful of all the deer, turkey, coyotes, armadillos, rabbits, etc, etc, that are active at that time of the morning, but early mornings are just made for riding forest trails. OK, it's 5:50AM as I am typing this right now, coffee beside me on my desk, and the sun is just starting to give the morning sky over Highland Park a faint glow. If you did not already know, KTM World is located at Highland Park Resort, an incredible riding area in the beautiful Northwest Georgia mountains, and it is just perfect for testing new 2008 KTM 200's with the early sun making angled rays of light through the lofty hardwood canopy. There are some distinct differences between the XC and XCW. The XC has a semi close ratio tranny, the W model has a wide ratio tranny. The XC comes with suspension suited for higher speed trails (or faster riders) and combined with the semi-close ratio tranny, is well suited for GNCC's or fast Hare Scrambles work. The W's plusher suspension and wide ratio tranny are perfect for Eastern Enduro's and tight woods trails. Coffee's gone now, time to suit up, mix up some fuel, and go push the bikes out the back door. Two things I noticed right away are the new kickstands and new fuel tanks. The new kickstand tucks in better, and they fold out to an ideal position to support the bike, plus there is a nicer footpad on it to keep it from sinking into soft dirt. The new kickstand may seem like a small improvement, but it really works about 10 times better than before. The 08 fuel tank opening is plenty big and does not have the molded humps just inside the opening like last year's XC and XCW, so you can pour in the fuel from any angle without it splashing back out on you and/or the bike. It's nice to see KTM is paying attention to the details. Unfortunately, the new black plastic tank means you can no longer glance at the side of the tank and know how much fuel you have. That's a step backward, in my opinion, but the new black tanks do look good. Dawn is here now, so I took a quick shot with the camera. The new plastics and white graphics really look great in the not-quite-daylight. It's now almost 9am, I just put in about an hour on each bike, and I'm typing this in my gear and boots. Man, I love riding first thing in the morning! Let me go on record right now and say that the 2008 KTM 200's are just amazing, the new chassis and improved power is wonderful, and they are a "Best Buy" for a woods bike. Top quality in every respect, all the great high end components found on the bigger KTM's, razor sharp handling, an unbelievable motor, and they are under $6K MSRP! That deal is very hard to beat. Skip forward a few days, and I now have a lot of time spent riding both bikes. Here is some more detail on the 2008 200XC and 200XCW: CHASSIS and SUSPENSION The 200XC and XCW share the same frame, shock, and plastics, but the front fork on the XC is the new WP nitrogen bladder fork. The action and damping on both bikes, front and rear, is definitely better than last year's bikes. The new frame has a completely different shock leverage ratio, and it makes the rear much plusher on the small stuff and more settled over the high speed stuff. The XCW gets a new preload adjustable fork cap that it did not have last year. Both bikes handle great and turn like no other woods bike on the planet. When it's time to flick it left-right-left between trees, the 200's only seem to require that you think about it, and it just happens! The new frame is awesome. Both bikes rail around turns, and the 08 bikes just feel more glued to the ground in turns and over rough ground. Very impressive. As with any bike, you really need to install the correct springs front and rear for your weight and riding style. Correct springs make a huge difference in your ability to go fast � without crashing. As delivered, the new 200's are sprung too soft for me, but they still worked amazingly well for my 220 lbs (with full gear). When they bottom, it's not as harsh as last year's bikes, and the squirm felt from last year's bike when the rear bottomed out is 90% gone. I can't wait to do a little suspension work to get one set up for my weight and riding style. The XC suspension has more damping for higher speed trails and/or faster riders, and the XCW suspension has a softer feel for tighter woods, good for bouncing over roots and rocks in the lower gears. I'm too heavy for the stock springs on either bike, but I was surprised the XCW did not bottom a lot more easily (I'm 220 with full gear) on fast rough sections or jumps. Closer inspection revealed the XCW actually uses a heavier rear spring than the XC! The XC has a 6.3 on the rear, the XCW has a 6.6. The XCW uses lighter damping and controls bottoming with the heavier rate spring. This is a mod we have been doing in our suspension shop for woods racers, revalving to soften the initial and mid-stroke damping over sharp edged objects (roots, rocks, chop), and using a higher rate spring to gain bottoming resistance when running at a fast pace. KTM must have spies around here! The new frame, rear shock, and revised rear suspension ratio on both bikes works better than last year. The rear of the bike stays planted like it is magically attached to the ground. The new WP fork on the XC is the same as last year's SX and SXF cartridge fork, complete with nitrogen bladder. When you remove the fork cap, it comes off with a nitrogen bladder attached, and the fork spring is no longer accessible by removing the fork cap. The new WP fork on the XC has a different feel than the standard WP fork on the XCW, which of course is partly due to different internal damping differences between the XC and XCW, but there is more to it than that. The new bladder fork feels like it does not move as quickly through the stroke as the older version, however it is does not transmit undue shock to your arms and shoulders. The bike just flies over rough stuff and the fork takes it all in stride, however on smaller hits � like roots and rocks � the XCW fork still has an advantage. The older style forks on the XCW are valved for slower speeds on tighter trails, and although the new forks on the XC excel on fast hits over rough ground, the XCW forks are magic when working off-camber root infested trails. Both forks do fine on fast jumps where the landing is not so abrupt, but the XC forks are better on pop up jumps with a hard flat landing. We had a number of customers riding 07 250SXF's/450SXF's (with the new forks and chassis) in the woods this past season, and our service tech and suspension wiz Johnny Barber has been riding a 07 250SXF this season in the GNCC XC2 Pro class, so we already have a good deal of experience with the new chassis and suspension. I am 100% positive the new forks and new frame are a better starting point, but if you are a fast rider, you will still want to revalve the new forks and shock to suit your individual weight and riding style. There is just no way a manufacturer can make a set of forks or a shock that will work perfectly for beginners and pros, lightweight folks and heavier folks, tight woods use and desert use, softball size rocks to sand whoops. MOTOR Wow. These bikes rip! They feel faster than the 07's by a good margin. The '08 XCW model is fast, but more subtle about the power delivery than the XC. The wide ratio transmission and longer silencer help achieve this, and a quick check of the powervalve adjustment revealed that the new 08 KTM's come with the powervalve set exactly where we have been setting the pre -08 models for best midrange pull. These things help put the power to the ground in gnarly terrain, and the W model excels there. On the other hand, the XC is faster on more open trails where you can carry more speed, and the semi-close ratio tranny on the XC helps it eat up faster sections of trail. You would swear these are two completely different bikes, not the same bike with a few changes for each model. Overall, both bikes pull harder than last years models. Jetting is not too far off, and the bikes as delivered stock run pretty darn well, but they are too rich everywhere for the 100 degree August days we are having right now. I changed the main jet, needle, needle clip position, pilot jet and reset the air screw. It took a while to get both bikes happy, but it was worth it. Proper jetting really wakes up a motor that is running too rich, and the 08 200's really responded well to the leaner settings. Every motor is a little different, and altitude, ambient air temperature, relative humidity, as well as your riding style will make a difference in how you jet a particular bike. We typically rejet several times a year as the temperatures and humidity change enough to warrant revised jetting. Both 2008 200's have much less transition between the great low end pull and the top end scream as compared to the 2007 models. I found that very interesting. In my 5 article series on developing the 07 200XC for GNCC use, one of the major concerns was getting rid of the lull in the midrange. The bottom end pull is amazing on the KTM 200 � all years - and the top end is plenty strong, but in pre-08 models, there is noticeable flat zone in the midrange that makes the transition to the top end hit a bit hard to control between trees in tight woods, off camber situations, and muddy or slick conditions. KTM did a wonderful job of addressing the mid range lull with the 2008 200's, and they feel stronger through the entire rev range. It will be very interesting to dive deeper into the 08 200 motor, and I am looking forward to that! CONCLUSION My overall impression of the 2008 KTM 200's is very, very good. The bikes are awesome and the price of admission is cheap for what you get. Suspension on both bikes is better than last year, and so is the new frame. The 08 handles better and stays planted better. The motors are stronger and the mid range is nicely improved. Plus the 08's weigh less! KTM just keeps making them better and better, and they were already very good. On a scale of 10, the 2008 KTM 200's deserve an 11.
Not all of my job at KTM World and Highland Park is as good as this part. This is "kid at Christmas" good.
The 2008 KTM's are here now, and we are putting one each of the woods oriented models in our rental fleet. Somebody has to go knock the new off each and every one of them! It's hard for me to delegate such an important task to anyone else, so I end up stuck with taking most of the virgin bikes out for their maiden voyage. Yes, I know� it's a crap job no one would want, so I try not to bother the other folks that work here about it. I just take care of it myself...
We recently put a 200XC and a 200XCW into rental duty, and after uncrating them and once again gawking over how beautiful the new KTM's look, we assembled them and started adding bark busters and prepping them for duty. I ran them both through a couple of heat cycles late in the day, then parked them in the service dept, ready for tomorrow morning's ride. I love going riding just after dawn. You have to be careful of all the deer, turkey, coyotes, armadillos, rabbits, etc, etc, that are active at that time of the morning, but early mornings are just made for riding forest trails.
OK, it's 5:50AM as I am typing this right now, coffee beside me on my desk, and the sun is just starting to give the morning sky over Highland Park a faint glow. If you did not already know, KTM World is located at Highland Park Resort, an incredible riding area in the beautiful Northwest Georgia mountains, and it is just perfect for testing new 2008 KTM 200's with the early sun making angled rays of light through the lofty hardwood canopy.
There are some distinct differences between the XC and XCW. The XC has a semi close ratio tranny, the W model has a wide ratio tranny. The XC comes with suspension suited for higher speed trails (or faster riders) and combined with the semi-close ratio tranny, is well suited for GNCC's or fast Hare Scrambles work. The W's plusher suspension and wide ratio tranny are perfect for Eastern Enduro's and tight woods trails.
Coffee's gone now, time to suit up, mix up some fuel, and go push the bikes out the back door. Two things I noticed right away are the new kickstands and new fuel tanks. The new kickstand tucks in better, and they fold out to an ideal position to support the bike, plus there is a nicer footpad on it to keep it from sinking into soft dirt. The new kickstand may seem like a small improvement, but it really works about 10 times better than before. The 08 fuel tank opening is plenty big and does not have the molded humps just inside the opening like last year's XC and XCW, so you can pour in the fuel from any angle without it splashing back out on you and/or the bike. It's nice to see KTM is paying attention to the details. Unfortunately, the new black plastic tank means you can no longer glance at the side of the tank and know how much fuel you have. That's a step backward, in my opinion, but the new black tanks do look good.
Dawn is here now, so I took a quick shot with the camera. The new plastics and white graphics really look great in the not-quite-daylight.
It's now almost 9am, I just put in about an hour on each bike, and I'm typing this in my gear and boots. Man, I love riding first thing in the morning! Let me go on record right now and say that the 2008 KTM 200's are just amazing, the new chassis and improved power is wonderful, and they are a "Best Buy" for a woods bike. Top quality in every respect, all the great high end components found on the bigger KTM's, razor sharp handling, an unbelievable motor, and they are under $6K MSRP! That deal is very hard to beat.
Skip forward a few days, and I now have a lot of time spent riding both bikes. Here is some more detail on the 2008 200XC and 200XCW:
CHASSIS and SUSPENSION
The 200XC and XCW share the same frame, shock, and plastics, but the front fork on the XC is the new WP nitrogen bladder fork. The action and damping on both bikes, front and rear, is definitely better than last year's bikes. The new frame has a completely different shock leverage ratio, and it makes the rear much plusher on the small stuff and more settled over the high speed stuff. The XCW gets a new preload adjustable fork cap that it did not have last year. Both bikes handle great and turn like no other woods bike on the planet. When it's time to flick it left-right-left between trees, the 200's only seem to require that you think about it, and it just happens! The new frame is awesome. Both bikes rail around turns, and the 08 bikes just feel more glued to the ground in turns and over rough ground. Very impressive. As with any bike, you really need to install the correct springs front and rear for your weight and riding style. Correct springs make a huge difference in your ability to go fast � without crashing. As delivered, the new 200's are sprung too soft for me, but they still worked amazingly well for my 220 lbs (with full gear). When they bottom, it's not as harsh as last year's bikes, and the squirm felt from last year's bike when the rear bottomed out is 90% gone. I can't wait to do a little suspension work to get one set up for my weight and riding style.
The XC suspension has more damping for higher speed trails and/or faster riders, and the XCW suspension has a softer feel for tighter woods, good for bouncing over roots and rocks in the lower gears. I'm too heavy for the stock springs on either bike, but I was surprised the XCW did not bottom a lot more easily (I'm 220 with full gear) on fast rough sections or jumps. Closer inspection revealed the XCW actually uses a heavier rear spring than the XC! The XC has a 6.3 on the rear, the XCW has a 6.6. The XCW uses lighter damping and controls bottoming with the heavier rate spring. This is a mod we have been doing in our suspension shop for woods racers, revalving to soften the initial and mid-stroke damping over sharp edged objects (roots, rocks, chop), and using a higher rate spring to gain bottoming resistance when running at a fast pace. KTM must have spies around here! The new frame, rear shock, and revised rear suspension ratio on both bikes works better than last year. The rear of the bike stays planted like it is magically attached to the ground.
The new WP fork on the XC is the same as last year's SX and SXF cartridge fork, complete with nitrogen bladder. When you remove the fork cap, it comes off with a nitrogen bladder attached, and the fork spring is no longer accessible by removing the fork cap. The new WP fork on the XC has a different feel than the standard WP fork on the XCW, which of course is partly due to different internal damping differences between the XC and XCW, but there is more to it than that. The new bladder fork feels like it does not move as quickly through the stroke as the older version, however it is does not transmit undue shock to your arms and shoulders. The bike just flies over rough stuff and the fork takes it all in stride, however on smaller hits � like roots and rocks � the XCW fork still has an advantage. The older style forks on the XCW are valved for slower speeds on tighter trails, and although the new forks on the XC excel on fast hits over rough ground, the XCW forks are magic when working off-camber root infested trails. Both forks do fine on fast jumps where the landing is not so abrupt, but the XC forks are better on pop up jumps with a hard flat landing.
We had a number of customers riding 07 250SXF's/450SXF's (with the new forks and chassis) in the woods this past season, and our service tech and suspension wiz Johnny Barber has been riding a 07 250SXF this season in the GNCC XC2 Pro class, so we already have a good deal of experience with the new chassis and suspension. I am 100% positive the new forks and new frame are a better starting point, but if you are a fast rider, you will still want to revalve the new forks and shock to suit your individual weight and riding style. There is just no way a manufacturer can make a set of forks or a shock that will work perfectly for beginners and pros, lightweight folks and heavier folks, tight woods use and desert use, softball size rocks to sand whoops.
MOTOR
Wow. These bikes rip! They feel faster than the 07's by a good margin. The '08 XCW model is fast, but more subtle about the power delivery than the XC. The wide ratio transmission and longer silencer help achieve this, and a quick check of the powervalve adjustment revealed that the new 08 KTM's come with the powervalve set exactly where we have been setting the pre -08 models for best midrange pull. These things help put the power to the ground in gnarly terrain, and the W model excels there. On the other hand, the XC is faster on more open trails where you can carry more speed, and the semi-close ratio tranny on the XC helps it eat up faster sections of trail. You would swear these are two completely different bikes, not the same bike with a few changes for each model.
Overall, both bikes pull harder than last years models. Jetting is not too far off, and the bikes as delivered stock run pretty darn well, but they are too rich everywhere for the 100 degree August days we are having right now. I changed the main jet, needle, needle clip position, pilot jet and reset the air screw. It took a while to get both bikes happy, but it was worth it. Proper jetting really wakes up a motor that is running too rich, and the 08 200's really responded well to the leaner settings. Every motor is a little different, and altitude, ambient air temperature, relative humidity, as well as your riding style will make a difference in how you jet a particular bike. We typically rejet several times a year as the temperatures and humidity change enough to warrant revised jetting.
Both 2008 200's have much less transition between the great low end pull and the top end scream as compared to the 2007 models. I found that very interesting. In my 5 article series on developing the 07 200XC for GNCC use, one of the major concerns was getting rid of the lull in the midrange. The bottom end pull is amazing on the KTM 200 � all years - and the top end is plenty strong, but in pre-08 models, there is noticeable flat zone in the midrange that makes the transition to the top end hit a bit hard to control between trees in tight woods, off camber situations, and muddy or slick conditions. KTM did a wonderful job of addressing the mid range lull with the 2008 200's, and they feel stronger through the entire rev range. It will be very interesting to dive deeper into the 08 200 motor, and I am looking forward to that!
CONCLUSION
My overall impression of the 2008 KTM 200's is very, very good. The bikes are awesome and the price of admission is cheap for what you get. Suspension on both bikes is better than last year, and so is the new frame. The 08 handles better and stays planted better. The motors are stronger and the mid range is nicely improved. Plus the 08's weigh less! KTM just keeps making them better and better, and they were already very good. On a scale of 10, the 2008 KTM 200's deserve an 11.
PART 5 FINAL TESTING Last Chapter in Project GNCC 200XC! We have taken a nice 2007 trade in and transformed it into a lean, mean GNCC fighting machine, with a "best bang for the buck" diet of just the essentials: no fluff or bling, no ultra expensive parts. Not one orange anodized part found its way on our GNCC project racer, and all funds went towards what works best for the least amount of money, in several stages of spending. The whole project turned out better than even I expected, and the bike takes the wonderfully light and nimble KTM 200 to a new level of competence. Now that the bike is suspended well, handling well, and has new found muscle in the motor dept, it´s time for a few things we will call "extras". Still all business, no money spent yet on fancy graphics or handlebar tassels. RACE FUEL The bike works right, what will we change? First, let´s look at race fuel and what it can do for us. We did not bump compression to a level that will require race gas, and race gas is expensive, right? Why go there when we are on a budget with our project bike? Race gas is not as expensive as you think, and I´ll show you why. Without going for the super high priced stuff, you can get very good race fuel for about $10/gallon in small quantities (5 gal can), and a lot less than that if you buy a 55 gal drum. The project 200, which has a pretty efficient motor now, and is crisply jetted, gets good fuel mileage in a race. Most 2 hour woods races will consume about 2 gallons. In other words, the 200 has an average fuel consumption rate at typical GNCC of about a gallon per hour. Since premium pump gas costs close to $3/gal, the difference is about $7/gal using race fuel. No calculator is needed to see 2 gallons of race fuel for a 2 hour race is only $14 more than using 93 pump gas. When you think about the total cost of racing, $14 does not really make much difference in your wallet, but it does make a difference in power output. If you ran 10 races a year, and used race fuel at every one, your total cost for the year is only about $140 more than using premium pump gas. You probably spent that much in fuel for your truck just getting your bike and race trailer to and from one race. VP fuel is readily available, and they have cheap to ultra expensive fuels, but without big compression numbers on this motor that would require super high octane numbers, I stayed in the lower range of costs and tested the VP110 and the VP U4, both advertised by VP as a good choice for 2-stroke dirt bikes. I did not test the VP U2, advertised as a 2-stroke specific fuel, because VP says you cannot leave the fule in your bike: you have to drain it after you ride, or it can damage your carb. Don´t need that hassle. The 200 motor is running very well, but I know from experience that race fuel will add some ummph. What I found was a little strange, but I was pleasantly surprised. The VP110 was the least expensive, worked best, and required the least amount of jetting! The VP Ultimate 4 is oxygenated fuel and gave only a slight increase in low to midrange performance, but did pull great at high RPM´s really great. However, it required a richer needle and a richer needle clip position, plus 2 sizes larger main jet to get the 200 happy with the Ultimate 4. It did make the bike pull on top like it was possessed, but fuel mileage suffered. The cheaper VP110 was just the opposite. After trying a lot of jetting changes, I actually ended up slightly leaner (1 main jet size leaner) on the jetting (as compared to 93 pump gas) to get the VP110 to work best, but it worked very well with no jetting changes. That surprised me, but it´s a near perfect situation for our budget GNCC racer. Run pump gas when trail riding and practicing, pour in the race gas for races, no jetting required. And the kicker is that the VP110 did not make nearly as much difference on the high RPM horsepower like the Ultimate 4, but what the VP110 did do was boost the low end and midrange pull a good bit: exactly what we were looking for! The motor on this 200 project bike is already way stronger than stock, especially in the low to mid range dept, but the VP110 put the icing on the cake. I love a crisp running, hard accelerating bike! I want to know something is happening when I open the throttle at low to mid RPM´s, and the VP110 definitely makes a very noticeable difference. The down side is that you will want to run the VP110 all the time, not just when racing. Once you have the extra power, you don´t like giving it up! REKLUSE CLUTCH I wanted to try the new Rekluse Pro auto clutch, even though I was not sure it would be the right choice for me, since I already have a little experience with them. We install a good number of them on customer´s bikes, so I have ridden bikes with auto clutches for short periods of time, but I have never had one on my own bike or raced with one. I use the clutch a LOT, going into turns, coming off turns, feathering it over off camber root sections, lofting the tire over obstacles, etc, etc. I have one or two fingers on the clutch lever almost all the time, so if I could get an auto clutch to take care of a lot of that for me, life would be great. Rekluse´s new Pro model clutch is supposed to have all the auto clutch advantages, but allow normal manual use of the clutch with no weird feeling in the clutch lever, unlike the older standard model Rekluse. The install was pretty straightforward, the quality of the components was top notch as usual, and I set it up to the recommended setting for a rider that carries momentum. After the recommended break in procedure, I took off for a ride. Hmmmm... far too much slip coming off turns, like the clutch would be toast before the end of a race, and there was a little lag time whenever you used the clutch manually, so you had to plan ahead for obstacles and such. Stabbing at the clutch and applying throttle produced a half second of no power, waiting for the auto clutch to fully engage. That´s too many problems, so I turned around and went back to the shop to take it apart and try a different set up on the clutch. I changed it a total of 7 times that day, and could make things better, and move around the way the clutch engaged, and at what RPM, but I could never get it to stop slipping more than I like when riding one gear tall, which is how I carry controlled speed between trees. Without the Rekluse, you can let the 200 motor lug down in the gnarly stuff, especially on this stronger than stock 200 project bike. The 200 pulls really well at lower RPM´s, but the Rekluse made the clutch slip anyway whenever you opened the throttle at low RPM riding a gear high. It forced me to downshift all the time and use more RPM in a lower gear, rather than carry speed in a taller gear, if I did not want the clutch to slip. Rekluse Pro model components The clutch lever never did work "normally", as advertised. No matter what set up I tried, there was always a little lag time when you did a quick pull of the lever to loft the front or steer with the rear, unless you were already hard in the gas, and then you typically don´t need to use the clutch lever. You sort of get used to it after a while, and your brain begins to plan ahead to use the clutch lever, so it´s not as bad as it sounds, but sometimes you don´t have time to plan ahead. The best thing about the Rekluse was no stalling under braking coming into a turn. Once you have it adjusted right, it is very difficult to stall the motor. The bottom line on the Rekuse: I took it out and put the stock clutch back in the bike. For trail riders and C level racers, I believe the Rekluse Pro clutch is a great product, and will help you ride longer, faster, with less left hand fatigue. For B level racers, it might be a toss up depending on whether you are a B- or B+ rider, and what sort of terrain you ride. For a fast A or Pro rider, I don´t think the Rekluse will be well received. Coincidentally, if you look at the GNCC ranks, I cannot think of one pro rider using an auto clutch, but you will find plenty of auto clutches in the C ranks. For a well experienced and fast rider that knows how to use a clutch to make the bike do what he wants, the Rekluse is probably not a good investment. For a less experienced rider that has trouble working the clutch, particularly in tight woods or on rough terrain over the course of a long race, the Rekluse will make life on the trail a lot nicer. It´s an expensive modification, but well worth it for most C racers, and nearly all casual trail riders. AIR CELLS I installed a set of Air Cells to the forks to see if they added much after all the time spent dialing in the valving and spring rates. The suspension was working great, and I was skeptical about spending more money on the suspension, since this whole project started out as a "best bang for the buck" deal. The KTM 200 is a "best bang for the buck" bike to start with, and things like a Rekluse clutch and Air Cells are not cheap mods. I was surprised to find the Air Cells worked great and I can tell you they are definitely worth the money. MSRP is $299, but some places (like KTM World) will give you a discount, and this is a complete kit with everything you need, including nice machined aluminum clamps to securely mount the Air Cells to your forks. The quality of the components is good, and Air Cells were Dirt Bike Magazine´s product of the year a couple years ago, and for good reason: they work. I installed them (about 20 minutes) and adjusted them to the middle setting: 5 turns out on the control valve knobs. I set up forks on the bikes I ride for fast GNCC racing and a rider weight of about 220 (with gear). They work wonderfully at higher speeds over rough and chopped out terrain, but the plushness at slower speeds is hard to retain. The Air Cells give it back, plus some. I was frankly amazed at what the Air Cells did for my well dialed forks. The plushness was back in the first part of the stroke, even more than the wimpy stock forks had, and the front end just floats over roots and rocks with the Air Cells installed. Far less jarring felt through the bars, and the forks still worked great at speed in the really rough and choppy sections. Air Cell tanks hide behind your number plate. I worked with the adjustment range available with the Air Cells, and the maximum (10 turns out = softest) setting was super plush, so it´s great for first and second gear tight woods with roots everywhere, but you blow through the stroke too quickly for the fast stuff. The minimum setting makes the forks almost like you never installed the Air Cells, and I ended up at 6 turns out on the adjuster knobs for best results in varying terrain. It´s the best of both worlds: a set of massaged forks that handle hard high speed use over nasty ground and big whoops, but are still plush on roots and rocks at lower speeds! Awesome. The front tire deflects less, and I even backed off my steering damper a couple clicks. I also have a lot of trouble with numb hands when racing (carpal tunnel syndrome), and the Air Cells even helped that! I think you unconsciously loosen up your grip on the bars because the front end no longer "feels" every little root and rock, and neither do you. How do they work their magic? The Air Cell tanks essentially add extra air volume to the forks, which makes your forks plush over small to moderate things your front wheel encounters, like rocks and roots. With more air volume, there is less air spring effect at low fork compression speeds, but on high speed hits, big jumps, etc, the built in adjustable valves control the air flow so that big hits and landings off jumps do not result in bottoming the forks. The adjustability also allows you to dial in the Air Cells for the type of riding and/or terrain you will riding. More air flow for a slow speed rooty or rocky Enduro, less air flow for higher speed Hare Scrambles or a typical GNCC. CONCLUSION Racing is not a poor man´s sport. If you have a late model bike, a nice enclosed trailer, an RV, or stay in motel rooms while you travel, you are spending a lot of hard earned cash to go race. Our 200XC Project bike was not Honda CRF230 cheap, but we took a good slightly used KTM 200, which is probably the best bargain in a race capable woods bike (new or used), then did the best things we could without spending a ton of money, and ended up with a very competent race bike that in total cost would be about the same as buying a new 450XC and racing it bone stock. Which do you think would cut faster laps at a woods race? Not much debate there, and that´s why our project 200XC is such a bargain. Part four of our Project GNCC 200XC. Internal motor modifications.
PART 5 FINAL TESTING
Last Chapter in Project GNCC 200XC! We have taken a nice 2007 trade in and transformed it into a lean, mean GNCC fighting machine, with a "best bang for the buck" diet of just the essentials: no fluff or bling, no ultra expensive parts. Not one orange anodized part found its way on our GNCC project racer, and all funds went towards what works best for the least amount of money, in several stages of spending.
The whole project turned out better than even I expected, and the bike takes the wonderfully light and nimble KTM 200 to a new level of competence. Now that the bike is suspended well, handling well, and has new found muscle in the motor dept, it´s time for a few things we will call "extras". Still all business, no money spent yet on fancy graphics or handlebar tassels.
RACE FUEL
The bike works right, what will we change? First, let´s look at race fuel and what it can do for us. We did not bump compression to a level that will require race gas, and race gas is expensive, right? Why go there when we are on a budget with our project bike? Race gas is not as expensive as you think, and I´ll show you why. Without going for the super high priced stuff, you can get very good race fuel for about $10/gallon in small quantities (5 gal can), and a lot less than that if you buy a 55 gal drum. The project 200, which has a pretty efficient motor now, and is crisply jetted, gets good fuel mileage in a race. Most 2 hour woods races will consume about 2 gallons. In other words, the 200 has an average fuel consumption rate at typical GNCC of about a gallon per hour. Since premium pump gas costs close to $3/gal, the difference is about $7/gal using race fuel.
No calculator is needed to see 2 gallons of race fuel for a 2 hour race is only $14 more than using 93 pump gas. When you think about the total cost of racing, $14 does not really make much difference in your wallet, but it does make a difference in power output. If you ran 10 races a year, and used race fuel at every one, your total cost for the year is only about $140 more than using premium pump gas. You probably spent that much in fuel for your truck just getting your bike and race trailer to and from one race.
VP fuel is readily available, and they have cheap to ultra expensive fuels, but without big compression numbers on this motor that would require super high octane numbers, I stayed in the lower range of costs and tested the VP110 and the VP U4, both advertised by VP as a good choice for 2-stroke dirt bikes. I did not test the VP U2, advertised as a 2-stroke specific fuel, because VP says you cannot leave the fule in your bike: you have to drain it after you ride, or it can damage your carb. Don´t need that hassle.
The 200 motor is running very well, but I know from experience that race fuel will add some ummph. What I found was a little strange, but I was pleasantly surprised. The VP110 was the least expensive, worked best, and required the least amount of jetting!
The VP Ultimate 4 is oxygenated fuel and gave only a slight increase in low to midrange performance, but did pull great at high RPM´s really great. However, it required a richer needle and a richer needle clip position, plus 2 sizes larger main jet to get the 200 happy with the Ultimate 4. It did make the bike pull on top like it was possessed, but fuel mileage suffered. The cheaper VP110 was just the opposite. After trying a lot of jetting changes, I actually ended up slightly leaner (1 main jet size leaner) on the jetting (as compared to 93 pump gas) to get the VP110 to work best, but it worked very well with no jetting changes. That surprised me, but it´s a near perfect situation for our budget GNCC racer. Run pump gas when trail riding and practicing, pour in the race gas for races, no jetting required. And the kicker is that the VP110 did not make nearly as much difference on the high RPM horsepower like the Ultimate 4, but what the VP110 did do was boost the low end and midrange pull a good bit: exactly what we were looking for! The motor on this 200 project bike is already way stronger than stock, especially in the low to mid range dept, but the VP110 put the icing on the cake. I love a crisp running, hard accelerating bike! I want to know something is happening when I open the throttle at low to mid RPM´s, and the VP110 definitely makes a very noticeable difference. The down side is that you will want to run the VP110 all the time, not just when racing. Once you have the extra power, you don´t like giving it up!
REKLUSE CLUTCH
I wanted to try the new Rekluse Pro auto clutch, even though I was not sure it would be the right choice for me, since I already have a little experience with them. We install a good number of them on customer´s bikes, so I have ridden bikes with auto clutches for short periods of time, but I have never had one on my own bike or raced with one. I use the clutch a LOT, going into turns, coming off turns, feathering it over off camber root sections, lofting the tire over obstacles, etc, etc. I have one or two fingers on the clutch lever almost all the time, so if I could get an auto clutch to take care of a lot of that for me, life would be great. Rekluse´s new Pro model clutch is supposed to have all the auto clutch advantages, but allow normal manual use of the clutch with no weird feeling in the clutch lever, unlike the older standard model Rekluse. The install was pretty straightforward, the quality of the components was top notch as usual, and I set it up to the recommended setting for a rider that carries momentum. After the recommended break in procedure, I took off for a ride.
Hmmmm... far too much slip coming off turns, like the clutch would be toast before the end of a race, and there was a little lag time whenever you used the clutch manually, so you had to plan ahead for obstacles and such. Stabbing at the clutch and applying throttle produced a half second of no power, waiting for the auto clutch to fully engage. That´s too many problems, so I turned around and went back to the shop to take it apart and try a different set up on the clutch. I changed it a total of 7 times that day, and could make things better, and move around the way the clutch engaged, and at what RPM, but I could never get it to stop slipping more than I like when riding one gear tall, which is how I carry controlled speed between trees. Without the Rekluse, you can let the 200 motor lug down in the gnarly stuff, especially on this stronger than stock 200 project bike. The 200 pulls really well at lower RPM´s, but the Rekluse made the clutch slip anyway whenever you opened the throttle at low RPM riding a gear high. It forced me to downshift all the time and use more RPM in a lower gear, rather than carry speed in a taller gear, if I did not want the clutch to slip.
Rekluse Pro model components
The clutch lever never did work "normally", as advertised. No matter what set up I tried, there was always a little lag time when you did a quick pull of the lever to loft the front or steer with the rear, unless you were already hard in the gas, and then you typically don´t need to use the clutch lever. You sort of get used to it after a while, and your brain begins to plan ahead to use the clutch lever, so it´s not as bad as it sounds, but sometimes you don´t have time to plan ahead. The best thing about the Rekluse was no stalling under braking coming into a turn. Once you have it adjusted right, it is very difficult to stall the motor.
The bottom line on the Rekuse: I took it out and put the stock clutch back in the bike. For trail riders and C level racers, I believe the Rekluse Pro clutch is a great product, and will help you ride longer, faster, with less left hand fatigue. For B level racers, it might be a toss up depending on whether you are a B- or B+ rider, and what sort of terrain you ride. For a fast A or Pro rider, I don´t think the Rekluse will be well received. Coincidentally, if you look at the GNCC ranks, I cannot think of one pro rider using an auto clutch, but you will find plenty of auto clutches in the C ranks. For a well experienced and fast rider that knows how to use a clutch to make the bike do what he wants, the Rekluse is probably not a good investment. For a less experienced rider that has trouble working the clutch, particularly in tight woods or on rough terrain over the course of a long race, the Rekluse will make life on the trail a lot nicer. It´s an expensive modification, but well worth it for most C racers, and nearly all casual trail riders.
AIR CELLS
I installed a set of Air Cells to the forks to see if they added much after all the time spent dialing in the valving and spring rates. The suspension was working great, and I was skeptical about spending more money on the suspension, since this whole project started out as a "best bang for the buck" deal. The KTM 200 is a "best bang for the buck" bike to start with, and things like a Rekluse clutch and Air Cells are not cheap mods. I was surprised to find the Air Cells worked great and I can tell you they are definitely worth the money. MSRP is $299, but some places (like KTM World) will give you a discount, and this is a complete kit with everything you need, including nice machined aluminum clamps to securely mount the Air Cells to your forks. The quality of the components is good, and Air Cells were Dirt Bike Magazine´s product of the year a couple years ago, and for good reason: they work.
I installed them (about 20 minutes) and adjusted them to the middle setting: 5 turns out on the control valve knobs. I set up forks on the bikes I ride for fast GNCC racing and a rider weight of about 220 (with gear). They work wonderfully at higher speeds over rough and chopped out terrain, but the plushness at slower speeds is hard to retain. The Air Cells give it back, plus some. I was frankly amazed at what the Air Cells did for my well dialed forks. The plushness was back in the first part of the stroke, even more than the wimpy stock forks had, and the front end just floats over roots and rocks with the Air Cells installed. Far less jarring felt through the bars, and the forks still worked great at speed in the really rough and choppy sections.
Air Cell tanks hide behind your number plate.
I worked with the adjustment range available with the Air Cells, and the maximum (10 turns out = softest) setting was super plush, so it´s great for first and second gear tight woods with roots everywhere, but you blow through the stroke too quickly for the fast stuff. The minimum setting makes the forks almost like you never installed the Air Cells, and I ended up at 6 turns out on the adjuster knobs for best results in varying terrain. It´s the best of both worlds: a set of massaged forks that handle hard high speed use over nasty ground and big whoops, but are still plush on roots and rocks at lower speeds! Awesome. The front tire deflects less, and I even backed off my steering damper a couple clicks. I also have a lot of trouble with numb hands when racing (carpal tunnel syndrome), and the Air Cells even helped that! I think you unconsciously loosen up your grip on the bars because the front end no longer "feels" every little root and rock, and neither do you.
How do they work their magic? The Air Cell tanks essentially add extra air volume to the forks, which makes your forks plush over small to moderate things your front wheel encounters, like rocks and roots. With more air volume, there is less air spring effect at low fork compression speeds, but on high speed hits, big jumps, etc, the built in adjustable valves control the air flow so that big hits and landings off jumps do not result in bottoming the forks. The adjustability also allows you to dial in the Air Cells for the type of riding and/or terrain you will riding. More air flow for a slow speed rooty or rocky Enduro, less air flow for higher speed Hare Scrambles or a typical GNCC.
Racing is not a poor man´s sport. If you have a late model bike, a nice enclosed trailer, an RV, or stay in motel rooms while you travel, you are spending a lot of hard earned cash to go race. Our 200XC Project bike was not Honda CRF230 cheap, but we took a good slightly used KTM 200, which is probably the best bargain in a race capable woods bike (new or used), then did the best things we could without spending a ton of money, and ended up with a very competent race bike that in total cost would be about the same as buying a new 450XC and racing it bone stock. Which do you think would cut faster laps at a woods race? Not much debate there, and that´s why our project 200XC is such a bargain.
Part four of our Project GNCC 200XC. Internal motor modifications.