After racing the KTM I think decided to write a review and comparison to my 2007 RM 250. How much does 5 years of development really pay off?
Ergonomics. Both bikes feel different but both are comfortable and I could switch between them between moto?s and I don?t think I would have a problem. The KTM is taller and wider around the tank with a harder, flatter seat but that is about it.
Motor. For a bike with 50 hp the KTM is very smooth. It really feels kind of four stroke like in that the power is very linear with no real snap in the mid range. It is just strong from bottom to top. Heaps more bottom end than the RM. The track was really tight and the fastest part of the track is third gear wide open for about 2-3 seconds so I didn?t really get to test top end but off the line with a concrete start pad I pulled one holeshot and one second. I couldn?t get off the line as quick but hit the dirt and I ripped back through the pack. The hardest thing was keeping the front end down. Definitely a quick motor
One thing I did find was how responsive the throttle was. It was like riding an injected 4 stroke, breathe on the throttle and the bike snapped forward, especially coming out of really tight second gear turns.
On those tight second gear turns, the RM had to be clutched to get around them and pull out of them. I found the best way to get the KTM out was no clutch and let the strong bottom pull it out. It resulted in less wheelspin and better drive. Even with a Pro Circuit pipe and R304 muffler the RM doesn?t keep with the KTM and the KTM runs a 13/48 gearing which does hold it back a little out of corners but adds to the tractability
The motor does have a knock to it though. I was sure it was piston slap and was getting really worried so I asked another guy with a KTM 250sx about it and his sounds the same so all good. It also vibrates a lot more than a jap bike but once the gate drops I don?t notice it.
Overall very happy with the motor
Brakes. 260mm of Brembo goodness. Need I say more? No? well I will. One place where I would make up the most ground on anyone was under brakes. I could go in faster and deeper and then just pull the brakes and make the turn much easier than anyone else out there. The only other guy that could come close was on an sx-f, but his heavier bike didn?t stop like mine. Even with a 270mm rotor on my RM it doesn?t come close to the KTM.
Handling. Let me start by saying that at 85kg plus gear both the KTM and RM are sprung too soft for me, especially in the front. Both bikes would dive in the front under brakes and if there were rough braking bumps the front wheel would deflect on both bikes. Once I had heavier springs and valving done in the RM it was much better so I know my first port of call for the KTM.
After practice I was questioning the purchase of the KTM. It just didn?t handle. The front wheel pushed through corners and then once it stuck the back end would come around. Had I got so used to the legendary handling of the RM that the KTM just felt like crap?
I got back to the pits and slid the fork up in the triple clamps a couple mm, checked and readjusted sag and dropped 2 psi out of each tyre. WOW, this was a totally new bike. Think about taking a corner and it was there, rail through the corner, twist the gas and the bike just drove dead straight. There was no fishtailing usually associated with a 2 stroke, the smooth powerband and chassis ment that the bike just hooked up and drove exactly where I wanted it to go. It was kind of like the RM into turns and a 250f on steroids out of turns. The smile on my face was unmissable in the pits after the first moto (where I went from dead last in a first turn pile up to 3rd).
One big improvement of the KTM over the RM is its stability after an over jump. When I had stock suspension on the RM in the event of a big over jump the bike would kick sideways and it would be hard to pull up for the next corner. No matter how big the over jump on the KTM it stayed dead straight and rode straight to the next corner
During the day I made smaller changes to the clickers to get the bike to settle on the ever rougher track and it will be off to get stiffer springs and maybe some valving work and I think it will be the perfect bike.
Overall I am very pleased with the bike. It isn?t night and day better than the RM but it is better and with the right spring rates I think it will be awesome. It does remind me a lot of the late model four strokes, the ergonomics, the tractable power (for a 250 2 stroke) and the stability of the chassis but is still distinctively a 2 stroke. Throw in the detail and quality of the parts that KTM use and I would say hands down that this is the best bike I have ever ridden
