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Author Topic: 2019 KTM 300 XCW Ride Review  (Read 2629 times)

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Offline eprovenzano

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2019 KTM 300 XCW Ride Review
« on: March 25, 2019, 06:11:05 AM »
Well I finally got the 300 out on her maiden voyage. Since I’ve picked her up from my dealer, all I’ve done was to check tightness of bolts, add hand guards, a skid plate, and top off the oil and fuel.  Do you know have difficult it was to stop at a gas station and top off the fuel with straight gas...  It was like an out of body experience... that went against everything we know...  Didn’t even touch the suspension settings. Wanted to put a little time on it before making any adjustments.

Conditions were wet, muddy to tacky, soil is clay, otherwise know as brown ice when it's wet and covered in last years leaves. I rode solo today, so I backed off on the speed a bit and enjoyed the ride.

The 300 TPI... what a bike. Just so easy to enjoy. Felt so light compared to my old 380. 1st ride of the year, rode close to 20 miles. Only complaints I have are more of personal issues. Due to carpal tunnel, I’ve found the pillow top grips help me to maintain grip longer without numbness in my hands. The stock grips are too skinny, and too hard. Tires are ok, will work for now... just not my preferred brand. The seat felt like I was sitting on a board... KTM's are know for their hard seats...  but damn, a little more padding would be awesome. Finally like many of the TPI owners I prefer an idle that’s a little higher.  It idles low, but once fully warmed up, does not stall, or cause an issue.

Yea... that’s all I’ve found wrong... and all are of a personal preference Can’t fault this bike at all. Brakes are outstanding, power is on point. You can lug it low, or point and shoot. So clean running, it really makes you look like a better rider than you are... The ergonomics are excellent,  the bike simply performs as expected.

« Last Edit: March 25, 2019, 06:48:57 AM by eprovenzano »
Eric Provenzano
2019 KTM 300 XCW TPI
2000 KTM 300 EXC (Son's)
2001 KTM 380 EXC
Sold 1991 KDX 200... fun play bike
Sold 1999 KX250
Sold 1999 YZ125 (son's)
Sold 2001 Yamaha TTL 125 (son's 1st bike)
Sold but never forgotten 1974 Honda Elsinore CR250M
Sold 1974 Honda Elsinore CR125

Offline nancis

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Re: 2019 KTM 300 XCW Ride Review
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2019, 07:37:46 PM »
Sounds like a great ride and the start of a wonderful long term relationship  :D  The straight gas thing...yeah...we had to add an extra gas can for my Beta XT300 but you do get used to it!
About that board seat...Beta makes them of concrete  :o  I recommend checking out Guts Racing for a soft seat.  I put one on my Beta after telling myself for 3 years that I would learn to ride standing up most of the time so it wouldn't really matter.  Nope!  Not the best mod I've done but it ranks right up there!  Not sure which tires Ron has on his KTM but maybe he'll chime in here eventually and tell you, I know he likes them.  I still have my stock Goldentyres and I love them, I'll replace with them when I need to.
More bikes than I can list...regular riders 2015 Beta XT300, 1986 IT200, 1980 IT175

Offline _X_

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Re: 2019 KTM 300 XCW Ride Review
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2019, 01:28:48 PM »
good to hear epro!

Offline eprovenzano

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Re: 2019 KTM 300 XCW Ride Review
« Reply #3 on: March 29, 2019, 06:41:50 AM »
Purchased new pillow top grips, and I've been looking into an idle screw modification.  In their infinite wisdom, KTM set the idle via a set screw which opens the throttle body slightly (the same as raising the slide in a carb).  Of course they've lock tighted the screw, so idiots like me cannot adjust it. KTM says to increase the idle to open the air / fuel screw.  I do not want to lean the bike out more, as based on research, I've found the fuel / air mixture is just slightly lean.  Many have modified the idle by either replacing the set screw with one from Slavens or by simply turning in the set screw, thus raising the idle.  This mod also allows you to turn in the air screw a little as well, making the bike spot on to just slightly rich.  The issue with the mod, is the set screw has such good locktight that even with heat it's difficult to move...  Many have gotten over aggressive with the screw and stripped the head (which now will require a machinist to remove the screw), while others stated that with a little heat and persuasion it wasn't too difficult...  so with crappy weather this weekend, I hope to dig in and see what I can see...  I'm sure mine has enough locktight so its now fused itself to the throttle body...   :P
Eric Provenzano
2019 KTM 300 XCW TPI
2000 KTM 300 EXC (Son's)
2001 KTM 380 EXC
Sold 1991 KDX 200... fun play bike
Sold 1999 KX250
Sold 1999 YZ125 (son's)
Sold 2001 Yamaha TTL 125 (son's 1st bike)
Sold but never forgotten 1974 Honda Elsinore CR250M
Sold 1974 Honda Elsinore CR125

Offline eprovenzano

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Re: 2019 KTM 300 XCW Ride Review
« Reply #4 on: March 30, 2019, 01:16:17 PM »
Thought I’d pull off the grips 1st... something simple... NOT!  Every squeare inch / CM is glued with some kind of super glue.  The grips are fighting me every step of the way... I will not give up... I will win.  I’ve had to resort to using brake cleaner to help dissolve the glue... WHAT A PAIN IN THE ARSE! I’ve never seen grips with this amount of glue holding them on...  grrrr 🤬🤬🤬
Eric Provenzano
2019 KTM 300 XCW TPI
2000 KTM 300 EXC (Son's)
2001 KTM 380 EXC
Sold 1991 KDX 200... fun play bike
Sold 1999 KX250
Sold 1999 YZ125 (son's)
Sold 2001 Yamaha TTL 125 (son's 1st bike)
Sold but never forgotten 1974 Honda Elsinore CR250M
Sold 1974 Honda Elsinore CR125

Offline eprovenzano

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Re: 2019 KTM 300 XCW Ride Review
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2019, 05:57:58 AM »
Finally got the grips swapped out.  In all the years I've never had a set of grips that were that difficult to remove.  One thing I do like is the clutch side utilizes a sleeve (looks like a throttle tube) that helps reduce / remove the vibs from my hands.  Unfortunately, getting a grip designed to fit the bar, onto the tube was a nice challenge.  Being old school and cheap, I've not used grip glue in a number of years.  I always use my wife's hair spray.  (No, its not mine, I'd need more hair for that to be true.)  The hair spray allows me to slide the grips on, but when it dries, it leaves a sticky residue which keeps the grips in place.  The throttle tube grip was not too difficult.  Slid into place without too much fuss.  The clutch side was a bit more of a challenge. But after a few choice words and a lot of force, the grips are on, and the hand guards reinstalled. 

This was supposed to be the easy mod...  :o  Next is the idle screw.  I'm hoping I can loosen up the thread lock and adjust it to where I want it. 
« Last Edit: April 02, 2019, 05:59:51 AM by eprovenzano »
Eric Provenzano
2019 KTM 300 XCW TPI
2000 KTM 300 EXC (Son's)
2001 KTM 380 EXC
Sold 1991 KDX 200... fun play bike
Sold 1999 KX250
Sold 1999 YZ125 (son's)
Sold 2001 Yamaha TTL 125 (son's 1st bike)
Sold but never forgotten 1974 Honda Elsinore CR250M
Sold 1974 Honda Elsinore CR125

Offline eprovenzano

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Re: 2019 KTM 300 XCW Ride Review
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2019, 11:10:57 AM »
Took her out again over the weekend...  A buddy (typical 4 stroke rider) came along...  While I'm hitting the bigger hills at warp speed and coasting up the last parts of the hill, he's the type of a rider that waits until his back tire gets to the hill climb before he gets on the gas.  This things a tractor and should just power up the hills... yea, sure... and he can't understand why he struggles on the bigger hills.... momentum is always your best friend....  So it was a ride where I'd ride ahead, stop and wait, sometimes turn around to see where he was, or I'd scout the trails ahead looking for the easier trails so we could continue riding.

Didn't put in as many miles as last time... but still got to enjoy a day on the bike

The new bike is simply amazing.  So smooth...  I think the grunt / torque is not quite at the level of my old 380, but pretty close and so just much smoother. The power comes on quickly, but not where it's like a light switch.  It's not abrupt in your face power, but very controllable. This engine has a counterbalance which is supposed to reduce vibrations...  I can only say, it just feels so smooth.  The new grips were a big help.  I had very little hand numbness, (so little I can't recall any) it was well worth the pain of switching grips.  I lowered the tire pressure a bit,the front end felt more stable, the rear was better, but I'm still not digging the tire.  It too new to just ditch and purchase a new one in the brand I prefer, but it was better than the last time out.  E-start.... I have absolutely fallen in love with s-start.  When you are in the woods on a weird angle, and your're tires and to balance and kick the bike...  I just stab the e-start and braapp away.... At this point I'm actually happy with the stock gearing, which is odd as I always adjust the gearing to fit my style... Usually I add a tooth or two the the rear, (the 380 was the exception I geared it up a little).  On this 300 I think they got the gearing right.  The brakes are top notch. You can stop on a dime in all conditions with confidence.

I'm going to hold off on the idle screw adjustment as it's a pain in the arse to do, and I really didn't have an issue with it this ride...  Yes it's a little low for my taste, but it works so I'll leave it alone (for now)

Braapp on gentlemen
Eric Provenzano
2019 KTM 300 XCW TPI
2000 KTM 300 EXC (Son's)
2001 KTM 380 EXC
Sold 1991 KDX 200... fun play bike
Sold 1999 KX250
Sold 1999 YZ125 (son's)
Sold 2001 Yamaha TTL 125 (son's 1st bike)
Sold but never forgotten 1974 Honda Elsinore CR250M
Sold 1974 Honda Elsinore CR125