I spent yesterday moving some items from my 2015 Honda
CRF250L (CRF) over to the KTM such as the double-take mirrors, ram mounts,
Garmin 64ST GPS (uses batteries only) and my Garmin 660LM GPS (uses bike
power). I’m sure you’re asking; “why two GPS?”
and the answer is the 64ST is for off road and following SAM’s TAT
tracks and the 660LM is for finding gas and motels. Both are waterproof and
compliment each other with the information they provide. The biggest problem
was running the power cable from the 660LM to the battery. The KTM has only a
2.25 gal fuel tank but it sets low on the chassis and hangs down on both sides.
I finally removed all the plastic from both sides and the seat to try and find
a clear path for the cable. Only after Steve dropped by to look at the bike did
we lift the gas tank up enough so I could run the line under the tank. This
long paragraph brings me to my first KTM comment.
1
The KTM is the easiest bike I’ve ever had to
remove the side panels to gain access to the guts of the bike. Everything comes
off with only a few screws and doesn’t require taking more off than required to
get to a certain location. This includes the seat removal with a single screw.
The CRF was terrible in this area and I dreaded having to remove panels or the
seat.
2
I tried to mount my GL tank bag but because the
fuel cap has the vent hose, it interferes with the bag. Hate to give up the GL
bag but will solve that problem later.
3
Shift lever – It was entirely to low and my
heavy enduro boots had a hard time getting under the lever so I missed several
shifts. I’ll raise the lever and solve that problem.
4
Rear foot brake lever – The lever is smaller
than the CRF and is very close to the crankcase. As a result I missed it
several times while stopping. I assume the design was to decrease the chance of
damaging the lever in bike drops but it will take some getting use to.
5
Tires – My KTM came with Metzeler tires and is
clearly made for off road use. While riding to Ott Park I came to a light
changing to red so started to stop. Problem was that I made the rookie mistake
of being in the center of the lane right where all the oil was at the
stoplight. Both tires locked up and only quick action on my part prevented the
bike going down; how embarrassing that would be. The tires are new so I
expected they would be a little slick until they roughen up some but this
caught me by surprise. During the rest of the ride I could tell these tires
don’t work that well on pavement compared to the Dunlop D606s I had on the CRF.
The little bit of mud and dirt I rode today did demonstrate good traction off
road.
6
Seat – Hard as a rock! Within 5 minutes I could
tell my butt was not going to like this seat. It may be that I’m spoiled after
riding 5000 miles on a Seat Concepts saddle on my CRF. I had planned on upgrading
the seat later on but that has now moved up in my priority list. I’ll probably
go for a lowboy seat as well which brings me to the next item.
7
Seat height – The bike is tall for sure but I
finally got comfortable at stop signs/lights but was very diligent on
evaluating the slope of the stopping point. Only problem I had was while riding
a narrow dirt road at Ott Park that had big mud puddles every 100 feet. I had
gone through several spots when I came to a mud hole that looked too big to
ride through without the potential for a drop. I decided to turn around and
started by riding into the grass on the left planning to back up to head the
opposite direction. Problem was my feet barely touched the ground and I
couldn’t get enough purchase to push the bike backwards. Next I tried to put
down the kickstand so I could dismount and walk the bike out of this mess. No
good because the slope on the left was too high to get the kickstand down. I
finally turned back to the right and rode through the mud as close as I could
to the edge until I had turned around. If I had someone else with me I would
have been a bit more aggressive but I was alone and didn’t want to have to drag
my new bike out of a mud hole alone.
8
Gearshift – The KTM doesn’t sift gears as smooth
as the CRF. On several occasions I thought I had shifted into the next gear to
find that I had not. I started making a more pronounced movement with my foot
to make sure the gear had changed. The low shift lever didn’t help so hope that
was the main reason for this problem
9
Gear spacing – I’m confident the KTM designers
picked the gear spacing to be optimum for off road riding but for my first ride
I found them to be very close for the first 2 or 3 gears. I would be in 3rd
before I had crossed an intersection. In addition, the engine revs to redline
very quickly so I had to shift about every couple of seconds. I’m sure I’ll
figure this out but it’s much different than the CRF. One thing I did find is
that the bike is pretty forgiving about what gear is the right gear to be in at
different speeds. This means I could lug the engine down and the bike still
would accelerate when twisting the throttle.
10
Throttle – It has a very sensitive throttle.
Just a fraction of an inch movement and the engine would be in high revs.
Another thing to get used to. It did cause problems while standing on pegs on
rough dirt road because the throttle would move just a bit and the engine would
accelerate/decelerate more than I like.
11
Clutch – It doesn’t engage until almost
completely out. This caught me off guard several times when pulling away at an
intersection. I would let the clutch out and it didn’t seem like I was in gear
then it would finally engage. Much different from the CRF.
12
Vibration – The KTM vibrates much more than the
CRF. Not excessively but it is noticeable in the handgrips.
13
Standing on pegs – I felt like I was leaning too
far forward and could go over the handlebars if I tried to slow down. I plan on
adding risers as I did on the CRF.
14
Suspension – Definitely a rougher ride than the
CRF. I know the KTM is a far superior system but the squishy CRF ride was
pretty comfortable. I plan on reducing the rear shock pre-load and hope this
also helps a little with the foot-on-ground clearance.
15
Acceleration – Eye opening to say the least. So
glad I didn’t get the KTM 500. Only issue is that the engine winds out so fast
that you have to keep changing gears so it isn’t a steady acceleration like I
had with my Yamaha Super Tenere XT1200Z.
16
Neutral – No neutral light that I could find so
it’s all by feel. Add the issue with the late clutch engagement and I had a
hard time finding neutral.
Before I get hammered for all the items I listed above I
want to say I’m no newbie to motorcycles. In the last 5 years I’ve owned
several different bikes:
2012 Harley Davidson
FLHTCU Ultra Classic – I rode this bike round trip from Arkansas to Yukon
Canada 6000 miles.
2014 Yamaha Super Tenere XT1200Z – I rode this bike round
trip from Arkansas to Alaska and up the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle 8000
miles.
2015 Honda CRF250L – I rode this bike from Charleston, SC to
Lake City, CO on the TAT 3000 miles
That being said, this KTM is a new experience for me. I felt
like I was always a little behind what was going to happen next. I’m confident
I will eventually catch up to the bike but it’s been a long time since I was
actually a little scared while I rode a motorcycle. Compared to the CRF, which
was easy to ride from the very start, the KTM needs your constant attention.
Final evaluation - It is a fantastic bike but it takes some
time to learn how to ride it correctly and feel totally comfortable with the
ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment