It's getting to be about time to upgrade my 01 KX250. I race nothing but hare scrambles and I LOVE my KX 250. It's never let me down. I love two stroke power. But my bike is definately showing her age. I race in Oklahoma. So, some races are really tight and I rarely get out of 3rd gear. Some are wide open and I'm running in 5th gear half the race. Some have a little MX course thrown in, but nothing too serious. Table tops and stuff. I do not want to buy a thumper and I can't really see any point in buying another MX bike and setting it up for woods racing. I have my heart set on the KTM 300XC. I know that the XC-W has a wider ratio transmission. From everything I've read, the XC sounds better for what I'd do with it. Anyways, I was just curious if anybody in here rides a new or older KTM 300 2 stroke? How easy is it to start? All of our races are dead engine starts. My KX fires up first kick every time. I'm getting to the first corner and the thumpers are still kicking away. How about reliability? Any major issues? Any upgrades you had to make like a clutch basket or something? If it works, I don't upgrade until it breaks. I've replaced about every single part on my KX. I'm hoping that I can just buy myself a new 300, throw some bark busters and some numbers on and be ready to race! Thanks for your thoughts! Matt