Anybody riding a new 300XC or XC-W?

KC10Chief

Member
Oct 10, 2004
187
0
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
 

lawman

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Sep 20, 1999
764
0
Chief,

I have a break-in ride & 1 good ride on my '07 300W. it's my 2d 300 & my 13th KTM, if you count Pentons.

it's nice, man! no need for clutch baskets or any of that crap. I've put on bark busters & will add the skid plate that I used on the last couple of bikes. the susp is good out of the box, other than needing heavier springs for me (I'll put in the trick parts from my last 1 b/c I have them, tho). starts 1st kick; I've started it twice, stone cold, in rubber sandals. brakes & hydro clutch are awesome, handling is excellent, all the torque you'd want (revs less on top than a 250 on the pipe, however).

the W ought to be good for top speed of ~80, the XC less than that. I've done some BJEC events in OK & to me, which 1 to get just depends on how much top speed you need. the W's 5th is mighty tall.
 

mxmatthew

Member
Apr 7, 2003
276
0
I just bought an '08 300xc, I only have one break in ride on it but mine has started first kick every time (cold or hot).

I found the first gear to be good for really tight stuff, don't have to be on the clutch too much, and second was perfect for the tight, but not crawling stuff.

Other than that all I can really say so far is I do like the preload dials on the forks of the xc that you can just adjust with your hands - they have come in handy already. I don't think these are on the xc-w model.

And it is wayyyy more stable in the sand than my old WR.
 

Danman

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 7, 2000
2,211
3
They sure are fun Swift. One of my riding buddies has an E start 08 300xc-w and I must say if I were to be on a 2 stroke that would certainly be it. Hard to keep up with on the 450 in the tight technical stuff. No proablems in the open stuff.
 

mxmatthew

Member
Apr 7, 2003
276
0
I've had about 15 hours on my bike now, and I still love it.

It feels so easy to ride in the sand and, as Danman said, in the tight stuff its just plain easy to ride.

It is absolutely a woods bike. It's probably the closest feeling you can get to being on a four stroke without actually riding one. Smooth, roll on power down low, yet once you get about 3/4 throttle it brings back that snappy 2-stroke pull your arms off type of power.
 

BSWIFT

Sponsoring Member
N. Texas SP
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Nov 25, 1999
7,926
43
The short spin I took on the 08 300 XCW was way cool. Having switched back to a YZ250 from a YZ450F, I really miss the long pull of each gear. The 250 is quick and light but being a MX bike, it runs out of gear pretty quick. The 300 XCW seemed to pull forever, much like my 450F. Very good throttle response and tractable. The 07 that Cooper has allegedly has fewer hours than his 08 with e-start. I hope to get an opportunity to ride the 07 in a couple of weeks.
On a side note (off topic), we just cut several miles of new trail. Using a skid steer on tracks, we cut what is considered a 4 year trail. Simply put, the trail should need little to no trimming for 4 years. This technique was used a couple of years ago to cut it a new section for the WORX race. That section is really cool now. The tree growth, other vegetation, and natural lay of dead trees has created one cool trail. Cooper uses a technique to lay over small trees without damaging them to start a new trail, thus hiding the entrance from the ATV's. We then cut a really tight entrance and mark it single track. The upcoming BJEC race should break this new section in quite good.
 
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