ATK 700cc Intimidator

First off, hello to everyone. This is my first post after joining yesterday. I have not had a bike since 94', but have riddin a few friends bikes since then (91' KX250, YZ400F 4stroke, and an 02' XR650). I have been more addicted to muscle cars, but I am thinking about switching back. I have a 72' Olds 442 455ci currently, and I'm thinking about selling it in a year or so when its done being restored. So to my real question here, the biggest bike I have had has been a CR250, and I sold it because it wasn't fast enough. It was quick, yes, but not enough top speed. I'm in the desert so I think if I get back into bikes, I'm going to get my first big bore. I just came accross some references to the new ATK 620/700cc Intimidator's. I looked around the net and naturally found the ATK sight, but other than that, no new info besides the initial outing of the 700. I'm curious, has there been any new info/tests yet? Its been along time since I had any MX subscriptions, so I was wondering if any of the mags have gotten a test ride yet? Any new details, or upcoming tests/comparo's with either the 620 or 700cc ATK's would be appreciated. Thanks guys, and I can't wait to get back into bikes, Laurence.

I had read somewhere, that they did have a decompression lever, not sure though. I guess I'll have to go stare at the couple of pics I've located so far, to see if I can spot it.

Likewise I agree with the small carb. It actually reminds of an article I have in one of my early 80's mags. Where coincidently, Maico built a .....oh I beleive it was a 760cc bike. If I remember right they stuck the motor in one of the last of their dual rear shockers, and it had the same issue. Small carb for the cc, and didn't rev much. I only saw the one test on that one, and it never went into production I guess.

Man the pics I've seen though, the 04' ATK's sure look awesome.

I can't wait for some tests, but right now I'm guessing your probably right that a properly jetted 500 would walk all over it. Maybe the 620 will be a different story.

I more than likely will be after a KX500 myself. I had numerous KX's in the 1980's, so I do still carry a little brand loyalty fealings for them. Hell when I had any one of the different KX80's I owned then, I could actually embarrass many 125 riders. Of course I was a bit of a no fear nut back then. I'd see guys on 250's and 500's taking big air jumps at the local tracks, and I'd watch with the 125 guys for a bit, and then freak them out by going for it and pulling it off myself. Oh man that brings back some great memories.

I think I remember the KX500's being a little better suited to smaller riders? I will need that as I'm still only 5' 8"s. Even though I'm vertically challenged, at least I lift weights and maintain a bodyweight of 185-195 and its not fat, not all of it anyways, lol. So, I'm hoping I'll be able to still amaze some of my old riding buddies by catching some major air like the good old days. It ought to really freak out my buddies to see me doing it on a 500. Right out of high school, before I could afford to step up from a KX80, my friends would all want me to take the big local jumps on their 125's and 250's as they were to chicken.

Man just thinking about all the fun I used to have riding is making me really anxious to get a bike again. Plus I still have one old friend that has never gotten out of riding and he goes riding fairly often. So I already have somebody to roost on. Thanks and I look forward to more input, Laurence.

Right on, most I've benched has been 275 for 2 reps, but thats been some time ago. I'm actually just getting back into lifting weights and am making rapid gains each week. Love that muscle memory effect. I'm almost passed the initial extreme soreness period of having been a lazy ass for too long. I'm hoping a shoulder injury I suffered about a year ago, that was still noticable untill just a few months ago, dose not hold me back from getting back in shape. So far the shoulder injury has not been an issue, but I'm trying to be a little cautious, and not push things to fast.

Ya, I actually thought of good old Jeff Ward and did a search to find his size. As I remembered he wasn't to big. Came up with 5' 7"s @ 170#, when he won the 500 Nationals in like 89'/90' ish I think it said. It also said, I believe, that he did it 2 years in a row.

I know guys put weights in the ends of the bars for the vibration, but what else can be done? I remember something about shaving weight off the mag also, but I don't remember if that was just to quicken the revs or ? on certain 500's. Shaving the mag. would probably add to the vibration, I'd think.

KX 640 huhh, wow, I'll have to see if I can find any details on the net. Sounds scary (fun), on Nitrous too, awesome!

Whats the approx. top speed on a KX500 (stock gearing)? I wonder what the desert racing guys are doing to them? I'll do some investigateing when I can.

Thanks, Laurence.

I'm about to call it a day as its late, but I just thought I'd tune in one more time for today.

I looked for big bore kits on the net and the biggest thing I could come up with was a 520 something cc kit for the KX500. Saw a 600 something for Banshee's which was interesting.

A couple of things I came across that I thought where awesome was a Perimeter frame kit for KX500's which brought all the geometery in line with modern 250's and included the use of 02' KX250 plastic. That was killer, they switched everything from a 91' over.

The other was a CR500AF, a 500 motor in a modified CR250 frame, the reviews of it said it was the baddest 500 these testers had ever thrown a leg over. Don't know if its still available as it was a dealer using new bikes and new 500 motors from Honda, and since Honda dropped the CR500, it might be unobtanium already.

I've been out of this stuff for so long I'm soaking all the info up like a spunge.

Finally, I could not see any close ups of the handle bars on the big 04' ATK's to see if there was an extra lever, but in the close up of the 700cc ATK (Maico) engine its got a cable coming out of the side of the cylinder that looks suspiciously like they do in fact have a decompression feature. I could be wrong, but what else could it be?

Talk at ya later, Laurence.

lol, I beleive you nephron, I don't know about anyone else, but I beleive you.
Just kidding! I tried the web address, but it said under construction on my end. Plugged in B&B racing Tecate and 2 stroke specialists, using Google search engine, and still didn't see any info. Thats OK for now though, as I'm quite aways from being able to get a bike yet. I'll try the web addy in the coming days.

On the ATK I did notice they had a link to a brief test by.....oh, I think it was a dirt bike mag tester. He got a quick ride on the 700cc and it didn't sound like much fun to me. The guy said no matter what position the throttle was in the thing just would not rev. Lots of power he said, but very electric fealing. Hopefully the 620cc will rev a bit, I would think that would be alot more fun.

I think at this point I'm just going to plan on getting a 500 for now, and start saving my pennies. Maybe I'll get lucky and the AF will still be available by the time I can afford a new bike. The factory's sure have left the 500's alone technology wise. Hell Kawi is the only one still making a 500 2 stroke, from what I can see. I really get the sense now more than ever that they are trying to almost get away from 2 strokes or something. It will be a sad day in my opinion, if 2 strokes are no longer available to the public. Talk to you guys later, Laurence.

I agree, that makes sense to me. I just hope the AF is still available when I have some $$$$.

Right on. I had thought about the increased rigidity of the frame on the AF. When I was looking around the net I remember either the AF or the perimeter frame KX500 kit I came across had some reference to rubber isolated handle bars. When I get closer to being ready to get a bike I will definetly be looking into that.

Really, I didn't know the XR650 could be made to run that hard. My friend that still rides has an 02' XR650. I don't get a chance to catch up with my friend to often, but I have had a couple of opportunities to make a few laps on it. I was not all that impressed with its acceleration.

I had so much experience on the several different worked KX 80's when I was young (I had an 83', 84', and an 85'), all of my KX 80's had the 100cc kit imediately thrown at them. Now granted I was much lighter back then, but my 80's were all rockets and would easily hike the front end up constantly with out any effort. The 80's I had would walk all over every other 80cc I ever encountered, and except for the wheel dia. and suspension advantage of the 125's I could usually frustrate the hell out of those guys to. I remember an article in a mag. where they litterally said that the KX 80 with the 100cc kit brought it up to a power to weight level of the 500's hence I had no problem doing 3rd gear starts and roosting all over the local 125 hotshots.

As a result of those experiences I have always really preferred bikes that will catch you off guard with the front end hiking antacs.

The 85' CR250 I had was worked, ie, full port/polish, milled head, and pipe. This 250 was an antique by 1994 standards, but if the handling was not an issue I could run down locals who raced that I would hook up with at the local desert practice tracks. On starts my 250 would usually pull on early 90's 250's. I sold my 250 because it just wasn't enough power, it had to have a very fresh rear tire for me to ever get cought off gaurd by the front end hiking up. My other friends 91' KX250 is a bit more hyper (fun), but for any high speed stuff, forget it I need 2 more gears. Then finally the only other bike I've ridden thats worth mentioning was another guy I know who briefly had a 98' YZ400F, it had a bit more top speed (not enough), but just not enough balls for the true fun I used to have on my killer little 80's when I was young.

So at this point due to the kind of riding I will probably be doing some MX tracks (a little less focus than when I was younger), much more high speed desert long distance runs that are popular local 4x4 trails. I'm convinced its gonna take a big bore to satisfy my craving for HP. I will also be doing quite a bit of riding up in the forests of northern AZ which are at approx. 7000', so I have some concerns about any of the big 4 strokes due to the fact that I know the 2 strokes don't take as big of an hp hit from the thinner air.

Sorry for rambling, I'm just so excited to get another bike. I'll look into the XR650 mods a bit though, as that has me curious.

Did a little looking into the XR650 possibilities. Found a desert racers bike and other info. Looks like they are nice out of the box, but in an effort to conform to emissions, Honda has them fairly restricted on the intake side. I think it said 45 hp (I think is was) stock, with factory mods 55 hp, and then if you go for max they claimed this guys baja bike had 67 hp. I read a test of this guys desert bike and they claimed it would run with out of the box 500 2 strokes, or so they felt. This guys bike had been either clocked or radared at 114 mph in some last race prior to this particular article. The testers said that with the factory upgrades/mods you could expect approx. 105 mph or a little better with proper gearing. They really liked the bike and couldn't believe how hard it pulled and how stable it was. The only short coming they mentioned was that if you came down hard such as over shooting a landing jump, well then you absolutely noticed the increase in weight as compared to your average MX er. However, they indicated there was a benefit to the added weight that I hadn't thought of but makes sense, which is that you didn't feal certain bumps like you would on a lighter bike, because the added weight of the bike forced the suspension to absorb more (interesting).

My fealing at this particular point is that for the added money to make the XR650 rock, at least if your starting with a new bike, that a person could get on the CR500AF.

I also came across some video clips from a guy in some races with a camera mounted on his helmet. He was riding a CR500 and man I forgot just how awesome a 500cc 2 stroke sounds.

When I finally have the funds together, it will be a tough choice. The cost may certainly dictate my decision when the time comes. If I can afford it, I will be all over the CR500AF. If thats just not feasable, it is going to be a very difficult choice between the XR650 or a CR/KX 500. The sound of a 4 stroke just doesn't do much for me, at least not compared to a 500cc 2 stroke. C Ya.

I guess I am having some difficulty with the concept of having a 4 stroke, its not that obvious is it.

I went by my buddies house (who has the XR650) last night. As if I needed more torture of not having my own bike. I didn't get another ride on it (it was to late), we just rapped about bikes all night. My friend and I were always very competative. He has already told me he's gonna "stuff me in a corner". "I said your not going to be anywhere near close enough". So we have picked up right where we had left off years ago when we used to go riding. He has forgotten that I used to be the better rider. Operative word being, used to be. My gut fealing is that even on my first ride, I will have some moments of my old WOT speed and that within a matter of weeks he's gonna be in trouble. My friend also informed me that he still has a 98' XR600 that he is probably getting back from another friend as they couldn't agree on a sales price on it. Aparently his old 600 has some mods and will run with his 650 and due to gearing changes its actually got quite a bit more top speed. So I may at least get some riding oportunities before I even get my own bike. Which is good, but man I hate having to take it easy on someone else's bike.

My friend was touching on one of the reasons in his opinion that the XR's dominate (his words) Baja. Was that the 500's won't rev as much in reality as the big 4 strokes, so his fealing is that there is a speed advantage there. My friend also reiterated the fact that the added weight really does add alot to the stability at speed and keeps the bike from reacting to as many bumps.

I really am getting the fealing that when I start riding with my friend again, that the majority of the riding is going to be 15 - 25+ mile runs, as thats what he and his friends have been doing. Which is making me give more consideration to a big 4 stroke. I can't believe I just actually said that, as I am still having trouble realizing that 4 strokes are for more than just enduros these days.

I think eventually I will just have to have both a big 2 stroke and 4 stroke. But initially its going to be very difficult for me to decide.

So other than the missing parts on the XR, these were basically stock bikes???? Like as in no major mods to the engine.