I have a new 2003 KTM 300 EXC and after hearing a few isolated incidents of cylinder scarring on the '04's, I decided to pull the pipe on mine at take a look inside. It was ugly, and I have less than 10 minutes on this engine (warmed it up twice). When I say ugly, I am comparing it to my KDX 220 that I made the same observation on, but after 4 hours of operation. The KDX had only a couple of short lines right above the tops of the ports. The KTM already has at least 5 vertical markings 1/8th wide by full height of piston travel. These marks appear very minor and have no texture or feel to them (they feel as smooth as the adjacent wall surface but they erased the cross-hatching on the cylinder. It also has numerous short marks at the ports like the ones my KDX had. Is this normal for a brand new engine that has only 10 minutes run time? Is this a result of the rings trying to seat? The dealer did not know what to say other than KTM has not mentioned any problems.