KTM 200EXC stomps my WR250F!

[LawManNv]

My brother just bought a '01 KTM 200EXC and couldn't be happier. After years of telling him that he needed to upgrade from his '93 XR250 he did and now I want one. The first time I rode it I was faster than I am on my WR250F. The bike will lug third gear and pull strongly with a twist of the throttle without the constant shifting I must do. The quality of parts seems much better on the KTM than my Yamaha. At the end of our ride we drag raced and he pulled about a one bike lead on the start but we topped out at the exact same speed. If I can figure out a way to get rid of the Yamaha without losing my shirt I will be on orange soon.

LawManNv

And Strick, no I told you so's, I tried to get the KTM first! :)

 

[firecracker22]

:D :D :D :D

 

[tm-enduro]

Sorry to hear that. The WR250F is the future of small bore dirt bikes. As a four-stroke rider and a current owner of a 125 enduro, the WR looks like load of fun to me (light, nimble, revvy 4-stroke). I would love to spend some time on the WR in tight woods. Put on the MX tank/seat and a CRD exhaust (or other such quiet non-restrictive exhaust) and go stomp him.

 

[Strick]

Told ya, told ya told ya!!! When are we going riding??? Tell him to put the Delta II in that bike, and then just stand back and watch. The results on the 200 are amazing!

:confused:

Is your brother selling the the XR? Let me know I may have a buyer!

 

[LawManNv]

TM,

I have already added a Vortip to the exhaust and changed to YZ timing which helped a lot. Don't get me wrong, this is a good bike but just not for me. I am a mid range rider who likes to lug higher gears and be able to roll on the throttle when it's needed. I know, so why did I buy the WR? I also love four strokes but have hated the weight so I thought this could be the bike. The problem is that it has absolutely no mid range. It pulls strong off the bottom and flat rips on top but if you don't have the motor sreaming you aren't going anywhere fast. I ride a lot of technical and rocky singletrack and that spread of power is very difficult to control. Compared to my brother's KTM the WR feels heavy and slow turning. I know the IMS tank and seat would help the handling but nothing will fix the high rev only motor. I actually like this bike on the motocross track where you can keep the speed up. It handles excellent at speed and jumps very well. On the trail with my brother whoever was on the KTM was way out in front. At least for the both of us it is much easier to go fast on the KTM. The only areas where I felt my WR was better was high speed stability and jumping. Everywhere else the KTM was superior.

Strick,
He will be selling the XR. I will let him know and get the details. It seems like every time you go riding something comes up. I work rotating shifts so I'll keep an eye out for when you are going. This Sat. maybe?

 

[tm-enduro]

LawMan
Back in "94 I raced the 2-day National Reliability Enduro in Minden, NV on a 125. I enjoyed the course, but a high revving, small bore bike was a bad choice on that type of terrain (a KX500 would have been better, espeically in the sand washes).

 

[tm-enduro]

LawMan
I follow what you are saying. My TM125E is a blast to ride fast and hard, but drops way down the fun meter when "just playing around". It is difficult to ride with bigger bikes because the the majority of big bike riders don't carry speed through the corners and difficult sections. It takes work to go fast ( or even just moderately fast). The KTM200 is an awesome machine.

 

[dirt bike dave]

LawMan,
Have you considered the Gas Gas 200? Got to ride MR WR's last weekend and that bike is a hoot. Very nimble and a strong runner, especially when you get the revs up. Haven't ridden the 200 KTM, so can't make a direct comparison there, but that GG is a fine machine, too.

 

[Strick]

Here we go again!!:scream:

 

[RBW]

Back before the four stroke 250's were out, I was talking to Don Knight at GasGas North America about their 250 four stroke. He said that it was a great bike and that the only thing to compare it to was the XR 250, as the YZ's were not on the market yet."It's worlds ahead of the XR" he stated. I then asked,"How does it compare to the 200 2 stroke? His exact words were," It won't run with it." Right then I knew, that the YZ 250WR was not going to have quite enough power for my tastes.

 

[tm-enduro]

The 250 4-stroke was made to compete with 125 2-strokes and be ridden by 125 riders.

 

[MR.WR]

GasGas.....I'm not going to say it again:p

 

[LawManNv]

I am not going to start this discussion again! Most likely if I do get another bike it will be a KTM 250 or 300EXC. The GasGas is very nice but it is quite a bit more expensive. I will probably lose too much money getting rid of the WR so I might have to hang on to it. I haven't even made the first payment yet! The WR will hang with the KTM 200 in a lot of conditions and I prefer it on high speed runs. I raced it in the 25+ beginners motocross and had no trouble keeping up with all bikes including 250 2-strokes. It makes up for the lack of hp in other areas. But, for me the KTM is a better ride overall. I think I will try a sprocket change to see if that helps. If all else fails I've still got the KDX sitting in the garage!

 

[thetemples]

Ha

So Funny..

The guy says a 'new 200' beats my 'custom yamaha' and others come in and say, Id love to throw 2000$ at that yamaha and make it beat the katoom.

exactly..

 

[TexKDX]

Interesting banter here on the 200 and 250. A class level rider bud of mine just got out of his '00 200e and went with an '00 400E. He sold the 200 to another friend and they went riding together with both bikes.

The unanomous observation was the 200 was busy and hyper, vs. the 400 had a nice flowing way of attacking the trails. They also commented that the 400 required way less shifting than the 200.

OK, I know it was not the WR250F they were riding, but I guess all I'm saying is different strokes (literally) for different folks. The emphasis on different. Both bikes sound like a blast to me. Can't wait to ride the baby thumper.

 

[Strick]

Tex

You definitely need to get your hands on a yz/wr250f to ride. They are a blast. They are also every bit as busy as the KTM 200, maybe more. Why more? The stalling issue. I really had to stay on top of the one I rode, but I did like it! What a blast! Then again, I really like to ride a lot of different bikes;)

 

[lips]

I rode my first enduro in 1970 on a Yamaha. Since then I have owned many, many bikes including Kawasaki, Honda, Husqvarna, and KTM. I always bought what I thought I could WIN races with; play riding was secondary.

I rode open bikes exclusively until I got a local dealer/support ride in 1983 and they asked me to ride a 250. I then rode 250's exclusively until last September, when I purchased a KTM 200 EXC.

The 200 Kattoom is the first bike that I ever owned that I enjoyed play riding as much as racing. This bike is amazing. I can stop on rocky uphills and take off again while riding buddys are spinning their rear tires and dog paddling. The stock gearing also allows for a top speed of 74 mph.

I have spent very little money on this bike after initial purchase (approximately $6k) compared to my 94 CR250 (Ohlin shock, Marzocchi forks, wide ratio transmission) which cost $6k plus $3k in modifications to make me happy.

KTM has improved their bikes every year for the past few years. Now, if I only could buy KTM parts as cheap as my Honda :)

Don

 

[Strick]

Oh, so look who decided to poke her nose in:silly:

And Kali there is NO battle!! -Get it??:p

 

[cedarchopper]

Can give honest impression on GasGas and KTM 200's. Owned a 99 GasGas 200and 2001 KTM 200. Note the word owned. I currently race a YZ 125 or should I say 167 from Rick Peterson. It flat runs off from either the KTM or the GasGas or the YZ250F. The only other bike headed into my garage in next few months is a TM125E!:::p

 

[longtime]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[Strick]

Originally posted by LongTime
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Exactly LT, exactly!

 

[DawgDoc]

Lawman,

What kind of terrain did you ride them on? I am trying to decide between the 200MXC and the YZ250F. My son just got a 250F and I had an opportunity to ride it back to back with a 99 200MXC last Wednesday. Now this is a new bike vs. a 2 year old model, but I liked the YZ much better in the tight stuff. When it openned up more the KTM was better, but I still preferred the YZ. Although, neither were as fast in a straight line as my 400EXC.
I felt the YZ was much easier to ride in the woods fast with a lot less effort. Totally different riding styles required. 200 responded to point and shoot while the YZ liked picking a line. Really missed the help of decompression braking on the 2-smoke.
What I am after is a lighter easier to ride bike (than my 400exc) for harescramble racing. I love my 400 but after a hour and a half of tight woods racing it wears by 40+ year old body down. I felt I could ride either of the two above bikes longer and harder. I think part of the preference for the YZ is I am a long time 4-stroke rider. Last 2-stroke I put any serious time on was a Suzuki TM125 converted to mx bike in the 70's. I am sure I could learn to ride that style again, but is it worth it? Also, is the 01 model of the 200MXC much better than the 99 model?

Steve W.
01 400EXC (mine)
01 YZ250f (son's)

Originally posted by LawManNv
My brother just bought a '01 KTM 200EXC and couldn't be happier. After years of telling him that he needed to upgrade from his '93 XR250 he did and now I want one. The first time I rode it I was faster than I am on my WR250F. The bike will lug third gear and pull strongly with a twist of the throttle without the constant shifting I must do. The quality of parts seems much better on the KTM than my Yamaha. At the end of our ride we drag raced and he pulled about a one bike lead on the start but we topped out at the exact same speed. If I can figure out a way to get rid of the Yamaha without losing my shirt I will be on orange soon.

LawManNv

And Strick, no I told you so's, I tried to get the KTM first! :)

 

[MR.WR]

cedarchopper

Posted by cedarchopper:

Can give honest impression on GasGas and KTM 200's. Owned a 99 GasGas 200and 2001 KTM 200. Note the word owned. I currently race a YZ 125 or should I say 167 from Rick Peterson.It flat runs off from either the KTM or the GasGas or the YZ250F

Really......How intersting.......if the YZ is SO strong why are looking towards a TM 125E:confused:

 

[cedarchopper]

I was interested in the TM for two reasons, one was business and the other was the fact it was already street legal for enduros and qualifiers. As to my 167 all I can say is that my 200 GasGas was built by Motowest and my KTM 200 was powered by FMF/Terry Varner's porting and the 167 cleaned up on them as well as the 250 fourstroke. If I was in California, I would offer you a ride but, to quote Terry Varner it is not fair to compare my 167 to his ported and pipe and DeltaForced valve 200. The 40 hp's on the DYNO don't lie!

 

[LawManNv]

DawgDoc,

I rode both bikes in Reno on mostly desert singletrack which was rocky and technical along with some fireroads. In my opinion the KTM was easier to ride at a fast pace than my WR. It feels so light and narrow. For a four stroke my WR feels very light but the fat tank does keep you from moving up on the seat. If I keep this bike I will go with the IMS tank and seat. I rode my WR again yesterday after yet another jet change and I quit using race fuel. The bike seemed to run a lot better. It is kind of funny that I prefer the WR in the open and the KTM in the tight while you like the opposite. Keep in mind though that I do have the WR and not the YZ so you wouldn't have the tank problem. The KTM seemed a little less stable at speed and doesn't hook up like the thumper. I also feel more stable jumping the WR. At least here in Reno the KTM is a better value. My brother got his out the door for less than my sticker price. As far as speed our bikes were dead even at top speed with the KTM getting out to about a one bike lead on the start. I have heard the YZ is quite a bit slower due to the close ratio transmission but is still plenty fast. If you like the YZ go for it, it is a great machine. If I had to do it over again I think I would be riding orange! Good luck.