ktm 300 xc or xc-w for hare scrambles?

[allthingsdirt]

Like the title says. I'll be buying a new bike to race hare scrambles this season and had it narrowed down to the xc-w until I spoke to my local dealer. He advised the suspension on the xc would be better suited to that type of riding.

Whether or not that's true or he just has an xc he wants rid of I'm not sure.

I'm 6'3" 200lbs and ride fairly aggressively. The sole purpose of this bike is to run these races with the odd trail ride thrown in every other weekend.

Any advice is welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

[DWreck]

I think the dealer is right. That is exactly what the XC was built for although I think the XC-W would be fine. What kind of riding do you do when you are not racing? If it is tight gnarly single track where a low first gear is needed you might be better with the XC-W. If you do a little moto here and there I would definitely get the XC. At 200 pounds either bike will need a little suspension work (probably stiffer springs at the very least) but I think you would find the XC to be a little closer to start with.

 

[wake_rider]

^^^ I agree with his statement.

Btw, I have a buddy with the 300exc, and I can say that his stock gearing is a little wider and longer than my yz250 and even on the tight single track, his seems to handle very well. Obviously, it was designed for off road a little more than motocross so it will cover that type of riding better, but it's just an observation.

I would say go for the xc.

 

[allthingsdirt]

Thanks guys.

A lot of of my riding is single track. I have an 01 cr250 now set up nicely for hare scrambles with 1 tooth dropped on the front sprocket. The gearing works perfect for the trails I ride, but I get frustrated when I get to an open or road section and my buddies can pull an extra 20km/h (it seems) on me.

Like DWreck said, I don't think I could go wrong with either, but when your spending 8k + you want to make sure you get the best bang for the buck.

Thanks again.

 

[wake_rider]

If you're looking for a lot of speed on the open stuff, I would definitely ask the salesman if they've figured out a way to fix the headshake on that bike. Most everyone I know with this bike talks about this being an issue on that particular bike, and it's pretty gnarly and all of a sudden right around the 60mph mark. The people I know with these bike that have had this experience have models that are more than two years old. This might have been fixed on the newer models, but I do some research and find out if you will have to upgrade the suspension or buy a steering stabilizer in order to correct this.

 

[Patman]

It's a lot cheaper to get the suspension tuned (going to need to anyway) than to get a wide ratio trans in the bike after the fact.

 

[2-Strokes 4-ever]

Where do you live? Woods ultra tight? Lots of rocks and roots? I'd say W unless your local trails are unusually fast and open. A wide ratio gearbox is really nice and the 300 has the power to make it work... higher top speed, less shifting. As mentioned, at 200 lbs you'll most likely end up reworking the suspension on either bike.

 

[ulmanb]

I had a 300xcw, never had a 300xc, but do have a 05 cr250 (same tranny gearing as your 01).

For the woods riding and single track that I ride, I like the gearing of my cr250 better than that of my old xcw. But most of the time I am not out of third gear.

On road/transfer sections, my buddies on wide ratio geared bikes can easily pull away from me at top speed. I think the XC is going to be a very similiar tranny to that of your CR250.

When I had my xcw, the gap from 4 to 5 seemed to big and the bike didnt seem to pull it as well as you would think. Maybe this has changed with the switchable ignitions though.

 

[allthingsdirt]

All good advice guys, thanks!

My biggest gripe about my bike now, (other than it's age) is to make it work right for the trails around here, I had to drop a tooth on the front sprocket. This works PERFECT for trails but come to an open section and I'm tapped out in 5th before I know it. It actually feels like I've lost a whole gear (speed wise).

I'm sort of leaning towards the xc now, but I'm worried I'll have to do the same thing (drop a tooth up front) to make it work best in the tight stuff. And in turn, lose my top end again.

Is this the case or should it be tight trail ready out of the box?

Thanks

 

[allthingsdirt]

Well, I picked up my '10 300 xc yesterday and it is an absolute thing of beauty. I though I'd be reluctant to sell my '01 cr250 when I got this, but after riding it once, I won't be missing the Honda one bit.

Amazing bike.

Thanks!