Thinking about going Orange

[eprovenzano]

My son has outgrown his 99 YZ125, he's taken over my 99 KX250. I am going to sell the 125, and thinking about a used KTM300. I'll be looking at the 98-01 years. We trail ride with the occasional trip to a track. Is there anything I need to look for as far as maintenance goes. I've always ridden either yami or Kawi, so I'm new to the KTM world. Is one year better than another, or is there a year/model I should stay away from.

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[dirt bike dave]

The '99 is the last year with the 50mm conventional forks. These can be made to work very well for trail/enduro and are preferred by some riders.

The 250 is also a fine bike. Much less low end grunt than the 300, but IMO it is less tiring to ride.

 

[CR Swade]

The earlier 300's were brutes and had some jetting issues. The 300's were fast and much harder hitting than now. IMO the 250 during those years was easier to live with jetting and easier to ride for long periods.

I used to be huge fan of the 50mm Zokes action in the woods, but they are very heavy, flexy for any sort of rough MX and leak pretty regularly at the seals. The 48mm usd forks can be made to be jsut as plush w/a good tuner w/ less weight and flex

Ideally, if you can find some of the killer deals that have 03-04's going for 2800-3200 there are some very nice suspension changes made to the bikes in 03. SX models in 03 also recv'd the new 9lb lighter engine design as well as the new bodywork. The 03 250SX is still regarded as one of the fastest 250 engines produced by anybody. In 04 the chassis and suspension changes were all added to the MXC and EXC lineup as well.

Mainly KTM really has done a nice job of refining suspension and handling every year. The engines have gotten much smoother while making strong HP. One item to consider though is they have gotten much lighter over the years. Is there a bad year, not really. The 98 really needed suspension help w/ it being totally new design, but tuners ususally can handle it. One of my favorite bikes of all time is still my 97 250EXC BUT that bike weighed 4lbs MORE than my buddies XR400. In 98 the PDS suspension and chassis came out and they got much lighter. The newer 03 and up bikes are much lighter yet and do handle better than the earlier models of the PDS bikes (98-02).

Sorry if I rambled on, lots of subtle changes over the years

 

[denteen]

The '99 is the last year with the 50mm conventional forks. These can be made to work very well for trail/enduro and are preferred by some riders.

The 250 is also a fine bike. Much less low end grunt than the 300, but IMO it is less tiring to ride.

Dirt Bike Dave- I am also in Bakersfield, got back into dirt bikes with the XR200, want a KTM. Have a line on a 99 380 2 stroke and a 2000 380 2 stroke. Any opinions on the bikes? The XR just doesn't cut it! Thanks, Dennis.

 

[eprovenzano]

Thanks for the reply's. I did hear the 97-99 bikes did have jetting issues out of the box, but I "assume" those would have been corrected by now. I'm not too concerned about the "hit" as I could add a flywheel weight to help give more control.
On my KX, I added a 11oz flywheel weight, and lowered the gearing. Its like a tractor... I lost some top speed, but at my age, that's OK... With the current set up, the KX can be lugged, without a problem. Recently I went on a 50 mile trail ride with some friends. I was the only one on a bike, the rest were on quads. It was real slow going, 1st and 2nd gear almost all day. The bike never gave me a problem. I was thinking I'd be able to do the same on the KTM, and have a little more giddy up with the 300.
I thought about getting a 250 which needed engine work done, and punching it out to a 295, but I'm unsure of its reliably, but why go through all that when KTM already has a 300... :ride:

 

[dirt bike dave]

The 300 is no doubt a great motor. Besides jetting, many guys will adjust the powervalve so that the valve opens as late as possible. This prevents a low end hit as the powervalve opens, and also improves the fuel range. When you get on a long straight, the powervalve opens and the bike rips on top.

denteen - I've never ridden a 380, but I am sure it is a huge step up from your XR200! I think the 380 would be a blast in the desert, but more motor than I would need for tight trails.

 

[dingoe]

I ride the deserts, but like the woods best. Once I moved from Southeastern NC to SoCal, I went to a KX500, then down to a ’97 360MXC, then to an ’00 300MXC. Now I’m riding a GasGas 300XC and a ’01 250EXC. Overall I feel the 250EXC is the best out of the KTM (older KTM’s) for the riding I like (tight stuff). If your into running wideopen in the Desert than the 380 will work for you, but overall the 380 is a lot of bike. The 300 if setup correctly like Dave said is a very good all around do anything bike, but if your up in Wellsburg on the banks of the river (my wife’s family is from there), I’d look for a EXC250 or a GasGas Ec250. The 250 wide ratio is just going to be a better all around woods runner in my opinion. I ride the GasGas 300 most because I ride the high deserts out by Barstow, but the 300 reminds me of my ’00 300KTM and I can’t ride it as long. That’s coming from a big heavy rider who use to race a TE570. These days a 250 feels light and is easy to get around on. The 300 will pull longer and smother, but the 250 feels light and still has that zap. If I every move back East, I’ll replace the 300 with another 250. Overall for trail use stuff seems to come up very quickly on the 300 GG or KTM, and on the 250 you have more time to get ready to handle it. Look at Junior he used one for years and was enduro champ all that time.

Best of luck.

 

[CR Swade]

Sorry, I forgot to add that I've owned/raced a 97 KTM 250EXC, 02 453EXC, 02 520MXC, 03 525EXC, 04 250EXC, 05 250EXC (my best 2t off-road bike ever...much better than my converted CR's by far) and now the 06 SXF w/ the 312. I've ridden several 300's and for racing they require too much concentration from me in the latter stages of a race.

For tight woods and trails w/ an occasional track playday the 250 is REAL hard to beat.

 

[denteen]

Thanks a lot for the advice guys! I do not need to go too fast on a 380, I'm pretty much riding with my younger kids. Really looking for a bike that will handle well, take some moderate jumps without compressing to the ground like my 200 does now! Sounds like the 250-300 will give me plenty of thump without "wearing me out". Thanks again, Dennis.

 

[beargun]

Eprovenzano.. You can change the jetting just about as fast as you can change a flywheel , those issues will probably be worked out by now.I agree with CR Swade you can get a 04-05 model in the 3000 price range and it will have lots of changes.Either way i think you'll be glad you went orange.

 

[eprovenzano]

dingoe you know its a small world.... Yes you are correct, I am on the banks of the Ohio, but I usually ride the as we call them hills, to others those are mountains... As you can tell, I'm pondering either a 250 or 300. I was thinking the 300 would be a little easier in our tight trails, but I didn't think about the extra weight (no I'm not talking about my extra weight gained over the winter)... You gave me something to ponder... :think:

Thanks for the input.