126,875mph. Stock Production 1983 500XC

That was standard gearing on my mid 80s model 510s

Gents i,m awaiting publication of the event official results and will then do a full report.
My job is 60 hrs a week chronic crisis management, things are different here in Africa.
I had a 30 second slot for one run and the effort to get there and pull it off was harrowing to say the least.
The 1981 KTM Dirtbike publicity stunt temains unsubstantiated and of no official nature whatsoever.
Im well aware of current recorded official runs and speeds.
Later
Hamm

nice work....

I raced a 1985 500 KTM in Baja in 1985, '86 & '87 and can honestly say that it was one of the fastest and most powerful dirt bikes I have ever ridden.

By the looks of the collection of bikes you have....you know power.

I have an article in an 84 issue of Australasian Dirt Bike magazine (issue 68) (ADB) Geoff Eldridge fame, and all that and they took an XC 500 to the Sydney Castlereagh Drag strip and declared it the fastest stock bike with knobbies in the world at that time. 106MPH. Stephen Gall's and Peter Stayt's 490 Yamaha were doing 185kmh at Finke and the BAJA winning XC 500 which they say was timed at 135MPH across a dry lake bed. Same issue they tested the 510 TE

KTM


FRANCE
HUSQVARNA 430
190 KM/H
pilot Faucher

what you say is so painfully true, somehow people think the newer anything is (gooder)
i was riding my KTM 380 and my Husky 360, enjoying the roll-on power, wondering why everyone thinks their new 300 pulls as hard, i like my 300 but it's not as powerful
go out to the desert and some clown will pull up next to my 87 430 on a new 450 and certain they will pull me
I was cruising (if that's what you call 100mph) a number of years back and a guy thought he was going to reel me in on my 430 and as he slid backwards became appalled
how on earth can some old outdated bike beat my new technical wonder, yes he stopped where I was parked for a look at what pulled away and seemed stunned
go back one step further, most situations don't really need water cooling especially on a 500, but the Japanese sold it as needed and forced the rest of the industry to bend
that being said a 500 air cooled will be faster due to being lighter, but an 85 500 does not have the big wings like the later models so it could theoretically go about as fast
there,,,,, I rambled long enough

That's why I ran a tad faster than the traffic. But the bandit as well as other bikes from Japan are so smooth without looking at the speedo I found myself at 100mph or faster without realizing it. It was time to park it.

Exactly most of my buddies on there newer bikes thought my 81 250cr was too old to be fast. My message to my son who rode it was "take it easy on that old bike" that told my son to kick their butts. They never caught the kid. I never bragged but I laughed a lot. I purchased the 81/250cr from the junk yard. Washed it, built and ported the engine, jetted it, added the UFO, played with the sprocket ratios till she was a rocket.
I been told my kid is a ringer. I sent him riding with a friend who thought he was going to baby sit my son. Well he got a lesson from the kid.

quit riding street too for that reason

I quit riding croch rockets on the street for that reason. But i sure miss the technology in the modern street machines.

I did work on the 1200 bandit engine it's a detuned gsxr1100 engine. I enjoyed the power. Maybe too much. I do miss it. There's a bandit website in california where the guy builds the 1200cc bandit to the point she beats the hayabusa in the quarter mile. I did a few of his changes. But now the bandit it a 1250cc.

I did over 100mph on my '99 TE610e. That's scary the slightest cross wind on the highway and your road pizza. I wasn't wide open too.

There was a 550cc KTM 2T bike, was it ever tested?

my brother had a 550, it had some cool power but not a ton of top speed
I suppose you could radically reggae it but that misses the point of stock

Is 126mph on Bitumen the same as 126mph on dirt ?
Surely with tyre slippage the hp on dirt would have to be even higher again.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

When it comes to speed on the dirt the Baja 1000 must be the ultimate test. I have never been there but its on my list. If I remember correctly a Motorcycle has won the overall all but two years. Off Road Motorcycles really haven't changed that much in the last 30 years. But look at what has happened to the Buggy's and Trophy Trucks. They now have twice the suspension travel as a motorcycle and 800 HP. They go there with big teams and money. All the motorcycle manufactures have dropped out and its privateers these days. And they still win.

Don't know what it is , but there's just something about a dirt bike !!!

don't forget not many baja, finke and salt bikes are stock gearing... they are usually 1up on the front if not less on the back as well.

the 400 will out run a 450 fourbanger no stress and match a 500.