2019 tm300en has Husky/Ktm met its match!

I don't know..the tpi bikes feel slower and to have less power then the carb bikes..added weight as well. That's why I went 19. The tm as I've had two of them ..a 98 and a 2012 still intriqe me...but resale and the ridgid aluminum frame keep me thinking.. and I won't lie the 19 tx 300 is plain old good! However if it were beta gas gas or tm ..I'd take the tm...beta has had some quesionable quality control issues. Gas gas has no counter balencer..choices sure are tough these days! I've rode a couple tpi bikes and could just be me..the carb versions seem to be better. Any opinions?

I haven't ridden any TPI 2 stokes yet and for now I'm not interested. Once there're proven to be substantially better in performance and more dependable I'll consider one. Right now all they do is add expense, battery troubles, and dozens of new ways to break down on the trial. The only upside anyone is claiming is that they are smooth. Secondly the Kehien carb on my TM works so good I sold my Lectron.


Back to the bike choices, I can share some first hand knowledge on the GASGAS. I've helped my friend who bought a 2018 gasgas 300 and 9 months later bought a 2019 en300. I'm not a fan of the GASGAS. I've witnessed him spend over 2k on the e-start and it stayed fixed for such a short amount of time he's now having problems with the manual kick starter. After spending over $1,800 on parts which was with him doing the labor he took it to the dealer and told them the keep it until it would start without kicking it... 3 weeks later and $280 he got it back and it worked for 3 days. It's not just one single thing on the e-start it's every crappy piece on it. other than that I found the bike heavy, slow and vibrated more than it should. Nearly every part on it is heavier and lower quality than the same part on my TM. Things like the axles which are nearly solid and weigh twice what the TM axles weigh add up to make the bike feel heavy in comparison. His wiring harness fell apart, he's had 3 ECUs on it, 2 flywheels 3 starter gear covers (the 3rd one was billet), 3 starter motors, 3 sets of the small gears and bearings, 3 batteries, I'm sure there's more that I don't know about. All that said he actually liked the bike and rode it pretty good, if the e-start wasn't such a problem he wouldn't have ever bought the TM. Now he's already faster on the TM and really likes it. If there's a down side to TM it's that they change things to improve their bikes and offer so many options that aftermarket parts can be hard to get sometimes, other times it's surprisingly easy and not expensive. For example they offer multiple triple clamp options with different angles with and without rubber mounted bar clamps so getting a steering dampener mount its taking a couple weeks because GPR wasn't aware of the different design that's rubber mounted.

Lankydoug... Well you hit the nail on the. Head for most things. The gas gas estart is a dated unproven design..however I think if you update the wires on the 18 it is fairly reliable...at 234 dry weight. Ec300...a tx is 219..these are true real weights not advertised...the gas gas guys are going nuts over the 60 percent ktm buyout but truth is . Well they were broke..fee 19s..no rangers. They probably should thank ktm..the tm is a handcrafted Italian stallion built with passion and care ..a few ridiculous things in my mind..tm..for your en models add a kickstand strap... I've talked to some guys.. I had a 12 and and old 98..but the aluminum frame makes me nervous.. i suppose you can get it dialed via a revalve..seems your buddy got a lemon..I've heard alot of good things on the gasser..but small tm no bankrupt no B's and it's not orange..so I get it

I forgot to write that he also bought a new wiring harness. It's probably a lemon at least when it comes to the starting system. I think his starting problems were related to his ECU not giving it spark while cranking unless everything in his system was brand new and fresh. I worked on it and verified no spark while cranking but 3 ECU changes and a new wiring harness and ignition coil didn't change the problem. if you had to crank it a few seconds extra without it starting the small gears would quickly wear and start dragging tho voltage down causing a no spark.

One of my other friends bought 3 of the exact same bike and they were ok and only had a few starter problems but one of the 3 had 3 complete top ends in the first 6 months. I think the GASGAS factory had to cut quality to get their price down which they did but the quality suffered which wasn't worth the trade off to me.

I really like several things about KTM/Husky they just haven't put a bike together with the right combo for me. Most of the time their suspension was the deal breaker. You got a good deal on your KTM leaving you money to make some changes which is a good way to go about getting what you want.

The 19 carb bikes do run quite a bit better then the first year . Mikuni huskys. The tpi bikes i rode ran ok..the 19 had all updates and still acted lean on bottom..I think tpi is good however if you don't mind mixing gas and your not changing elevations all the time...the simplicity of a good jetted carb bike and less weight for me seem to get the nod. The gas gas guys love there bikes..they are slightly porky and vibrate considerably more and feel sort of old school. However and alternative bike that is reliable and out of the box has suspension that will work for a variety of riders. 12-17 not so much..

The Husky tpi 300 I rode was a 2019 with 10 hours on, the owner was parked next to me at an enduro we had just ridden, I found that it was so easy to ride down low with the mid range - top end pull was more than enough for me(short overweight & getting old) being a slower rider, it was also still on the original tank of gas he started the day with so the economy is also very good as i added another 20 mins on it, the bike did give me confidence to attack terrain with more ease than on my Italian - but that's 10 years worth of technology I suppose.

A quick FYI, I heard TM is giving 10% off their 2019s which makes them the same as a KTM/Husky.

These were the best Years of Husky Technology, 2000-04 they had everything in their lineup from a 125 2stroke up to a big 4 stroke and all bikes were built to last!

the Cagiva grandchildren Husky labled machines are still great