125-200cc I Rode The Prototype Wr200 And It Is Amazing...

I think the KTM 200 is a love/hate bike. I owned a '10 200 XC-W for about a month and could never quite bond with it. I struggled with the ergos mostly. I thought it handled OK and the engine was plenty, but I just never felt at home on it. Traded it even for WRBob's '10 TXC 250. Bob loved the 200 and I loved the TXC so it was win-win.

If you are just clicking on this thread and it is taking you to the end, look on the previous page for a pipe comparison between the PC 200 pipe and the FMF Fatty pipe.

Walt, I have a quick question for you. I have been messing with your spring kit since I installed the 165 kit (total awsomeness). I tried the orange/green first and the power came on too fast and too soon for my liking. I like to torque around most of the time and like a smooth power band. I tried the yellow/green next and it still felt similar but not quite as abrupt. Do I want the largest gap in RPM between IO and FO for my riding needs? I wonder if a lot has to do with the KTM Gnarly pipe? You said it would be a handful on the bottom.....and it is! Its great for grass track and when it opens up but in rocky sections that are technical it comes on to hard. Can I get your opinion on this? I was going to try the whit with silver or blue tomorrow. Thanks - Matt

Thanks, I will try that tomorrow hopefully before the snow starts. Thanks!

+1 to what Kelly said. With that pipe you want it opening later not sooner. I would add the silver to the stock or white spring at the least. I told you it was going to be a beast off the bottom/early mid. I think you will actually need to add a FWW with that pipe or try it with the old WR ignition. Eric, woodschick's husband was commenting about how my buddy Jon's was actually too much off the bottom and really demanded fine throttle control with the stock pipe much less the gnarly. I agree with him although when you get above 5000'-6000' where we ride most of the time it was much better and worked great for lugging through the nasty stuff.

I am running mine with the stock spring and a slightly longer version of the smaller blue spring. I don't want my power valves opening until 8K+ with the FMF Fatty. That makes for a really smooth but aggressive powerband if that makes any sense at all. Of course with the 144 now mounted up I have gone back to the stock and silver combination. Keep us posted as those gnarly 200 pipes are pretty easy to come by.

Quick update on the WR165 project. Went for the first 'real' ride on Monday. I worked Sunday night and only got a couple hours sleep so I didnt go 100%. Maybe 70%. I still had the KTM 200 FMF Gnarly along with the orange / green spring combo. The power of this motor is amazing. Very 250ish. I am riding my backyard which includes grass track areas, rocky single track with lots of leaves and roots. Rocky turns and up / down hills. A good testing area for what I typically race. The power of this combo comes on hard and fast low in the RPM range. In other words too much low end for my riding / racing. I think that this pipe / spring combo would rule on a MX track where there is good to great traction. This would eat a 250f for lunch!

On Tuesday I swapped out to the yellow / green spring combo. This was similar but a bit more ridable. Still came on hard and fast but higher in the RPM. Still too much for me in the mud and rocks but I think this might works pretty well at the south Jersey races where it a lot of sands. I find a lot of passing can be had out of corners in those races and the additional burst close to idle would be ideal.

As you can read above both Walt and Kelly gave me ideas as to what I should try next. Walt did try and warn me about the monster bottom and low mid this pipe would have. I in no way thought he was blowing smoke, however I couldnt pass up on the price and thought that others might benefit from my testing. Today I braved the elements, donned my snivel gear (vest and cold weather gloves), and set the little guy up with TV along with a PB and J. There is a light snow falling and the temp is hovering around freezing. The ground was not frozen making it a bit slick. This time I tried the stock / silver spring. This combo is MUCH closer to what I was looking for. It kept the bottom end to early mid lugging along when I needed but throttle control is still something that needs to be watched but not as close as the other combo's. The power comes on fairly quick but not as hard. It is definitely more controllable. The top end goes flat and signs off early. This does not bother me due to being a low and mid rider but if you scream your bike a lot this pipe probably wont work for you. I found also that gear selection is a little more important than with my YZ250. I am not saying this because the bike is down on power. I think that its due to the pipe actually having more power in the lower RPM. If that makes sense. I quickly adapted to remembering how to feather the clutch out of corners and climbing gnarly hills! I am also running a G2 400 throttle cam instead of the stock throttle. I want to switch and see what I think. Its possible that the cam is ramping up to the OEM curve right when the power comes on but I cant be sure.

With this spring combo I also noticed that when I switched maps with the dual ignition it was more noticeable. After hosing the bike off (yes I am one of those guys) I checked my gearing and found that I was mistaken on what I was running. I thought it was 14/52 but its 13/52. This would account for a almost unusable first gear! Duh! I am going to try a 14T front if I can find one. That might throw my testing off so I will continue with what I have until finished. My apologies to everyone where I stated in a previous post that I said I had 14/52. I think that when I swap gearing that the power will be even closer to what I am looking for.

When I rode the bike on Monday I was thinking "holy s#@t this pipe will kill me in the rocks"! Now I am closing in on what I prefer. At this point I would still like to try other pipes just because, but if I can smooth out the delivery just a bit more when it comes on the pipe I will stick with what I have. Walt had suggested a flywheel weight which I think might be perfect. If the gearing swap doesnt work then I might try that route. First I am going to try the stock / blue spring combo on Monday and see what I think. The onset of the IO is delayed but comes to FO faster (300 RPM from one to the other vs. 600 with my current combo) so it might not be for me. I loaded up some pics of what I am riding just to give an idea. My current loop is short and I am trying to add some more technical sections along with some smooth single track. I dont have a lot of land but feel very blessed to have what we do. Its hard to make sections with no rock because we live on the top of a mountain where that kind of all we have!

I must say that after riding Japanese bikes for the past eight years (mostly four-strokes) it was very easy to adapt to the Husky. I havnt owned a 2-stroke Euro bikes since my '99 Husky 360 and my '99 KTM 200. I fully expected it to take a few rides to get used to this bike but I must say that after about twenty minutes I felt right at home. My newest race bike prior to this was an '04 YZ250F. That was sold at the end of the season after switching to my '03 YZ250 at the mid season point. I wasnt to keen on the flame outs and hard starting of the 250f. After switching to the YZ250 I was MUCH more comfortable. The Husky blows that bike away as far as suspension and handling are concerned (Drew Smith did work on both). If I get the power just right on the Husky it be better in that department as well. Right now I would call them even. Both have their good and bad points. 6 years of suspension and frame technology makes a huge difference! The Husky feels much lighter and carves very nice. Once I get the motor and suspension dialed in I think I will have a awesome race bike that will double as a awesome trail bike!





This section below is littered with both loose and solid rocks followed by a rocky right hand turn to the uphill in the next pic which has roots and rocks strewn about. Good testing.


This section below required proper gear selection more so than any other area. There is 0 acceleration room at the bottom and you're coming out of a all rock turn. I tried different gears. 1st would come into the power as I tried to gain momentum causing the rear to kick out a lot and getting the bike sideways. 3rd would bog a little too much making me abuse the clutch too much and sometimes jumping into the power too fast. 2nd was perfect. Would lug right up and when feathered a bit if needed would give a nice controllable bit of power.





There it is in the back round! The WB165 in all its glory! Thanks Walt!


All cleaned up! I can not stand working on a dirty bike! I like to take care of my investment!

Yeah I never thought when I bought this bike a few months back that I would ever think it was a handful! You're right about the gearing. It could definitely stand to be spaced out more. But then again beggers cant be choosers right! Unless Walt wants to make us custom gears! Hint hint! I cant remember the last time I rode three days in a row! All in the name of Husky owners everywhere! Poor me!

Nice report Mr... I wish I had that land in my back yard... Looks similar to some of the riding around here, however, your trails look to be in GREAT shape... I'm assuming this is private land?

Yeah this is our property so the trails are only ridden on by me and my son. I dont really have any friends close by that ride. After years and years of living in a house on a square of grass that I could mow with scissors, we moved two years ago. I feel very fortunate to have what we do and wouldnt give it up for anything. Although dodging our pigs and chickens can make things a bit interesting! Our house seems to be built for us. There is a separate garage around back (part of the basement) that opens up to the backyard. Its perfect! I can leave it open all day and no one who drives by can see what we have. Its not a high crime area but I am paranoid! Plus the kegorator is only a few steps away!

MattR, I like this thread a lot and used it to help decide what I wanted to try first. Very good work. I thought for sure I would want the power valve to open early but low and behold.........I was wrong. The later the better with the Gnarly!

After this weekends H/S, I plan on regearing to 14/52 and installing a Pirelli MT16 110/100X18 for the Ga. Nat'l Enduro. I feel the MT16 (@ 10psi) will handle the slick clay better than the MX Extra. The 52T should offset the addition sidewall height . I will also have the Walt Modified FMF 200SX fatty on by then too. I can't wait.

I rode my WB165 today for about 3 hours, in most of our usual terrain. Looks pretty similar to motocrossmr's, but a whisker tighter single track in spots. The only thing lacking were long hill climbs, but we have short abrupt uphill transitions in off camber.

The bike is an '09 WR125 that had a Husky Factory 144 kit, EFM auto clutch, DynoPort 144 pipe and a Kehin PWK 38 sleeved to 36. The power valve linkage and springs have never been played with. Drew Smith rode it when it was new and said don't change them. It was geared 13/52 and when I broke it in I could tell the gearing was too low. It was time for new chain and sprockets anyway, so time to re-gear. I was going back and forth over the gearing suggestions in this thread and ended going with Walt's suggestion of 14/49. It works well with my bike, I only use first gear for the slowest, steepest hills. The bike is a torque monster, with smooth linear power and no flat spots. You still feel the transitions, but very controlled. It was just below freezing and crusty, but you would break through, so at times it was really slick. I need to ride it some more, but I don't think the top end has lost much. This may be the 144 pipe, as opposed to the 200 pipe that others are using. I'm still amazed that the bike pulls this gearing, as 14/49 is about the same as 13/46, so I dropped 6 teeth! We ride most of the year and all some years, with minumum traction, so hard hitting, wheelie king power will just put you on the ground. Did I say this motor was smooth?

Still all the great Husky 125 lightness and great handling. What a nice bike with this motor. Walt has done a great bit of work here!

144 will live on.... I'm going to pick up a 2000-04 CR125 and put the 144 top end on it. It will be my dedicated ice bike for the lake.

Sounds like a winner. Where did you pick up the DynoPort pipe?

Last Fall I had Rich Daly at DynoPort custom build 2 144 pipes, one for Joe Chod's '09 WR144 and one for mine.

Oh ok thanks. I may fab one up from a 200 pipe like a few have done.

Nice reports Matt and Norm. I am especially interested to hear how Norm's bike responds to the 200 fatty pipe as compared to his modified Dynaport pipe.

So Walt as of now which pipe leads in the quest for low - mid range with a smooth pull?