I got to spend about 5 minutes on the new KTM 350sx this afternoon. A buddy of mine just picked it up on Tuesday, and it still wasn't broken in, so I didn't get the chance to really rip on it. And I really didn't spend much time on it anyway, so these are just my first impressions and thoughts on the bike. Looks This is definitely the coolest looking KTM yet. I'm no orange lover, (husky red and white till I die!!) but it is a very cool looking bike up close. A very smooth, organic type feel to it. Fit and finish This was pretty good also. The body panels go together nicely and it seems pretty well thought out in general. Like a Husky, it's apparent they designed it with the person who has to work on it in mind. No dzus fastener on the seat, but it is removable with a single bolt under the rear fender. Nice integrated frame guard/ heat shield on the right side was kinda cool. Weight I was surprised at how heavy it was. I was expecting 250f type weight, but it feels just as heavy as my CRF450 when picking it up, and only slightly lighter than my TC 450. My friend who bought this, and currently rides a TC250 with 300 kit said it feels slighty heavier than that bike when riding it. Power Well what can I say? It is exactly what you would expect. It doesn't run out of breath like a 250 does, and doesn't pull you back in the seat like a 450. It has good usable power that seems to be just about right for 80% of the riding you do. Full on drag races my TE 450 will take it no problem. It will easily outrun any 250 I have ridden, and has more power than that TC300 also. You do have to spin it to the moon to get the max out of it though. Handling I really didn't get enough time on the bike to make a good judgment on this one. Final thoughts With such a short time on the bike it is hard to form a real concrete opinion, but my initial thoughts are that it is a cool bike. Not a game changer, or the greatest thing ever probably, but a very cool alternative to the other sizes offered. I should get quite a bit of time on it here in the next few days, both on the track, and trails so I will do a more in depth report once I get some good seat time on it. Now I just need a TXC 449 so I can once again have the coolest bike on the block. [/IMG]
Very similar to my thoughts when I rode the 350. It had slightly more than my TXC300 but you really had to rev it to get it. I was on a bike that had followed the demo truck so break in was not an issue. I found the throttle stop and rev limiter a few times. I found the handling really nice, didnt want to stand up going into the corners like the 450 and directional changes were really easy. It really didn't make me want to buy one, I had way more fun on the 150sx. That bike was awesome. Here are a couple HC video's. 350... [SMUGMUG]ZT0xJmk9OTM1NzQ5NDk5Jms9WHhUdWkmYT0xMjY2NDk4M19uMkxZZCZ1PWptZXR0ZWVy[/SMUGMUG] 150... [SMUGMUG]ZT0xJmk9OTM1NjUwMDExJms9eEJldGEmYT0xMjY2NDk4M19uMkxZZCZ1PWptZXR0ZWVyJnNlPTEmc289MCZoZGI9MSZzYj0xJmZzPTEm[/SMUGMUG] Later,
Thankyou for your thoughts. It is an attractive looking bike and the engine certainly looks more like a 250. Its funny, KTM goes to linkages and there is no adverse comments or I told you so. Husky comes out with a great solutionfor the 449/511 linkage and the pundits comment that it was done previously (read the blab etc on TT). Go figure.
