11 replies to this topic

[GPAustin TT Newbie]

Hey Guys,
I recently sold my CRX450f and am moving to a two stroke thats far better equipped for the hare scramble type trails near Austin. Obviously, KTM is the way to go and I have a line on a bike. My buddy is selling his 2008 KTM 300 XC. It has 88 hours on the engine, has been raced in D class harescrambles and the top end was done about 60 hours ago. He's added a rekluse clutch and some kind of carbon type header. The spark arrestor is an FMF and it has a loose piece at the end that looks like a weld broke loose or something. Its an internal  nozzle inside the end of the of the can.  Beyond that, its seems like its in good condition. Anyways, he's firm at $3000. In short, his price seems fair but I'm wondering if I'm crazy not to jump on this or if I should keep looking. He's shaved the seat down and I'm a taller rider so I'll need to get a new seat and taller bars. Anyway, please let me know your thoughts. Thanks!!

GP

[originalmonk]

Why not a YZ 250? Nothing wrong with the KTM and the price seems good. I'm always leary about buying bikes off friends because of something goes bad, you can ruin a friendship over it. Either he sells it to you cheap or sells it to you expensive is always my motto or stay away....

[GPAustin TT Newbie]

originalmonk, on 19 May 2013 - 03:24 PM, said:

Why not a YZ 250? Nothing wrong with the KTM and the price seems good. I'm always leary about buying bikes off friends because of something goes bad, you can ruin a friendship over it. Either he sells it to you cheap or sells it to you expensive is always my motto or stay away....

Well I'm not opposed to a Yamaha in theory. Before this I was always a Honda guy but its not like I'm a brand snob or anything. Are they setup for woods riding? Or will I need to adjust gearing and do other setups?  I like that the KTM's are built specifically for the type of riding I'm doing as opposed to taking something else and molding it into a woods bike. Most folks around here ride KTM and so I'm kind of assuming they know what they're doing. Also, yeah, I know buyer should beware but as a friend I also know he's taken good care of the bike which isn't exactly what I would know with another seller. I also like the idea of a rekluse clutch. From what I hear, its kind of like cheating if you have one installed. Coming off my 450, anything will be better than that but I have a bunch of cash in hand and am ready to get on the trails again vs a prolonged search for the right bike. Thanks for your input originalmonk!

[originalmonk]

Other then the larger tank and 18in rear wheel, the YZ is IMO a better bike. Though suspension is subjective, its hands down better then anything KTM has to offer....in 08, the KTMs still had a 5spd and no electric start.....

What I don't understand is why he would do a piston change at 28hrs (which seems quite premature) and why he has gone now 60hrs on the second piston?! Other then a hour meter, how do you know it only has 88hrs on the bike?

Not to take anything from the Rekluse but suspension is far more important then a Rekluse. Power, no matter how its delivered is useless if you cant put it to the ground....

Adding a seat and taller bars will cost you a few bucks but that's nothing in the long run. The KTM will fit you better as its a taller bike then the YZ.

[GPAustin TT Newbie]

originalmonk, on 19 May 2013 - 03:58 PM, said:

Other then the larger tank and 18in rear wheel, the YZ is IMO a better bike. Though suspension is subjective, its hands down better then anything KTM has to offer....in 08, the KTMs still had a 5spd and no electric start.....

What I don't understand is why he would do a piston change at 28hrs (which seems quite premature) and why he has gone now 60hrs on the second piston?! Other then a hour meter, how do you know it only has 88hrs on the bike?

Not to take anything from the Rekluse but suspension is far more important then a Rekluse. Power, no matter how its delivered is useless if you cant put it to the ground....

Adding a seat and taller bars will cost you a few bucks but that's nothing in the long run. The KTM will fit you better as its a taller bike then the YZ.

Well, yeah, I also need to get the suspension set up and I wasn't aware that the YZ's were superior in their suspension performance. Regardless of what bike I get, a suspension overhaul and tuning is the first thing I plan to do.  I should have mentioned that.

On my other bikes, I just twisted the throttle and went without ever adjusting clickers, valves, shims, whatever. I know, this is straight up bush league, but  I was on a budget at the time. When I could afford to do so, I was ready to sell the bike. So I didn't  want to waste suspension money on a bike I was selling and thought it best kept for my next bike.  This doesn't explain why I didn't adjust the clickers. In that vein,  I was always as fast as my friends so didn't know any better really. I can't wait to get on a bike thats 50 lbs lighter and properly setup for my height and weight.

Additionally, I could be mistaken on the piston change timing but that is a great question. Thanks again for your help!!

[tilltheend TT Member]

I send out my suspension to get set up for me no matter what brand I have.  Shops like FC or EE work there magic and it turns around the KTM.   So it ends being like a non issue.  Now the 300 engine is awesome, like 3 stroke.  The tunabilty of the power valve and with pipes you can go mild to wild.  And the rekluse is cheating, it makes ridin fun and you'll get faster.  Welcome to smokers club.

[GPAustin TT Newbie]

Hey Guys,
What do you think of this bike? Should I be concerned about its lack of title? Thanks so much!!

http://www.texasoffr...XC_W#Post556319

[LukeBrinkerhoff TT Bronze Member]

originalmonk, on 19 May 2013 - 03:58 PM, said:

Other then the larger tank and 18in rear wheel, the YZ is IMO a better bike. Though suspension is subjective, its hands down better then anything KTM has to offer....in 08, the KTMs still had a 5spd and no electric start.....

Something I am trying to figure out. You say how good YZ is, and is a much better bike. But you still ride KTM, and you don't own a Yamaha(as far as I know) just kinda funny to me.

@austin. No title, IMO, here In Indiana, is not needed, if you plan on making it street legal, ye it's worth it then, other wise you have to apply for a lost title, and then maybe retitle it, and you will need to have the whole shabang with mirrors, head/tailight, horn, turn signals. if you have the original title for me, in Indiana, all I need is head/tail, and a plate, no need for turn signals, or mirrors. for my Rm250 I would need all of that. it's weird. I don't know Texas, but as far as I know, you should be fine. I never had a problem with the 4 bikes I bought without a title, only a bill of sale.

[originalmonk]

LukeBrinkerhoff, on 20 May 2013 - 06:42 PM, said:

Something I am trying to figure out. You say how good YZ is, and is a much better bike. But you still ride KTM, and you don't own a Yamaha(as far as I know) just kinda funny to me.

@austin. No title, IMO, here In Indiana, is not needed, if you plan on making it street legal, ye it's worth it then, other wise you have to apply for a lost title, and then maybe retitle it, and you will need to have the whole shabang with mirrors, head/tailight, horn, turn signals. if you have the original title for me, in Indiana, all I need is head/tail, and a plate, no need for turn signals, or mirrors. for my Rm250 I would need all of that. it's weird. I don't know Texas, but as far as I know, you should be fine. I never had a problem with the 4 bikes I bought without a title, only a bill of sale.

Luke, I have owed many bikes, including 3 Yamahas in the last few yrs......Most of the people I ride with say I was at my fastest on my YZ 250. Problem was I got hurt midway through the season and have never been able to fully recover since then.....when I owned my Yamaha I was beating guys by 15mins or so over a HS race and not sandbagging. I have never gelled so well with a single bike as well as I did with the YZ 250....I moved to my '12 250xc and after $1000s of dollars worth of work and such, I still consider the YZ to be right there with it......I have plenty of experience with riding blue.....I like KTMs because Yamaha doesnt offer what I need and when I look at buying bikes, KTMs always seem to come up....

My 08 YZ 250.....


My '10 YZF before I sold it to my dad....


My 06 YZ 125 that I had before my wife took over. Its been long sold since but it was also a awesome bike....

Edited by originalmonk, Today, 07:19 PM.

[LukeBrinkerhoff TT Bronze Member]

originalmonk, on 20 May 2013 - 07:15 PM, said:

Luke, I have owed many bikes, including 3 Yamahas in the last few yrs......Most of the people I ride with say I was at my fastest on my YZ 250. Problem was I got hurt midway through the season and have never been able to fully recover since then.....when I owned my Yamaha I was beating guys by 15mins or so over a HS race and not sandbagging. I have never gelled so well with a single bike as well as I did with the YZ 250....I moved to my '12 250xc and after $1000s of dollars worth of work and such, I still consider the YZ to be right there with it......I have plenty of experience with riding blue.....I like KTMs because Yamaha doesnt offer what I need and when I look at buying bikes, KTMs always seem to come up....

See, now I know more about you. I only know the KTM part of you, I've only heard you talk about YZ, but every picture I have seen was KTM, that's all. I never said anything against yamaha, I like them, but they don't have a 300, with tranny like I wanted(I have no 6th gear, but) So what is it that KTM has that yamaha doesn't for you?

[originalmonk]

LukeBrinkerhoff, on 20 May 2013 - 07:33 PM, said:

See, now I know more about you. I only know the KTM part of you, I've only heard you talk about YZ, but every picture I have seen was KTM, that's all. I never said anything against yamaha, I like them, but they don't have a 300, with tranny like I wanted(I have no 6th gear, but) So what is it that KTM has that yamaha doesn't for you?

Essentially a open bore DS.....in Canada we cant legally insure a off-road dirtbike for the road. KTM offers exactly that. The 350/500 are perfect "do everything" bikes. They can be used in virtually every senerio. Where I live also, the Yamaha shop kinda sucks for ANY support. They dont support local riders and racing so I dont support them much.....

But back to your 300, though I have never ridden a EG 295, I think they would be equally as fast if not faster then a KTM 300. I also like the handling characteristics of the YZ as I find its a more stable chassis and less picky about adjustments. In off-road, the terrain changes so much that KTMs seem to work great setup for one type of terrain but can suck badly in another. I look at a bike like this (A fellow TTers YZ 295) and see it as a KTM killer....

[LukeBrinkerhoff TT Bronze Member]

originalmonk, on 20 May 2013 - 07:45 PM, said:

Essentially a open bore DS.....in Canada we cant legally insure a off-road dirtbike for the road. KTM offers exactly that. The 350/500 are perfect "do everything" bikes. They can be used in virtually every senerio. Where I live also, the Yamaha shop kinda sucks for ANY support. They dont support local riders and racing so I dont support them much.....

But back to your 300, though I have never ridden a EG 295, I think they would be equally as fast if not faster then a KTM 300. I also like the handling characteristics of the YZ as I find its a more stable chassis and less picky about adjustments. In off-road, the terrain changes so much that KTMs seem to work great setup for one type of terrain but can suck badly in another. I look at a bike like this (A fellow TTers YZ 295) and see it as a KTM killer....

ahh ok, I see now, that makes sense to me, kinda sucks huh?

You are talking to a guy who wouldn't waste the time, and money to do that(Not saying I wouldn't want to do that some day, just not now) in my situation, I want something that is ready to ride, after I get experience, and more money, I might do something like that some day, but right now, the power of my 300, the type of power, is so much nicer than my rm250. even though I might have been faster(not sure if I was) I feel smoother, and that feeling is so much nicer. That bike looks sick. I really don't know how to rate bike vs bike. that bike isn't stock anymore, and it can be faster, but there is also the "depends on the rider" like today, after a week of not riding, I sucked, I made so many mistakes, washed out 6 times, anybody could have beat me, but only because I was rusty, and had bad forearm pump. after a 5-10min break, it was gone, and rode with no problems.

Edited by LukeBrinkerhoff, Today, 08:05 PM.