Well, made the trip Sunday to Cedartown GA, home of KTM World and Highland Park Resort to pick up my new 2011 200xc-w. Had them swap the springs for my weight (.44 front, 7.2 rear) and they set up the sag for me. I have to say, Glenn and Jesse up there were really nice folks, and the rest of the staff was very polite. You would never suspect that such a col place exists where it does (I thought I was lost for sure until I saw a bright orange KTM tent through some trees). I took a 30 minute tour on the bike of their vast park just to see what all they offer and how well I was going to like the bike. (90+ miles of singletrack and several tracks). I'll give my 1st thoughts write-up on the 200 page, but I will say that I am completely satisfied that I bought a "w". My fears of the slack between 2nd and 3rd were soon erased when I hit my first hill... here's a pic of my new beauty....

I've had a bunch of 200's in the past and the only one I miss is a 200SX, the rest sucked. Sorry coolaid drinkers.

HAHA Tommy the X coolaid drinker;) I must admit the SX setup is way better IMO. The 200 SX setup is so rare I do not think many that have a current 200 model know what it could be. That fatty pipe is a night and day difference between the gnarly, WAY better.
Joe.......

BTW Tommy did you ever try the SST on a 200? I have not and they are difficult to find.
Joe.......

JoeMcLaughlin, on 13 March 2012 - 08:12 PM, said:

Better is a matter of opinion, dependent upon a rider technique, terrain, etc. The Gnarly suits me very well, and my terrain. Most of the places I ride just don't suit a wide open style of riding, at least for me. I am much faster staying smooth and in the meat of the power. The really fast guys can take more advantage of the topend power, it's just not my style to have the bike revved out all the time, spinning off roots and rocks half out of control.

Not a thing wrong with a W, it's just a matter of fitting the tool to the job/person using it.

But you still have not tried that fatty and I've arranged that meeting. Nitro Joe is going to send you that fatty after he is done playing with it. Funny that is the pipe I got from Tommy;) The fatty is not the all top end sacrifice low end that some think it is. Think more improve in all areas and get more overev. Could it be the odd sx combo I have going on that makes it all click together? If it goes down like I think it will,,, you will be running a fatty and loving it. All you need to do is try it;)
Joe.........

JoeMcLaughlin, on 14 March 2012 - 05:18 AM, said:

True, but I have NO complaints with the Gnarly at all. The bike works well now for what and how I ride. I don't know that a pipe change will affect my requirements or delivery desires for power, or make it any better, just different. Could be wrong though. (Also, will be sending you the carb and Boyeson soon. Done testing the Boyeson and will remove it as soon as I clean the bike up. Look for it next week.)

I have thought about buying a Fatty, but just can't justify the expense at this point. If I hadn't needed the money, I wish I had kept the SST system for my bike or at least tried it. Kind of hate I never tried it....

Where is Nitro Joe anyway? He is bogarding that fatty;) I know you are happy with what you have but I am 95% confident you are going to like that fatty. You keep that low you love and gain everywhere else. I was blown away when I tried it. I thought it was going to be a top end screamer but it was nice all around. I'm going to hit up Nitro Joe and see when he can send it on to you.
Joe........

Ah, no worries, no hurry. Not like i am doing a bunch of riding right now. It does have me intrigued, though. Are you still running the wrong timer in your 200? If so, you too will be blown away.. lol

I missed 2 opportunities for an sx pipe on ebay. Got busy and forgot when they were ending.

Ya still running the SX timer and now you got me thinking. I have the 200 timer just gota install it.
Joe.......

Here is the fatty on Nitro Joe's bike. I just hit him up on Facebook to see what is up.
Joe...........

You HAVE to run the 200 timer. One of the biggest performance gains i have done. Gave my bike a bark and bite that it didnt have. Try it.

Maybe nitro likes it so much he doesnt want to part with it. hehe

Now that was the timer with the tan paint right? As I recall the SX has red and Blue? This weekend is the spring opener race and I will run the bike as is. If it is a mud fest I'm tippin beers back and watching the carnage;) After I get a good run in with my current set up I am all for switching the timer assembly out and giving it a try.
Joe.........

2009 200 xc timer

Got a message on Facebook from Nitro. He is mixed on the fatty. Feels pipey to him and he thinks the dents on the bottom of the pipe may be affecting overall performance. Kinda confirming what I suspect. The performance of that pipe may be very related to the other setup: 39mm carb and CDI. As you already know there is a LOT of setup to tweek on these bikes. You can turn them into just about anything you like. However, I was soooo happy with that fatty I was hoping it was a no brainer mod. Might not be;(
Joe............

My bike is spikey on power compared to my 05. I contribute it to the hotter 144 CDI, this is even with the Gnarly. I will be swapping CDI's soon to test. the 144 timer has the red outer spring with blue inner, so yes, that is the 200.

It's nice that you guys swap things and try out new stuff. I'm so new to this bike that it will be a long time before I'm interested in switching anything on it. The 30 mins I spent on the test ride were that was needed to convince me to drop $6200 that day! Its going to be a fun learning process, but it sounds like I'm in good company and on the right tool for the job.

JoeMcLaughlin, on 14 March 2012 - 05:31 PM, said:

I got a fatty also. Didn't try it much before I broke my thumb (Bennett's fracture). Dented the shiz out of my new fatty as well. Sending it out for repair before I really got to test it. Hoping for more top end and overrev. On the bottom it felt just as strong as the stock pipe and seemed to start making power much sooned than stock.