Hi Guys,
I would like to know from first hand experience what the XC gears are like compared to the WC-W.
I realise it has been discussed before a million times but searching has drawn up all sorts of varied replies.
I am looking at a 2013 250 XC or XC-W and would like to know how much difference there is when riding the actual
bike instead of looking at a chart of numbers and ratios etc.
My main concern is will the XC be just a six speed MX style box or is it a true in between box, half way between MX and Enduro?
Naturally the engines are different also but I just want a seat of the pants comparo if possible

thanks in advance guys

I've got a '12 250 XC but I've never rode a XCW. I will say that 1st gear is pretty low compared to the mx bikes I have owned. I have yet to stall my XC and we sometimes ride rocky, tight trails and it amazes me how luggable the XC is. We have gotten off into some trails where it could have stood to be lower geared but these were some seriously nasty, rocky, tight, technical trails that I try to avoid but sometimes are forced to ride to get from point A to B. If I was gonna ride that type of terrain most of the time then I would get the XCW. There is just one place we ride that is technical and we only ride it because its close to home. Its not my ideal place. If your gonna spend most of your time on goat trails I'd say get the XCW.

Plus the XC-W will be able to reach 80mph with ease. From what I was told by a KTM mechanic is that the XC-W is geared for the enduro races that might have some road sections where you need to hit high speeds to make up time. But on the flip side of that the bike is also geared for the tight nasty woods riding.

I have an 08 XC250 and after years of riding YZ250's I can say that it is the best off-road/single track bike I have ever ridden.

Either way, whatever bike you get, you will be extremely happy.

Had a 11 EXC (XC-W?) Last year, riding a 12 XC this year. I like the EXC  ratios best. So much so that I'm looking to swap the box to EXC spec.  I ran a 14t front on the EXC and had perfect 1st and Good top for road work. 1st on the XC is to high to gear up.  The 12XC has the linkage that I like and no wiring clutter (indicators-brake light switches ect) We dont need lights on a bike in the UK to be road legal.

scriberman, on 18 June 2012 - 02:02 PM, said:

Don't need lights to be street-legal??? You guys are lucky!
Thats the way it should be here too . . .

I have a 2012 250XC and the 6 speed gear box is definitely an in between MX/Enduro style.  I had a Beta 400RR with the EXC 6 speed in it, before my current XC.  The EXC (now XC-W) trans was a much wider ratio.  I found the gearing of the EXC (now XC-W) to be spaced a little wide for where I tend to ride and use to put a 1 tooth larger sprocket on the back to help narrow the gap when shifting.  I prefer the XC trans because I don't do a lot of high speed desert stuff and with six gears can still get up to 70MPH with stock sprocket sizes.  I rode the 250XC-W at the KTM demo day and when I was on the gas in second and shifted to third the engine would sign off a little.  I did not like that.  I also prefer the rear shock with linkage.  It seems to work better on square edged hits than the PDS to me.

The 2011 and newer XC's and XC-W's are identical from 3rd to 6th gear, provided that you have the same final ratio.  With 13:50 sprockets, the most widely reported top speed is about 85 MPH.

13:51 puts 3rd, 4th and 5th nearly identical to the SX's gearing, though first and second are lower on the XC, and lower yet on the XC-W.

One of the magazines took a 300 XC and tried to  use it as a motorcrosser.  In their review, they mentioned that they could not find gearing that they liked on the MX track.

On the other hand, I watched a fellow with a 2011 250 XCW on a natural terrain MX track that was fairly high speed.  By sound, the gaps sounded similar to the pure MX bikes, and he told me that the lower first and second didn't matter on that track as he rarely got below 3rd.

I recently rode an 08 250 XCW in a combination of single-track and quad-type trails.  This is the older 5 speed tranny, which most people consider to be a 4 speed with a "cruising gear".  

First was far too low and abrupt for anything but starting off.  I used 2nd for most of the single-track and switched to 3rd in the faster sections to keep the revs out of the "excited" part of the power range.  I didn't care about the gap between 1st and 2nd, but did find the gap between 2nd and 3rd annoying compared to the 200 XCW (6 speed), where I was using 3rd and 4th in the same sections, with what felt like a smaller gap between the two.

The gap to 4th seemed fine, though, due to the possibility of other traffic, we kept our speeds down on the wider trails, and you don't really need 4th until you're going far faster than was smart to do on open public trails.  I only used 5th on a long road when we were returning to our starting point, but even then, it was just to quiet the engine down.  The drop in revs was quite noticeable.

I would find that transmission very frustrating on an MX track, though it was useable in the woods, due to a lug-able engine and a lot of technical sections where I didn't want a lot of power.

With the 6 speeds, for MX, I think you'll find 1st and 2nd too low, and wind up slipping the clutch in 3rd instead.  This isn't an issue if you are riding MX about 10 or 15% of the time, but might become an issue if you are doing 50/50.

I don't know what your off-road areas are like, but around here, unless using top gear to keep the revs down on a transfer section, actually using 6th gear off-road borders on a having death wish.

If you are heavy (like me ~ 225), you may want to go with the MXer and soften up the suspension when you're off road.  If you're lighter, you may want to go with the XC and shorten the final ratio to bring top 5 gears down closer to MX speeds.  You probably still won't like the 2nd to 3rd gap on an MX track, but it that should only be a problem in the slowest corners.



Ron Daniels

Edited by Ron Daniels, 20 June 2012 - 11:01 AM.