Which bike is better for that year. The ktm looks nice but the rm looks practically brand new so i dont know which to get?

I don't believe KTM's technology was as advanced as RM at this point.

+1 suzuki

could you post pics of both bikes and some details about them also?

Yea sure  




The ktm has a scotts stering dampner and a hydraulic clutch.

Also, I dont have tons of money so i do all the rebuilds and maintence on my bikes. So i was also curious how hard the hydraulic clutch is to work on.

i might go with the ktm then if youre gonna trail race, those are expensive goodies

Sorry dude but you want to be on that RM over the KTM. The KTMs of old were good, but not great especially compared to anything japanese. The handling was just weird back then and the suspension wasnt very good. The RMs have always been awesome bikes. The other thing was what KTM was doing to their motors was insane. They made crazy amounts of HP, light switch like trying to keep up with 450s of that era. For off-road riding, the power was just too much, too soon. Nothing a flywheel couldnt fix but still.... On the plus for KTM was their reliabilty. My old man had an 04 250sx with over 800hrs on the original bottom-end. The bike also looked like brand-new when he sold it. The quality of the bikes were always a step ahead of anything coming out of japan.

 originalmonk, on 27 June 2012 - 09:03 PM, said:

+1  on the RM.  I don't care for Suzuki's, but I had an 03 ktm 250 sx.  I'm no pro, but it was rip your arms off fast when the power came on.  Seems like fun at first, but it was actually scary.  It had a very finiky carb on it, and if you read any mx shootouts from 03 they basically say it's not tameable.  I have an 03 125 sx still and I love it.  The suspension is not quite as easy to get dialed in as a japanese bike, but when you do it performs well.  (for me at least)

I own both an RM and an SX.  They are both great bikes.  The KTM generally has higher quality parts, and has held up better as the years have gone by.  But that vintage motor is very powerful--you will probably need to add a major FWW and use a throttle cam.  If the bikes are equal in condition, the Scotts damper would probably tip the balance in favor of the KTM.

I still think the RM's had a better set-up at that time. Yes the KTM has a Scotts steering damper but that might need re-valved and that would be at-least $100. The RM looks to be in better condition to me. Another thing to think about is that KTM parts are more expensive than the Japanese bikes.

I'd go with the Suzuki! As far as the hydraulic clutch goes,if you can bleede breaks you can bleed the clutch...thats the only differance.
You never said what the price's are...