I thought air forks were dead? KTM 350 EXCF WESS Edition

KTMmarkus
Considering the 450 SXF and 250 SXF do not run the AER anymore this came as quite a surprise...

Quite the pricey edition bike, in Sweden it is around 1600$ USD more expensive than the regular 350 EXCF.

I do not know if I have ever read anything positive about the air forks... but maybe that has changed the last few years?

https://enduro21.com/en/bikes/latest/ktm-350-exc-f-wess-edition
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resetjet
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resetjet 10/1/2020 5:46am
10/1/2020 5:46am
Xact forks are still sff air forks.....just reworked to fix problems of aer. They are not dead yet.
2
Dirty Points 10/1/2020 5:53am
10/1/2020 5:53am
KTMmarkus wrote:
Considering the 450 SXF and 250 SXF do not run the AER anymore this came as quite a surprise... Quite the pricey edition bike, in Sweden...
Considering the 450 SXF and 250 SXF do not run the AER anymore this came as quite a surprise...

Quite the pricey edition bike, in Sweden it is around 1600$ USD more expensive than the regular 350 EXCF.

I do not know if I have ever read anything positive about the air forks... but maybe that has changed the last few years?

https://enduro21.com/en/bikes/latest/ktm-350-exc-f-wess-edition
KTM changed the branding from AER to XACT on 2020+ SXF models. Forks are still the same technology, though.
3
jsundeen90 10/1/2020 7:06am
10/1/2020 7:06am Edited Date/Time 10/1/2020 7:08am
KTMmarkus wrote:
Considering the 450 SXF and 250 SXF do not run the AER anymore this came as quite a surprise... Quite the pricey edition bike, in Sweden...
Considering the 450 SXF and 250 SXF do not run the AER anymore this came as quite a surprise...

Quite the pricey edition bike, in Sweden it is around 1600$ USD more expensive than the regular 350 EXCF.

I do not know if I have ever read anything positive about the air forks... but maybe that has changed the last few years?

https://enduro21.com/en/bikes/latest/ktm-350-exc-f-wess-edition
I cant speak for trail riding (or enduros etc) but I just picked up a 2021 350 SX-F (XACT also) for MX and the suspension is the best I've ever had without a doubt and thats right off the floor. I was always a Kawi and Honda but the past few years I could never get the suspension to work for me on either which is why I decided to try KTM. I was a bit worried at first also because my first couple experiences with air forks were pretty bad (Honda) but at least in the case of the 2021 KTMs all that went out the window the first lap around the track.


I wouldn't let the air forks scare you away from the bike from my experience so far.

5
KTMmarkus 10/1/2020 7:31am
10/1/2020 7:31am
resetjet wrote:
Xact forks are still sff air forks.....just reworked to fix problems of aer. They are not dead yet.
Oh... I thought Xact was the new Xplor... my bad!

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BigBoreFan58
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BigBoreFan58 10/1/2020 6:34pm
10/1/2020 6:34pm
Cool bike. I like it.

ktmdan
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ktmdan 10/1/2020 7:32pm
10/1/2020 7:32pm
I have stock air forks on my ‘19 350xcf. I think the forks are great, at least at the expert level and my weight of 180lb.
1
KTMmarkus 10/2/2020 1:12am
10/2/2020 1:12am
KTMmarkus wrote:
Considering the 450 SXF and 250 SXF do not run the AER anymore this came as quite a surprise... Quite the pricey edition bike, in Sweden...
Considering the 450 SXF and 250 SXF do not run the AER anymore this came as quite a surprise...

Quite the pricey edition bike, in Sweden it is around 1600$ USD more expensive than the regular 350 EXCF.

I do not know if I have ever read anything positive about the air forks... but maybe that has changed the last few years?

https://enduro21.com/en/bikes/latest/ktm-350-exc-f-wess-edition
jsundeen90 wrote:
I cant speak for trail riding (or enduros etc) but I just picked up a 2021 350 SX-F (XACT also) for MX and the suspension is...
I cant speak for trail riding (or enduros etc) but I just picked up a 2021 350 SX-F (XACT also) for MX and the suspension is the best I've ever had without a doubt and thats right off the floor. I was always a Kawi and Honda but the past few years I could never get the suspension to work for me on either which is why I decided to try KTM. I was a bit worried at first also because my first couple experiences with air forks were pretty bad (Honda) but at least in the case of the 2021 KTMs all that went out the window the first lap around the track.


I wouldn't let the air forks scare you away from the bike from my experience so far.

Interesting to hear!

I am still a bit of a sceptic of having air forks if you are an hour from the truck and you get an air leak. But I will admit my knowledge on the subject is lacking so maybe it isnt that much of a problem...
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duckdog77
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duckdog77 10/2/2020 3:37am
10/2/2020 3:37am
Have air forks in my 20’ 300xc. Hated them at first. Now approaching the 20 hour mark I’m starting to get them figured out. Once I moved the Forks up to 3rd line in triples and swapped out the stock tires for some SC5’s I’ve now been able to get it to do what I’m wanting. Had to change my body positioning on the bike a little as well. The bike for me makes me want to stand up a lot (In a good way) and when I sit I need to be in the pocket of the seat. I was a balls on the tank kinda guy before. Just happen to pick up on something Keefer said on Pulp a couple shows back about not chasing suspension settings all the time and sometimes the bike just doesn’t like the way you’re riding it. So I tried a couple things and it started responding really well.

Now that I’m getting somewhere I think having an air fork on an XC will be nice. Especially for the occasional MX days being able to pump it up a little for some jumping and higher speeds.
Crossup
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Crossup 10/2/2020 5:13am
10/2/2020 5:13am
That's weird that KTM would put out a special edition WESS bike as a 350 4 stroke since nobody really uses them in WESS competitions. Seems like a contrived marketing gimmick to get people to buy expensive bikes.
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flatout111
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flatout111 10/2/2020 5:31am
10/2/2020 5:31am
Crossup wrote:
That's weird that KTM would put out a special edition WESS bike as a 350 4 stroke since nobody really uses them in WESS competitions. Seems...
That's weird that KTM would put out a special edition WESS bike as a 350 4 stroke since nobody really uses them in WESS competitions. Seems like a contrived marketing gimmick to get people to buy expensive bikes.
I thought it a bit odd as well. Though for races like Hawkstone and Fast Eddy's some of the competitors do switch over to the four stroke, Manni included. But for most of the real big WESS races most are on two strokes.

Sweet looking bike, though. I prefer the look of it to the Erzberg edition. Though I am a 300 two stroke guy all the way.
2
ktmdan
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ktmdan 10/2/2020 7:41pm
10/2/2020 7:41pm
duckdog77 wrote:
Have air forks in my 20’ 300xc. Hated them at first. Now approaching the 20 hour mark I’m starting to get them figured out. Once I...
Have air forks in my 20’ 300xc. Hated them at first. Now approaching the 20 hour mark I’m starting to get them figured out. Once I moved the Forks up to 3rd line in triples and swapped out the stock tires for some SC5’s I’ve now been able to get it to do what I’m wanting. Had to change my body positioning on the bike a little as well. The bike for me makes me want to stand up a lot (In a good way) and when I sit I need to be in the pocket of the seat. I was a balls on the tank kinda guy before. Just happen to pick up on something Keefer said on Pulp a couple shows back about not chasing suspension settings all the time and sometimes the bike just doesn’t like the way you’re riding it. So I tried a couple things and it started responding really well.

Now that I’m getting somewhere I think having an air fork on an XC will be nice. Especially for the occasional MX days being able to pump it up a little for some jumping and higher speeds.
That’s funny, I raced mine for the first time two weeks ago and sat down more than I ever did on my 250 xc. Raising them to the third mark is a must. I installed gold valves last week but I’ve yet to try them out. I figure for like $140 it wouldn’t hurt to try, right?

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