Anybody else HATE their new KTM after first ride???

cwel11
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cwel11 4/12/2022 2:51am
4/12/2022 2:51am
16 SXF450, 18 TC250, and currently on a 21 FC350. No weird vibrations but I did change the bars on my KTM. Just didn’t like the stock neken bend. I will say coming off Japanese bikes to the first day on KTM I was miserable. I had thought I made a huge mistake. After some gearing changes and break in it was night and day better than any bike I’d ridden. You have got to give them some hours to settle in. However my current bike was stupid good right away.
rob27ma
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rob27ma 4/12/2022 4:10am
4/12/2022 4:10am
wr74 wrote:
Update in order... i feel a bit guilty for slamming KTM so hard... Went out this past weekend with new set-up; Ride Eng Triples, X-Trig PHDS...
Update in order... i feel a bit guilty for slamming KTM so hard...

Went out this past weekend with new set-up;

Ride Eng Triples, X-Trig PHDS bar mounts, Pro Taper Evo bar, and pro taper glue on grips.

Checked torque on motor mounts. Note they were under torqued from the factory. Very interesting. Went over the whole bike post discovering this. Nothing else too far out.

Out on the track, felt like whole new bike. Vibration now non existent really, through the handlebars at least.

Loving the bike in other ways, the light weight feel and handling is just amazing. Bike is the perfect combination of turning prowess, and yet still stable on fast rough sections.

Engine is still tight, needs more hours to run in, but i know how good it will be once that's done from owning an 18. I will say, does seem to have a bit less bottom end than my 18 FC, but a bit stronger mid to top.

Fork felt great this time out. Note at a different track and no real big flat landings where i felt the fork was lacking first time out. Plenty of hard pack chop though, and really impressed by how well it works on this type of track for an air fork.

Overall, super happy with the bike now. I changed 4 things at once i know. Maybe i could have saved money and just tried one thing at a time (i suspect the bars and grips may have been enough), but life's short and i didn't want to waste more days at the track with numb hands and not being happy.

I think the bars and grips would have been enough. The bars in particular always seem to create more vibration. Another thing to try is the map switch setting. Map 1 seems to have less vibration to me as well.
Bennett59
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Bennett59 4/12/2022 9:39am
4/12/2022 9:39am
Any time I feel a bad vibration on mine it’s always a motor mount bolt lose, mainly the top hanger bolt, I blue loc tight then and they still back off. I check mine and re torque every few rides.
JMMcMac127
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JMMcMac127 4/12/2022 9:53am
4/12/2022 9:53am
wr74 wrote:
Super excited to get my new 22 350sxf a few weeks ago. I had the 18 fc350 and just loved it. Finally got out for my...
Super excited to get my new 22 350sxf a few weeks ago. I had the 18 fc350 and just loved it.

Finally got out for my first ride on the 22 Ktm today and was shocked to find I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. Number one problem, vibration. And not just through the bars, my feet felt a buzz in a way I’ve never felt on any dirt bike before. Through the bars it’s worse. My hands are numb after three laps.

Other than that, the suspension is just not up to par. On big impacts, the Forks feel like something Ktm bought at a 2 dollar shop. It’s just a strange feeling. They work pretty well ( for air forks) through medium sized bumps, but jump landings they feel horrible. Keefer refers to this in his tests as feeling “cheap”, and I have to concur. They feel better than a 2020 sxf I owned on small medium bumps, but feel terrible on a big landing. The 2020 forks were kind of opposite, as they worked well on big stuff, but just couldn’t cope with choppy braking bumps. Maybe as they removed the bottoming cone on the newer AER design?

Other than that, the power is awesome, and I love the handling (forks aside), brakes and light weight feel. The bike overall feels stiff, but I assume that will improve with further riding time. But with the vibration being so bad, I can’t really enjoy these positives for all that long before my hands and numb and I can’t ride anymore.

So, I’m debating just dumping this bike, or, giving it more time to break in. I can see the frame will soften the overall feel some, and I expect I’ll get a spring conversion for the forks and be happy, but will the engine vibration issue improve post break in ? Any other Ktm/husky 350 owners feel the vibration is bad also? Does it improve with more time on the bike?

What did you do to your 18 to make the suspension better? Mine has been revalved but stills feels so harsh

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chasetwo79
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chasetwo79 4/12/2022 10:21am
4/12/2022 10:21am
wr74 wrote:
Super excited to get my new 22 350sxf a few weeks ago. I had the 18 fc350 and just loved it. Finally got out for my...
Super excited to get my new 22 350sxf a few weeks ago. I had the 18 fc350 and just loved it.

Finally got out for my first ride on the 22 Ktm today and was shocked to find I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. Number one problem, vibration. And not just through the bars, my feet felt a buzz in a way I’ve never felt on any dirt bike before. Through the bars it’s worse. My hands are numb after three laps.

Other than that, the suspension is just not up to par. On big impacts, the Forks feel like something Ktm bought at a 2 dollar shop. It’s just a strange feeling. They work pretty well ( for air forks) through medium sized bumps, but jump landings they feel horrible. Keefer refers to this in his tests as feeling “cheap”, and I have to concur. They feel better than a 2020 sxf I owned on small medium bumps, but feel terrible on a big landing. The 2020 forks were kind of opposite, as they worked well on big stuff, but just couldn’t cope with choppy braking bumps. Maybe as they removed the bottoming cone on the newer AER design?

Other than that, the power is awesome, and I love the handling (forks aside), brakes and light weight feel. The bike overall feels stiff, but I assume that will improve with further riding time. But with the vibration being so bad, I can’t really enjoy these positives for all that long before my hands and numb and I can’t ride anymore.

So, I’m debating just dumping this bike, or, giving it more time to break in. I can see the frame will soften the overall feel some, and I expect I’ll get a spring conversion for the forks and be happy, but will the engine vibration issue improve post break in ? Any other Ktm/husky 350 owners feel the vibration is bad also? Does it improve with more time on the bike?

JMMcMac127 wrote:
What did you do to your 18 to make the suspension better? Mine has been revalved but stills feels so harsh
Who did the revalve? What did they do to it? Not all revalves are the same with these forks.

There’s other things too that make a huge difference with them outside of the revalve like changing the oil level and such.

With AER, “Who” does your revalue is of much higher concern than with standard spring forks.
sandman768
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sandman768 4/12/2022 10:28am
4/12/2022 10:28am Edited Date/Time 4/12/2022 10:29am
Bennett59 wrote:
Any time I feel a bad vibration on mine it’s always a motor mount bolt lose, mainly the top hanger bolt, I blue loc tight then...
Any time I feel a bad vibration on mine it’s always a motor mount bolt lose, mainly the top hanger bolt, I blue loc tight then and they still back off. I check mine and re torque every few rides.
Mine have come loose also, even after blu loc tite, I routinely check all engine mounts, but have only found the upper hanger plates loose. I also check all spokes/ shock/linkage /subframe bolts/rear axle nut/steering stem nut/upper pinch bolt. Pullback the frame cover on the frame to check swingarm nut, I have had one loosen up once. It takes all of 5 minutes to put a wrench or socket on them. These bolts sometimes come loose, it’s mostly when the bike is newer, but it’s just a good habit on any bike…
soggy
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soggy 4/12/2022 10:32am
4/12/2022 10:32am
wr74 wrote:
Super excited to get my new 22 350sxf a few weeks ago. I had the 18 fc350 and just loved it. Finally got out for my...
Super excited to get my new 22 350sxf a few weeks ago. I had the 18 fc350 and just loved it.

Finally got out for my first ride on the 22 Ktm today and was shocked to find I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. Number one problem, vibration. And not just through the bars, my feet felt a buzz in a way I’ve never felt on any dirt bike before. Through the bars it’s worse. My hands are numb after three laps.

Other than that, the suspension is just not up to par. On big impacts, the Forks feel like something Ktm bought at a 2 dollar shop. It’s just a strange feeling. They work pretty well ( for air forks) through medium sized bumps, but jump landings they feel horrible. Keefer refers to this in his tests as feeling “cheap”, and I have to concur. They feel better than a 2020 sxf I owned on small medium bumps, but feel terrible on a big landing. The 2020 forks were kind of opposite, as they worked well on big stuff, but just couldn’t cope with choppy braking bumps. Maybe as they removed the bottoming cone on the newer AER design?

Other than that, the power is awesome, and I love the handling (forks aside), brakes and light weight feel. The bike overall feels stiff, but I assume that will improve with further riding time. But with the vibration being so bad, I can’t really enjoy these positives for all that long before my hands and numb and I can’t ride anymore.

So, I’m debating just dumping this bike, or, giving it more time to break in. I can see the frame will soften the overall feel some, and I expect I’ll get a spring conversion for the forks and be happy, but will the engine vibration issue improve post break in ? Any other Ktm/husky 350 owners feel the vibration is bad also? Does it improve with more time on the bike?

JMMcMac127 wrote:
What did you do to your 18 to make the suspension better? Mine has been revalved but stills feels so harsh
You have to really get the shock dialed in for the forks to feel good on these bikes. Especially the harsh slap down type landings. Also I think rebound on these forks has a huge effect on the plushness of the fork. Try slowing down the rebound if it feels harsh.
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