I'm looking to buy a new bike and I'm now torn between a yz250f and 350sx-f. I got approved for the KTM financing promo, but the APR's I got quoted for the yz were absolutely atrocious (min 15%... my credit score isn't that good right now 'cause of a rough couple years).
I've ridden KTM's about 3 times total in all my years of riding and I really liked how the 250 felt. I hopped on a 350 for a couple laps and didn't know what to think.
My question is; what is your happiness level with your 350? I got rid of my '19 CRF450 - rode it for years but was never fully comfortable on it and it always wore me out after one sprint lap on any track. Riding my cousin's '18 YZ250F was a dream - I could ride on and on without getting tired and it made riding enjoyable again.
If I go the yz250f route I'll have to wait until end of summer to boost my credit score by paying off cards. OR I can get the hell out there and ride given this deal.
It took a little time for me to get adjusted to my 350 but now I am very happy with it. Vet rider, and I race GP's and desert, and some trail riding here and there. It's been perfect for me. Watch the bike review videos if you want but I would go with the 350 while you can get it.
I have a couple of Yamaha two strokes and a GasGas MC350F.
For me, the air fork was a deal breaker on the Austrian bikes, but after I developed a conversion for some friends I fell in love with the 350F engine. It's easy to ride and still very fast.
Once you get the bike set up to your preferences, the 350F is really great for most people.
Get the orange one since you get more for your money.
The red one has a terrible front brake and the white one is lowered 10mm.
Early 40’s, vet A/B. Mainly ride deep loamy/sandy tracks. I did two seasons on a 350 before I went back to a 450. I missed being able to lug corners. Having to ride moto pinned wasn’t as fun as I remember from my 125 days. To be fair, I’ve been on 450’s since 03, so I’m very comfy going fast on one. Loved how light and flickable the 350 was though. Also, it wasn’t a current gen 350, and I’ve heard they’ve moved the power more down low, so it might be time to give it another shot lol.
Also, I absolutely HATE WP. So there’s that.. Getting back on a yami with KYB was such a great feeling.
If I was riding woods more than moto, I’d be on a 350.
I prefer my kx450 over my ktm350. If my only
options were yz250 or ktm350 I’d go ktm.
Slow 450> 350 > 250
This is as a lazy vet rider who still tries to go fast.
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The fact that there’s a thread here a million pages long on the 350 (mostly praising it) is pretty telling.
I agree, I like my 2024 KX 450 better than my 2023 350sxf. The KX has torque and is not blistering fast out of the box like the new YZ 450F. I'm big though, 235 pounds. I like the torque and smooth manageable power of the new KX 450. It turns good, and is stable confidence inspiring.
If i said it once ive said it a thousand times… you can’t just hop on a 350 and do a couple laps. You have to do 5-10 hours and learn its strengths, if you don’t do that you are never going to understand the overall positives of a 350. Ride a 350 for 10 hours and then jump on a 450 and tell me the 450 is a better platform. You will never want to ride 450 again, you will instantly notice the heavy feel, the lethargic nature of the motor and how the heavy torque ruins the riding experience.
Yes, I am seconds faster on it everywhere… besides sand tracks. I am also 220lbs so that doesn’t help.
I respect everyone’s opinion obviously but I have 100s of hours on both and disagree.
Idk what the hell the other brands are waiting for. Seems like there’s a huge potential market for 350 riders. Idk how many people I’ve met who’d love to have a 350 but can’t convince themselves to buy an Austrian bike for one reason or another, myself included.
Vet B/C rider. Been riding on and off for a long time and always on a 250F. Just switched to a 2023 350 that had 8-10 hours on it. So far I logged 25 hours on it. Very much liking the decision.
The air fork has taken a little getting used to. I like it and think it’s not the doom and gloom I’ve read about. However, I’m not ashamed to admit it’s most likely because I’m not fast enough for it to really matter.
As do I as well as two strokes since the mid eighties and respectfully if you can’t tell the difference between the 350 and 450 then … well I don’t know what say.
On my third 350 since 2017. Had a 17, 19 and 23. I’m 165-170 pounds depending on how lazy I’m feeling, how much it rains, and how much beer I drink. Vet rider that rode 250f or punched out 125 that wanted a little more, but not quite “450 more”. Rode the 350 and bought a new one about a week later.
I went to a 450 sx-f for a period there but back to a 350. Like the characteristics of the 350 engine and never felt like it wasn’t enough.
I‘ll swap bikes with guys with 250f that are thinking about getting one, and without keeping track of all of them, I think I’ve ridden all the newer 250f’s. I’ll take my bike over those all day. That’s what works for me anyways.
Can't agree more. Although I do own a 350 but only because I believe it is the perfect engine size not because I love ktm. How do we get the other manufacturers to open there eye's and realise there is a market for more 350's?
I've heard Keefer and others say the Japanese brands figure the 350cc engine size would take sales away from their 450cc bikes.
I think they're right. KTM's 350F took my business away from a Kawasaki or Yamaha 450F.
If there was a KX350 or YZ350F, I'd be very interested.
I'm content with my 350 , not extremely happy. I won't buy another. Air forks still suck, and I like more torque. A mellow 450 is better in my opinion. I find it hard to get over jumps on the 350 once I get tired. On a 450 it's much easier later in a race for me to get over obstacles.
$10.2k later. This thing is sick. I never would have thought I’d buy a KTM in my life
The power curves are pretty similar, honestly you can't go wrong with either. I have a 350 and 150sx and I honestly have a hard time choosing which to ride because they are both so dang fun in their own way.
Edit: Well it looks like you made your decision, congrats man! Sweet bike
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Who said I can’t tell a difference? Respectfully if you think your opinion is the only one that counts, I don’t know what to tell you. Being that you said mid 80s and I wasn’t even born then I’m guessing you’re pretty old and that probably plays into your decision and also “my opinion is the right opinion” mindset.
While I agree they may lose a few of there 250/450 sales but they won't actually be losing a customer. I believe they will gain costumers with people like me who only buy ktm because of the 350. I wouldn't care if it was honda/yamaha or Kawasaki I would buy there 350.
But sadly I don't think they will be building 350's, and instead there research will be going into electric. I think triumph is our only hope but I'm not holding my breath.
How many 350s does the KTM group sell each year?
Josh Mosiman at MXA would beg to differ. That recap he just did as to racing the 350 last weekend was pretty cool. Gonna be interesting to see how he does on the 450 this weekend at Hangtown.
Now... for us Vital weekend warriors, the 350 is a great bike!
Enjoy, you'll love it 👌
Great decision and you’ll love it. I said the same thing, we use to call them Ka-Tooms. I had to eat crow myself. Enjoy the bike!
I currently have both options in my garage- among others. The 350 is easily the most fun to ride and flow on.
I'm a struggling vet rider, but even my kid- who's fast by local standards loves the 350.
Unless you're a super competitive racer that need to be close to the class capacity limit- the 350 wins every time for fun factor.
It's crazy. Yamaha would sell 350s like hotcakes. Take my money!!
Ahh, so you went with the 350. Nice.
That price though. Wow 😳
A lot of vet guys will say they are faster on 450s but that’s just a bandaid on not being great at riding. I’m guilty of it too.
there was a question on pulp a few weeks ago asking why pros don’t race the 350. Andy bro show basically said it’s a perceived disadvantage. He works for the Austrian brands and said dungey did testing on both bikes and was faster on a 350. Ymmv
I agree. And it's not like they have to redesign a whole new bike either. The 250/450 already share most, maybe all parts besides the engine.
It's why I still appreciate and support ktm. At least they give the consumer options. For 25 they will have 7 different full size MX bikes to chose from.
This.
The same rationale was used by most of the Japanese manufacturers to discontinue their 2-stroke lines almost 20 years ago. Having both lines wouldn't double their sales - they were still selling to the same market but greatly increasing their costs to offer all the models with essentially the same total number of units sold. And they are making bank on the mechanically complex 4-strokes, so the decision was easy.
So, it's basically a case of pick one or the other. There are designated 250 and 450 classes for the pros, but not a 350 class, so that's what they build to develop and promote their product. A 350 would only be something sold to someone who was going to buy a 250 or 450 in the first place, not a new/additional sale to increase overall numbers - very few customers would buy both at the same time. Same with YZ350/Fantic situation.
Now, could they pick up buyers from KTM? Possibly, but again, this doesn't grow the existing market; it's just a shift in sales and they apparently don't see the potential profit numbers there to justify the cost of pursuing it.
Post a reply to: Are you incredibly happy with your 350?