MXA KTM 350 Test

ATKpilot99
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ATKpilot99
Edited Date/Time 1/26/2012 7:08pm
I know there are many who don't like MXA but I think their tests are the most honest . MXA doesn't seem to think the 350 will be the game changer some believe it to be . They basically said it is a niche bike that will be good for vets, play riders, and 250 transplants. It gives up 8 peak horsepower to the KTM 450 and weighs 5 lbs less. They said the 450 romps on it from 5000 rpm till the cows come home as they put it. To be expected...its a smaller engine . They did say it revs out like a 250f and its best to be ridden like one. They put on an Alessi replica FMF exhaust and said it helped a great deal . It was not all bad , they love the handling of KTMs and said the bike turns like its on rails . They put stiffer springs at both ends to bring the suspension up to where it should be . Anyway thats it in a nutshell .
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41NDT
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41NDT 8/9/2010 6:31pm
8/9/2010 6:31pm
Let the comments begin
Sit back and enjoy all the experts
newmann
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newmann 8/9/2010 7:04pm
8/9/2010 7:04pm
Sounds about right. My only complaint would be the weight issue.
panic revver 8/9/2010 7:36pm
8/9/2010 7:36pm
Only 8 peak HP? Wasn't it transworld that had the KTM450 at 60 or so? Power to weight ratio is definitely suspect.
rc4187
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rc4187 8/9/2010 7:43pm
8/9/2010 7:43pm
It's about what i expected as well... decent bike. I still don't believe it belongs in the 450 class. everyone should have to run the same displacement. no exceptions.

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ATKpilot99
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ATKpilot99 8/9/2010 7:48pm
8/9/2010 7:48pm Edited Date/Time 8/9/2010 7:51pm
panic revver wrote:
Only 8 peak HP? Wasn't it transworld that had the KTM450 at 60 or so? Power to weight ratio is definitely suspect.
HP can vary from dyno to dyno . MXA got 46.94 HP @12,200 RPM for the 350 and 53.92 @8200 RPM for the 450 on their dyno . That is a 6.98 HP difference , don't know why they rounded that to 8 . They had the KTM 250f at 38.25 HP.
panic revver 8/9/2010 8:11pm
8/9/2010 8:11pm
panic revver wrote:
Only 8 peak HP? Wasn't it transworld that had the KTM450 at 60 or so? Power to weight ratio is definitely suspect.
ATKpilot99 wrote:
HP can vary from dyno to dyno . MXA got 46.94 HP @12,200 RPM for the 350 and 53.92 @8200 RPM for the 450 on their...
HP can vary from dyno to dyno . MXA got 46.94 HP @12,200 RPM for the 350 and 53.92 @8200 RPM for the 450 on their dyno . That is a 6.98 HP difference , don't know why they rounded that to 8 . They had the KTM 250f at 38.25 HP.
That is weird. Maybe that new math rounds up an extra number or something. 54 HP seems low but what do I know, it's not like I use all of them anyway.
BobbyM
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BobbyM 8/9/2010 8:36pm
8/9/2010 8:36pm
once again, it isn't a race bike. if mike was on the suzy he'd be battling for wins instead of 9ths.
adamdf
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adamdf 8/9/2010 8:41pm
8/9/2010 8:41pm
BobbyM wrote:
once again, it isn't a race bike. if mike was on the suzy he'd be battling for wins instead of 9ths.
If it wasn't for those rumours about him not being 100 percent fit or that he was slightly ill or watever, then i would tend to agree.....but i guess we will never know.....so far his track record is miles better on the suzi though for sure..
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the_wood109 8/9/2010 8:42pm
8/9/2010 8:42pm
rc4187 wrote:
It's about what i expected as well... decent bike. I still don't believe it belongs in the 450 class. everyone should have to run the same...
It's about what i expected as well... decent bike. I still don't believe it belongs in the 450 class. everyone should have to run the same displacement. no exceptions.
I've defended the bike based on Cairolis performance, and the Alessi moto win. However, I can't help but agree with you by now based on the possibility that AC could ride one with higher displacement. Also, I've always hated the twins like the Aprillia, and in road racing, Ducati and Buell. Also, there is Harley in drag racing. A constant weight vs power to make it even.

Fuck it, the bike sucks! (sarcasm)

Seriously, the same weight and same engine size is the only way to roll in Moto.
7GP
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7GP 8/9/2010 8:55pm
8/9/2010 8:55pm Edited Date/Time 8/9/2010 8:57pm
panic revver wrote:
Only 8 peak HP? Wasn't it transworld that had the KTM450 at 60 or so? Power to weight ratio is definitely suspect.
ATKpilot99 wrote:
HP can vary from dyno to dyno . MXA got 46.94 HP @12,200 RPM for the 350 and 53.92 @8200 RPM for the 450 on their...
HP can vary from dyno to dyno . MXA got 46.94 HP @12,200 RPM for the 350 and 53.92 @8200 RPM for the 450 on their dyno . That is a 6.98 HP difference , don't know why they rounded that to 8 . They had the KTM 250f at 38.25 HP.
panic revver wrote:
That is weird. Maybe that new math rounds up an extra number or something. 54 HP seems low but what do I know, it's not like...
That is weird. Maybe that new math rounds up an extra number or something. 54 HP seems low but what do I know, it's not like I use all of them anyway.
They rounded it to 8 because the difference between the 350 and 250F was 8.69 (46.94-38.25) and the difference between the 450 and 350 was 6.98 (53.92-46.94). The average of the two differences is 7.97 which rounds to 8hp.
bents
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bents 8/9/2010 9:16pm
8/9/2010 9:16pm
MXA offers the best technical information, the most honest evaluation, and the most experienced examination of mx bikes and products, period. They know their shit, regardless of other criticisms people have of the mag. Dirt bike is pretty honest too, and Dirt Rider seems to put a good effort into their testing, others offer nothing but fluff when it comes to testing.

I buy most other magazines (but not every month), but don't buy them for their bike tests. I might be curious, but I don't put much stock in them. When I want to find out about what works and what doesn't, and which is better than which-I trust MXA over the others easily.

As for the KTM and Alessi-he needed to stay on Suzukis and his Dad needed to hand him over to Roger and say, "Here you go, make him a champion, I'm out." He fucking hauled on those things.
DrSweden
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DrSweden 8/9/2010 9:25pm
8/9/2010 9:25pm
The EFI and the E-starts makes about 8? pounds heavier than would it could have been.

The test is what was expected. More power on this scooter than what a majority needs...
tobz
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tobz 8/9/2010 9:29pm
8/9/2010 9:29pm
BobbyM wrote:
once again, it isn't a race bike. if mike was on the suzy he'd be battling for wins instead of 9ths.
BAHAHAHAHA
ATKpilot99
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ATKpilot99 8/9/2010 9:43pm
8/9/2010 9:43pm
BobbyM wrote:
once again, it isn't a race bike. if mike was on the suzy he'd be battling for wins instead of 9ths.
Or maybe on a KTM 450 also .
kitesthenmachinery 8/9/2010 9:45pm
8/9/2010 9:45pm
yep bahahahaha Bobby M and 500 guy! Go guys go, this is your cue.
observer
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observer 8/9/2010 9:46pm
8/9/2010 9:46pm
bents wrote:
MXA offers the best technical information, the most honest evaluation, and the most experienced examination of mx bikes and products, period. They know their shit, regardless...
MXA offers the best technical information, the most honest evaluation, and the most experienced examination of mx bikes and products, period. They know their shit, regardless of other criticisms people have of the mag. Dirt bike is pretty honest too, and Dirt Rider seems to put a good effort into their testing, others offer nothing but fluff when it comes to testing.

I buy most other magazines (but not every month), but don't buy them for their bike tests. I might be curious, but I don't put much stock in them. When I want to find out about what works and what doesn't, and which is better than which-I trust MXA over the others easily.

As for the KTM and Alessi-he needed to stay on Suzukis and his Dad needed to hand him over to Roger and say, "Here you go, make him a champion, I'm out." He fucking hauled on those things.
Hit the nail on the head....
And yep...after hearing Roger D say "if they don't want the help from the team(shrugs shoulders)what can you say?"...

(except, "sorry this isn't working out".)-my insertion.

Once again, Tony screwed it up for Mike. That man really needs to turn the kid loose--and to who better?...than Roger D? Jeeezzzz! talk about a mistake of mammoth proportions! Shocked
JB 19
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JB 19 8/9/2010 9:52pm
8/9/2010 9:52pm Edited Date/Time 8/10/2010 1:02am
I have been a fan on the 350 idea, but KTM missed the boat when they made the bike so heavy. If it was a couple pounds heavier than a 250F they would have an awsome bike. The way it stands, it has all the weight of a 450 and less power.

Until Honda builds one we won't know if the 350 will work or not.
adamdf
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adamdf 8/9/2010 10:31pm
8/9/2010 10:31pm
JB 19 wrote:
I have been a fan on the 350 idea, but KTM missed the boat when they made the bike so heavy. If it was a couple...
I have been a fan on the 350 idea, but KTM missed the boat when they made the bike so heavy. If it was a couple pounds heavier than a 250F they would have an awsome bike. The way it stands, it has all the weight of a 450 and less power.

Until Honda builds one we won't know if the 350 will work or not.
I take it your not grasping the idea that the 350 feels lighter and can be moved around much easier than the 450? it supposedly "feels" a lot lighter than 8 pounds..

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JB 19
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JB 19 8/10/2010 12:57am
8/10/2010 12:57am
I take it YOU'RE not grasping the idea that the KTM 350 is 10 pounds heavier than the Honda 450.

When a bike gets into a high speed swap 10 pounds is 10 pounds whether it is on the crossbar pad or inside the cylinder.
TheCynic82 8/10/2010 1:04am
8/10/2010 1:04am
JB 19 wrote:
I have been a fan on the 350 idea, but KTM missed the boat when they made the bike so heavy. If it was a couple...
I have been a fan on the 350 idea, but KTM missed the boat when they made the bike so heavy. If it was a couple pounds heavier than a 250F they would have an awsome bike. The way it stands, it has all the weight of a 450 and less power.

Until Honda builds one we won't know if the 350 will work or not.
It doesnt feel heavy at all.... much more like a 250 than a 450
MX #90
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MX #90 8/10/2010 3:58am
8/10/2010 3:58am Edited Date/Time 8/10/2010 3:59am
JB 19 wrote:
I take it YOU'RE not grasping the idea that the KTM 350 is 10 pounds heavier than the Honda 450. When a bike gets into a...
I take it YOU'RE not grasping the idea that the KTM 350 is 10 pounds heavier than the Honda 450.

When a bike gets into a high speed swap 10 pounds is 10 pounds whether it is on the crossbar pad or inside the cylinder.
yeah 10 pounds more or less whatever. i dont think you will feel it that much when you ride. the more important thing ist the moving mass of the motor and thats when the 350cc comes in. that is the "real" reason when a bike feels lighter. i dont wanna say that 10 pounds are nothing you could feel the difference but i think its not as important then the moving mass of the motor and thats what the 350 is all about.

i think the 350 is great. im not a pro rider like 97% on here who will use every bit of the power of a 450... Wink

also... motocross is more about the rider and less bike. shoot 250 are turning in 450 laptimes why should a 350 not be able to do that. and the same with starts... budds creek villopoto 250.... 100cc more would have definitly hurt him Wink

but everyone has their own opinion and thats just mine but what bothering me is that nearly everyone on here writes like they are the biggest experts and knowing all the stuff....
mxmat813
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mxmat813 8/10/2010 4:28am
8/10/2010 4:28am
Checking lap times in the 450A/Pro sport moto and the 250A/Pro sport moto from Loretta's and you find some interesting things. Gannon Audette and Lowell Spangler were both faster on there 250's than there 450's. I just looked quickly, but the same was true for the B classes. Just an observation. Some will say track conditions, but I was there the whole week. Besides the few early morning mud moto's, the track was practically the same all week.
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adamdf 8/10/2010 4:52am
8/10/2010 4:52am
JB 19 wrote:
I take it YOU'RE not grasping the idea that the KTM 350 is 10 pounds heavier than the Honda 450. When a bike gets into a...
I take it YOU'RE not grasping the idea that the KTM 350 is 10 pounds heavier than the Honda 450.

When a bike gets into a high speed swap 10 pounds is 10 pounds whether it is on the crossbar pad or inside the cylinder.
MX #90 wrote:
yeah 10 pounds more or less whatever. i dont think you will feel it that much when you ride. the more important thing ist the moving...
yeah 10 pounds more or less whatever. i dont think you will feel it that much when you ride. the more important thing ist the moving mass of the motor and thats when the 350cc comes in. that is the "real" reason when a bike feels lighter. i dont wanna say that 10 pounds are nothing you could feel the difference but i think its not as important then the moving mass of the motor and thats what the 350 is all about.

i think the 350 is great. im not a pro rider like 97% on here who will use every bit of the power of a 450... Wink

also... motocross is more about the rider and less bike. shoot 250 are turning in 450 laptimes why should a 350 not be able to do that. and the same with starts... budds creek villopoto 250.... 100cc more would have definitly hurt him Wink

but everyone has their own opinion and thats just mine but what bothering me is that nearly everyone on here writes like they are the biggest experts and knowing all the stuff....
x2
adamdf
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adamdf 8/10/2010 4:54am
8/10/2010 4:54am
JB 19 wrote:
I take it YOU'RE not grasping the idea that the KTM 350 is 10 pounds heavier than the Honda 450. When a bike gets into a...
I take it YOU'RE not grasping the idea that the KTM 350 is 10 pounds heavier than the Honda 450.

When a bike gets into a high speed swap 10 pounds is 10 pounds whether it is on the crossbar pad or inside the cylinder.
I know the Honda is lighter.....on paper, but does it feel lighter? Does it fatigue the rider less because of that 10 pounds? These things (real world performance) are more important than the spec sheet itself...
PressPassP
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PressPassP 8/10/2010 5:04am
8/10/2010 5:04am Edited Date/Time 8/10/2010 5:07am
AC seems even faster at the end of a race,he has often posted the fastest laptimes there,I don't go with any talk that his is way better than Mikey's either,it would be in KTM's interests to make the bike on both of the ponds as good as they could.MXA seem to no go too much on anything Euro anyway! (kidding)
oh yeah and Mikey should have switched to the 450 for sure
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DrSweden 8/10/2010 5:49am
8/10/2010 5:49am
adamdf wrote:
I know the Honda is lighter.....on paper, but does it feel lighter? Does it fatigue the rider less because of that 10 pounds? These things (real...
I know the Honda is lighter.....on paper, but does it feel lighter? Does it fatigue the rider less because of that 10 pounds? These things (real world performance) are more important than the spec sheet itself...
I'm only a B-rider, but for me the Honda felt heavier than the only 8 pounds diff in comparison to my KX250F.

What would be cool is to take the CRF250 2010 and put the carb setup from the 09 on it and ditch all the 5 pounds EFI equipment.

That bike would feel pretty light!?!
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Shenzi 8/10/2010 6:33am
8/10/2010 6:33am
BobbyM wrote:
once again, it isn't a race bike. if mike was on the suzy he'd be battling for wins instead of 9ths.
Like AC222 Wink
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Shenzi 8/10/2010 6:37am
8/10/2010 6:37am
MX #90 wrote:
yeah 10 pounds more or less whatever. i dont think you will feel it that much when you ride. the more important thing ist the moving...
yeah 10 pounds more or less whatever. i dont think you will feel it that much when you ride. the more important thing ist the moving mass of the motor and thats when the 350cc comes in. that is the "real" reason when a bike feels lighter. i dont wanna say that 10 pounds are nothing you could feel the difference but i think its not as important then the moving mass of the motor and thats what the 350 is all about.

i think the 350 is great. im not a pro rider like 97% on here who will use every bit of the power of a 450... Wink

also... motocross is more about the rider and less bike. shoot 250 are turning in 450 laptimes why should a 350 not be able to do that. and the same with starts... budds creek villopoto 250.... 100cc more would have definitly hurt him Wink

but everyone has their own opinion and thats just mine but what bothering me is that nearly everyone on here writes like they are the biggest experts and knowing all the stuff....
Bingo!

Also MX is a sport where it's more about the rider than the bike
cpj36
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cpj36 8/10/2010 6:47am
8/10/2010 6:47am
JB 19 wrote:
I take it YOU'RE not grasping the idea that the KTM 350 is 10 pounds heavier than the Honda 450. When a bike gets into a...
I take it YOU'RE not grasping the idea that the KTM 350 is 10 pounds heavier than the Honda 450.

When a bike gets into a high speed swap 10 pounds is 10 pounds whether it is on the crossbar pad or inside the cylinder.
MX #90 wrote:
yeah 10 pounds more or less whatever. i dont think you will feel it that much when you ride. the more important thing ist the moving...
yeah 10 pounds more or less whatever. i dont think you will feel it that much when you ride. the more important thing ist the moving mass of the motor and thats when the 350cc comes in. that is the "real" reason when a bike feels lighter. i dont wanna say that 10 pounds are nothing you could feel the difference but i think its not as important then the moving mass of the motor and thats what the 350 is all about.

i think the 350 is great. im not a pro rider like 97% on here who will use every bit of the power of a 450... Wink

also... motocross is more about the rider and less bike. shoot 250 are turning in 450 laptimes why should a 350 not be able to do that. and the same with starts... budds creek villopoto 250.... 100cc more would have definitly hurt him Wink

but everyone has their own opinion and thats just mine but what bothering me is that nearly everyone on here writes like they are the biggest experts and knowing all the stuff....
RV's own gate pic would have also hurt him and so would a first turn capable of allowing more than half dozen guys to get through cleanly. Unless you're fortunate enough to get out front like that you're not always going to be able to run 250 lines, and that's why they wont run with 450's.

Yeah, an extra 100cc would have hurt him going into that first turn but not coming out or going uphill or having to turn inside of a 450.

Mike got a better start with a broken knee last year than he is on the 350.
MX #90
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MX #90 8/10/2010 7:16am
8/10/2010 7:16am
cpj36 wrote:
RV's own gate pic would have also hurt him and so would a first turn capable of allowing more than half dozen guys to get through...
RV's own gate pic would have also hurt him and so would a first turn capable of allowing more than half dozen guys to get through cleanly. Unless you're fortunate enough to get out front like that you're not always going to be able to run 250 lines, and that's why they wont run with 450's.

Yeah, an extra 100cc would have hurt him going into that first turn but not coming out or going uphill or having to turn inside of a 450.

Mike got a better start with a broken knee last year than he is on the 350.
yeah but we will never know because he started from the inside... the 450 could have gone to the inside on the straight to cut him off but he was ahead of them.... thats just one example. sure its rare that 250s win a start against 450s but its possible!

its irony in there... a hint Wink

maybe he was more focused to get a good start because of his knee than he is now. its all possible.

many people with many minds... but unless you have not ridden one yourself you should not blame the bike. you should not give to much to these tests. that is just the opinion of these testriders. whey they say its shit but ride it and you feel great on it wich will be the reason to buy one?

i dont want to offend anybody but most of you are not even given it a chance and that is a genral problem here as you can read in other threats

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