Been terrified of the newer (2023+) KTM chassis because of professional reviewers descriptions. The reviews are BS IMO.

Other then the the first generation aluminum cr s the whole chassis is to stiff conversation was non exisistent till a few years back. IMHO its all bullshit perpetuated by the internet.  Unless your qualifying for nationals i doubt any of us can honestly tell the difference.  You may believe you do but I don't.

I have to concur. I’ve been a die hard “my ‘22 is better than ‘23+” guy. But my buddy bought a couple of ‘23 sxf350’s and I’ve put in a pretty good amount of time on one (set up and prepped  by me just like I would if it were mine) and even with bone stock suspension…. The bike is pretty darn good. I haven’t got to ride on super rough track but so far I’m very impressed. I also rode my buddy’s ‘25 sxf250 FE Last weekend at a couple Oklahoma tracks and tbh I think I may have been faster on that bike than my own 350. The ‘23+ definitely corners better than my ‘22. And I’ve got pretty much everything done to my ‘22 you can throw at it from floating axle blocks to A kit….

The only time I was aware of a chassis flexing was my 1992 CR250. There was one jump that I landed on an off camber straight and every time I would have to correct because it would twist it seemed and often even have one foot off the peg. I rode a friend's Yamaha and it stayed straight as an arrow when I landed the same jump. It was then when I rode my bike again that I realized what was happening. I found out later that Honda gusseted the frames on all the team bikes and beefed up the 93 CR250. We didn't have Pitbits like we do now to see all the trickery. 

A little bit off topic but here’s a motoGP bike that you can bolt frame stiffener plates on to adjust the chassis

I am about 215lbs and have a 23 250XC as well as a 24 450XCFW. I has a 22 250XC TPI as well as a 2019, a 2017, a 2015, etc... The newest chassis is the most comfortable bike I have had, bone stock, of all the those. The rest I have spent time chasing suspension issues, ergo tweaks, etc. 

My 2023 has MXTech Ravens to ditch the stock AER fork, and an XC GEAR Mako 360 but otherwise mostly stock. I absolutely love this bike. I have 130 hours on it and it's been amazingly good.

The 2024, I didn't even have to change springs. It has an FMF exhaust for the spark arrestor and that is it. My sag numbers came out correct with stock springs and I have been just riding it. So far, it's the best bone stock motorcycle I have owned. I have about 30 hours on it in since the beginning of October. Raced a few enduros on it now and it's been great. Finished 13th OA at the most recent enduro.. 

I also have to agree...the 2023+ chassis is incredible. Yeah, it was maybe slightly stiffer than the '24 Kawi 450 frame when new, but it was ultra-planted and stuck to the ground. I agree with Eli's comments when he says "it feels like it has an extra G on it" - so planted. I also think a lot of the "stiff" comments came from west coast tracks with hard conditions and more sharp-edged bumps. On the east coast tracks, where it is deep and loamy with big, spread out bumps and deep ruts, it is just not an issue. I would argue the stiffness is optimal for those conditions. I have a lot of new generation bikes in my garage, so I can directly compare, back-to-back, and the "overly stiff" chassis comments just don't apply, in my experience. I also understand that the magazine outlets are looking for small differences and comparing the chassis to the previous generation, which I understand to be much more compliant. So I'm not sure I would call their criticisms "BS" per se, but maybe "exagerrated" would be a better way to describe them. Full disclosure, I did add a Luxon linkage, FCP engine mounts, and RE triple clamps to my 2024 KTM 350, which helped quite a lot (especially the FCP mounts, wow!); however, I did not consider them necessary modifications. I did the same updates (RE linkage, REP engine mounts, RE clamps) to my 2024.5 450 Husky R.E. which had the OEM frame, engine mount, and linkage updates - so I just like those modifications, even with a more compliant frame. I'm just glad we have so many AWESOME dirt bike options right now...it doesn't help my bank account, but it sure does improve my mental health!!

23.5 husky 450 vibrated a ton compared to my Yamaha's. Didn't enjoy that. 

I agree. McGrath couldn’t ride the ‘97 CR. But his ‘96 was really a ‘93. He couldn’t ride the Suzuki without non-manufacturer forks. Don’t forget Killed the Mac (KTM) in 2003. 

I hit 160 on the scales and love my ‘23 350 SX-F.  I have spring Cone Valve forks, but honestly liked the bike just slightly less with the original forks.  

I did not read this entire thread, but Im sure somewhere in here people are recommending a Vortex and a second Injector for the 350 so you can pull third gear out of corners more easily.

those two things have made the biggest difference in my 2025 350 KTM. The bike went from mediocre to a vet weapon when I added them.

Still running the stock exhaust and loving it.

Who did the Vortex and 2nd injector setup?

Definitely agree on the stability. 

As far as fork height, try them raised  2 - 2.5 lines (by the third line I feel the bike gets too twitchy). 103mm sag. 

@Brent 

We tried a Twisted vortex on my buddy’s ‘23 and couldn’t tell any perceivable difference aside from slightly better idling/less wanting to stall in low speed corners. Very very hard to even notice the difference. The vortex on my ‘22 made HUGE difference. After doing a lot of reading and investigating, it seems the ‘23+ come factory with a much better ecu setting and many are disappointed after spending $1000 on an ecu and not being able to tell a difference. There’s a YouTube video going in depth from a fella on the topic as well. 

To add a little context, my ‘22 runs VERY healthy. And my buddy who owns the ‘23 350 calls my bike a “hot rod” compared to his. 
 

A luxxon guy posts here.... what we think we're feeling with frames isn't what's really going on.

Chad Braun.

Everybody rides a 350 differently.

Some guys like to rev the bike to the moon, and the 350 is certainly capable of that.

 I like to try and ride it like a 450, so that means trying to keep it in third as much as possible.

Here in Southern California the tracks are quite slippery at times, so I use XPR torque map 3 with extra blaze 100.  That combination allows me to stay in third In tighter corners that I would normally have to shift down into second.

YMMV.
 

21xcf to 24xcf, I am with the op on the frame.

Love it !!.