I thought KTM was moving away from PDS rear suspension?

Their offroad models have had PDS since 1998, I've never heard or read any speculation they are changing.  Their MX models ditched PDS around 2010/11 when Roger joined KTM.  

The XC-W and EXC (North American EXC, street legal ones) have always had PDS. As ando said, the MX bikes and XC line hasn't had PDS for almost 15 years. None of the Husky bikes have PDS either, even the off road models. 

Trystan Hart said they(KTM) were going away from PDS for 2027 and that was one of the reasons he was now racing a XC instead of XCW. I think that is where the rumor started. 

I am pretty sure the 2028 models will not have PDS. The 27's are a carry over on the current chassis, so why ef with it. The 28 will be all new and no more PDS. Not because of performance, because Bajja wants to cut cost and streamline their products. Too many different models now. Makes sense to me. 

https://enduro21.com/en/bikes/latest/are-ktm-set-to-drop-the-pds-suspen…

Whats the story on why the mx bikes didnt have linkage for a while? I had always heard they had to wait until the patent ran out, but I happened upon an article the other day talking about how each brand ended up with basically the same suspensions both front and rear after experimentation and come to find out ktm had linkage up to 1997. Why did they go away from it?

I would assume that the SX and XC line gets the new model changes for 28 and then the XCW line gets the updates along with no PDS in 29, based on previous gen model updates...

I had an XC 300 with PDS….I enjoyed that bike and didn’t miss greasing the linkage bearings one bit….I believe the SX guys couldn’t come to terms with the non linkage….. This is when KTM was making a big push in the US..so they had to pivot to linkage….I still think for woods riding its fine once dialed in….

To make max power, especially in the 125 class.

The pds enables the air box intake to have more of a straight path to the carb than a linkage shock.

ooooh, i didn't know that.  They were once off centre, but im pretty sure they are pretty much centre now on the PDS bikes? 

It's a double edged sword.

The original intent was to offset for the straighter intake shot. Problem is this loaded the frame unevenly.  Add a little spring bind, and wham, the dreaded PDS shock kick shows up at the most inopportune time as the built up forces in the frame unload, especially in an MX application (aka whoops).

There were ways to work around this for those less than Pro speed, a bearing between the spring and adjusting collar being the biggest difference maker. But that still wouldn't do much for Pro speed into SX whoops.

As the frames got better, the shock also moved more towards center to more evenly load the frame. 2 stroke engine development also improved so the now slightly offset intake was not the hindrance KTM initially felt it would be.

The current PDS shocks are also much more simple (and cheaper to produce) with a single piston design. Earlier PDS shocks were dual piston and also had a bottoming/bleed needle in them. Those patents have now expired as King is using the same design on some of their truck/UTV race shocks.

I loved the PDS on my 2008 505 SXS. Took me a while to get it dialed in, but once I did it was great. Would have to swap springs, but since it was 2 bolts and out not a big deal. Ran a straight rate spring for MX, a progressive for off road, and minimal clicker adjustments between the two. Bladder conversion for the reservoir, x-trig adjuster to make spring swaps easier, and the spring bearing.

And for offroad, nothing can beat having a completely smooth underside to the frame. No linkage hanging down makes a huge difference, no matter how good of a skid plate or pad you put under the shock clevis mount.

Are you sure about that? The steelframe Hondas had an off center shock with linkage. It is reasonable to think that this (off Center shock) was done at the time at most oems.

One of the better working rear suspensions I had was on a 2009 450SXF with the PDS. It was set up by Factory Connection and worked great for outdoor MX at vet expert (at the time) speed. SX whoops is where they couldn't get it to work consistently, but I wasn't riding any pro SX for sure! 

Verona's 450 KTM uses PDS suspension -unlike his previous GasGas.

My wife has a 2024 250 XCW that has PDS and I have a 24 300XC with linkage. I ride both often and her bike certainly isn't any worse, it feels better in some situations actually, perfect bike for a lighter less aggressive rider only downside is they do sit higher.

 Shock setup definitely has a bit more influence on a PDS bike as well, you don't have the linkage doing the leverage changes during the stroke. 

Josep Garcia has been on a PDS for a while and he's arguably the best enduro rider on the planet right now. 

There you go. 

The story is that someone within their development group decided that if offroad 4 wheeled racers (trophy trucks) don't use a linkage between the control arm and the shock, and the swing arm is a control arm, why use linkage? They assumed the issue was shock development, and they went to town on that PDS specific shock. 

I'm not an engineer, but trophy truck control arms don't have a chain hooked to a 450cc engine, yanking on them. 

Ease of servicing is about the only real benefit the pds platform provides.   The rear rides high, and does not handle high speed chop like a linkage does.   If you ride slow(er) gnarly terrain in wet environments, pds works well.   I debate switching back to pds every time I have to drop my linkage for servicing. 

Stefan Everts