Posts: 9817
Joined: 7/6/2015
Location: So Cal, CA USA
Been tossing around the idea of getting either a husky or ktm 350. Looking at left over 17's. Looking for some opinions from you guys that have them or have ridden them. Pros-Cons. Thanks
2017 RMZ450
2005 YZ250-sold :,(
1998 YZ250
2005 KX250F
Thanks to : Factory Effex, Simi Valley Cycles, N2Dirt, Acerbis, DT1, Fasthouse, Matix, FMF, Mika Metals
Posts: 535
Joined: 4/1/2008
Location: PA, USA
Posts: 2100
Joined: 7/31/2010
Location: Merritt Island, FL USA
Edited Date/Time:
Can't get a better bike with either brand!!! '16+ with the chassis and engine changes created about the best bike possible...
Cons - 4 stroke rebuild. I'll sell before then...
2019 KTM 350 XC-F
Apollo Motorcycle Club
Daytona Dirt Riders (DDR)
Floridatrailriders.org (FTR)
Posts: 1678
Joined: 7/26/2015
Location: MA, USA
Just got one last month. Great deals on them now. Super light, awesome suspension, great turning and the bikes a rocket. I have a 250sx also and the 350 hooks up much better. 3rd gear just goes forever. I was running in map 2 but stay in one because o feel it's smoother and doesn't have as much snap. As a lifelong 250 2t rider, and as far as power goes, don't want more and don't need more. Awesome bike.
Posts: 548
Joined: 9/6/2009
Location: Cedar Park, TX USA
I've got about 15 hours on my 17 FC350. Power is great, it feels exactly like you would expect a 350 to feel. Substantially more juice than a 250 but much more forgiving than a 450. Definitely worth drilling the airbox. I noticed a significant difference in snap.
The AER fork is pretty good. I'm 6"1, 180lbs and I found my settings within the first 3 or 4 hours. Corners really really well with the stock shock settings but that's about all the shock did well. I ended up putting on a 450 spring which helped but I'm still searching for the balance of comfort and performance.
Summary:
+350 power is just right
+CRAZY how light and nimble the bike feels, which equates to more stamina
+Traction control actually works pretty well in appropriate conditions
+The Huskies looks awesome
+E-start is sweet
-There's a little bit of a learning curve to riding a 350 efficiently. It's not a negative really but it takes time.
-Shock is finicky
-Coming from long history of Japanese bikes, these euro bikes are a pain in the ass to work on (removing the shock is a bitch)
-I slipped around a bit on the stock pegs
-Doesn't apply to the Husky, but I hated the Neken bars on the KTM
Posts: 926
Joined: 8/14/2017
Location: Mountain Top, PA USA
I was skeptical too, coming off 450s.
DO IT!!! its the best 3h on a bike I ever had. Its effortless to point & shoot this bike, the motor is a blast.
Posts: 926
Joined: 8/14/2017
Location: Mountain Top, PA USA
mattyhamz2 wrote:Been tossing around the idea of getting either a husky or ktm 350. Looking at left over 17's. Looking for some opinions from ...more
I traded my 16 yz450f in for one. You will instantly be happy on the decision.
Posts: 2275
Joined: 8/7/2009
Location: NM, USA
Sold my 16. Don't miss it either. Even after putting ohlins,pipe,gearing, vortex ignition etc.... it was just. ehhh. I wanted to really like it. But I didn't.
Posts: 271
Joined: 1/30/2017
Location: Midlothian, TX USA
Have a little over 10 hours on my '17 350sxf. I love this bike! Like stated, it takes awhile to learn how to really ride it. I rode a buddies '17 450sxf this past weekend and though they are extremely close in weight, the 350 felt lighter in the air. Power wise they felt similar, just different on how it's delivered. Extremely fun bike. Stock suspension is pretty good once everything settled in and got it all adjusted. First set of suspension I didn't send off to get redone, so that's a big savings there. I didn't think I'd like the stock bars but got use to them after a couple rides. Brakes kick ass too. There's a couple things you could do to "make it yours" but damn, this bike is great as it is.
Posts: 25718
Joined: 7/22/2007
Location: St Helens, OR USA
One for me coming this spring! Or earlier. Have a feeling I'll dig it.
" And there goes Jeffro. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.”
Posts: 331
Joined: 1/31/2017
Location: Irvine, CA USA
I also picked up a leftover '17 this year and liking it a lot. I've ridden it on tight tracks, open tracks, sand tracks etc and it does well everywhere. A lot of people play around with the gearing but so far I am liking the stock ratio. The bike is geared fairly tall so second and third gear have a really wide range of speed. I find that I do not have to shift it very much because you can really wind out each of the gears instead of shifting. If you need to bring rpm up to get into power in a corner, a quick blip of the clutch does the trick better than you'd experience on most 250f's. The aer forks are good but in my opinion, sensitive to proper shock setup. Make sure you run the right spring rate to get the bike working best or you may not like the fork. Overall, amazing bike. Super easy to ride and plenty of power to clear any obstacle.
Posts: 926
Joined: 8/14/2017
Location: Mountain Top, PA USA
X2.. first time using a non-cross bar bend & I like it. I am also not sending my suspension for a re-valve.
Cant wait to throw more hours on it Saturday.
Posts: 1343
Joined: 4/1/2008
Location: USA
I had a ktm 350 and loved , it handles better than any bike I've ridden . If you weigh anything close to 200 you better get a revalve on the fork mine blew through the stroke on an oj and tore my tricep . I don't ride high in the rpm so I'll be going back to 450s . You do have to ride the 350 harder but it's a great bike
Posts: 671
Joined: 1/9/2016
Location: Honey Brook, PA USA
I just got 17 fc350 and love just about everything except for the air forks, came from yz250f then bigbore Honda 250f which I loved it to keep up with all my buddies in the vet classes I needed a little more umph and a 450 was just too much for me so I went with the 350. It's fast that's for sure!
Posts: 418
Joined: 4/23/2012
Location: OH, USA
Posts: 3995
Joined: 3/8/2009
Location: Marion, OH USA
Posts: 671
Joined: 1/9/2016
Location: Honey Brook, PA USA
Posts: 4593
Joined: 1/10/2010
Location: Sacramento, CA USA
Edited Date/Time:
Have a 17 with 25 hours on it, love the motor and how light it feels, handles really well too.
Not a big fan of the suspension in stock trim, didn't like the air forks at all and had to get the SDI link to make the back end settle down. Went with the spring conversion on the forks and they are much improved. Slipdog has done all my suspension work and its night and day better thanks to him.
I had the ignition done by Tokyo mods and put the two stroke air filter cage in and both of those combined helped out a ton especially running pump gas.
Went up 1 tooth on the rear and that seemed to help out quite a bit with running a gear higher every where.
Had to replace my battery after 8 hours, it died and was under warranty so I went with a bigger WPS battery with a 3 year warranty and the bigger FX battery box. Problem solved.
Posts: 1416
Joined: 10/27/2009
Location: Menifee, CA USA
mattyhamz2 wrote:Been tossing around the idea of getting either a husky or ktm 350. Looking at left over 17's. Looking for some opinions from ...more
I got to ride a '16 ktm 350 for a few days and i really cant think of any cons. I absolutely loved that bike. Ive always liked a 250f over a 450f though and the 350 felt like a super fast 250 to me. Only hard thing for me is the extra cost of having a ktm/husky over a jap bike. But you wont have any regrets getting a 350. Absolute blast to ride man.
Posts: 926
Joined: 8/14/2017
Location: Mountain Top, PA USA
Posts: 582
Joined: 8/6/2015
Location: Eagle, ID USA
Posts: 180
Joined: 9/25/2016
Location: Golden, CO USA
I've put 108 hours on my 17 so far. It's like riding a 250f with 450 power. It's easier to ride than a 450 as you actually shift less and about as nimble as a 250. I have an fmf exhaust with the long header on mine and it makes a big difference pulling a taller gear out of a corner. You can just leave it in second around the whole track and get around just fine. Also have a spring kit in the forks which makes them even better, though they were good stock. The video vital did on the 18 is spot on. If you can ride one before you buy it do it though because people have different tastes.
Posts: 2332
Joined: 9/28/2009
Location: San Diego, CA USA
Edited Date/Time:
I had a 15. Didn't really like it because of the forks and I felt alot of vibration in the bars. I prefer my '08 Honda 450 much more.
"Who cares about what other people think"
Posts: 836
Joined: 1/11/2017
Location: CAN
I have 206hrs in my 350xcf. Coming off a 15 YZ450F, the 350 is all around a better bike. A bit of a learning curve riding it but I havent had half the success on any other bike as I've had in the 350. Easy to ride when you want to go slow, easy to ride to when you want to go fast... Highly highly recommend buying one...
Posts: 926
Joined: 8/14/2017
Location: Mountain Top, PA USA
Posts: 9817
Joined: 7/6/2015
Location: So Cal, CA USA
I'd love to be able to ride one first, but I don't know anyone that owns one and dealer told me they haven't heard anything about up coming ktm demo days yet.
Thanks for the replies so far!
2017 RMZ450
2005 YZ250-sold :,(
1998 YZ250
2005 KX250F
Thanks to : Factory Effex, Simi Valley Cycles, N2Dirt, Acerbis, DT1, Fasthouse, Matix, FMF, Mika Metals
Posts: 3995
Joined: 3/8/2009
Location: Marion, OH USA
Posts: 535
Joined: 4/1/2008
Location: PA, USA
A buddy of mine just picked one up in PA with the street title 81 out the door .it really ticks me off that they charge setup fee on these bikes when KTM reimburses them for them with a $400 credit ,then they charge you $400 so they make 800 bucks on what amounts to 1 hours worth of work to put the bike together.
Posts: 535
Joined: 4/1/2008
Location: PA, USA
Our first 350 which was the old engine ,we ran that for a full season tore it down at 130 hours everything was still in-spec still replace the piston ,valves and timing chain , we do this with every bike at the end of the season. It was raced a mixture of motocross and Hare scrambles we had just come off 250f which had to have the rings changed every 50 hours was a pain in the ass.
I know some old slow guys to have 200 plus hours on their bikes.
Posts: 688
Joined: 3/6/2017
Location: Indian Trail, NC USA
Love mine. Bought a used 2016, I felt like it vibrated a lot. Sold that and bought a brand new 2017 for $8300 OTD in Tennessee (I'm in NC).
I can't think of a single con when compared to a 450, I like it better than any 450 I've owned/ridden.
