Posts
2548
Joined
9/16/2009
Location
Portland, OR
US
Fantasy
213th
Edited Date/Time
3/4/2014 8:18am
It's no secret that Decoster has brought KTM to an entirely new level here in the states. The bikes are light years better than they were and are now a legit member of the "big 5". Decoster is not going to be around for too much longer (3-5 years maybe). Has he and KTM built the brand enough so that when he does leave will the team still be as good as it is and attract top tier guys or will it slip back into a 2nd tier team like the mid to late 2000's post Larry Brooks era? I know he hasn't single handedly made the team what it is, but let's face it, without him, Dungey, Roczen, and Musquin would be on different colors right now.
Opinions?
Opinions?
Right now, I'm riding a '13.5/14 SXF and I can honestly say that it IS the "Better Bike" for the masses; HOWEVER, I'd have to call the KXF the "Better Pro-Bike" for Supercross and the KTM is it's Equal for "Outdoors"...I've been riding them both, back to back: The KXF simply SHREDS and it is SOooooo easy to make it FEEL & HANDLE Really "Light". The SXF is simply more Forgiving and Truly comes with SUPERIOR "hardware" for the long-run. If you can't get the SXF to "Hold a Line"? You should quit and take-up Golf. Forks go to the KTM, Shock goes to the Kawi.
As to Who's Responsible for What?
Obviously Roger has made a Huge Contribution; but, so have a few other Belgians, Carlos, AC, a certain Dutch kid...and countless off-road riders including Taddy and Kurt.
Me? I'm going to ride some Orange and White bikes for a while: I like and APPRECIATE that they're doing.
Signed,
Stoked to be ridin' at 50.
The Shop
Everything worked excellent for me - in fact the impression it left with me is that I might like to have one to race LOL I quite racing..........
Love my KTM's as there are so damn dependable, easy to take care of and fun to ride
The Japanese have board meetings in Japan, they don't need to go to the races.
I believe steel is a better material for frames than aluminum for several reasons. Primarily, it is more forgiving. With aluminum the wall thickness and/or size of the tubing needs to be substantially larger than steel to obtain the same reliable strength. This tranlates into a more harsh ride and the rigidity causes it to not flex as much as steel which affects the handling slightly. A steel frame is also going to be slightly heavier than an aluminum frame of the same strength. The down side with steel is the need to be painted to prevent corosion.
All these bike's are probably over designed for strength, but another thing is that a steel frame will normaly show fatigue before it fails, where aluminum does not. I'm not talking about an instantaneous failure due to a horiffic crash, but normal fatigue incurred over many year's of use.
One material I'm suprised manufacturer's haven't experimented with is Titanium. I'm sure there is a reason. More than likely price is a major factor and possibly availability. The last bicycle I raced on was Titanium. It performed and handled much more like a steel frame than aluminum, only it was softer while still being as rigid. Another great thing is that a Titanium frame was considerably lighter than a steel frame.
Pit Row
GO ON.......
Steel frames have a lot of interesting characteristics. I learned something really interesting when I used to kart race, and some of the Euro guys came over for some for a few CIK events in the US. Those top guys use a chassis only half a dozen times. After that...they use a new one. On rougher tracks...they might only use a kart a few times. The steel strain hardens from load cycles..and the chassis gets stiffer and deader...and stops working as well.
BLM...out of Italy...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlJC6_eSfmU&list=PL013F30F249602E5B
KTM's are becoming better than the Jap bikes. I wouldn't have touched one 5 years ago, but now, I'll probably end up on one in 5 years!
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