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drt410
1/17/2018 8:29pm
1/17/2018 8:29pm
Edited Date/Time
1/20/2018 3:10pm
How are KTMs snd Huskys soooo much lighter than japanese bikes that reeds stock husky was lighter than his factory yzf? They have air forks and a steel frame... where does the rest of it come from? Its a huge difference.
The Shop
1/8 of a ton for a RMZ 450? are you kidding me? Are they filling those aluminum frames with lead?
As an old fart, I appreciate being able to easily throw my KTM onto a real bike stand after a moto like I used to with my old 250 two stroke, as opposed to having to use one of those pussy step on jack stands.
You can claim “fan boy” or accept that the lightest machine, with the most power (or close to it) and the best brakes has a head start. (Handling and Suspension is harder to quantify, but the consensus is that KTM is near the top in these as well.) KTM’s 450 is often a shoot out winner.
The lighter weight seems to come from continual R&D. Shaving grams from every component.
Everyone knows how much fork springs weigh. KTMs were the lightest bikes when the opposition ran air forks and the KTMs had springs and electric start!
Provided light weight doesn’t come with a reliability penalty there are only upsides. Ti fasteners are standard on pros bikes for eg.
I’m surprised the Japanese can’t close the gap. They seem to shave a kilo off, then add 4 on with electric start and back to spring forks.
Luckily (or unluckily?) I'm not fast or gnarly enough for these failures to happen to me but I get a little nervous when I see a local pro shredding the balls off a stock looking KTM.
over 200 hours of xc/enduro racing
original piston
no tranny work
never bled the clutch
maintained otherwise
other than the subframe wearing from pastics/being weak from impact i love my bike compared to riding other peoples
Also look at the swingarm vs a jap bike. Its easy to see where they cut corners.
Pit Row
Knew a guy who raced C Vet class and was slow as balls, but when you went to a track to practice and he was there, he was changing shocks more often than riding the bike. A day in the life of this guy was more ridiculous than any Ronnie Mac video I've ever watched.
I love my Husky.
KTM 450 cylinder heads from 2008 to the current factory editions. Same basic design but vastly different execution. That's just one component. Multiply every part of the bike getting the same type of rethink and your bike gets progressively lighter.
https://apexfasteners.com/fasteners/images/Brochure_EJOT_PT_02.11_en.pdf
https://motocrossactionmag.com/what-the-2017-motocross-bikes-really-wei… The weights are for '17's, and since Yamaha and Honda went to e-start they are no longer correct.
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