KX Riders
Maintenance & Technical => KX500 Aluminum Frame Conversion (AFC) => Topic started by: Charlie500 on December 30, 2012, 02:24:17 PM
-
I'm in the market for a new bike. I was looking at KTM 300xcw, Husaberge TE 300 or maybe a KX 500 AF.... Question is, how well these bikes compare. I will be ridding strictly tight single track woods ridding in Oregon and Washington...
-
Ya gott'a love the e- start on the KTM 300. The Husaberge 300 doesn't have enough support, service/parts. My K5 AF is a blast to ride, the fun indicator is in your right hand.
If I was in the market for a new bike I would buy a KTM 500 XC-W.
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p102/DrtBik/KTM/KTM500XC-W_zps79d2072a.jpg)
http://www.ktm.com/us/enduro/500-xc-w-usa/highlights.html#.UOGYwKwzSiA
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p102/DrtBik/KTM/KTM500_zps0e726844.jpg)
ADV thread:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=773406
-
As soon as I figure out my new Gopro Ill post a vid of my 500SF in the tight stuff. Stock, the 500 isnt too bad in the tigh stuff. I tamed mine down some by adding the optional thicker head gasket, 14oz fww, some Boyeson reeds, a FMF Gnarly and Q silencer combo. Im running 14/51 gearing. It is so easy to ride! Very smooth with bucket loads of bottom end. The power is somewhat muted compared to a stocker, its tailored for the conditions that I ride it in ( there are really no sand dunes or desert here in southern NJ) but for tight single track trail its great!
-
Ya gott'a love the e- start on the KTM 300. The Husaberge 300 doesn't have enough support, service/parts. My K5 AF is a blast to ride, the fun indicator is in your right hand.
If I was in the market for a new bike I would buy a KTM 500 XC-W.
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p102/DrtBik/KTM/KTM500XC-W_zps79d2072a.jpg)
http://www.ktm.com/us/enduro/500-xc-w-usa/highlights.html#.UOGYwKwzSiA
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p102/DrtBik/KTM/KTM500_zps0e726844.jpg)
ADV thread:
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=773406
That 500xcw does not look like a good bike for tight woods ridding....
-
Tight Single track?
Here's a sleeper:
(http://i644.photobucket.com/albums/uu165/oemcycle/KLR650%20KAWASAKI%201998%20PICTURES%20AND%20MEASUREMENTS/DSCN5975.jpg)
:evil:
-
Laugh Out Loud sandblaster....thats funny..... I had to sell my 1990 500 and my 06 500 af project I was working on to get into our new house.... Now I'm in the market for a new bike. We just moved up to oregon and the terrain up here is very tight single track ridding....I'm looking at a new bike, the service kawasaki's are not that much more than the ktm's so I figured what the heck... What kind of mileage can you get out of those af bikes? How big is the over sized tanks for those things?
-
Oh, what part of Oregon did you move too?
I live up by Eugene,
I do ride single track as well but I spend way more time on the coast or the eastern desert.
I won't be able to tell you anything on the AF's till I get mine done :-D
-
Oh, what part of Oregon did you move too?
I live up by Eugene,
I do ride single track as well but I spend way more time on the coast or the eastern desert.
I won't be able to tell you anything on the AF's till I get mine done :-D
Just moved to grants pass. Haven't been ridding at all up here yet, except for around some blm near my property on my wifes ttr125... The local dealerships and RiderPlanet as a lot of good things to say about the ridding areas around here.... I would love to get my hands on that service kx on ebay right now.... I'm just still not sure... the ktm and bergs look pretty darn nice.... There is a really nice husaberg shop up by you I plan to visit when I get home. (I work in Abu Dhabi) I will be home on the 10th
-
I grew up not far from pass grass :-)
We lived about 25 miles out of Eagle Point totally surrounded by BLM.
I could take off on my bike and ride for a lot of miles in just about in direction, no fences, no houses, no Sheriff patrols doing sound checks.
It's been about 35 years since I lived there so I'm sure it's been mostly fenced off and shut down by now.
It was sure good riding back then.
In fact, the AF would have dominated in that terrain as it was a lot of open riding and very fast.
On a bike choice it's really rider choice.
I love my kx500 but not for single track.
Then again my bike is not set up for it and it could be made a lot better.
When I get my AF built I plan on setting it up for single track so we'll see what happens.
I'd be a little leery of the Berg.
They are great bikes but have always been spotty for service and support in our area.
But hey, if you really like it and you go in with eyes wide open, the Berg would be fun...
-
Cool man, we live off Riverbanks dr... off Marcy Loop. Theres a lot of blm around my house.... I can ride right out my drive way. When I get a bike, we'll have to hit up the mountains.
-
KTM own's Husaberg now & the motors are all shared, So the 300 berg is a kTM. The 2012 berg has a bigger tank than than the 13 & the 13's have a "plastic composite" :roll: subframe. Might be super durable but I wouldnt wanna be the guinea pig
Here's a smokin deal I cant do anything about, although if anybody wants to buy my kidney I'll sell it for $5959
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=23476599&cat=&lpid=&search=husaberg
-
Tight Single track?
Here's a sleeper:
(http://i644.photobucket.com/albums/uu165/oemcycle/KLR650%20KAWASAKI%201998%20PICTURES%20AND%20MEASUREMENTS/DSCN5975.jpg)
:evil:
HOLY HELL!!! That model KLR 650 came with a 6.1 gallon tank stock which when full equals 42 lbs of fuel in your crotch.......I wonder how much fuel that tank in the picture holds.... :-o
-
Tight Single track?
Here's a sleeper:
(http://i644.photobucket.com/albums/uu165/oemcycle/KLR650%20KAWASAKI%201998%20PICTURES%20AND%20MEASUREMENTS/DSCN5975.jpg)
:evil:
HOLY HELL!!! That model KLR 650 came with a 6.1 gallon tank stock which when full equals 42 lbs of fuel in your crotch.......I wonder how much fuel that tank in the picture holds.... :-o
The baggage carriers have been precisely designed to accept cinder blocks as ballast. As fuel is used remove the appropiate number of cinder blocks to maintain proper stability and center of gravity. For you aviation types this is called weight and balance. There is a Lowes or Home Depot about every 100 miles or so in the U.S. now and many other vendors where cinder blocks can be obtained so that ballast replenishment after refills is no longer a problem.
-
I bet itll float across a river with that tank! but not the cinder blocks!
-
Yes, it will be a touch on the heavy side but the super secret stealth KTM front end conversion will make it feel light and flickable :lol:
-
Forget a 500af for the tight and twisty stuff. I raced 500 2t's for several years and they would simply be over kill for the type of riding you are suggesting. I'm not saying it isn't possible. But fot my money, I would ( and will be this spring) buy the 2013 ktm200.
I have a KX500af in the making which I will be racing in MX, a KLR for a bit of trail riding (this is my seventh!), the KTM for Hare Scrambles and a GasGas 300TXT for messing about in the woods on our property.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBUcTQcFUu8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBUcTQcFUu8)
Just my .02c
Cheers
-
I would have to agree about the KX5 not being a good tight trail bike. I have had three, and granted I am 58 and my reaction and skill level are falling off, but that being said, even when I was younger the KX5 was more work then fun in the tight stuff. Last ride out I swapped with a bud that had a GasGas 200 when we were in the tight stuff. Very fun. I could relax some. He is a better (and younger) rider, but he admitted the KX5 was a handful. He liked the more open stuff between sections though!
-
Thanks for all the replys. I have been leaning towards the husaberg 300. Its got the ktm 300 xcw motor with a bigger gas tank and 4 chamber front forks. It has a lot of support through ktmriders forum and there is a shop not far from my house that has been open since 1997. It is not hard to get parts for these bikes and they are proven to be very good enduro bikes.... I loved my old K5 and would love to have a K5 AF but I think I would be happier on the berg... :oops:
-
That 500xcw does not look like a good bike for tight woods ridding....
In stock form it would, I just posted the dual sport picture because that's how I would like it set up.
I guess I should say the KTM 500 would be a perfect woods bike for me. I would street tag it and it would be great as a dual sport bike. I've used my KLR in the tight woods so the KTM 500 would be a "walk in the woods" compared to the KLR. I ride tight woods with a K5AF and a CR500, I prefer the CR in the woods. By the time I get geared up, water, tools, tubes, food.....I'm tipping the scales at 350 to 375 pounds. So yes on the KTM 500 as a woods bike for me. Are the KX and the CR the best in tight woods, NO. But they sure are fun. Now, for just a low cost fun all around bike I ride a punched out KLX 250S. 351cc, 36mm pumper carb and full FMF Q4 pipe. The little green bike kept up with all these bikes.
(http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p102/DrtBik/DSCN06810271.jpg)
-
Oh, what part of Oregon did you move too?
I live up by Eugene,
I do ride single track as well but I spend way more time on the coast or the eastern desert.
I won't be able to tell you anything on the AF's till I get mine done :-D
Just moved to grants pass. Haven't been ridding at all up here yet, except for around some blm near my property on my wifes ttr125... The local dealerships and RiderPlanet as a lot of good things to say about the ridding areas around here.... I would love to get my hands on that service kx on ebay right now.... I'm just still not sure... the ktm and bergs look pretty darn nice.... There is a really nice husaberg shop up by you I plan to visit when I get home. (I work in Abu Dhabi) I will be home on the 10th
Dont go Orange the woods around you are already filling up with orange There are lots of good green options.
I live roughly 40 miles north of you and like to hit some of the MRAs pocker runs in Jacksonville.
Medford must have a good KTM dealer because it seems that there are more orange bikes than other.
You do have one of the best clubs out there and you should join I am not into clubs at all but they are fighting hard for our rites to ride and the MRA actually owns there own land which is surrounded by blm and such. They do a really good job with there pocker runs and have politicians as members also. You should suppord them every time you turn around another ridding area gets closed.
-
I have the feeling that the Husaberg name is on its death bed, a repeat of what happened to Beull.
KTM has withdrawn individual dealerships for Husaberg (here in Canada anyway), and given them to existing KTM dealers. I don't see how the Husaberg name can survive on the showroom floor next to KTM now the bikes are almost identical apart from the colour.
Husaberg has lost that "unique" brand recognition now. Yes, they are still very good bikes, albeit blue KTM's, but there is no longer anything ground breaking about them, which is what I think the true Husa owner was buying into previously. And if the name does disappear, used "blues" will not fair well for resale.
Again, just my .02c. Jeez, I'm spending a fortune! :lol:
-
If I ever decided to leave Team Green it would be for a Gas Gas EC250 or Husqvarna WR250. Both would be better than a KX500af for tight woods and technical riding and you wouldn't be on an orange bike! :-D
(http://www.gasgasuk.com/images/2012ECRHthreequarter.JPG)
(http://imgc.classistatic.com/cps/blnc/120824/970r1/40433c2_20.jpeg)