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2 wheels and a motor, what else do you need?


Here's the only decent pic I have of the bike from that trip. I had full knobbies on it the day I rode it. In the middle of the week, new tires/rims showed up at the hotel and he installed them that evening! It says "625 LC4" under the seat.

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We were riding a LOT of roads like this :rider:

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and this

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I did not get to ride it after he switched to the super moto tires/rims. No doubt it would have been a screamer!!
 
Here's the only decent pic I have of the bike from that trip. I had full knobbies on it the day I rode it. In the middle of the week, new tires/rims showed up at the hotel and he installed them that evening! It says "625 LC4" under the seat.

DSC04304.JPG


We were riding a LOT of roads like this :rider:

DSC04328.JPG


and this

DSC04265.JPG


I did not get to ride it after he switched to the super moto tires/rims. No doubt it would have been a screamer!!

Yeppers, y'betcha!
Looks sorta like this, though mine's an '06 and some stuff was changed, including the "High Flow" heads and dual cans.

Cranked on, I'm the screamer! :lol2::rofl::lol2:
 

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August 2015 On Trial

Me: I've been dreaming of getting one of these for a while.
Tom: Don't worry about the tricks now. Just ride it around and have fun.
Me: I've never ridden a 2-stroke anything before.
Me: *struggles to kickstart bike*
Tom: You've gotta kick it harder if you want to start it.
Me: *finally starts bike and subsequently stalls it*

It was a used-but-good Sherco, about 150 lbs. of 270-something cc 2-stroke goodness, and I hadn't been so excited since I got the XRL back in early 2014.

Gary enjoyed my decision enough to set up a little "trials training center" to play around on, and he generously opened it up for me to woodshed it there in my free time...knowing full well that whatever I learned with it would ultimately make me a better as well as safer rider in the dirt.

So far, my observations are that it has helped and continues to help me in my riding ability. Probably the most important thing it has done is to show me the "attack position" Brad starts everyone on in his MSF dirt bike class. My back, hips and legs enter the riding equation much more than I realized before I started the trials stuff. I had already gotten an "ah hah!" moment with the XR250 back in July with putting more weight on the bars to help the front wheel track better when turning, but the ergonomics of the trials bike forced me to go even further. I took the trials bike with me to Hidden Falls in August, and when I rode it there I realized that not only the front wheel but the rear wheel also could be weighted by leaning back for better traction there.

It's still a work in progress, though. I've learned quite a lot so far with that bike (maybe more than I've learned with any of the bikes I've ridden so far), but I still must practice all this stuff and grind it into my instinct-library. The thing about learning anything new as an adult, rather than as a kid (ok this is really just me I confess...I have no idea anymore how a kid thinks jajaja), is that I do a lot of thinking about my experiences. The conscious learning happens first for me, but unfortunately it doesn't do anything for the practice. Like Tourmeister says, the work must happen regardless.

Along with body position, I've had to work on my rear brake and throttle control more than ever. Putting those things together with better clutch control is another goal, because I like bringing in the clutch when I go down as insurance against whiskey-throttle mistakes. Gary quickly noticed my pulling it in on occasion when I really wanted more power to get over an obstacle correctly. I've had to avoid covering the clutch to do that, and I would rather be able to "have my cake and eat it too". I recently had a trials lesson with greeneggs&ham with a focus on all this that was very fruitful...and with a lot more work to do as my reward jajaja!
 
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September 2015 The Diagnosis Is Clear

Me: This is a superhero bike. I can't really believe I'm doing this.
Kelly: It's a lot bike, this KTM 300 XC-W. All stock except for the Race Tech suspension and JD Jetting.
Me: Cool! I don't really know what that means as a rider yet, but I understand those things are desireable.
Kelly: I'm glad to know it's going to go to a good home.
Me: *accepts compliment humbly and starts bike on very first kick*

I've watched a lot of superhero enduro riders use this bike, and I wanted one bad. Really bad. I had planned on working skills on the XR250R for much longer and waiting on getting a KTM 2-stroke until I felt like I had earned it, but Kelly simply had as close to a Graham Jarvis bike as I could afford and I had to find out for myself what Graham Jarvis uses to do all his magic tricks.

It's a great bike! But it's more like my trials bike, and a lot less like my XR. With the XR, I could pretty much lug through all of the hill climbs at Hidden Falls without much worry. That bike makes power absolutely everywhere. My bad habit of grabbing the clutch when I was really just trying to grab the bars tighter (e.g., in a panic situation) was forgiven by the XR a lot more. It would still tractor on. But both the trials bike and KTM 300 really don't care for that treatment so much.

I seem to have to get the rpm's up on the 2-strokes to get them to tractor more like the XR. But if I rev too high, I lose that tractor response again. I've ultimately become more keen to the sound of the engine, to hear it "sing" a certain way and try to keep that song going when I'm doing a big hill climb or just want to get my speed up. When it "screams" or "coughs deeply", I try to get back down or back up respectively with the throttle to get back to what I get with the XR.

I felt kinda disappointed at first with both my 2-strokes, to be honest. My first reaction in putting the 300 through Hidden Falls was, "This is the great engine that conquers Erzberg every year? What a rip-off. I feel stupid again." But on the second day, as I became more aware of what the bike needed to give me what I wanted, I started imagining I was playing an organ while I rode. I wasn't just riding, I was making music while I rode. The bike told me, "If you want to make it through what's coming next, then you need to make me sing the right tune for it." When I finally understood that, all of a sudden the bike had become a lot more fun.

I'm still learning the 300's repertoire. The nice part? Picking up this bike when it goes down is so much easier than with all but the trials bike. I don't plan on putting the yellow or red powervalve springs in any time soon, as the bike makes plenty of power for me right now as it is. I'm still learning to use my body with it like I'm learning to do with my trials bike, and when I do it right the bike responds sorta similarly, which is cool.

But I've found it's a double-edged sword, this enduro bike strategy that I've been so eager to experience. A lighter bike with a 2-stroke motor is great and all...but the back tire spins on you if you don't put more of your own weight on it, the front tire can lift if you don't put more of your weight on it, and you have to work the motor where it can make power to get that power. My trials bike is even worse. If I'm not standing on the pegs when I'm riding around Hidden Falls, the bike just spins the rear and stays right where it's at. There's almost no traction at all.

The more I learn about riding on 2 wheels and a motor, the more I discover that there's so much more to learn. It's awesome. I wonder if I might be feeling the way the Milky Way felt when it discovered that a gigantic black hole was holding itself together, and then began to wonder what a black hole really was, and then wondered where even that came from?

I really need to get out to Big Bend again one of these days...
 
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I seem to have to get the rpm's up on the 2-strokes to get them to tractor more like the XR. But if I rev too high, I lose that tractor response again. I've ultimately become more keen to the sound of the engine, to hear it "sing" a certain way and try to keep that song going when I'm doing a big hill climb or just want to get my speed up.

...

But on the second day, as I became more aware of what the bike needed to give me what I wanted, I started imagining I was playing an organ while I rode. I wasn't just riding, I was making music while I rode. The bike told me, "If you want to make it through what's coming next, then you need to make me sing the right tune for it." When I finally understood that, all of a sudden the bike had become a lot more fun.

:tab I had that exact same kind of epiphany when riding my 98 VFR 800. I quit looking at the speedometer and tach. I would just listen to the sound of the gear driven cams and the exhaust note. Both are distinctive sounds. It was the sound that told me when to shift, when to ease off the gas, when to get back into it. The times that I really tuned in to the sound were the times that I really became one with the bike and slipped into the "zone".

:tab Every bike sings to us. Some better than others and maybe with prettier "voices". The trick as a rider is to learn to hear the song of the bike you are riding and hear what it is telling you. It is more than just the auditory sound too. It is the feel of the vibrations, the feel of the surface on which you are riding, the feel at the brake lever, the reaction of the suspension and more. The times I struggle with riding or feel off of my "game" are usually the times when I am not listening to the song...
 
Every bike sings to us.

That makes sense to me now. I hadn't had a good reason to listen to the motors on my XR250, XRL, or even my KTM 625 so keenly with them being able to make power in such a wider range.

I still have plenty of woodshedding to do with the throttle and listening to the bike. Plus my little clutching habit that I could so easily get away with on the XR250 has to get broken. Sam gave me a very nice drill when we were playing around on our trials bikes there that I'm going to grind on till that habit disappears.

That 300 doesn't engine-brake much like my XR either, and so I'm using the rear brake a lot more...which is a good thing though, because I've been wanting to woodshed that more too.

Now I really know why the XR has such a nice reputation as an easy-to-ride bike.
 
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:tab I rode Rsquared's KTM 250 two stroke and it was the first time I had ridden any kind of two stroke. We were over at Outlaw Trax. So he encourages me to take it for a spin and warns me to keep the back brake covered. I took off down into woods on the single track trail and when I rolled off the throttle, expecting to slow down, the bike just kept on going right for a tree!! I finally snapped and remembered the brakes and was able to miss the tree, but it sure got my pulse going!! :lol2: I've since tried a few other two strokes over at Sterling Ranch and I think I could get used to them with more seat time. On the KTM 250/300's, I just feel like I am in WAY over my head in terms of not being able to ride the bike in the way that it needs to be ridden to exploit their performance abilities. I think a big part of that is habits like you mention that were developed as a means of coping with a lack of proper riding skills.
 
...the KTM 250/300...needs to be ridden to exploit their performance abilities...

Yeah it's nice to be sniffing flowers while a bike like the KTM 300 is laying down on the ground on top of me. I can squirm my way from under it pretty easy when I'm ready to get back up due to its lighter weight. Plus, who wouldn't want to ride a magic carpet?

Funny enough, it was reading about the KTM 300 being a great beginner dirt bike (as unbelievable as that might sound) that gave me the confidence to go on ahead and go for it when I found a good one rather than waiting.

Maybe it's the adjustable powervalve design on the newer bikes that lets me push back the "hit" that it can offer? With the green spring I can still bring up the front by pushing down and then just giving it some throttle like I do with my trials bike...but the 300 doesn't feel scary at all set up like that. I'm also running the JD Jet kit on it rather than the OEM version, and that might be helping to tame the power also? :shrug:

I'm actually glad that the nightmare setting can be numbed down, after some more reflection.
 
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Originally Posted by Tourmeister View Post
...the KTM 250/300...needs to be ridden to exploit their performance abilities...

I havent ridden a 250 but my 380 and from what I hear about the 300 is they have a lot of low end power.
 
The KTM 300 is magic. It has a rather tranquil low-end that burps & bellows along with mild throttle applications. "Blip...Blip...Blip" delivers all the power needed to traverse most obstacles. And with ~50 HP on tap, it generates ungodly speed & power on demand. Riders morph from trials kings to motocross demons in less than a second.

Or just watch this: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cwImtQw3WA"]THE POWER OF SOUND - KTM 300EXC - YouTube[/ame]
 
Not only is Adam Riemann a great rider, but his videos are fantastic as well. My son and I have watched pretty much all of the videos on his YouTube channel :thumb:
 
Well, that's pretty much all I've got for my story. The rest is simply seat time and little insights I gleam from riding whatever wherever.

One thing I'm trying coming to grips with, along with all the other stuff I've mentioned earlier, is the power-to-weight ratio.

Riding the trials bike has probably helped me to experience this the most. It's great to have a light bike with plenty of power on the trail, but that light weight forces me to work harder because the bike itself isn't keeping the wheel planted so well. I found this out when going through the same hillclimbs at Hidden Falls on my trials bike that were just plain gravy on the XR250R. I absolutely had to keep my feet on the pegs or that little bike wasn't going to do anything but polish rocks.

It makes sense that an extra 100lbs from the bike would allow for more grip, but I had no idea what that really meant till I got to feel the difference.

In addition, I've gotten to see the 2-stroke vs. 4-stroke difference for myself. I've had way less time on the 2-strokes, but so far I'm very convinced that 2-strokes are not at all superior. Sure, they're lighter...but that only makes it easier to pick them up. I feel that the 2-stroke mystique that even I wanted to experience for myself isn't all that. A little extra weight from the bike, as well as getting power everywhere, makes for an easier-to-ride bike. I wouldn't be surprised now to know that the only reason 4-strokes don't dominate Erzberg is simply because the bikes have to be dragged through part of the course no matter what, and the fans will grab a lighter bike sooner than a heavier bike.

But I'm gonna keep riding and learning and having fun. When I get as much seat time on the 300 that I've had on the XR I'll know more what I'm talking about. The 300 IS easier to pick up after all :lol2:
 
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XR = easy; 300 XC = fast. Most would classify the XR as a beginner's bike, while the KTM is "ready to race", and can be intimidating. While the XC is vastly superior in purely objective terms, subjectively the XR could be s better fit, depending on the rider.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Considering my own skill level right now, I have to agree that I'm not riding either bike at their limits...and I don't have any illusions that I'll ever outride the 300 in any situation.

I just feel comfortable asserting that the 2-stroke's future isn't as bright as the 4-stroke's future given its inability to make as much torque down low.
 
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No better time to tell a story than now, after not being on the bike for several weeks. :lol2:

******

December 2015 Riding the Magic Carpet

Guy behind desk: What class do you want to ride?
Me: Do you have a clueless class? That's really my class.
Guy: Well, we have a novice class. There's also one where you don't get scored.
Me: I would kinda like to compete, but I don't want to sandbag anybody. *smiles*
Guy: *smiles sympathetically* I'll put you in the novice class and you can decide from there. How's that?

I had just done the main trail at Emma Long park the day before...and while it was quite technical, I didn't feel like I had faced anything above my riding ability. Sure I did have to stop and think about some of the stuff in front of me before I went for it, but none of it overwhelmed me. Plus, I had the good fortune of running into a couple of KTM Freeriders, one who offered some advice to help me balance the bike better. In addition, I got to meet the trials master who set up the sections that evening and he kindly walked me through a section to help me decide what would be best for my first lesson on trials riding. I couldn't have asked for better preparation as far as I was concerned.

I still got my butt kicked down to the ground so many times I lost count during the event. Worse was throughout the morning, I felt pressure to keep moving and not slow the riding groups down, and I got hot and stayed hot with the gear I was wearing to keep me from getting hurt and casting a shadow on the fun I and everyone else was having. I decided quickly to abandon any interest in getting scored to save time and keep the action going.

But I had a blast! I really just wanted to get inspired and exposed to new riding skills, and I got what I wanted in spades. For me it's great to have things like Youtube to available, but it's just not the same for me as being there to see it happen. The internet, while fantastic, just isn't reality for me. I was born too early, I suppose.

To top it all off, I had Steve Hatch's class scheduled on the same weekend. He starts it off by talking about treating racing like a job that you want to prove matters on a daily basis (e.g., getting plenty of rest, eating right, avoiding choices that damage your body and mind, embracing a solid work ethic, etc.) And I'm late to start, exhausted, sleep-deprived, and confused. In other words, perfect condition for molding lol

It was hands-down the BEST 4 hours of education I've had in a long time. There was a lot to take in, so much for me that I couldn't put it all together and get ahead. But my exhaustion kept me relaxed enough to take it all in stride and accept what was happening as it happened. I had a great time.

The more I learn, the more fun all this riding gets. And I got a poster signed by Steve Hatch now!
 
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