2012 KTM 350 freeride - Page 21

colorado80439 · 04-24-2012, 04:29 PM

Dealers meetng in late june, somewhere in CA.
Should be here as a '13 model

rpet · 04-24-2012, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by colorado80439

Dealers meetng in late june, somewhere in CA.
Should be here as a '13 model

Good, that'll give me a while to save up

OneEffinName · 04-28-2012, 06:35 AM

Fo those of you wondering how it will compare to a trials bike or 350 EXC-F for technical riding. Here is a video from a guy in indonesia, who does low speed control in his backyard. Not really impressive work, but his comments are interesting (Ya gotta love google translate)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25ZJV...ture=endscreen

REVIEW: This bike is lighter and more agile than the KTM Enduro 350 EXC-F 2012. With the rake angle, frame geometry and position foot step approaching trial bike models, this bike can easily be used to narrow single-track with a narrow field. In addition to the engine power is more concentrated in lower revs and supported by Dunlop D803 trials tire then it will be very easy to conquer the obstacle and track and field rocky ground slippery with the variation of tree roots that are usually avoided by offroader. Even with a low RPM in any 3rd gear the rider feel more energetic than the KTM Enduro 350 EXC-F. It is very helpful because to climb and slippery track takes a lap down, so powerful yet smooth wheel always gets traction and not easy to spin. For high speed was not in problem, with a high gear ratio of this bike with easy-to-Gass pooll ..: D The only drawback to this bike is the seat heigt is still quite high for people rata2 Indonesia, although this can be tricked with a shortened position rear shock and lower the fork and thinner seat foam. Overall .. this bike is a bike enduro explorers and conquerors all-terrain ... (Compared bikes: Trial bike Gasgas TXT Pro 250 in 2012 and KTM Enduro 350 EXC-F Six Day 2012).

THIS BIKE IS EVERYWHERE - WHY NOT IN NORTH AMERICA!!!!!

huckleberry · 04-28-2012, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OneEffinName

Fo those of you wondering how it will compare to a trials bike or 350 EXC-F for technical riding. Here is a video from a guy in indonesia, who does low speed control in his backyard. Not really impressive work, but his comments are interesting (Ya gotta love google translate)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25ZJV...ture=endscreen

REVIEW: This bike is lighter and more agile than the KTM Enduro 350 EXC-F 2012. With the rake angle, frame geometry and position foot step approaching trial bike models, this bike can easily be used to narrow single-track with a narrow field. In addition to the engine power is more concentrated in lower revs and supported by Dunlop D803 trials tire then it will be very easy to conquer the obstacle and track and field rocky ground slippery with the variation of tree roots that are usually avoided by offroader. Even with a low RPM in any 3rd gear the rider feel more energetic than the KTM Enduro 350 EXC-F. It is very helpful because to climb and slippery track takes a lap down, so powerful yet smooth wheel always gets traction and not easy to spin. For high speed was not in problem, with a high gear ratio of this bike with easy-to-Gass pooll ..: D The only drawback to this bike is the seat heigt is still quite high for people rata2 Indonesia, although this can be tricked with a shortened position rear shock and lower the fork and thinner seat foam. Overall .. this bike is a bike enduro explorers and conquerors all-terrain ... (Compared bikes: Trial bike Gasgas TXT Pro 250 in 2012 and KTM Enduro 350 EXC-F Six Day 2012).

THIS BIKE IS EVERYWHERE - WHY NOT IN NORTH AMERICA!!!!!

Thanks for the link! I would seem to me that you could probably ride a novice intermidiate line in trials on that and have a place to sit when trail riding with your buddies! I think this bike could be very cool for trail riding!

ramz · 05-01-2012, 05:04 PM

From KTM:

error cooled · 05-01-2012, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramz

From KTM:

tl;dr

This is not an enduro bike - we have neutered the power. If you want more power piss off. Actually if you want it (seriously) sign a waiver, pull the snorkel, remap and hold on. Oh but bugger off if you have a warranty issue.

Oh btw, those tires are great but wait -- you ride asphalt also? We would be happy to sell you another set of environmentally unfriendly tires.

Sign me up... I'll sign a waiver

rickypanecatyl · 05-02-2012, 02:00 AM

Interesting! It'd be really cool to see some dyno runs with just those 2 differences implemented.

Looking at it the other direction, the only thing they did to reduce the power of the 350 EXC was to add a prefilter and give it a different mapping. I see one good point and one bad point with that:

Good point: It should be super easy to increase the power to that of the EXC350!

Bad point: I know myself and possibly some others were hoping that with the seriously reduced power there would be some seriously INCREASED reliability and space between service intervals. I.E. it's pretty tough to make a reliable (we all use that word differently - my expectations are high; I mean more more than 30,000 miles with few problems!) 350cc, 4 stroke motor that produces more than 35 hp at the rear wheel. At the same time, it's not tough at all to make a reliable one that only produces 23 hp at the rear wheel. Now it makes more sense to me why they call for such intensive service intervals.

On another note, when it comes to expressing our desires for new bikes before they come out I don't see that many other inmates here hoping for increased reliability, but I do see so many inmates hoping that the price will come below a certain $ amount. What's up with that? From a financial standpoint, wouldn't you rather pay $16,000 for a bike like this and have it go 60,000 miles with almost no problems than to pay $8,000 for it and only get 15,000 miles? For the adventure rider going far from home that's more than twice the value as the costs of towing, hotel bills, missed work really adds up...

lamotovita · 05-02-2012, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickypanecatyl

On another note, when it comes to expressing our desires for new bikes before they come out I don't see that many other inmates here hoping for increased reliability, but I do see so many inmates hoping that the price will come below a certain $ amount. What's up with that? From a financial standpoint, wouldn't you rather pay $16,000 for a bike like this and have it go 60,000 miles with almost no problems than to pay $8,000 for it and only get 15,000 miles? For the adventure rider going far from home that's more than twice the value as the costs of towing, hotel bills, missed work really adds up...

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one to notice that rather short sighted logic.

Grreatdog · 05-02-2012, 08:15 AM

I believe a lot of people buying KTM's just don't care about maintenance intervals. When you ride a competition type bike the way it is meant to be ridden you are going to be working on it no matter what the manufacturer says about when you should be doing it. I realize the Freeride isn't meant to be like an EXC. I'm just saying that current KTM riders expect to work on their bikes.

At least that is how it works for me. I clean filters, change the oil and adjust stuff after just about every offroad ride. Plus I usually end up with the bodywork stripped after every hard offroad ride to fix what I broke anyway. Maintenance intervals just aren't a big deal to me because I generally need to fix something anyway. So the Freeride maintenancce intervals wouldn't even be on my radar.

It seems to me that people that just want to ride a motorcycle forever and put it away wet generally aren't buying KTM's.

rickypanecatyl · 05-02-2012, 11:40 AM

You're probably right Grreatdog! As of just in the past 6 months I'm starting to get a little bit (mind you a very LITTLE bit) of satisfaction from working on my bike. Enough to help me understand the more "normal" competitive riders likes.

Though I'm American I live in Asia and probably have more Asian values when it comes to motorcycles which is we want to have fun on them, but the same bike you have fun on, you commute on and maybe even haul a king size mattress on.

Bottom line is the average 2 year old dual sport I see over here has about 25,000 km on the clock. I love telling the guys back in America it's common to find 2 year old bikes on this thing called Craigslist with less than 2,000 miles on them! Most don't believe me nor can comprehend what happened?

KTM is targetting the audiences over here heavily though. Obviously this is where most of the #'s of motorcycles in the world are sold. The 200cc duke is big - the 125 was kind of a flop as I knew it would be - 3X the price and less than 1/2 the power of the 150cc 2 stroke ninja. Sold at first because of the name but I'm afraid they've "used their name up" by now.

Now we have a orange and white KTN freeride! That is just wrong - really cheap... http://www.bzmotors.com.my/category/motorcycles/ktn/

Old Plonker · 05-02-2012, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grreatdog

I believe a lot of people buying KTM's just don't care about maintenance intervals. When you ride a competition type bike the way it is meant to be ridden you are going to be working on it no matter what the manufacturer says about when you should be doing it. I realize the Freeride isn't meant to be like an EXC. I'm just saying that current KTM riders expect to work on their bikes.

At least that is how it works for me. I clean filters, change the oil and adjust stuff after just about every offroad ride. Plus I usually end up with the bodywork stripped after every hard offroad ride to fix what I broke anyway. Maintenance intervals just aren't a big deal to me because I generally need to fix something anyway. So the Freeride maintenancce intervals wouldn't even be on my radar.

It seems to me that people that just want to ride a motorcycle forever and put it away wet generally aren't buying KTM's.

Agree 100%. They aren't waiting for FR350s, they are probably waiting for 310lb. Honda CRF250Ls. As far as maintenance is concerned, 120 hours to crank, rod and piston replacement is EXTREMELY conservative. As many KTM owners have posted on ADVRider, KTMTalk and other sites, if you ride in the sweet part of the power band, not always pegging the throttle, and not always in the roof of the powerband, you can expect 30-60,000 miles between major work, barring bad luck.

The guy (Tim) in this video, rides his FR350 about like I will ride mine, and he'll see MANY trouble-free miles on his engine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWXuS...eature=related

Old Plonker · 05-02-2012, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickypanecatyl

Interesting! It'd be really cool to see some dyno runs with just those 2 differences implemented.

Looking at it the other direction, the only thing they did to reduce the power of the 350 EXC was to add a prefilter and give it a different mapping. I see one good point and one bad point with that:

Good point: It should be super easy to increase the power to that of the EXC350!

Bad point: I know myself and possibly some others were hoping that with the seriously reduced power there would be some seriously INCREASED reliability and space between service intervals. I.E. it's pretty tough to make a reliable (we all use that word differently - my expectations are high; I mean more more than 30,000 miles with few problems!) 350cc, 4 stroke motor that produces more than 35 hp at the rear wheel. At the same time, it's not tough at all to make a reliable one that only produces 23 hp at the rear wheel. Now it makes more sense to me why they call for such intensive service intervals.

On another note, when it comes to expressing our desires for new bikes before they come out I don't see that many other inmates here hoping for increased reliability, but I do see so many inmates hoping that the price will come below a certain $ amount. What's up with that? From a financial standpoint, wouldn't you rather pay $16,000 for a bike like this and have it go 60,000 miles with almost no problems than to pay $8,000 for it and only get 15,000 miles? For the adventure rider going far from home that's more than twice the value as the costs of towing, hotel bills, missed work really adds up...

The good point IS the bad point: if you bump up the engine's capacity to make more power, then USE that power you will shorten the operating life of the engine. If you ride the bike as a FREERIDE adventure bike, riding with finesse and letting torque do the work (forget high rpm and sustained WFO throttle) then you will get the kind of reliability you are looking for. The 350 EXC guys are saying that their bikes are just starting to feel broken in at the 105 hours KTM is calling for a major rebuild. As others have said, if you race a bike you can expect short engine life.

OneEffinName · 05-07-2012, 06:21 PM

I am not going to wait. I bought a 2012 KTM 350 EXC-F. Slap a trials tire on the back, gut the emissions, remap it and use a mild map switch. Get the suspension dropped. 14-52 gearing. It wont be as light, and the steering angle and wheelbase will still be different. But close enough for me.

I tested a 350 EXCF on the local single track and loved it. Very manuverable. I was surpised as I cant ride my 08 450 EXCR on this stuff, but I could ride this bike, which is only 15-20lbs lighter.

P.S. I dont care about maint interval. I like to take care of my bikes, gives me something to do after a hard ride. I gotta girlfriend who's high maintenance too. I love racing machines.

Ed Teach · 05-08-2012, 12:07 AM

I test rode the Freeride las saturday. I'm not a very skilled rider in the dirt but it was a very fun ride, specially compared with my F 650 Dakar

But at nearly 7500 euro here in Spain (price for the 690 Enduro is 7800) I think that it wont be easy for KTM to sell a lot of them. It's a shame 'cause it's a perfect bike to start riding riding trails.

Here is a link for the video that I recorded in the test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfFdo2poF2o

OneEffinName · 05-08-2012, 05:24 AM

Thanks for the video. What's the clutch like, at the beginning where you stalled out a couple of times, were you then able to feather the clutch through the slower sections or would it just flame out?

I am jealous. Even though I get my 350 excf tomorrow. I am still jealous. I can want more than one girl cant I?

04-28-2012, 06:35 AM	#303
OneEffinName Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Nov 2010 Location: VanIsle, BC Oddometer: 186	Fo those of you wondering how it will compare to a trials bike or 350 EXC-F for technical riding. Here is a video from a guy in indonesia, who does low speed control in his backyard. Not really impressive work, but his comments are interesting (Ya gotta love google translate) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25ZJV...ture=endscreen REVIEW: This bike is lighter and more agile than the KTM Enduro 350 EXC-F 2012. With the rake angle, frame geometry and position foot step approaching trial bike models, this bike can easily be used to narrow single-track with a narrow field. In addition to the engine power is more concentrated in lower revs and supported by Dunlop D803 trials tire then it will be very easy to conquer the obstacle and track and field rocky ground slippery with the variation of tree roots that are usually avoided by offroader. Even with a low RPM in any 3rd gear the rider feel more energetic than the KTM Enduro 350 EXC-F. It is very helpful because to climb and slippery track takes a lap down, so powerful yet smooth wheel always gets traction and not easy to spin. For high speed was not in problem, with a high gear ratio of this bike with easy-to-Gass pooll ..: D The only drawback to this bike is the seat heigt is still quite high for people rata2 Indonesia, although this can be tricked with a shortened position rear shock and lower the fork and thinner seat foam. Overall .. this bike is a bike enduro explorers and conquerors all-terrain ... (Compared bikes: Trial bike Gasgas TXT Pro 250 in 2012 and KTM Enduro 350 EXC-F Six Day 2012). THIS BIKE IS EVERYWHERE - WHY NOT IN NORTH AMERICA!!!!! OneEffinName screwed with this post 04-28-2012 at 07:31 AM

05-02-2012, 08:15 AM	#309
Grreatdog Beastly Adventurer Joined: Apr 2007 Location: Annapolis, MD Oddometer: 5,635	I believe a lot of people buying KTM's just don't care about maintenance intervals. When you ride a competition type bike the way it is meant to be ridden you are going to be working on it no matter what the manufacturer says about when you should be doing it. I realize the Freeride isn't meant to be like an EXC. I'm just saying that current KTM riders expect to work on their bikes. At least that is how it works for me. I clean filters, change the oil and adjust stuff after just about every offroad ride. Plus I usually end up with the bodywork stripped after every hard offroad ride to fix what I broke anyway. Maintenance intervals just aren't a big deal to me because I generally need to fix something anyway. So the Freeride maintenancce intervals wouldn't even be on my radar. It seems to me that people that just want to ride a motorcycle forever and put it away wet generally aren't buying KTM's. __________________ KTM 640 LC4E KTM 200 MXC XT200

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04-24-2012, 04:29 PM	#301
colorado80439 Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Apr 2009 Oddometer: 102	Dealers meetng in late june, somewhere in CA. Should be here as a '13 model

05-01-2012, 05:04 PM	#305
ramz Professional Trail Rider Joined: Dec 2006 Location: Salida, CO Oddometer: 1,723	From KTM:

05-02-2012, 02:00 AM	#307
rickypanecatyl SE Asia adventure tours Joined: Jan 2008 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Oddometer: 574	Interesting! It'd be really cool to see some dyno runs with just those 2 differences implemented. Looking at it the other direction, the only thing they did to reduce the power of the 350 EXC was to add a prefilter and give it a different mapping. I see one good point and one bad point with that: Good point: It should be super easy to increase the power to that of the EXC350! Bad point: I know myself and possibly some others were hoping that with the seriously reduced power there would be some seriously INCREASED reliability and space between service intervals. I.E. it's pretty tough to make a *reliable* (we all use that word differently - my expectations are high; I mean more more than 30,000 miles with few problems!) 350cc, 4 stroke motor that produces more than 35 hp at the rear wheel. At the same time, it's not tough at all to make a reliable one that only produces 23 hp at the rear wheel. Now it makes more sense to me why they call for such intensive service intervals. On another note, when it comes to expressing our desires for new bikes before they come out I don't see that many other inmates here hoping for increased reliability, but I do see so many inmates hoping that the price will come below a certain $ amount. *What's up with that?* From a financial standpoint, wouldn't you rather pay $16,000 for a bike like this and have it go 60,000 miles with almost no problems than to pay $8,000 for it and only get 15,000 miles? For the adventure rider going far from home that's more than twice the value as the costs of towing, hotel bills, missed work really adds up...

05-02-2012, 11:40 AM	#310
rickypanecatyl SE Asia adventure tours Joined: Jan 2008 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Oddometer: 574	You're probably right Grreatdog! As of just in the past 6 months I'm starting to get a little bit (mind you a very LITTLE bit) of satisfaction from working on my bike. Enough to help me understand the more "normal" competitive riders likes. Though I'm American I live in Asia and probably have more Asian values when it comes to motorcycles which is we want to have fun on them, but the same bike you have fun on, you commute on and maybe even haul a king size mattress on. Bottom line is the average 2 year old dual sport I see over here has about 25,000 km on the clock. I love telling the guys back in America it's common to find 2 year old bikes on this thing called Craigslist with less than 2,000 miles on them! Most don't believe me nor can comprehend what happened? KTM is targetting the audiences over here heavily though. Obviously this is where most of the #'s of motorcycles in the world are sold. The 200cc duke is big - the 125 was kind of a flop as I knew it would be - 3X the price and less than 1/2 the power of the 150cc 2 stroke ninja. Sold at first because of the name but I'm afraid they've "used their name up" by now. Now we have a orange and white KTN freeride! That is just wrong - really cheap... http://www.bzmotors.com.my/category/motorcycles/ktn/

05-07-2012, 06:21 PM	#313
OneEffinName Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Nov 2010 Location: VanIsle, BC Oddometer: 186	I am not going to wait. I bought a 2012 KTM 350 EXC-F. Slap a trials tire on the back, gut the emissions, remap it and use a mild map switch. Get the suspension dropped. 14-52 gearing. It wont be as light, and the steering angle and wheelbase will still be different. But close enough for me. I tested a 350 EXCF on the local single track and loved it. Very manuverable. I was surpised as I cant ride my 08 450 EXCR on this stuff, but I could ride this bike, which is only 15-20lbs lighter. P.S. I dont care about maint interval. I like to take care of my bikes, gives me something to do after a hard ride. I gotta girlfriend who's high maintenance too. I love racing machines.

05-08-2012, 12:07 AM	#314
Ed Teach Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Jul 2008 Location: Somewhere in Spain Oddometer: 138	I test rode the Freeride las saturday. I'm not a very skilled rider in the dirt but it was a very fun ride, specially compared with my F 650 Dakar But at nearly 7500 euro here in Spain (price for the 690 Enduro is 7800) I think that it wont be easy for KTM to sell a lot of them. It's a shame 'cause it's a perfect bike to start riding riding trails. Here is a link for the video that I recorded in the test http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfFdo2poF2o

05-08-2012, 05:24 AM	#315
OneEffinName Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Nov 2010 Location: VanIsle, BC Oddometer: 186	Thanks for the video. What's the clutch like, at the beginning where you stalled out a couple of times, were you then able to feather the clutch through the slower sections or would it just flame out? I am jealous. Even though I get my 350 excf tomorrow. I am still jealous. I can want more than one girl cant I?