HINTS
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TIPS
BIKE Preparation How to go about turning a KTM or Husqvarna into a dedicated trail weapon. David Strachan from Trail Riders Warehouse provides some fine tuning advice
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here’s good reason that in the UK the KTM EXC and Husqvarna FE/TE models are some of the most popular trail bikes. Starting with the competition prowess of these bikes means that they are a great platform to start with as they are powerful, lightweight, there’s abundance of spares and performance parts available and most importantly they are designed to be fixed quickly at the trackside. This also means that some carefully selected tweaks can turn a great bike into the perfect trail weapon ready for any adventure. For those of you who are considering these bikes we would recommend thinking about what you are going to use it for and avoid the hype around any particular engine size or variant as they each have their pros and cons. When making your choice consider how much road riding you will be doing or if you are planning on doing hardcore trail/enduros. This will help narrow your search straight away to maybe one or two different models. Here is our guide to offer you some starting points. If you’re new to riding trails the EXC-F or FE 250 4t is a great platform to learn, it is light, agile and will grow your confidence rapidly. They might be an entry-level KTM but the
50 Trail Summer 2021
‘ready-to-race’ mantra is so very obvious. In the hands of an experienced rider these bikes can leave any novice gasping in disbelief. For more experienced riders wanting to get into the tight technical extreme end of trail riding and enduro events you will probably be best suited to a 250/300cc 2t thanks to the lightweight and zappy 2-stroke engines. Those of you looking to go further, try rally events or weekends will likely steer towards the KTM EXCF 500 4t for that little bit extra weight, power and gear ratio making it more practicable for the road sections. And if, like us, you are looking for a good all-rounder that is capable at all of the above – the KTM EXC-F 350 is your choice! It weighs the same as a 250 but has heaps more bottom end torque to make it easy to ride at low revs, open the throttle wide and you’ll need to hold on tight! Whichever you choose, everything shown here will help you focus these bikes for your riding style, making them more personalised for the demands of UK and foreign trail riding trips such as the Trans European Trail. Road Riding Upgrades Like many modern bikes, these do not come with a key ignition, adding one is a cost-effective way to protect your bike from opportunist thieves while you are stopped for lunch or
