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Your test of the KTM 200 W convinced me to buy one. I wonder how much horsepower it puts out; do you have any idea? All I can say is that I know it is a lot! Bob Johnston
Monticello, UT
It isn't the horsepower, the feeling is torque. The 200 puts out roughly the same horsepower numbers as a KTM 125, so that means between 35 and 38 depending on the dyno. The difference is that the foot-pounds of torque are way up, especially in the lower and middle rpm ranges.
Horsepower is a measurement of work over time. One horsepower is the ability to move 33,000 pounds one foot or the ability to move one pound 33,000 feet in one minute. The first figure is an engine with massive torque and nearly no rpm (imagine a diesel) and the second figure represents an engine with almost no torque and massive rpm (imagine a 125). Technically they have the same horsepower output, but work in very different ways.
Similarly, even though the 125 and 200 are rated as capable of doing roughly the same quantity of work over a given time, the 200 does that work with less rpm. The engine feels much faster, responds to clutch with more willingness and doesn't bog as easy. When we tested the KTM 200 SX (which shares many specs with the new 200 W), the power curve looked almost exactly like the new 250cc four-strokes. The 200 was right with the best of the thumpers at all rpm readings.
So don't worry about horsepower. The KTM 200 is fast by any definition. The important reading is the fun factor scale, and the 200 is off the charts there.