Looking for the ultimate trailbike? If you're of average height and weight, most of the bigger four-strokes can be too much to handle on technical trails and, to a lesser degree, the same can be said for the shrinking choices of off-road two-strokes. Is there an ideal bike outside mainstream cc?
At around 5 feet 10 inches and 165 pounds each we, DR Art Director Joe McKimmy and Publisher Sean Finley, definitely fall into this category of average (unfortunately, this is true in more ways than just height and weight). With that in mind and two of the most uniquely sized displacements in off-road motorcycling at our sides, we set out to represent the average guy and find his new best bike.
McKimmy grew up riding in the woods of Michigan and favors the light weight and simplicity of the KTM 200 while Finley is a Southern California desert rider (preferring the difficult-to-find "tight stuff") and was excited about the return of the 400 to KTM's XC-W line as an alternative to the big 450cc four-strokes (and the "too racy" 250 XCF-W). So, both of us will defend our bike choices to help you decide which one might be best for you.
For our duel, we spent a day in the high desert of SoCal riding with Steve Hengeveld and event announcer/helmet painter Jerry Bernardo followed up by a race test at the final round of the 2008 AMA FMF National Enduro series near Wickenberg, Arizona. Our desert day allowed for some fun trail riding and bike swapping-to see what we were missing-and the enduro provided nearly five hours of challenging, technical terrain with a lot of diversity, the only consistent factor being a lot of rocks and a constant realization that neither of us are exactly in "National Enduro" shape. The new National Enduro format emphasizes speed in the test sections, yet the overall riding time and diversity provide plenty of time to determine if you chose a good bike or not.
KTM 400 XC-W
The 400 Four-Stroke Is Best...
So why would a 400 be better than a 450? Jimmy explained this really well in our First Impression (November 2008) of the bike, and I cannot agree more. The 400 has a more manageable power delivery, and the shorter stroke somehow makes the bike feel lighter. Even though the little 200 is easy to kick over, it's not easier than pushing that magic button on the 400, especially when you have to do so several times throughout the day. The Wickenberg Enduro took place in 95-degree temperatures, and my desk job training regimen had me ready to heave and pass out at the final check. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able kick over any bike at that point!
As for performance, the 400 was incredible through all of the diverse conditions we threw at it. Joe argues that the 200 two-stroke is easier to flick around in the technical stuff, and I honestly thought he would crush me at the enduro. I was pretty stoked to find that I was hanging right with him in the first special test, and it appeared that while my four-stroke was planted to the trail and going through the chop, Joe was skipping around a little. I made my way past and put some time on him and figured we might as well go back to the truck since beating Joe seemed pretty easy.
I took off more aggressively at the next test to be in front (why should I take off behind the slow guy?) but this time I couldn't shake the little two-stroke, so I let him go. While I could see that Moto Joe could maneuver his little bike pretty well in the tighter sections, I still felt I had an advantage in overall power and handling, especially in the sandy routes, but he did finish the section ahead of me. Maybe we weren't done yet.