I've known Mike Brown for quite a few years now. He even let me stay at his house during the summer when I raced the Nationals a couple of years back. Since he and I race the WORCS series I return the favor and let the Tennessean stay at my house for the western series' races and while he's testing for KTM. So, of course we moto together for training and I'm generally out at the track with him on his test days, too. It was on these test days where I sat by jealousy, watching the progression and development of this championship-winning bike from the start of the season to the final round. I've watched them change clamps, axles, stabilizers, engines, suspension, bars, exhausts and anything and everything else they could to develop the best KTM 450 WORCS race bike for Brownie to ride.
Well, now it's my turn to ride Brownie's orange machine and see if there was anything to be truly jealous about.
Ryan Orr creates a tornado...
Ryan Orr creates a tornado of Glen Helen dirt...
and escapes unharmed.
This orange machine likes...
This orange machine likes to carve corners.
Normally when you jump onto someone else's bike you have to make bar and lever adjustments to help you feel more comfortable on the bike. On Brownie's bike I felt right at home. Even the bar bend was the same as I run. Having similar ride position to the person who the bike is set up for will usually give you a better reading on the character of the bike since you start at the same spot.
Feeling confident on the machine I headed straight out onto the rough choppy terrain of Glen Helen. The most impressive thing that I felt on the bike straight away was the motor. This thing ripped! It was built to fit Brown's aggressive motocross riding style. It had great response, especially for a carbureted bike, tons of low-end and an impressively strong and broad mid-range power. The engine offered a descent top end but I felt it lacked some needed over-rev for the WORCS wide open stretches. With all the horsepower put out down low and up through the mid I thought that the bike was too aggressive for dry off-road conditions. I was wrong. This bike has traction control or something built right in. I'd get to a dry straight away or corner out on the track and be conscientious of throttle control. Then, I'd catch myself just twisting the throttle harder and harder just to see if I could get the rear end to step out. It never did. This is likely thanks to the suspension being set up to compliment that impressive motor while pumping out traction.
Brown scored 1 + 206 points...
Brown scored 1 + 206 points in the 2009 WORCS Series giving him the Championship and this cool plate!
Ryan Orr's jealously soars...
Ryan Orr's jealously soars to a new high.
Weee!
The bike has great balance. The forks are plush, progressive and have great movement. They worked well over the small square chop; the bigger braking bumps and settled really well into corners. Even the hard packed dry slippery corners with no ruts were settled and smooth on this KTM! The shock has great movement and is very controlled especially over acceleration chop. The rear is also very calm and has great stability over high-speed rollers and those sudden holes that come out of nowhere. The only complaint I had with the shock was that it blew through a little to fast for me on G-outs. The overall handling of the bike was great. It cornered well and the bike is very stable and planted. There is definitely more jealousy now than before I rode the bike.
I was pumped to see the progression of the bike first hand and being lucky enough to ride the finished product is icing on the cake.
Ported cylinder Head,
OEM Cams with optimized Cam Timing,
SXS 2010 450f Higher Dome Piston,
OEM XCF 5 speed Trans,
OEM Del west valves,
OEM Valve Springs,
41 mm OEM Carburetor,
Programmable CDI,
Hinson Clutch Components,
FMF Mega Bomb Ex System