KTM 250 EXC-F Review

October 21-22.

West Coast Trailbike Safaris recently took possession of the first of our ‘performance’ fleet – a 2007 KTM 250 EXC-F.

Web guru and West Coast regular, Steve Pretzel, left his trusty DRZ400 in the garage and mounted the new steed for a two day Greenbushes ride. Here are his impressions of the new Kato:

Let’s start with a bit of context. I’m one of a rapidly growing bunch of over 40s getting back into trailriding after a twenty something year layoff. It started about five years ago with a one-day West Coast ride to Nannup on a TTR-250 and you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for a week!

Before long I was the proud owner of a second hand 2000 model DRZ400 and was out there every weekend. The TTRs were a great bike to ride of course, but I wanted something that would dance around at the back end when you grabbed a big handful of throttle. At the same time I certainly didn’t want to be riding on Saturday, maintaining on Sunday, so it had to be the ‘easy-care’ variety.

I’ve had a great four years with the DRZ, and my riding – and confidence - has improved to the point where it’s now time to look for something more modern and performance oriented.

I remember my reaction when John Staines mentioned that West Coast were getting their hands on a new KTM 250 EXC-F – and were going to add it to their hire fleet. “Give me two hours notice and I’ll be there!” I mean this is KTM’s answer to the brilliant WR250 and Honda’s impressive CRF205X. KTM’s previous quarter litre thumper was a bit of an anomaly in the KTM range (ie targeted at the beginner rather than the experienced rider) and in this growing and highly competitive class you could have been reasonably confident that the Austrians would pull out all stops to leapfrog their new Japanese competitors.

Now at this point I have to confess that I haven’t yet ridden the CRF and I’ve only had a brief ride on a WR, so this ride report is very much a comparison between the DRZ400 and the KTM 250. A bit like comparing a Toyota with a Porsche? Perhaps, but this is probably a fairly common trade-up scenario for anyone whose current bike is five plus years old.

First impressions of the EXC-F are the quality. You can tell that KTM have been constantly evolving the crafting of trail / enduro bikes for years and have knocked off all the rough edges. Excel rims, magura bars, hydraulic clutch and super-compact switch gear help make that initial statement of precision.

With a seat height of 925mm the KTM is 20mm lower than the DRZ, but the stiffer shock means less initial sag, so this isn’t something you notice when you first climb aboard.

Press the magic button and the Kato springs into life almost instantly. KTM’s are always impressively quiet, and in these days of battling to preserve riding land that’s a very important feature.

On the move and the initial impression is of lightness. At 107.2 kg it’s about 12 kg lighter than the DRZ, but it’s not just the lighter weight you notice. Everything about this bike is light. The throttle is light, the hydraulic clutch is super-light, the gearbox snicks precisely and effortlessly between the six close ratio gears. Even the engine feels light – spinning freely in that beautifully efficient way that characterises DOHC donks and emitting a satisfying crackling from the exhaust on the overrun.

And what an engine! Given its high compression (12.8:1) and performance nature I was surprised at how tractable it was. When you short-shift it there’s usable mid-range for cruising, but when you want to push on things get busy real quick as you hit the meat of the powerband. It’s like having two engines in one – which is really useful for the weekend rider like me who spends some of his time enjoying the scenery and the rest wide-eyed and adrenalin-pumped. I’m informed that an Akrapovic pipe does wonders for the mid-range which I would treat as a bonus rather than a necessity.

You just know a bike this light is going to be fun to ride – and the Kato lives up to every expectation. Riders of anything that doesn’t have upside down forks will very quickly notice how light the front end feels. A little fore and aft adjustment of the body has the front end floating over rocks or sand or digging in for corners. Through the tight and twisty single-track pine forests this bike was a dream. Flick it, place it loft it; there’s no wrestling the machine – it seems to respond to your thoughts. The 250s nimbleness in these conditions is largely due to the light weight but it also has a slightly shorter wheelbase than its big brother 450 which would contribute to its ‘chuckability’.

On fast open sections there was no headshake and the bike felt very stable. This was proved rather dramatically on the ride when I ‘discovered’ a two foot deep erosion bank while just about flat out in sixth. A classic ‘Oh Shit!’ moment but the little orange beast took the initial impact and landed stably.

And I think this is one of the most telling attributes of the new 250 EXC-F. It gives a rider confidence. You can tackle uphills and downhills faster. You can flick it through the twisties or wring its neck down a flowing trail – and feel comfortably in control.

The brakes are awesome, and coupled with the light weight means you can shift your braking points well up the track. About my only criticism is that I found the rear brake way too sensitive. I like to be able to stomp on a rear brake but this one always needed to be used with finesse.

While we’re nit-picking, I found the front end a little uncertain on turn-in at times on the dreaded red pea-gravel, but I’m sure that this is something I’d adjust to.

So on to the obvious question – why buy a 250 when big brother 450 is only a little heavier and has a lot more bottom end grunt. Here’s how I look at it. When I’m cruising; short-shifting, half throttle, enjoying the scenery, the 250 is a wonderful relaxing ride. When I’m pressing on; concentrating, working hard, the high-revving, cog-rowing, engine screaming second nature of this bike is just perfect.

My only reservation is the potential maintenance of such a highly strung engine. But KTM service intervals aren’t that different between the 250 and 450 – for example the recommended service interval for major work such as replacing crankshaft bearings (for non-competitive use) is 80 hours for the 250 and 90 hours for the 450. How that turns out in practice remains to be seen, but there’s no reason why the new EXC-F should require any more maintenance than its quarter litre competitors.

It may have been a while coming, but KTM have created a bike that’s both great fun for weekend rides and highly competitive for serious enduro work. This bike is going to appeal to a lot of riders.