Went to the Pumpkin Patch today

[JoeR]

After a couple of great years on my KDX I went looking for a bike that fit me better. At 6'5" I'm pretty cramped on my KDX, and high seats and bar risers were just not going to be enough to make it right. The '08 and '09 KTM 250s and 300s have a seat height that is 39", and that definitely caught my attention...plus they're a pretty good trail bike too.
After a couple of failed attempts to do business with the local Dealer, I traveled to another dealer a couple of hours away and picked up an '09 300 XC-We today. The snow is still way too deep at home to ride, but I brought it home anyway. I'm really looking forward to getting out on the trails this year. I'm heading to the Hatfield McCoy trails in a month. Can't wait.





Joe

[SteveWR450f]

Sweet bike. Someday, that will be my next bike. Estart would be nice. Enjoy.

[Rick]

Nice! A bunch of us are going to to H&M in May. Can you wait til then?

[MXOldtimer]

Saaaaaaaawwweeeeeeeeeeeeet bike!

Years ago I had a 300 KTM. I've always said the 300 is the best do-all bike ever made. I could moto it one weekend and be in a desert race the next weekend. Trail ride or hair scramble you name it the 300 can do it with just sprocket changes.

[skipro3]

Now where else but with KDX owners can you post about a new bike, a KTM at that, and feel welcome but here on KDXrider.net.

Nice bike. i bet you can't sleep nights. Since it's new, will she let you keep it in the bedroom? Tell her it'll make you frisky!! Ha!! Either that or you AND the bike will be sleeping in the garage.
Congrats on your bike and lets hear the story about the local dealer. Mine is a complete ass and makes the soup nazi look like a kitten.

[Indawoods]

Nice bike! I hope you have buns of steel! I don't think they ever worked that out...

I have heard the 300 motor is electric... I would love to try one. My 98 250 EXC was a lightswitch.... I hurt myself!

[dentvet]

estart 300, superb. did you trade in your kdx, if not, i'll buy your "tall" accessories .

how loud is it compared to your kdx? i'd like to stay two stroked if i could do it steathily. the older 300 i tested out was offensive, musically.

[KarlP]

Nice.
I rode a buddys '99 300 this weekend. That is the motor for me!
It felt like a big KDX motor. Very similar grunt and transition to rev, just lots more everywhere.
The suspension felt great, too. I can't speak to the handling because I wsn't on it long enough. It felt "long", slow steering.

Keep in mind, I don't think you'll find anybody who'll say "I had one of them KDXes. Glad I got rid of it!"

I put a KDX motor in a CR frame and that is my primary ride. Sometimes I sorely mis the ergos/handling of the KDX. The CR/KDX hybrid is not as conducive to just plunking around- everything about it works better the faster you go....

[canyncarvr]

Don't know how yours is setup...but off the showroom floor here, that bike didn't run for squat. It 4-stroked...ALL the time if you weren't ON THE GAS HARD. Every transition from either idle/off-idle to GO jerked something awful getting over the 4-stroke mode.

The guy that owned it took it back twice before it didn't do that no more. Don't know what was done to it..don't know if it included a needle change or not.

..but it didn't run brandy new. ..that was at about 3500-4500'.

Something maybe to keep in mind if you plan on traveling somewhere, expecting it to work when you get there.

It did indeed feel 'long'!!

[skipro3]

I agree.

You should plan on some jetting. Looks like you need to armor up that thing too. What happened to the KDX? When I got my KX250, I couldn't bear to part with mine so I kept it under the guise that it would be the "loaner" bike. Right! I rode it every time the KX250 tossed me and I was sore. ha!!

[JoeR]

That's an awful lot of questions in 24 hours!, and comments too.
1st, thanks for the well wishes. I am indeed psyched and looking forward to getting it out on the trail.

Rick, I wish I could hook up with a bunch of other 2 wheelers, but I had to plan this last year to make it happen for April. Unfortunately..or maybe fortunately, my schedule is booked 4-6 months in advance. I'm going with a few buddies that ride ATVs.

Inda, KTM has softened the seats. They switched from oak to pine. I may add a tall-gel seat before too long.

Dentvet, I don't have any tall stuff on my KDX. I was always going to do the seat and bars, but decided to get a new one instead. Sorry. It doesn't seem any louder than my KDX, but I haven't ridden it yet either. The snow is way too deep yet, and probably will be for a while.
I bet it will feel like a long bike compared to the KDX, because it is definitely longer. I will gladly compromise that for cockpit room. No problem.

canyn, I believe the jetting is very fat. It has about 4 minutes of run time, and spooge out the tailpipe. I have heard they are very finnecky on jetting. Thankfully it come swith a couple of jets and a leaner needle. kinda like they knew....

skipro, the local dealer and I just didn't hit it off. I first visited them last year and told them I was buying a new 300 in 60 days. They quoted me $1000.00 over list price. I just left without debating it.
After Christmas I visited them again, cash in hand and figured I would negotiate a good deal...on the spot. They didn't have the bike I was looking for, but I stood around for 40 minutes waiting for him to stop BSing with his buddy about his Christmas Holiday, and help me. When I finally interrupted him, he asked "What? It's not like you can ride it today anyway!" I was floored, and left again. A buddy of mine does business with them, and related the story to the store manager. He told my buddy he would get me a good deal on the bike I wanted. His pricing was still higher than anyone else around. It's a shame because he is only a few miles down the road. I would have paid more money to do business locally, but another dealer beat his pricing by over $1000.00. He deserved my business.

Joe

[Indawoods]

It's nice to hear about a savings of a grand! I would have bought from him too.... 1=30 I always say.... For every 1 customer the dealer pisses off he loses 30!

I have found that I weave better through single track if I sit down... that's why I have to have a comfortable seat... that's my story anyway.

[skipro3]

Simular story with me and the local KTM dealer. They have their franchise and territory locked in and no one can open a new shop without the existing shop's approval. And that's over 40 miles away and still can't get a KTM dealership up my way!!

Many riders perform better planted than standing. I do better standing up, then sitting WAYYYYYY forward on turns. Doesn't matter which bike I ride, seems I really need to weigh the front wheel hard to keep it tracking where I want it to go and I can't do that standing. What gets tireing is the transition from stand to sit and back again.