Montana300

Member
May 4, 2000
123
0
Picked up my 450 on Saturday, set the sag, installed the handguards and took a 63 mile on Sunday at my favorite riding area near Koocanusa reservoir, southern British Columbia, Canada.
I had to adjust the idle mixture right away because it would not idle as delivered. I am at 3000 ft, it was about 40 degrees.

This bike is my first thumper, I am coming off an '01 300EXC and before that a '99 300EXC. Once I got used to the setup I started adjusting the suspension, stiffened the forks, slowed the rebound in the rear. I felt that the suspsension got plusher during the ride.

I had several riders with me that I could swap bikes with to compare; '01 200E, '01 520E, '02 400E, '02 525E, and a CRF450.
The 450 definitely has more power than the 400, and imo is just slightly less powerful than the '01 520. I think of all the bikes it is the easiest to ride fast, with enough power and great suspension, especially compared to my '01 300. As expected both the 520 and 525 took more effort in the tighter sections, especially the 520. I noticed too that I had less compression braking with my 450 than than the bigger bikes, maybe my idle is a little higher but not much. I had never ridden the CRF before yesterday. It definitely has more power than the KTM450, more like the 525. The biggest thing I noticed about the CRF was the vibration, compared to the KTMs. Does the CRF have a balancer? Maybe its just the aluminum frame rigidity, I don't know. CR has typical MX suspension, too stiff for woods work imo.

I don't have my Scotts damper on the new bike yet, so the front end felt a little nervous to me which I know effected my corner entry speed. Even the guys I ride with took the opportunity to tell me I was slower in places on my new bike, yea real funny ha ha :)
Corner exits felt faster though, so much less rear tire spin coming out. The suspension is nice and plush on the trail trash but is a little too soft for my weight in the high speed whooped out sections
for my weight, which is just over 200 in riding gear.

I really considered a WR450 before deciding on the KTM. Now that I have been on a ride I am quite happy with this bike and consider I made the right decision; especially when I read that the WR is 268 lbs. vs. 256 for the orange bike. We shall see in the Spring when the WRs show up. In the meantime, I will practice visualization for higher corner speeds :)
 

Shaw520

Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
May 14, 2000
1,082
6
Montana, If the 450 is anything like all the other RFS, you can also find performance gains through the magic of jetting. Although we have yet to experiment with the 450.
 

Montana300

Member
May 4, 2000
123
0
On jetting, the bike as delivered works well since I adjusted the idle mixture, but I am still learning about jetting the 4stroke. My 450 doesn't do anything weird right now, its clean off the bottom, doesn't pop when off throttle and will go 65 miles on tank riding it fairly hard. Frankly after all the fun I had jetting my last 300, not having to do it on this bike just to make it ridable has been a real treat.
 

brandolph

Member
Oct 7, 2002
36
0
Geremacheks-
There's some very nice trails at Marias pass on the southern border of glacier. Pretty fun stuff that start's out right at the Continental divide and is bordered by one of the largest Wilderness areas in the lower 48 (Bob Marshall/Great Bear) and the Blackfeet Res to the East. I get a bit paranoid about the res as I've never really figured out if were supposed to be there or not.
 

tigerowner

Member
Mar 3, 2002
331
0
Montana300, the green sticker bikes start life lean and that will benefit you in the higher elevations of MT. Green stickers make things a little nicer for us in the Rockies. It is nice to have a bike that isn't jetted for sealevel! The 450 sounds like a SWEET bike.
 

geremacheks

~SPONSOR~
Feb 14, 2002
484
0
Thanks, Bob. I get the same feeling around that blackfoot rez, but there seems to be some real nice trails. I would think you would have to pay to use it.

Maria's pass sound nice. I come out that way once a year to photograph wildlife around Many Glacier. I need to scout around more--what a beautiful area you have there.
 

mustang

Member
Dec 5, 2002
3
0
One ting to watch out for on a new KTM is to unscrew the little black knob that turns the lights on and off. Locktite this little thing and screw it back on. They come off all the time.
Cheers, pete
 
Feb 28, 2001
33
0
Montana 3000....do you have any pics from the riding areas in Montana?
I have driven past these areas countless times, heading southbound on the I- 15, but never went riding there. I live in southern Alberta, and the terrain is very similar.
 
May 8, 2000
30
0
Wow M-300; you make it sound like the dark-side is much different these days!! Methinks I am hearing a very different opinion from the no hit thumper discussions this summer after your various test rides! Glad you like the new scoot.

Geremacheks(I think that name sounds familiar from another board) If you have ever stopped at Summit on Marias, you were about 500 yards from trailheads leading East into a multiple use area.

Brandolph: You wouldn't happen to be originally from C.F. and like to ski the bumps and steep would you?
 

Montana300

Member
May 4, 2000
123
0
Yea oldirtbag I will admit I am over the "gotta have the hit" affliction, now I just want to go fast and not use so much energy, sign of old age I guess...

Someone asked for picts? I will put a bunch of picts together and post them somewhere accessible, soon....
 

MARK IT

~SPONSOR~
Sep 5, 1999
357
0
This isn't a smart a$$ reply but if you keep turning the throttle on my 450 you'll end up on the ground, it is differnt tough. i'm comming off
a KX250 (moded for woods) and what get's me is the lack of difference.
I will also be keeping the KX for MX and some trail riding.
 

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