Why KTM?

[COMBEN]

Hi,

I find this wave of orange interesting too, good bikes but here in the UK go to HnH and it is a sea orange and I just don't find them to be any better than anything else out there, better than some, worse than some.
We seem to have missed a point here on the real effective marketing and race managment/sponsorship by KTM and the shear amount of money they put in these areas....and it sure works.
Example: We have a local school boy rider here (Tommy Searle) who has been with Kawasaki for a long long time... he gets very very 'winny' and it's obvious this guy is going to the top. Hey presto he is signed up by KTM on £150K per year, now that is big bucks for a 16 year with s/b national championships and something the Kawasaki team can't match, can't balme him for going where the money is, I mean, let's be honest todays bikes are very very good no matter what the colour!

Win on Sunday sell on Monday so KTM have a lot of top riders on big wages winning many races = people buy what is winning, it's the 'comfort' factor. This mentality is even more prolific in the karting world, due to lower cost to replace a chassis

Don't get me wrong KTM are very good bikes with excellent detailing, but not my cup of tea.
I prefer my gasser EC-200 hands down, in every area I can think of. If the new managment at GasGas could be as effective as the KTM boys the future at GasGas will quite interesting.
All said and done, you have to admire the way the venture capital guys picked up the bike side of a bankrupt KTM in the '90's, pumped money into a name and succeeded, I seem to remember one of the VC guys was a top guy in BMW GMBH sales/marketing before KTM?
..wasn't so long ago KTM were broke, bankrupt and had real poor products, good bike doesn't mean good sales, a good bikes with good marketing sure helps.

 

[NM_KDX200]

Interesting points, Comben. I sure like my KTM but I'm not going to say it's the best thing since sliced bread (do they have sliced bread in the UK? :) ). I would say that at least 80% of the reason I like the bike is because it fits a need, and that needs is for a lightweight, powerful, serious dirt bike. Quick, how many good 200's can you name!? GasGas, KTM, and ....uh....um.....I still have my KDX200, and it's a great bike for a trailbike, but it's not in the same league as the KTM. I mean, the KDX is great for off-road, but I'm cutting full-blown MX laps on the 200sx and it fits me like a glove whereas the 125 is underpowered (for my size/weight) and a 250 is more than I want.

Now, if Kawasaki would take the KX125, put a 200 cc jug on it and beef up the crank, and keep the frame/suspension, I'm sure I could be equally happy with that. I was right on the verge of doing the 144cc route until this KTM showed up on ABCDbay and I won it with a surprisingly low bid.

 

[COMBEN]

Interesting points, Comben. I sure like my KTM but I'm not going to say it's the best thing since sliced bread (do they have sliced bread in the UK? :) ). I would say that at least 80% of the reason I like the bike is because it fits a need, and that needs is for a lightweight, powerful, serious dirt bike. Quick, how many good 200's can you name!? GasGas, KTM, and ....uh....um.....I still have my KDX200, and it's a great bike for a trailbike, but it's not in the same league as the KTM. I mean, the KDX is great for off-road, but I'm cutting full-blown MX laps on the 200sx and it fits me like a glove whereas the 125 is underpowered (for my size/weight) and a 250 is more than I want.

Now, if Kawasaki would take the KX125, put a 200 cc jug on it and beef up the crank, and keep the frame/suspension, I'm sure I could be equally happy with that. I was right on the verge of doing the 144cc route until this KTM showed up on ABCDbay and I won it with a surprisingly low bid.

Good points here NM_KDX200, you are sooooo right.
There is a very limited choice if you like enduro/trail 2 strokes. I read in a good UK mag TBM (trail bike monthly) that Honda are dropping 2 stroke CR's in the near future (2 years or something?) They (UK Honda) sold something like 1000+ CRF-250's and less than 100 CR-250's in the last year, the MX scene here is all bar 4 stroke.
BUT, sales for the 2 stroke enduro's and on the increase and quite out of proportion to the amount of 'choice' offered...lots more 4T variants than 2T's, hence a good reason for the wave of KTM, and if you race in the SW of England the burgening sales of gassers.....at my last HnH there were 3 other EC-200's on their 1st time out apart from me, I dare say there were even more KTM's being taken for their 1st run.

And, this, well, oooh don't get me started, this annoys me so much :bang: , if Kawasaki had developed the KDX line I would be running of those most likely....boy did those Kawasaki guys f*%k up big time...they had well, nearly ALL the market for a long time up to the late 90's......great, solid, well designed, well respected product, ridden by loyal thousands and they threw the KDX market away totally by a simple lack of investment, now's that's BAD sales/marketing of the highest magnitude.... all they had to do at the very least, was keep up with the market technology, nothing 'new wave' or radical...reminds me of the british bike industry!
I would simply love to speak to the guy heading up the KDX department (if he spoke English!) the reason why? Having worked for a Japanese Vehicle Emssions company, based in Kyoto, some of the business decisions they used to make, would make your 'eyes bleed' due to their increduality :whoa:

...I'm off for a cold bath now I have got that off my chest

cheers for now

 

[mdkuder]

For the most part they are ahead of the Japanese as far as new technology is concerned. Would you rather have a BMW or a Honda?

 

[kdxtodd]

I 100% agree with you COMBEN. Kawasaki has EFFed it up big time. I will never buy another kawasaki, from now on its orange baby!

 

[Agitator]

Did you read the little "test" on Shane Watt's bike in Dirt Rider? The tester came back and commented on the "normal-ness" of the suspension and Shane said "That's because it just came out of the crate this morning, mate!". :) And he WAS getting ready to race it- in a recent Cycle News, there's Shane right there in the first corner on that same 200 pretty-much-stock XC-W.

I'd like to drop my suspension 1", but otherwise, the more I ride the bike, the more I like it.

Yeah- I read Chris's article. He seemed to like the ktm pretty well overall. I like that new 950 they have out. It's pretty burly. Jesse Zeigler got to ride one (envy!). I'd never want one that big, but it's cool to think of a bike with 98 horsepower.

Ktm does have a lot of advertizing/sponsoring going on. In additon to the fact that they make a great product, I'm sure the advertising is paying off big time.

 

[levert]

The new WR Huskies are great.
I've had my 125 for two months and its just a blast, I'm coming off a KTM 300MXC.
Top quality componants, great price, and boy those Italians make things look good.

I'd have to say I'm surprised at how fast this little thing goes through the woods and being older I'm not as sore after a long day of single track.

Glad KTM,Gasgas and Husky are keeping two strokes alive.
Kawasaki made a bad move on the KDX.When you have such a strong following not following up on this is just poor marketing.Next year when the figures come in someone in marketing will have his head rolling.

 

[COMBEN]

I sure like my KTM but I'm not going to say it's the best thing since sliced bread (do they have sliced bread in the UK? :) )..

I'm not too sure, it just wouldn't be cricket to ask the hourly paid staff such things?

....I have a soft boiled egg (3 mins) with the most elegant toasted soliders every morning, I expect that Jeeves takes a loaf from the Harrods hamper and cuts to suit to my personal whims;)