2008 KTM 200XC & 200XCW Ride Report

Not all of my job at KTM World and Highland Park is as good as this part. This is "kid at Christmas" good.

The 2008 KTM's are here now, and we are putting one each of the woods oriented models in our rental fleet. Somebody has to go knock the new off each and every one of them! It's hard for me to delegate such an important task to anyone else, so I end up stuck with taking most of the virgin bikes out for their maiden voyage. Yes, I know… it's a crap job no one would want, so I try not to bother the other folks that work here about it. I just take care of it myself...

We recently put a 200XC and a 200XCW into rental duty, and after uncrating them and once again gawking over how beautiful the new KTM's look, we assembled them and started adding bark busters and prepping them for duty. I ran them both through a couple of heat cycles late in the day, then parked them in the service dept, ready for tomorrow morning's ride. I love going riding just after dawn. You have to be careful of all the deer, turkey, coyotes, armadillos, rabbits, etc, etc, that are active at that time of the morning, but early mornings are just made for riding forest trails.

OK, it's 5:50AM as I am typing this right now, coffee beside me on my desk, and the sun is just starting to give the morning sky over Highland Park a faint glow. If you did not already know, KTM World is located at Highland Park Resort, an incredible riding area in the beautiful Northwest Georgia mountains, and it is just perfect for testing new 2008 KTM 200's with the early sun making angled rays of light through the lofty hardwood canopy.

There are some distinct differences between the XC and XCW. The XC has a semi close ratio tranny, the W model has a wide ratio tranny. The XC comes with suspension suited for higher speed trails (or faster riders) and combined with the semi-close ratio tranny, is well suited for GNCC's or fast Hare Scrambles work. The W's plusher suspension and wide ratio tranny are perfect for Eastern Enduro's and tight woods trails.

Coffee's gone now, time to suit up, mix up some fuel, and go push the bikes out the back door. Two things I noticed right away are the new kickstands and new fuel tanks. The new kickstand tucks in better, and they fold out to an ideal position to support the bike, plus there is a nicer footpad on it to keep it from sinking into soft dirt. The new kickstand may seem like a small improvement, but it really works about 10 times better than before. The 08 fuel tank opening is plenty big and does not have the molded humps just inside the opening like last year's XC and XCW, so you can pour in the fuel from any angle without it splashing back out on you and/or the bike. It's nice to see KTM is paying attention to the details. Unfortunately, the new black plastic tank means you can no longer glance at the side of the tank and know how much fuel you have. That's a step backward, in my opinion, but the new black tanks do look good.

Dawn is here now, so I took a quick shot with the camera. The new plastics and white graphics really look great in the not-quite-daylight.

It's now almost 9am, I just put in about an hour on each bike, and I'm typing this in my gear and boots. Man, I love riding first thing in the morning! Let me go on record right now and say that the 2008 KTM 200's are just amazing, the new chassis and improved power is wonderful, and they are a "Best Buy" for a woods bike. Top quality in every respect, all the great high end components found on the bigger KTM's, razor sharp handling, an unbelievable motor, and they are under $6K MSRP! That deal is very hard to beat.

Skip forward a few days, and I now have a lot of time spent riding both bikes. Here is some more detail on the 2008 200XC and 200XCW:

CHASSIS and SUSPENSION

The 200XC and XCW share the same frame, shock, and plastics, but the front fork on the XC is the new WP nitrogen bladder fork. The action and damping on both bikes, front and rear, is definitely better than last year's bikes. The new frame has a completely different shock leverage ratio, and it makes the rear much plusher on the small stuff and more settled over the high speed stuff. The XCW gets a new preload adjustable fork cap that it did not have last year. Both bikes handle great and turn like no other woods bike on the planet. When it's time to flick it left-right-left between trees, the 200's only seem to require that you think about it, and it just happens! The new frame is awesome. Both bikes rail around turns, and the 08 bikes just feel more glued to the ground in turns and over rough ground. Very impressive. As with any bike, you really need to install the correct springs front and rear for your weight and riding style. Correct springs make a huge difference in your ability to go fast – without crashing. As delivered, the new 200's are sprung too soft for me, but they still worked amazingly well for my 220 lbs (with full gear). When they bottom, it's not as harsh as last year's bikes, and the squirm felt from last year's bike when the rear bottomed out is 90% gone. I can't wait to do a little suspension work to get one set up for my weight and riding style.

The XC suspension has more damping for higher speed trails and/or faster riders, and the XCW suspension has a softer feel for tighter woods, good for bouncing over roots and rocks in the lower gears. I'm too heavy for the stock springs on either bike, but I was surprised the XCW did not bottom a lot more easily (I'm 220 with full gear) on fast rough sections or jumps. Closer inspection revealed the XCW actually uses a heavier rear spring than the XC! The XC has a 6.3 on the rear, the XCW has a 6.6. The XCW uses lighter damping and controls bottoming with the heavier rate spring. This is a mod we have been doing in our suspension shop for woods racers, revalving to soften the initial and mid-stroke damping over sharp edged objects (roots, rocks, chop), and using a higher rate spring to gain bottoming resistance when running at a fast pace. KTM must have spies around here! The new frame, rear shock, and revised rear suspension ratio on both bikes works better than last year. The rear of the bike stays planted like it is magically attached to the ground.

The new WP fork on the XC is the same as last year's SX and SXF cartridge fork, complete with nitrogen bladder. When you remove the fork cap, it comes off with a nitrogen bladder attached, and the fork spring is no longer accessible by removing the fork cap. The new WP fork on the XC has a different feel than the standard WP fork on the XCW, which of course is partly due to different internal damping differences between the XC and XCW, but there is more to it than that. The new bladder fork feels like it does not move as quickly through the stroke as the older version, however it is does not transmit undue shock to your arms and shoulders. The bike just flies over rough stuff and the fork takes it all in stride, however on smaller hits – like roots and rocks – the XCW fork still has an advantage. The older style forks on the XCW are valved for slower speeds on tighter trails, and although the new forks on the XC excel on fast hits over rough ground, the XCW forks are magic when working off-camber root infested trails. Both forks do fine on fast jumps where the landing is not so abrupt, but the XC forks are better on pop up jumps with a hard flat landing.

We had a number of customers riding 07 250SXF's/450SXF's (with the new forks and chassis) in the woods this past season, and our service tech and suspension wiz Johnny Barber has been riding a 07 250SXF this season in the GNCC XC2 Pro class, so we already have a good deal of experience with the new chassis and suspension. I am 100% positive the new forks and new frame are a better starting point, but if you are a fast rider, you will still want to revalve the new forks and shock to suit your individual weight and riding style. There is just no way a manufacturer can make a set of forks or a shock that will work perfectly for beginners and pros, lightweight folks and heavier folks, tight woods use and desert use, softball size rocks to sand whoops.

MOTOR

Wow. These bikes rip! They feel faster than the 07's by a good margin. The '08 XCW model is fast, but more subtle about the power delivery than the XC. The wide ratio transmission and longer silencer help achieve this, and a quick check of the powervalve adjustment revealed that the new 08 KTM's come with the powervalve set exactly where we have been setting the pre -08 models for best midrange pull. These things help put the power to the ground in gnarly terrain, and the W model excels there. On the other hand, the XC is faster on more open trails where you can carry more speed, and the semi-close ratio tranny on the XC helps it eat up faster sections of trail. You would swear these are two completely different bikes, not the same bike with a few changes for each model.

Overall, both bikes pull harder than last years models. Jetting is not too far off, and the bikes as delivered stock run pretty darn well, but they are too rich everywhere for the 100 degree August days we are having right now. I changed the main jet, needle, needle clip position, pilot jet and reset the air screw. It took a while to get both bikes happy, but it was worth it. Proper jetting really wakes up a motor that is running too rich, and the 08 200's really responded well to the leaner settings. Every motor is a little different, and altitude, ambient air temperature, relative humidity, as well as your riding style will make a difference in how you jet a particular bike. We typically rejet several times a year as the temperatures and humidity change enough to warrant revised jetting.

Both 2008 200's have much less transition between the great low end pull and the top end scream as compared to the 2007 models. I found that very interesting. In my 5 article series on developing the 07 200XC for GNCC use, one of the major concerns was getting rid of the lull in the midrange. The bottom end pull is amazing on the KTM 200 – all years - and the top end is plenty strong, but in pre-08 models, there is noticeable flat zone in the midrange that makes the transition to the top end hit a bit hard to control between trees in tight woods, off camber situations, and muddy or slick conditions. KTM did a wonderful job of addressing the mid range lull with the 2008 200's, and they feel stronger through the entire rev range. It will be very interesting to dive deeper into the 08 200 motor, and I am looking forward to that!

CONCLUSION

My overall impression of the 2008 KTM 200's is very, very good. The bikes are awesome and the price of admission is cheap for what you get. Suspension on both bikes is better than last year, and so is the new frame. The 08 handles better and stays planted better. The motors are stronger and the mid range is nicely improved. Plus the 08's weigh less! KTM just keeps making them better and better, and they were already very good. On a scale of 10, the 2008 KTM 200's deserve an 11.