After riding and racing the YZFX for the past few weeks I was really looking forward to riding the 2015 KTM 250 XC-F, the bike that the FX is in direct competition with.
The very first thing I noticed when jumping on the KTM was how spread out everything was. The controls and ergonomics were very comfortable and offered and open stance on the bike. Hovering right around 6ft. tall the seat height, peg and bar positioning was perfect for me. The starter was very strong and with having no kick option for the bike without putting new cases on it it has to be! I did a handful of dead engine practice runs and it fired just as fast as any “kick” bike I’ve ridden. The suspension felt a little stiff. I had no bottoming or “pogo” issues and the bike was stable and stayed true from the get go.
I immediately noticed how responsive the bike was. The power was right there with no lag or hesitation at all with the stock settings already in the “race zone”. The front wheel was very easy to get off the ground and with the bike in the sweet spot it created nothing but power. With a stock top speed of 89 mph it is definitely on par to do battle with any other bike in the desert.
Personally I would pick up the KTM over any 250 four-stroke on the current market. With their huge aftermarket catalog, solid racer program – KTMcash – and the fact that they actually have a factory presence at the desert races it’s kind of a no-brainer for me. I’m still a little sketch on having no kick-starter as an avid course marker so I’d probably go for the W model but for those in the “racing only” category the XC has a hard hit, top speed and the handling I’d be looking for.