T
his year marks the end of
an era for one of KTM’s
models, the trusty 200EXC.
When I first heard that the
200 was out after 2016, I
was quite surprised. KTM
has decided to try and
condense its range and the
200 hasn’t made the cut.
It’s a shame as I’ve always seen the 200 to be
the perfect bike for the average trailrider, the
kind that rides maybe once a month and just
enjoys going out with the boys on some nice,
tight singletrack with maybe a few open fire
roads where he can hear the sweet sound that
is a two-stroke wide open.
The 200 was introduced in 1997. It came
in EXC and MXC versions. KTM tried to grow
the 200cc enduro market and added an SX
version at one point, and an EXC GS version as
well, although not all versions came here.
Almost 20 years later, the 2016 model is a
whole different machine. It’s light, nimble,
has a nice motor that can be chugged down to
almost nothing on technical stuff and then rev
and rev and rev if you feel like opening it up.
It even has electric start!
I wondered why a 200 needed the button
because they are so easy to kick over but,
once on board, I was quite happy to have it
there. Another huge plus for this bike is the
low maintenance.RACING CAREER
It has to be one of the most bulletproof motors
around. This little two-smoker is a heap of fun
and it’s a real shame that it won’t be around
anymore.
As good as the 200EXC is, it hasn’t had a
stellar racing career.
That is not because of the bike itself, it is
more to do with the enduro classes and the
type of racing in Australia.
For years, there was an Under-200cc class
in the Australian Four-Day Enduro but once
the new age four-strokes became more reliable
and rideable and the class names changed to
E1, E2 and E3, the 200 got stuck in E2 where
it was up against the 250 two-strokes and 450JUNIOR
BURGER
If you're expecting a KTM 200
EXC to be the same size and
feel as your 300 EXC you'll
be disappointed. The bike is
actually slightly smaller.78 | APRIL 2016 http://www.adbmag.com.au