Australasian Dirt Bike — January 2018

http://www.adbmag.com JANUARY 2018 | 63

The KTM MISSEDoutonsecondbytheskinofits
teeth. It is very versatile for a wide variety of
riders and did absolutely everything reasonably
well. The only negatives that we heard from the
test group was a slight lack of bottom-end
power and a couple of riders mentioned a bit of
a fat feeling between the legs.
The orange machine has all the finer
trimmings such as electric start, hydraulic
clutch and terrific Brembo brakes. It also comes
with some nice, soft ODI lock-on grips as
standard (as does the Husky) which was a big
bonus for all riders after riding the Yamaha.
The WP 48mm AER fork continues from last
year and is a huge improvement over the older
units that copped criticism in 2014 and 2015.
The balance of the KTM is great from front to
rear and the suspension holds up exceptionally
well on the big hits while still soaking up the
small stuff without too much of an issue.
Being a bigger rider, I really struggled with
gear selection on this bike. But even some of
the lighter riders commented that they found
themselves between gears on the KTM. And for
a bike that is supposedly almost identical to the
Husqvarna, the Kato felts very different.
There was a big uphill triple coming out of a
corner at Larbert that had to be seat bounced as
hard as you could to stick the down ramp. I
was forced to use second gear in the corner and
snap third just before the take-off ramp to make
it on the KTM. Whereas on the Husqvarna I
held second the whole way and, on the
Yamaha, I could use second or third the whole
way from the corner.
The KTM is clearly a class act and has very
few negatives. Unfortunately for the orange
brigade, they have come up against their
almost, but not quite, twin brother who is really
hitting his stride. Sure, KTM is at the top of its
game world-wide, producing some of the best
bikes, but unfortunately, no cigar this year.

WHERE I RANKED IT: 3RD

NOTABLE CHANGES:

• Tweaked graphics


• Orange frame

KEY FEATURES:

• WP AER 48mm fork


• Electric start


• Brembo hydraulic clutch


• Brembo brakes


• Chrome-moly steel frame

Jack of all

KTM 450SX-F