Australasian Dirt Bike – September 2019

1. Subtle seatcover is from Topline
   Upholstery. Bernie’s a very tall bloke


2. Custom alloy tank allows easy
   access to sparkplug and carburettor


3. Yes it is a 520, not a 550, and it
   revs hard thanks to a shorter stroke


4. Stiple graphics came from Texas to
   stick to the Line-X protective coating


5. Dal Soggio cartridges were
   supplied by Shock Treatment to
   bring the fork up to scratch

READER RIDE / FACTORY RIDE / HERITAGE / ACTION / OAS / BUYERS GUIDE

1.Thealuminiumtankwas

fabricatedwithamatefrom

scratch.Wewantedtoexpose

themotortoallowcarband

sparkplugaccess,whilestill

havea10Lcapacity.

2.Thecustomhighseathas

builtupwithfoamtobeflatter

thanstockandhigher

(980mm).Toplinemadethe

pleatedgrippercover.

3.Customaluminium

componentsincludethefront

guard support,chainguard,

headstaysandthespacer

plateforthebarrel.

4.WeputDalSoggioinserts

intothe 2007 forkwith

assistancefromShock

Treatment.Iwastheguinea

piginattemptingtofitthese

modernclosed-cartridge

insertsintooldfork

stanchions.

5.Stipplestickerswerethe

onlytypeIcouldgettostickto

theLine-Xpaint(evenmud

slidesoff).Thecustom-made

stickers(fromSLMGraphicsin

Texas)hintatthebike’s 1996

heritage,buthavebeen

tweakedtosuittheblackfinish.

YOUDIDN’TKNOW

ABOUT

THE 520

1

2

4

3

5

RECOMMEND IT?

Absolutely. But they are not for

everyone. You need a strong leg

to start them. They are hard

work in tight terrain and they

vibrate like an army tank when

compared to a modern [KTM

and Husqvarna] TPI two-

strokes. This bike is unique. It

has the most amazing sound

and it rocks my world. It’s the

pride of my fl eet. All the

big-bores are revered today. No

modern bike has comparable

performance. Restoring a bike

from scratch can be time

consuming but is hugely

rewarding. The non-power-valve

motors are simple to work on

and tuning and tweaking

components is almost as much

fun as riding them. So much

performance can be extracted

from two-strokes but keep in

mind that fi nding vintage KTM

parts is like fi nding the Holy

Grail these days.

with Dylan Ruddy

THE BASICS

WHAT

1996 KTM 520 custom

WHO

Bernie DH

WHERE FROM

New York, US

HOW MUCH

US $700

http://www.adbmag.com.au SEPTEMBER 2019| 155