The 250 on the other
hand is a bike that likes
to be revved – loves
it in fact. I’d say the
250 accelerates evenly
right through its rev
range, and will rev high
while still remaining
controllable
I BOUGHT THIS BIKE
The journey to this bike started in late 2018, at
a KTM demo day in Ohakuri, Tokoroa. The two
bikes that caught my attention were the 250
and the 350 XC-Fs. These were the bikes that
didn’t seem to need getting used to, just three
corners in and I wanted to push them to see
just how fast they could go… I eventually got
the 250.
I decided on the 250 XC-F partially based on
the class I wanted to run in, but also based on
the new challenge which it would provide. My
250 two-stroke and the 350 I tested were bikes
that liked to pull from low RPMs through any
situation. The 250 on the other hand is a bike
that likes to be revved – loves it in fact. I’d say
the 250 accelerates evenly right through its rev
range, and will rev high while still remaining
controllable. By no means does the 250 seem
to lack horsepower compared to its larger
capacity alternatives though. The fact is when
racing off road, barring the big paddocks of
farmland races, all bikes have sufficient power
for almost all situations; it’s just what the rider
has to do to utilise the power that varies. The
250 is a great illustration of this. Sure, roll on
the throttle from idle in anything above second
gear and you will be waiting a bit; but if you
actually utilise the throttle and clutch, and
ride the bike properly – it’ll accelerate as well
as you’ll ever need. This makes a bike which
loves to be ridden aggressively, and a bike
that makes riding aggressive easy. This is what
makes the 250 so much fun to ride, and largely
why I got it over the alternatives.
I find the tech on this bike quite interesting.
The 250, like a lot of KTM’s range, comes with
a map switch that offers two engine map
options as well as traction control and launch
control. Map 1 mellows the engine’s midrange
pull, while Map 2 makes the engine more
responsive. I prefer Map 2 as the bike pulls
between corners a lot better, where Map 1
feels flat through the mid. I can only realistically
see myself running map 1 in the slipperiest
of conditions; thunderstorm in Riverhead
sort of stuff. It was an interesting test of the
two maps to ride up a decent hill in first gear
while switching between the maps. The bike
wouldn’t really accelerate in Map 1, ideal for
maximum traction, but switch to Map 2 and it
would suddenly pull. It was, however, very hard
to distinguish between the two maps at full
throttle; meaning if the track did suddenly open
up Map 1 shouldn’t hold you back.
KIWI RIDER 43