The suspension action is very plush but still quite bottom resistant . I felt it used a lot of the travel , a lot of the time , but then I ’ m much heavier than Tommy . For Auckland locals it is set-up like a Riverhead bike versus a Woodhill machine . For out-of-towners that means the suspension is set to favour tree roots and the like at the expense of bigger hits . Considering Tommy ’ s lighter weight , his 300 EXC suspension will be plush , but , most importantly , very comfortable and , therefore , not fatiguing over long races , and yet it ’ s plenty capable of absorbing the big stuff when necessary , making it a confident and competent package . The front brake is the usual KTM fare , which means it is class leading and has been for many years . It ’ s light to use , strong on stopping power and have excellent feel with decent pad life . Out back the rear has a smaller diameter disc than most Japanese brand ones and I think slightly lacking in feel and strength by comparison . However the trade-off is that being smaller , it ’ s less vulnerable to track side damage , while performing almost as well . In general these are very fine stoppers . So overall this is a quality machine in all regards . KTM ’ s slogan of ‘ Ready to Race ’ is accurate and as a company their dirt-bikes show the most uncompromising focus to racing for a production machine of all the brands . And it ’ s fair to say that while TPI might be the latest and greatest , and all the rage at the moment , the carb is not dead quite yet .
38 KIWI RIDER