TOMMY BUXTON
M
y 2018 300 EXC is proof of
the Austrian manufactur-
er’s slogan “Ready to Race”.
Straight out the box this
bike was ready to go. Without any
major changes I raced it at the
Husqvarna Hard Enduro, and Dead
Toad cross country with no
complaints.
This model was completely over-
hauled in 2017 with a new chassis,
changes to the engine, as well as a
new look but not a lot has changed
this year. Apart from different
graphics the bike was pretty much
untouched from last year. But why
change a winning package? The
low end torque which is unrivalled
by any other bike makes it the
perfect tool for extreme enduro.
And with plenty of power through
the rest of the rev range, it doesn’t
disappoint. As the saying goes,
“You only get one chance to make
a first impression”, and after this
bike’s first outing I was left very
impressed. Firstly, with its light-
weight feel and secondly with its
torque at low rpm.
Tipping the scales at 100kg with
no fuel the bike feels nimble.
Coming off a four-stroke, the
reduced weight was noticeable on
off cambers where the four-stroke
would want to slide down, but the
300 hangs up and gets you across.
Another time that the 300’s lighter
weight is noticed is in corners,
especially when it’s slippery. The
front wheel gets better grip and
you don’t need to worry about it
washing out as much as on a four-
stroke. This is due to the difference
in weight and positioning of weight
on the bikes. Also, there is no
40 KIWI RIDER
engine braking on the 300, which
gives the bike the feeling of being
very light coming into corners and
downhills.
This bike is known for its down low
power, and it can definitely
“torque” the talk. Eager to get out
and ride my new bike, I left on the
stock Six Day tyres, which are fine
in the dry, but not so flash in the
wet. With conditions closer to
winter than summer, I wasn’t ex-
pecting to get many places. How-
ever, once in the pine trees, this
bike was at home. This is where I
noticed the bottom end; could pull
a taller gear at revs that would’ve
stalled other bikes – it will crawl up
a hill with little loss of traction.
TOMMY’S MODIFICATIONS
I was a bit worried about getting
the jetting right as this bike’s pre-
decessor proved difficult to get
running right. However, my mind
was put to rest as I realised KTM
had addressed last year’s problem.
With a change to the ignition and
revised carburettor settings, I got
to work getting it right for me. In
the end I liked it richer across the
board. I went bigger on the pilot
and main jet, as well as going to a
half clip richer needle. I found this
worked well for what I was doing,
making it very tractable at low rpm
and with enough grunt to pull a
higher gear, which also aided
traction. Also the bigger main jet
helped to smooth it out and keep
it on the safe side of being too
lean.
I have done very little to the
suspension. For the hard enduro I
rode on completely stock suspen-