KTM 500 SIX DAYS
at very low speed . Having said that , I always ride it in map one , the most aggressive and have the aggressive throttle tube cam fitted , too . However , these two things don ’ t really alter the power delivery too much in that on / off throttle from idle situation . I also run the taller 14-tooth front sprocket to let it breathe a little more in each gear because the power feels just a bit stifled with the 13 tooth sprocket fitted . The perfect place for this engine is second gear and above . The chassis is completely standard , as is the whole bike . Of course , it does have a decent amount of shiny KTM Hard Parts that come as part of the Six Days package . All I have done is personalise the cockpit , suspension clickers and spring preload set-up . The bars are standard , but I fitted the 10mm higher Hard Parts vibration reducing mounts and positioned them in the rear top triple clamp
bar mounts . The actual bar clamp is rotated to the forward position though . Most tall riders tend to use the front post holes , but I ’ ve never liked that slightly over-centre forward feel and , because the KTM is quick steering and I ride in sand mainly , I prefer to keep weight off the nose where possible . I also slide the fork tubes down in the clamps to raise the front a few mm . It ’ s opposite at the rear with PDS suspension . PDS suspension tends to ride high , so I run as little preload as I can get away with to lower the rear for the sand . Fortunately , the PDS system is very controlled and quite bottom-resistant whilst still remaining compliant ... so it ’ s not overly sensitive to preload in a bottoming-out sense . With this low and long feeling chassis it is brilliant for sand and pretty good everywhere else to the point where I never change the set-up now , no matter where I ride .
KIWI RIDER 55