WORDS: Tom Buxton, Jock McLauchlan
PHOTO: Geoff Osborne
WOAH
THERE
GOLIDLOCKS!
Billed by many as the perfect racing middle-ground, we
rode Tom ‘Baby Bear’ Buxton’s KTM 350 EXC-F to find out
TM’s 350 EXC-F is really the in
betweener of the Enduro four-
stroke world. It’s not a rev happy
250 yet it doesn’t have the torque
of a 500 or anything like the punch of a
450 – yes, you could call it the odd one
out. What it does have though, is ‘enough’
power everywhere in the rev range for all
applications... with none of the waste of a
big bore or any of that ‘rev it to death or
go nowhere’ feeling of a 250. Some might
even describe it as the perfect four-stroke
Enduro engine – the Goldilocks machine. Is
it really not too hot, not too cold, but just
right?
Ok, so the 350 is something of a middle-
ground, and I’m not sure that I’d go quite
that far as I’d like a little more upper mid-
range punch from the motor. However,
what you do get is excellent trials-style
low rev torque for picking your way
effortlessly over obstacles, then the engine
ramps up smoothly into a useful mid-
range that is quick out of tight turns and
offers excellent traction – in fact, I’d say it’s
deceptively quick.
After that the upper midrange is solid
without being startling, but it’s still quick
enough, although as I said I’d like a little
more guts in the power at this stage. The
top end is high revving and quite fast,
but not a match for a full-on 450 in deep
sand, which is only to be expected when
it’s giving away 100cc of engine capacity.
However, in slippery conditions it may well
have the edge because it seems to manage
to keep traction better.
Our test bike belongs to KR tester Tom
Buxton, and it did vibrate a bit at high revs
which seemed a little unusual, but it was
not new and you can be sure that Tom
has worked it hard. There seems to be the
correct amount of power for everything
you might encounter on the trail, be it
a steep bank, tight single track or open
sandy straights – and that really is the
350’s beauty, enough, but never too much.
The handling is standard KTM... so top
shelf and while it does feel bigger and a
little heavier than a 250, it also feels much
lighter than a 450. Plus it has a more 250-
like engine inertia than the larger 450 pr,
in particular, the 500 – this is definitely a
good thing on long days as it is far less
tiring to ride.
So, for anyone wanting a bit more grunt
than a 250 and less of the fear factor from
a big bore 450 or 500, the 350 could well
be the machine for you. Best of all though,
it is deceptively quick and comparatively
easy to ride in all conditions you’re going
to come across. In all, it’s a great machine.
Maybe I’ll have to rethink that Goldilocks
bike moniker.
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-JOCK MCLAUCHLAN