Norrbin ’ s Junior two world title this last season – he ’ d have had the Junior outright title , too , had it not been for Jed Etchells holding him off ( on Jed ’ s own Fantic , an XEF 250 ). Between exhaustive R & D and the ‘ in the field ’ testing and feedback from the race teams it ’ s been at least three years ’ hard work to get to this point .
What ’ s in the box ? Now , unfortunately , Fantic has been – for years now – more than a little shy in revealing all the finer details in the specification of their models . But lets just work through what we do know . The fuel injection : it ’ s been developed with Dell ’ Orto , being a double injector system that sprays fuel into the throttle body ( not the cylinder ) – so it ’ s mirroring KTM with their change to TBI . The power valve : now electronically ( not mechanically ) operated . This is likely to help the bike ( and the fuel injection system ) satisfy Euro 5 emissions . Equally with traction control and alternative engine maps to consider , it makes sense all these systems are digitised for accurate integration via the ECU . Engine mapping : two maps , you might want to call them soft and hard . Traction control : a new thing for two-strokes , but increasingly found on today ’ s bigger four-stroke enduros . Electric starter : here , having seen how things can go badly wrong ( eg GasGas ’ s first e-start ), it seems Fantic has done a proper job , integrating the starter into the engine cases , and attaching it to the clutch drive ( just above the gearbox ). Then there ’ s the packaging . The radiators are bigger than those found on the YZ / XX 250 plus there ’ s a fan – all the better for hot work in the woods . A hydraulic clutch – for lighter , sweeter clutch control . An enduro-style sideentry airbox , for faster , no-tool filter changes . And , dare we say it , separate fuel and oil tanks , with a dinky setup , where the filler caps for the two tanks , one big ( fuel ), one small ( oil ), sit side-by-side . So yes , oil injection is the story here ( not premix ) – probably again to ensure Euro5 compliance . Finally , the gearbox , while still a five-speed , isn ’ t standard YZ , being a mix of
38 KIWI RIDER