Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > General Motorcycles only > Popped my offroad cherry at the weekend

[jeff st4s]

Originally Posted by Wylie1

Jeff.....sound's like you had a great time & I bet you can't wait 'til your Enduro Africa trip.

I've got a 200 2-smoke KTM for the on/off throttle response you mentioned.....great fun, but then I grew up racing 2-stroke crossers from 6-16 yrs old! I've been doing some enduro races on it this year, but I've discovered I don't bounce or heal as welll as I did back then though!

After the weekend I sort of now know what to expect when the bike is sliding around when we are on the loose stuff.
I was on a race prepared 200 KTM it was outrageous, I swapped it with this kid who was on a slightly softer 250 2 stroke, when going through technical stuff it was just too responsive on the throttle when I was not used to it, that's why I preferred the Yamaha 250 4 stroke for the more challenging stuff.

[Wylie1]

I did the Yamaha offroad school a couple of years ago (I recommend it to anyone thinking of having a go off-road) & got to ride the 250 & 450 4-strokes. There's no doubt they're easier to ride, but the only bike that (re-)lit my fire was the YZ125 stroker. So much so, it prompted me to get back into off-roaders! The 250 4-stroke was the easiest to ride & I could lap faster on it, but I'm only doing it for the fun factor so ended up with the 200

[jeff st4s]

Originally Posted by Wylie1

The 250 4-stroke was the easiest to ride & I could lap faster on it, but I'm only doing it for the fun factor so ended up with the 200

That's what I found out, the 4 stroke was the first bike I road and was comfortable and quick enough, a guy was following on a 250 stroke but could not keep up in the bends, which I can only assume was throttle response as when you rolled off the 2 stoke it seemed to take time to build up a head of steam again if you were not in the power band, the 4 stroke was easier to roll the power on and off without loosing too much speed.
The 400 KTM 4 stroke was a bit more of a handful after the lighter 250.