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canyncarvr
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Post by canyncarvr »

Well, I care that jc has an endurance 'puter an likes it, 'cuz I'm going to get something akin to it sooner or later. It's good to hear what works, what don't.

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Post by wanaride »

Funny you mention it, my 250XCW has an Endurance computer on it...looks like I'll be selling my Vapor computer on the KDX.
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Post by canyncarvr »

The '06 has a recall for fuel leaks.

Sent you a PM...


Uh...when did your KDX get recalled...for ANYthing?

:hmm:

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Post by jc7622 »

>|<>QBB<
canyncarvr wrote: Uh...when did your KDX get recalled...for ANYthing?

:hmm:

I was just thinking about that the other day. My KDX gives me no trouble at all. All my friends were getting new KTM 200's and 300's and I will admit that I was wondering if I should get one also, but my KDX does everything I want it to. I've decided that I'm happy with it and don't need anything else.
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Post by canyncarvr »

Obviously, the KDX is not on the front of any technology revolution..and anyone that points that out as a negative of the bike is completely missing the point.

And just as obviously, there SHOULD have been recalls of the bike..the 220 piston comes to mind. Just 'cuz there aren't any recalls doesn't mean the bike is perfect...or even good! Maybe it means nobody cares one way or the other.

Still, in the real world, the KDX is known to be reliable..at the least. It also has a reputation as a quite excellent woods machine. Stellar all-round bike? Nope.

I've had more'n one expression of wonder as to why I 'STILL' have my '00 200.

1. 'Cuz it works.
2. When I can outride it..I'll consider getting something else.
3. Don't hold your breath for #2 to happen.

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Post by kawagumby »

It is the best (in modified form) tight trail bike I have ever been on. Better than my modified KX's, YZ's, CRF's, WR's etc. It is better in that regard than any KTM I've ridden, although I have only ridden the 200, 300 and 520 (525?) varieties. Stellar tight-stuff bike? Yep.
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Post by wanaride »

Thanks for the PM, I did know about that. There is a subforum on KTMTalk about it.

If the gas cap is the only thing I have to worry about on this bike, I'll keep it. Small price to pay, in my opinion.
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Post by canyncarvr »

I DID read the release..did NOT know it was about the CAP. They said '..the seal around the fuel tank..'.

If the tank needs to come off to change the plug..who knows what kind'a goofy setup the 'seal' referred to.

I didn't.

I wooden'a bugged you about a fuel cap issue.

Subforum....is that a below par forum?

Guess that's where it belongs, 'eh?




JUST KIDDIN'!!

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Post by wanaride »

Since everyone, myself included, was horrified at the idea of removing the tank to change the plug...

I did it last night. Four 8mm bolts and the fuel hose to the carb. Sounds harder than it was; it was quite simple actually, it took about 10 minutes before everything was back together. I don't think that would be hard to do on the trail at all. Of course, with that engine, I'll probably never need to do it again... :wink:

Thought you would want to know...
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Post by Indawoods »

Sounds like Caterpillar engineering to me! :lol:

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Post by KarlP »

Tank removal to change the plug didn't look like that big a deal, at least not on the one I witnessed. On many bikes working that darn plug wrench UNDER the tank is a pain in addition to crap falling in the plug hole.

Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not defending the concept. You'd think guys who can design a $6000 bike ought to be able to let you change the plug without taking the tank off.

The fella who I saw change his plug was a former KDX rider. He DID NOT say "I used to have one of them KDX'es. Glad I got rid of it!!", quite the opposite. We rode together, he kept up, I watched him foul a plug and have to take his tank off. :lol:
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Post by jc7622 »

A friend of mine just changed the plugs on his 07 and 08 KTM200's and I don't think he took the tanks off. I'll bet there is a way to do it without removing the tanks. You just have to figure out the "trick" to doing it. Every bike has little "tricks" that need to be learned to make working on them easier.
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Post by wanaride »

I completely agree with you Karl. When I first realized I had to remove the tank to change the plug on my son's KTM 50 Mini Adventure, I cussed a blue streak and could not believe the crappy engineering behind that "design". Now I see that it must be a KTM thing and all of them are that way. There is about 2mm between the top of the plug cap and the frame; if the cap wasn't so flexible, I don't know how it could be changed.

JC, I think you are right about the tricks, I just haven't had the bike long enough to figure them out.

BUT, despite all of that, do I plan to unload that poorly engineered KTM and go back to the KDX? NO WAY! Yes, I know the KDX is the single greatest motorcycle of all time and it has no flaws; that's why everyone replaces most every part on the bike, right? I wanted something different and I know I made a good choice. The 250XCW is a good step up from the KDX; better everywhere without being too much.

Another point about the engineering...I can clean the air filter on my KTM without removing the seat. Try that on the KDX... :lol:

Another thing...the owners manual includes jetting recommendations for every elevation and temperature range. No guesswork required.
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Post by canyncarvr »

I was talking to a machinist just a couple days back...grousing about some stoopidly engineered excuse for a brain fart (swingarms on Yamaha ATVs). He said some engineer buddy of his went to work for an outfit that required their engineers to work for at least six months in the shop (assembly/repair) to get a good dose of what should be the linkage between how things are designed to work..and what actually takes place in the real world.

Lot'sa times, 'It looks good on paper!' doesn't translate too well.

I've tried changing plugs in my Honda with the tank on. Fussed with it for 1/2 an hour.

But...it takes less than a minute to take the tank off..then the plugs are just sitting there staring at you.

It's not that I figgered taking the tank off to be a great big deal. We die-hard greenhearts don't want to pass up a chance to pee on a punkin, tho.

:lol:

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Post by wanaride »

I wish every engineer was required to work "on the front lines" before designing anything. The world would be a better place...

Of course, engineers are typically at the mercy of marketing demands. They can only work so much magic, you know!
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Post by KarlP »

"Of course, engineers are typically at the mercy of marketing demands. They can only work so much magic, you know!"

Thanks for pointing that out.............unfortunately true.

We've worked on new products here to correct "shortcomings" in existing products, working to a marketing spec, only to have Sales come back after product release to say the previous version "shortcomings" are not as bad as the new products "shortcomings".

We didn't write the laws of physics. Try as one might, they cannot be broken.
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Post by Indawoods »

I think .2 less gallons of gas to shorted the gas tank to allow you access to change a plug... is not allot to ask.

Of course... I have never physically seen the issue to say that would resolve it and probably never will. :grin:
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Post by wanaride »

What? No more KTMs for you Vince? Admit it, you know you miss 'em! :wink:

The 250XCW tank is already smaller than the KDX (2.2gal), but more room under the tank would have been a good thing.

Karl, I'm an engineer too so I know about sales & marketing...necessary evils, but evil all the same! :lol:

I'm supposed to go trail riding with the kids tomorrow, so I'll let you know how she handles in the woods. I'm sure it will suck...
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Post by canyncarvr »

Re: 'They can only work so much magic, you know!'

That happens, too!

My brother's an 'injuneer' (He's the smart one, I'm merely handsome) for radar systems on Navy USSs. He works on (designs, builds, installs) 'stuff' that does this kind'a 'stuff':
Folsum Research wrote:Folsom Research Model 9415RB Radar Broadcaster Boards (RBBs) interface the ship's radars to three Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) LANs. The RBB is part of the Radar Broadcast Equipment (RBE) which includes a CPU controller, one or more RBBs and one or more LAN interface boards.
You know...the kind'a things WE do in our sleep..or maybe after dinner (and just before dessert).

I don't mean he plugs someone's part 'A' into somebody else's part 'B' and watches them talk to each other. He makes the stuff.

Anyway, he and I have had a few discussions on how things work, how they are supposed to work, and what REALLY happens when they're plugged in onboard. It's amazed me many times the 'magic' he's used to make things work...like his 'stuff' (that does work) when interfaced with some OTHER 'stuff' (that don't work).

Hats off to peoples with the brains to be injuneers and that USE them!!

:prayer:

**Uh...not that use their HATS...their BRAINS!

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Post by AtomicKDX »

How about a second downside? -> PRICE


>|<>QBB<
wanaride wrote:Yes, I've ridden a YZ250 and KX250. I realize the engine comparison between a 250 anything and a KDX200 is unfair, thus the disclaimer in my original post. I did think it worthwhile to mention that the 250XCW does not have a light-switch hit.

I'm just passing on my observations, and the smallish feel of the bike did impress me. As did everything else about it.

There is one downside to the KTM...I will have to remove the tank to change the plug. Oh well.

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