Brinkman
Pack Dog
Hi guys/girls.
Not that active on the forum anymore. But I get this urge every now and again to share my excitement with someone, but only ending up with people that shows interest out of pure politeness and not passion, and I love them for that.
For this reason I turn to you guys.
After being stuck in life and following a meant to be short lived career in waitering, I ended up spending years and years at a wine estate that ended in finally catching a break and ending on a path I'm really grateful for. One that allows for a bit more breathing space in my budget and as a side effect, with me being an almost thirty year old child, most of it goes to toys and satisfying my never ending urge for new play things.
The second latest being a 2005 Kawasaki KDX200 and after riding a friends 2007 KTM 200 XC I instantly decided to upgrade. I drove to Betty's Bay to load a 2009 KTM 200 Xc-W in the howling wind and rain ending in darkness around the mountain with only one headlight bulb working.
The KDX is a great bike for what it is, and that being in all honesty an old, trusty stead but the age can be seen and felt.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JgrYxLJRY0QYe5vvENJE9J8NDODYR8CO/view?usp=sharing
The conclusion I draw the first day I got on my KTM is that age does matter. Not like the KDX which has not changed since 1995, the KTM has had a lot of updates over the years. And that combined with the way it is purpose built for woods and enduro riding makes it such a massive upgrade. With the much heavier KDX I really had to concentrate and look for holes, bumps etc. It had a feeling of the front wheel wiping out in corners and not much torque for sand riding, having to keep it on the revs.
With the KTM it is possible to ignore all but the biggest bumps, the characteristics of the engine is so much power down low, making it possible to crawl anywhere without the bike bogging out with still so much power all the way through the rev range.
But this love affair did not start as a happy one, instead this bike was like having your parents set up an arranged marriage with a woman that made a good first impression, but behind the curtains took all sorts of drugs and abused you. Completely garbage dump worthy.
Not that active on the forum anymore. But I get this urge every now and again to share my excitement with someone, but only ending up with people that shows interest out of pure politeness and not passion, and I love them for that.
For this reason I turn to you guys.
After being stuck in life and following a meant to be short lived career in waitering, I ended up spending years and years at a wine estate that ended in finally catching a break and ending on a path I'm really grateful for. One that allows for a bit more breathing space in my budget and as a side effect, with me being an almost thirty year old child, most of it goes to toys and satisfying my never ending urge for new play things.
The second latest being a 2005 Kawasaki KDX200 and after riding a friends 2007 KTM 200 XC I instantly decided to upgrade. I drove to Betty's Bay to load a 2009 KTM 200 Xc-W in the howling wind and rain ending in darkness around the mountain with only one headlight bulb working.
The KDX is a great bike for what it is, and that being in all honesty an old, trusty stead but the age can be seen and felt.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JgrYxLJRY0QYe5vvENJE9J8NDODYR8CO/view?usp=sharing
The conclusion I draw the first day I got on my KTM is that age does matter. Not like the KDX which has not changed since 1995, the KTM has had a lot of updates over the years. And that combined with the way it is purpose built for woods and enduro riding makes it such a massive upgrade. With the much heavier KDX I really had to concentrate and look for holes, bumps etc. It had a feeling of the front wheel wiping out in corners and not much torque for sand riding, having to keep it on the revs.
With the KTM it is possible to ignore all but the biggest bumps, the characteristics of the engine is so much power down low, making it possible to crawl anywhere without the bike bogging out with still so much power all the way through the rev range.
But this love affair did not start as a happy one, instead this bike was like having your parents set up an arranged marriage with a woman that made a good first impression, but behind the curtains took all sorts of drugs and abused you. Completely garbage dump worthy.
