1609 DT final

Something we have always enjoyed on the KTMs over the
years has been the Brembo brakes and hydraulic clutch.
But the bad news is that if you are planning to buy a ‘17,
we’re afraid that none of your old spare parts are going to fit...
Riding the bikes, we do understand why it’s all been
done - and please bear in mind that a company like KTM
does not wake up in the morning and simply change stuff -
innovations are tested on race tracks, with input from some
of the best riders in the world over a long time before they
make their way onto production motorcycles.
Most of the rather talented KTM Race team was on hand
to help out - and we got chatting to the guys who raced
Romaniacs on the new bikes. They were quite candid in
telling us that the ‘17’s made the 16’s feel a bit dated... quite
a statement. We were all really looking forward to riding the
bikes the next day.
On ride day, we joined young Kirsten Landman for the
transfer to the Highstakes track in Cato Ridge. Highstakes is
pretty cool – carved into the local hills they have a great MX
track complete with a clubhouse, 4x4 trail and some really
lekker little gnarly hills and things where you can practice your
rock clambering skills. Best of all – a Guy like Alfie knows the
trails in every direction… and that’s exactly what we did.
We arrived to a sea of dark orange – with all of the 2017’s
neatly lined up and ready to race…
A quick briefing - and weapons were selected. We loved
the fact that it was all lekker relaxed and informal. The fast
Jans were free to tear off at a rate and the more sedate
crowd got to watch them and enjoy the fun. An hour was
spent at the track just getting loose and warmed up and then
we headed out into the valleys.
A five odd hour ride saw us take in a bit of – well
everything on these great bikes. Steep hills and valleys were
negotiated, thick bush single spoor, fast-ish gravel sections
– the only thing really missing were Roof type rocks and
step ups. We popped past the old Springfield MX track – I
remember Gary Nilsen sending us stories from that track
years ago. It’s still there, but the facilities are all broken down
– and now its just a great practice track.
Everywhere we stopped the bench racing tales got faster,
bikes were discussed in minute detail and we all chopped
and changed as we went along. To try and remember the
order would be virtually impossible, but each bike was ridden
and assessed by most of the riders. Then it was time for the
highlight of the day – a stop-off at a mighty sand quarry in
the middle of nowhere. This was heaven on a plate – man –
steep climbs, loose ruts, big jumps and drop-offs and a good
hour was spent tearing around and basically goon riding.
Awesome fun.
Watching the top boys and gals messing around was really
cool – we have a lot of talented riders out there.
All good things have to come to an end and out travels
took us back to the track via a mighty hill which was –
awesome… and then down the valley for a late lunch. After
that – we were let loose to enjoy a couple of extra hours just
trying the bikes out.
KTM had three major development targets: Weight
reduction and centralisation of mass for better rideability, an
improved performance and power delivery, plus a new stateof-the-art
appearance. Tick the boxes for all three. They
succeeded.
So here are our initial impressions on the bikes – and we’ll
start with the li’l 125 and our our way up…
DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2016 3 5