RUST magazine: RUST#30

ust enduro
“For sure the Cone Valve and Trax equipment is there to help the
racer and it works so well for them. But we tune the standard
suspension to work optimally for the hobby rider, which is the majority
of our customers, so it works best at the speeds and on the kind of
terrain they’ll enjoy. even for me now (Jochi is a former european
enduro champion), I prefer the standard suspension.”
equally while the word is racers are looking for a snappier map on the
fuel injection, for the vast majority the existing map, which seems to
allow for a decidedly linear rev from bottom to mid, suits just fine.
Jochi Sauer: “we are working on a new alternative map and it will be
a more aggressive one which will for sure suit the racers, but again I
think for me the one we have now will remain my pick for my riding
and I think this will be the case for most people.
“It’s still early days with the TPI bikes, so we are still building
knowledge. and even among our test riders in the r&d department its
not easy to get a consensus, no two riders like the same setting!”
There’s an interesting phenomenon with the kTM eXC two-strokes.
I’ve been riding them since the late 1990s and the 300 in particular has
always felt the same, year-in year-out. I can compare my experiences
riding an extreme event in NZ back in 1999 (where only 150 from 500
finished – I can count myself as one of the 150 only on account the
300eXC was so brilliant) with those of riding with Jonny and Taddy on
this day. The basic formula has remained the same. But we know the
latest bikes are better and for sure I appreciate the benefits of the fuel
injection – the greater fuel range, the direct oil injection (so no more
fussing with premix) and no more need to re-jet according to conditions.
I also appreciate that the eXCs can get me to places few other enduros
can – or at least for a lot less stress. It was an exceptional bike then and
– thanks to TPI overcoming the latest emission regulations – it’s an
exceptional bike now, and into the future…
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