TRF Forums

It's a pity more people don't buy Scorpas. I will need a second hand bike of this type at some point. I'd love a a T-ride or Long Ride, but I reckon they'll be a lot more 350 Freerides to choose from when the time comes.

I was told by a KTM dealer that they are basicly a gas gas pampera. If you want a low seat height with a very dissapointing 24hp then buy one. Personally I would fall off it every hundered yards or so due to the deep sleep I would be into within a very short time.

Boring !

Trail riding is not about speed or power, 24bhp is enough for any lane. What matters more is how it makes it's power and how it rides.

The Freeride is clearly meant to be a trials/trail cross over maching like the pampera or T Ride. That kind of bike doesn't need race bike characterists because it isn't a race bike.

If you want a race bike then buy the EXC.

Of course I have no idea whether the Freeride will actually be any good or not. Thats dependant on a lot of different factors but given the type of bike it is, I don't think that failing to make as much peak horse power as a full on race bike is likley to be a significant one.

Horses for course etc.

Cheers

Richard

While at the Dirt the dirt Enduro track in Dec I got the chance to do a lap on:

G450X
WR250F
TE449
KTM250EXC (2T)

By far the quickest bike around the circuit and the easiest to ride was the WR250 which makes the least amount of power. You can give it a load of throttle without having to worry about the back end spinning out.

Where however I think the lack of power becomes a problem is on the road sections when green laning....You'll be revving the nuts out of that little WR!

IMHO

I get what you mean about trail riding and the speed thing. I just don't understand it.
To me this bike is a step backwards. Why would someone want a 350 that performs like a 250 ? This is like riding an old out of date bike and I don't get why people want to do that either.
I would not want this bike any more than I would want a black and white TV or a briefcase sized mobile phone. I mean, why don't they go all the way and give it twin shocks, air cooling and side valves. That way we can feel more comfortable living in our caves with candles and animal skins

All of which is fair comment and it would be very boring if we all liked the same things (there'd be nothing to argue about on web forums for one thing ) but I assume the lowish power output is related to their desire to make the bike, easy to ride, economical and reliable with long service intervals.

Whether these are characteristics that your worried about depends on what kind of rider you are I guess.

Obviously you like throwing money at overly complicated, unreliable exotica because your considering buying a Husaberg

Cheers

Richard

PS I know, I know they're owned by KTM now etc. It was joke, I think the Husabergs look fantastic by the way.

A detuned 350 will need a lot less maintenance than a 250 putting put the same performance.

Most competition machinery is OTT for what is required for the trail's/roadwork between lanes. The reason a lot of trailbikers hang on to older machines is that there's little choice for new bikes that don't require competition bike maintenance schedules. If the Freeride ticks some trailbike boxes then it should sell well - the demand is there and there's little else on offer to the UK market.

Agreed

On returning to the trails this year, I bought a 13yo Honda XR250 in Nov 2011 with only 3000 miles because it was more like a trailbike - simple aircooled, solid & with reasonable suspension, comfy seat and full legal lighting - coupled with a sensible maintenance schedule
Nice kickstart to keep me warm in winter too

It wasn't about money, I have could have spent up to £5k on something newer and more racy - but everything is so Enduro focused with razor seats and crazy maintenance schedules (fine on a race bike - but I want to trailride) and 20hp is enough to ride on the trails, even the highly technical stuff in Yorkshire or Wales

I ride Trials too and even kids on 24v electric OSETs can get up some amazingly difficult obstacles, so it's not about power or suspension - it's about how you use it

The Freeride is the best thing to hit trailriding.........................for a very long time

I marshal enduros. I reckon they'll be a few clubmen using Freerides quite soon. They'd have plenty of power for woods sections where light weight is more important anyway. You can have all the speed in the world, but if you're knackered because your rather sprightly stead is a bit of a handful the mild manners & light weight of the new KTM will come higher up the field. It's a tortiose & hare thing. Freeride owners will probably pick them for relatively low maintenance schedules. I'm certain they'll be some surprising results.

Agreed.


I use the 200EXC-GS for marshalling. Spend a fair bit of time kickstarting 450's and 500's that don't like being ridden slowly through technical sections.