KTM Rewrites the Rules

It’s pretty hard not to admire KTM- after all here’s a small factory in Austria turning out equipment that gives the massive Asian conglomerate a run for their money year after year. Until now, KTM has been regarded as being quite conservative with their R&D, which is the professional way of saying “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.”

While the Japanese brands have evolved to include such innovations as electronic fuel injection and high tech aluminum frames, KTM has been racking up victories with their tried and true steel spars and carburetion. It seemed this trend would continue indefinitely for the “boys in orange”- until now.

The Austrian company recently released a motocross machine that not only breaks many of it’s own long standing traditions, but could potentially rewrite the very rulebook in the process. Calling it the 350SX-F, their latest design just so happens to be the first to include electronic fuel injection (battery powered), a conventional shock linkage (KTM has been defying the market until now by running a linkless PDS system in their bikes and quads), and an engine displacement that doesn’t conform to any current racing class!

While it may seem a bit counterintuitive to enter the 450cc division at a 100cc deficit out of the gate, KTM insists the new model will feel more maneuverable like 250cc machine without giving up much of the power expected from the premier 450cc engine.

Whether or not that proves true will be answered in time but we can’t argue with the electric start feature, fuel injection or more conformist rear shock configuration.

Factory KTM rider Mike Alessi is slated to race the 350SX-F professionally in the 450 class this upcoming year but plans for a production version for the masses have yet to be confirmed.

Of course, to the ATV set, this may not mean much, if anything at all. However it could have a profound impact on the scene as at present, no manufacturer seems ready, willing or able to step up to the plate with 250cc versions of their flagship performance ATVs (which are all 450s). The closest we’ve gotten to a performance 250-race quad came in the form of Yamaha’s air-cooled Raptor 250.

It doesn’t take too much speculation to imagine the 350SX-F engine being stuffed into a 4-wheel frame not unlike those of KTM’s popular XC & SX packages in effort to create the ultimate trail machine or, better still, ignite a new racing class to supplement the 450cc ranks. Such a revolution could prove popular enough to spur the Japanese OEMs into playing catch up.

Only time will tell what, if any, impact KTM’s new high performance 350 will have on the industry as a whole but one thing’s for certain; ATV enthusiasts all around the globe have much to be excited about in the mere potential exhibited in KTM’s latest off-road development.