Polaris has bought 24% of KTM, they will be partnering on many projects. Polaris is supposed to help KTM get into the ATV market by 2007 and help them grow in the USA. I bet Polaris partners up on a dirt bike project soon with KTM. Time will tell...

 

Here is the link...we are pretty excted!!

http://thewayout.polarisindustries.c...5-6c4849cadadd

 

theres suposed to be the first dirtbike out for 07 with the pred 500 motor in it

 

jengirl, by chance you you work at Polaris?

 

No I do not..I am married to Daryl Rath. He raced Factory Polaris for a little over three years on a Predator. I also work at the shop Rath Racing and we handle alot of Polaris Predator custiomers. One of our pet projects has been utilizing Predator chassis's and incorporating KTM engines.
So I am not excited about the dirt bike view as much as the future hopes for a quad.

 

ah

 

So Spyder...why did you ask?

 

http://www.atvnews.com/output.cfm?id=988525

the above is another Link..

Im not Excited about this at all.. As the Owner of 4 KTM's and 2 Polaris's, i like them both, However I see nothing good coming out of this partnership.

For 1, KTM does Not need Polaris's help. They Produce, in my opinion, the top woods bikes out there, Are very competitive with their motocross Bikes, The Best (by the results of winning Several shootouts over the last few years) Dual sport bikes, and now a new 950 Adventurer that the street bike mags cant get enough of.. They offer shootout winning 4-strokes and 2-strokes of every caliber. And Just about every Dirt bike they Make can be raced right off the showroom floor. Where do they Need help?

I pray to god Polaris does not get into Ktms business about bike production. I have a good relationship with My KTM dealers, and I would hate it to turn into another Polaris shop where they have 15 year old Family members running the parts and service department and forget your name as soon as you walk out the door after spending 7 grand on a machine.

How Is Polaris GOing to Help KTM get into the Quad Business? All they Offer are heavy, tubby Sportsmans, and a "Heavy for a sport quad" predator?
KTM is about Performance, Quality, top notch components. They are about Racer support, winning races, world Championships. Machines that run the paris to Dakar Rally and Win time after time. Durability, bulletproof..

Then You have Polaris, which Admittedly makes a Decent Utility Quad, ( I own an 04 Sportsman, and an 05 Ranger) .
Polaris's Reputation is pretty much, " sell the machine, get the Customer out the door, and pray we never see them again."
And their Famous "let the riders be the Guinnea pig" Mentality.

I can see it now, an Orange Bike with a belt drive and single lever brakes..

 

I think Polaris is trying to help get KTM in the market more than anything. KTM is doing most of there own work on there new quad, Polaris is just going to help them out by helping them market the quad. I hope this new partnership works out for both companys, and that Polaris will buy the rest of them.

 

I think Spyder is hoping for some inside info on the new releases in a few days. Jengirl, Daryl is a awesome racer, its been cool watching him race the preddy and be a little different than all the rest mainstreamers. I like seeing someone take on the oddball machines and make em great. Thus why I had a DS for a long time.