Long Term Dirt Bike KTM 450 EXC
Next up was the jetting. After a bit of research on the ‘net we opted for a JD Jetting Kit and adjustable fuel screw which we ordered through Offroad Enhancements. Working on the carb on the Kato is piss easy. Just remove the seat and tank and it’s open access. First up we tried the recommended settings of a 170 main jet, the blue needle with the clip 3nd from the top and JDs new mod which is an o-ring on the accelerator pump to crisp up the bottom end. {josquote}This saw blue flames shooting out the back of the bike{/josquote} that nearly took the paint of the Motoaus.com garage door! Some deal of tinkering later and we had a good setting. I’d tell you what it is, but I’d have to kill you (just kidding, we’ll have all the mods listed after this article). The result was quite amazing. The bike has an amazing amount of power off the bottom and through the mid range compared to the stock setup. And there is no bog off idle at all. You can simply crack the throttle wide open and the engine spins up rapidly. That’s what we want!
Ride impression number 2: Incredible. So much power, way more than we could ever use. But what about that woeful fuel economy? It did improve somewhat, but we still need to carry a bit to get through a 90km ride without fear of running dry. The bike has now done over 800kms and it’s getting better with every ride in all aspects. We’ll keep you updated with future mods and improvements as we do them.
Summing up, we have to say that the Kato is very easy to ride, has beautiful plush suspension that hasn't bottomed out on us yet, has a great engine once it's jetted well and combined with KTMs RFS proven reliability record is sure to be a winner. On the downside, it has poor fuel economy and the side stand was designed by an idiot. We'll be adding some more functional parts to the orange beast in coming issues including a larger tank and a steering damper, so we'll keep you updated on our progress. So far, we love it.
