KTM 200 EXC reviews

I cannot say enough about this incredible bike. I absolutely love it. For what it is designed for, mostly trail and some street, it exceeds my every expectation. This is a hardcore trail bike with a license plate. It has shredded every trail I have ridden with ease. The seat is a bit firm, but who sits down on the trail? The suspension works so well I find myself looking for the nastiest thing on the trail to stick it in and it will say, "Is that all you got?I have owned 6 other bikes from motocross to dual sport including a KTM 640 LC4-E. I still own it and love it. But on no other machine do I catch myself giggling in my helmet like on my 530. It is by far the easiest and most fun machine on the trail I have ever owned. With a rejet and mods to the silencer, the power is even more intense. Big power from off idle all the way to the moon! Note: Consider your options wisely. This is a great bike but use it for what it was made for. KTM makes more specialized models than others for a reason. Each is built to do a specific job. Chose the one that will do what you want. My 530 does everything I want and then some! It is a great machine! Show less

I expected this bike to be really powerful but I didn't expect this much! The 380 EXC is as light and nimble as some 125s, yet leaves many 450 4s standing. The bike needs no upgrades to prepare for racing and comes with fantastic quality parts as new. It feels as easy to throw around as some mountain bikes I've had! I'd recommend this bike to anyone who has had plenty of experience on smaller bikes. Even the experienced rider should approach with caution; this bike does take some getting used to before you can put all that power to good use. Ignore the wife - go and buy one now! Show less

I have been on many race bikes over the years. Elsinores, YZs, KX - most were very adequate. Some better than others. 1990 Kawasaki KX-500 was awesome in its day. I have never to date been so happy with a bike like I am the 05 KTM 525 EXC. I bought it new and went through the proper break in. This bike has gone on long after I wanted to quit and did well. Never a loss for power, the bike has tons of torque for a large man like me. It may be big on some but it fits me well. It has never let me down mechanically. The battery did go down a couple of times, because I stalled it so often in a race I used it up starting 30 times or so. However, it kicked over (more like pushed over) first kick. Chains, sprockets, bars, fuel efficiency - everything seems good. I'm currently turning down a great deal on a 08 530 XCR-W to run this bike one more year. Total shop bills for two years racing for me are less than $250.00. Anyway, that's my two cents worth. Show less

I am the second owner of this 520 EXC. The first owner felt the bike was too much. Personally this bike is the best I have ever owned. I love to ride tight and technical; with the 520 I can ride the nastiest terrain - slimy, rocky or tight single track. The bike performs flawlessly. The gearing is not stock at 13/48 with a short chain to shorten the wheel base which makes the bike handle great in tight sections. The power on tap makes up for the extra weight. Components and reliability are outstanding; the bike just takes a beating and never looks back. Show less

Had the bike now for about 2 weeks...LOVE IT. Cops HATE IT. Have always ridden big bores. (KX500, CR500R, latest CRF450R) The KTM comes ready to run out of the box. KTM pays excellent attention to detail. Excel rims, fat bars, tires, chain, suspension, down to the grips. My ONLY complaint is changing the oil is a drag...what a mess, that being said the filtration is great. The power is smooth all the way through 6th. Availability says it all...try and find one. Enjoy the ride! Show less

I just bought a 2003 KTM 300e/xc and I have to say, quite a nice mount. I admit my addiction to 2 stroke engines, and have owned mostly 250 MXers my whole life. I ride predominantly eastern style trails, tight and windy, not a 250 MXer's forte. I wanted something more woodsy. I figured the 300e/xc, having a heavier flywheel and wide ratio gearbox and 50 extra CCs would be a wise choice. It's actually perfect, and makes you ponder why every 250 CC enduro bike produced throughout the years wasn't just bumped up to a 300. From the minute you begin to inspect it visually, you notice the great workmanship when compared with the Japanese bikes. Almost like a BMW to a Chevy. The bike, when in great condition, is a visually appealing sight. Your buddies will have no problem noticing you are on a KTM. Before you get on the bike, your expectations of the performance can't possibly match the bike's asthetic look, how wrong you are. This bike is a racer. Plain and simple. If your highly skilled rider, I don't believe you could go faster in the woods on any other mount. The power is delivered almost perfectly throughout the entire powerband, with enough low end to pull a car. This type of power is great in the east, where rocks dot every curving hill, and roots soon follow. Open the throttle up and the bike sings. You suddenly remember you're on a 300. Although the bike has a very smooth power delivery, similar to a 4 stroke in some aspects, it will quickly remind you that it is a 300 2 stroke, and given the chance, could get you into some trouble ripping from one corner to another on short trails. This is where the 300's amazing braking system comes into play. Not to be outdone by the 300's silky engine performance are it's mean and sometimes tempermental brakes. These things will bring you to a stop in a jiffy. Also, having sloppy fingers around the front brake, or a happy foot with the rear brake will sometimes have you stopping when you don't want to. Bottom line, these are some of the best brakes I've ever used, and would make a highly skilled rider even faster. Gearing is pretty good. I did find the upper gears a bit too tall for my type of riding, and appreciated the brakes even more when I stretched her legs. For my type of riding, gearing down would go a long way. First and second gear were spot on, after 3rd, things would start moving pretty quickly. You can always fall back on the brakes. They actually give you the confidence to try to pull a taller gear into a corner. I can't quite comment much on the suspension. don't get me wrong, my bike is suspended exceedingly well, but the suspension system was rebuilt by Factory Connection (third bike I've owned with Factory Connection, in my opnion, they are the best). The WP forks and shock are top of the line in workmanship, much like the rest of the bike. My experience with KTM suspension in the past is that they are hit or miss. In the past, their enduro bikes are very well suspended, and their MX bikes are sometimes suspect. don't ask why cause I don't know. I'm sure the stock components on the 300 are up to any task, after all, the bike is race ready right out of the box. Ergonomics are perfect, especially for a shorter rider such as myself. The bike seems, and actually is very slim. It's also a very light bike, and feels every bit as light as the dry weight claims (235-240 lbs). By far the lightest when compared to any 250 2 stroke enduro, and this thing is a 300. All in all, this is hands down the best bike I've ever had the pleasure to ride. The 300 CCs of power is perfect. Perfectly smooth, and perfectly capable of pulling like an MX 250, without the constant wear and tear your body feels when riding a 250. This is a fast bike, but capable of going whatever pace you like. You don't have to ride like a nut to go fast. With all the pros and lack of cons, this bike makes most of the speed you need, you just have to point it in the right direction, and when you get used to the super-strong brakes, you'll find yourself smoking your buddies without even knowing you're doing it. This thing is so much fun to ride...anywhere. Throw in a huge KTM Hard Equipment catalog, and you'll find yourself in rider's bliss, with an endless universe of components to trick your cycle out. My suggestion is...If you ride 250 MXers on trails, give in and buy a 300e/xc (I heard the '04 is worlds better, if that's possible). You will, in no way, be disappointed. Unless, of course, Halloween orange and black aren't your thing!! Show less

I have had my KTM for about 3 months now and absolutley love it. I have been searching for a dual sport that was mainly for trails and barely street legal and boy have I found it. The best thing I have noticed about this bike is the fact that there is NO stall with the throttle. It doesn't matter what gear you're in. The throttle response is amazing (no lag). Our latest trip was during a thunderstorm with mud up to the swing arm and the KTM was not bothered at all! It simply kept pulling while others were falling or slowing down because the lack of grip! Not to mention that I enjoyed the fact that I covered the poor guys with mud from head to toe when I passed them. The only thing I disliked about the KTM was the tall gear and the hard seat. I resolved the gearing issue by going to a 14 counter sprocket instead of a 15 and so far this has helped out. I replaced the stock seat with the lower seat, which has not softened the seat, but I am sure it will feel better over time. I have also added a skid plate because it does not come stock. I am serious when I say that I had to search long and hard for a negative on this bike. This bike is amazing!!!!! Show less

There's a reason why KTM dominates the off road market. I used to be a Honda guy until I ran into KTM 4 years back and I never see myself looking back. Once I got on this bike and fired it up using the the E-starter and then pulling in the hydraulic clutch, I was off tearing up the trails and noticed that it is literally effortless to ride. It has plenty of power and it is very controllable at the same time. The power never gets away from you like a 2 stroke could. The other thing I noticed right off the bat is you cannot feel the weight of this bike even though it weighs 250lbs. Believe it or not it feels lighter and better balanced than my old 2 stroke. It also corners extremely well. It actually conrners and tracks better than any other bike I have ridden. Long story short, I would recommend this bike to any serious west coast woods rider. Later Honda, Hello KTM! Show less

This is the second KTM I have ever owned and I can not believe this bike. It out performs all my others. It is very powerful and user friendly. It is often too much to handle if that is at all possible in a dirt bike. It chews up back tires like nothing at all. I can not think of one bad thing to say about this bike. I say hats off to KTM for building such awesome bikes. Show less

Love my KTM. My last ride, a Honda 500 dual sport, feels like I'm dragging a boat anchor after being on the little KaTOOM. Very tuneable bike. Easy to jet and adjust the exhaust valve for power the way I want it. Switch between lots of tractable bottom end grunt with a smooth midrange and flat on top for tight woods; or, a bit of weak 'burble' down low with a bone-jarring midrange 'hit' that begs to pull the front end over in 4th, with lots of top-end and overrev for the more open trails. A handful of jets and small adjustments of the power valve governer is all it takes. She lugs well, with suprising bottom end torque for a small engine (I'm used to a big thumper), doesn't foul plugs (even though I jet a bit on the rich side-I learned early on-the hard way!)and she smashes through or skips over everything I point her at. Very forgiving when taking a jump poorly and landing crossed up, or nose down. A real confidence builder for the novice to intermediate rider like myself. The downsides I found: the seat is as hard as a rock (which forces better standing technique-maybe a good thing? the rear has a tendency to kick out a bit unexpectantly; and the bike I bought was the street-legal EU/AU version which was de-tuned -it took a bit of experimentation to find the carb, power-valve and suspension settings that work best for me. The quality of the bike is obvious just looking at the engineering, machining and attention to detail. I rode a new Husq 250 for a couple of days-and really liked it, but found the 200 KaTOOM virtually the same for power and easier to throw around in the woods. It's like a 125 on steroids! Show less