July 31, 201511 yr Would a 2 stroke engine meet the road requirements of the USA ? Sure for most states. It is the select loud states that they probably won't be able to sell to. There are a ton of 2 stroke mopeds that sell here. In Michigan its 15 dollars to road register a moped for 3 years and you don't need a cycle endorsement. There are a hand full of road legal KTM and one YZ two stroke sitting out side of my office right now as personal commuter bikes. --Biff
July 31, 201511 yr Would a 2 stroke engine meet the road requirements of the USA ?No 2 stroke currently meets EPA requirements. The technology is there, but no one has done it. There are thousands of bikes that has been plated for the street due to the local MVD not knowing any better. Several of the new Free rides were plated in our state, which brought some smiles from the owners!
July 31, 201511 yr If KTM were to produce a trials bike I have to imagine it would be electric. Everything they had issues with on the freeride E would basically be resolved on a bike that would weigh 100 pounds less, namely battery life. The exception would be if KTM want to compete at the world championship within the next year or two, but I don't really see them chomping at the bit to do that.
July 31, 201511 yr Well that's two different answers, I must admit I assumed 2strokes were considered evil by the U.S. which is why all of our beloved road bikes got killed off. Do you see KTM enduro bikes being ridden on the road or are they trailered to the desert / forest for a thrash.
July 31, 201511 yr I do not understand your comment about weight and battery life, if that was the case the weight of the rider would also have a significant affect. Building a freeride based on a Gasgas chassis would not change anything, KTM should just build the gas version and get into the market quickly with a proven product. Electric bikes are a tiny part of the market as they are having to pioneer the product into an established sport and there is no financial incentive for riders to make the jump. Price the bike at under £4000 and rent the 'battery' relative to hours used and you may establish a market share.
July 31, 201511 yr A petrol engine produces the same power down to the last drop of fuel,a battery powered one doesn't.Its battery life,weight of batteries and recharge facilities that are the problem at present.True you can have spare batteries but you're limited to staying fairly close to the spare ones,once they start fading they lose power very quickly,and electric motors produce very different power curves to petrol ones .We might go electric one day,but it's not soon.Ktm will stay petrol for the foreseeable future
July 31, 201511 yr I was told that a spare / replacement, battery / power module, for the EM is around £2500, if that is the case you won't be taking a spare with you and once the first 2 years of its life has been used who will want to risk buying it off you ?
July 31, 201511 yr Would a 2 stroke engine meet the road requirements of the USA ? No way, Mopeds are different. 50cc or something. That's the whole issue. We need a simple, light 500cc 4T that's bullet proof. I think you need that displacement to get it to run really well down in the super low RPMs, and quiet, but of course it's going to give quite a thump! So that would also need to be addressed in some way. Electric would be ideal but we are not there yet. Range issues are the biggest. But here, we have some humugous downhills (i go through 4 sets of rear brake pads in a busy season.), and that braking could be turned over to a charger which could refresh batteries. Same charger should have a hand crank.....just in case LOL Look at F1 you see all the new tech possibilities, but many moto folks are very conservative and don't like change. Example one: motocross. Weight minimum!!!!! Are you friggin kidding me? DeCoster's bike in the 70s was lighter than Dungee's bike in 15. AMA BS. The rule should simply be: you must be able to buy it. Anyway there is a huge untapped niche in ultralight off-road. Everyone wants one, but none exist. Except the half baked LOL My other backcountry rig, an 07 250sx with everything changed for single track except tranny and it could use another gear, bad. Weighs 25 lbs less than all my friends new KTMs, but despite plate, it's not technically legal, especially a new one Danger Will Robinson by unoh7, on Flickr Trials Front is Tubliss, with 8 lbs, and that is a revelation. But even after 8 hard seasons she has some inner beauty: Ready for Action by unoh7, on Flickr Edited July 31, 201511 yr by uhoh7
July 31, 201511 yr Sorry to be negative, but regarding the last post, this is meant to be a Trials forum and little of these backcountry bikes has anything to do with the sport of observed trials. I do ride a 500cc bike, it's called an Ariel, I can assure you that no one would want to ride the weight in a modern trial. In fact there are often comments that most people are over biked on 250's Back to the thread, when are we likely to hear more about the Gasgas resurrection ?
July 31, 201511 yr I must say the KTM above looks awesome and is a good ''hybrid'', basiccaly a home build freeride like bike. Must be great fun, and although its not trial, I think there are many dual sport, enduro, or motorcross riders also owning trials bikes (like me). I think GG is trying to get things rolling, but we will have to wait for official news and see where it is going.
August 8, 201511 yr re: "Sorry to be negative, but regarding the last post, this is meant to be a Trials forum and little of these backcountry bikes has anything to do with the sport of observed trials." Sorry,I thought this was a technical forum on Gas Gas trials bikes. I did not know there were rules about what members choose to do with them. Wait Here by unoh7, on Flickr Jeez, what am i thinking? Who would want a 300 pro around here: Steep Slope at Sundown by unoh7, on Flickr I think it's this sort of cliquey, in the box mentality, which makes it hard to sell many bikes. Edited August 8, 201511 yr by uhoh7
August 10, 201511 yr What is the reflection of burning rubber smoke in the windows all about ? (Can of fuel and an extinguisher in the photo) Asians and MV ? Where has that come from ? Edited August 10, 201511 yr by collyolly
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