Monday, February 9, 2009

The Ice Quiver... part 1



First the KTM, which is officially for sale so that I can update to a newer one, same model though, I love the 300. This is a '97 300 EXC. Upgrades include; skid plate, factory kickstand, bark busters, FMF Fatty pipe, wider foot pegs and factory rear fender rack. As soon as I got it I had the forks rebuilt and set the sag for my riding weight. The bike has spent some time on the ice and a fair amount of time in the Vermont woods. I registered it to comply with state regulations for riding on the ice.



The front tire/wheel is a Dunlop K491 with a liner mounted on a '99 KTM wheel, single Holiday Canadian spec screws for right and left turns.





The rear tire/wheel is a lined Yokahama Super Digger mounted on an earlier '93 KTM wheel. The tire was built by a Canadian fellow, originally as a left turn only. It is shaved to bias left turns but not radically. I added right side screws to complete the pattern, and it works very well in both directions with a slightly "late transfer" over the top.

This bike absolutely rips on the ice, very stable and confident on ovals or road courses. It has the grunt to loft the front wheel exiting the lower speed turns, or you can feed in the throttle and keep the bike down on the side screws and just rail the turns.

When you put the "summer" tires back on and ride the woods, this thing still shines. Low speed handling and rideability are amazing and if the trail opens up you're back on the main jet without skipping a beat.

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