RUST magazine: RUST#32

ENDURO
w
TOM CAN REACH THE GROUND
Aboard the bike, the cockpit is very enduro-like
(as against trials-like), but the obvious
first dynamic impression is being able
to touch the floor flat-foot (with both feet)
which can be a great confidence boost for
those who are new to riding off-road – or are
short in the leg, like me. This gives you great
confidence when tackling tricky conditions,
and I would be thankful for this throughout
the day as we pushed the Freeride to conquer
more and more extreme terrain.
With a nod to street riding, KTM has
now installed an ignition key/lock allowing
the rider who likes a bit of gentle trail riding
to leave his Freeride fairly confident in the
thought that it won’t be hijacked the moment
he turns his back to pay for fuel at a garage.
This change of course prompted me to make
a few futile pushes of the starter button, and
pulling on the clutch, before realising that
there is more to starting the Freeride than
just the button. The ignition key is neatly
tucked away on the side of the headlight, so
turn the key, starter button, GO.
And with the Freeride using (and adapting)
the new DOHC 250F engine from KTM’s
EXC range the bike has no problem when it
comes to the GO. That said, while twisting
the throttle you can tell that the engine has
been restricted to better suit this new role,
but it can be derestricted from 20bhp to a
punchier 26bhp if you so want. For this test
we worked with the standard 20bhp setup.
LESS, OF EVERYTHING
We took off down the road and immediately
you can feel how nimble and lightweight the
Freeride is compared to a normal enduro
bike, only with a lot less power. Everything
felt quite normal as I entered what I would
call a typical Welsh motocross track with lots
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