Well, the KTM 200 is going. Last summer we had an “incident” that cemented the decision to move to a smaller dirt bike again. After seeing a young guy ruin thousands of $ in braces / dental work hitting the cross bar on his bike, I rode for about 20 mins before a jump bested me (arms “buckled” and I pitched forward) and I felt the chin bar of my helmet hit the cross bar of my ktm. While that’s disconcerting to say the least, the fact that my brain went “oh yeah, that happens” bothered me more. It really bothered Ryan so this year the Kaboom is for sale and we already have a Husky TC85 on the bench waiting for its 105 kit and big wheels. Ryan swears to me that this won’t be slower or “screamy” in the extreme.
Of course that got me thinking - I dropped the vfr twice last year - once at a stop and once in a low speed U-turn and undid some of my confidence. Add to that a somewhat goobered right wing (rotator cuff issues) and the 550lbs of baby cow, er...vfr is getting to be a lot for everyday riding.
Soooo, this weekend, we’re due to look at a 2018 Yamaha R3 and a 2017 KTM RC390 side by side Anyone here have any experience with either of these? There’s talk of race school and track days and I want something I can do shorter scoots on that won’t always win in a battle of wills. Having sat on both, I might not even have to lower either of them to fit my short @ss and they feel SO light! I won’t get rid of the vfr, I can’t see wanting to ride either of those bikes to Jasper for instance, so the vfr will still see use.