This one is a 2019 TE300i, a one owner bike with 83 hrs and 1,300 miles on it.
So, why did I buy it?
The short answer is that I fancied trying a KTM 250 EXC or Husky TE250, and couldn’t find one that I wanted that wasn’t 500 miles or more away from me.
The longer answer is that although I absolutely love my trusty old 525EXC (there’s a little thread on it here
http://revtothelimit.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=4820 for anyone who is interested and hasn’t already read it), I love 2-strokes and have always had a hankering to also have a road-legal off-road smoker in the garage.
It’s never been the plan to have one as my only off-roader- I’ve owned the 525 since it was nearly new, it’s 20 years old now and we’ve done so much together that I’m more attached to it than I m any bike, and so it will get used by me as despite it’s age, it’s still a very competent bike and a lot of fun to ride- the way I’m viewing it is like I view shorts- it’s good to have more than one favourite pair
It will also be good to have a “spare” bike in case one is ever in pieces or waiting for parts etc when I want to ride, or any mates need it, or just fancy trying a bit of laning- maybe we’ll manage to tempt @weeksy out for a gentle bimble one of these days...
Anyway, I digress- so why this one?
In terms of 2-stroke off-roaders, my previous ownership has been limited to crossers (YZ400 & KX250), and aside from a TS250, DT400, and DT175 as they really don;’y count as “ proper” in my book, I’ve only ever ridden one other proper road legal off-roader, which was a KTM 200EXC some 10 years or so ago.
I loved it at the time but decided I wouldn’t want it as my only off-roader, far too many compromises and potential downsides for the type of riding I do , which although I always van the bike to the start of the ride, they are typically 100-ish mile days, and usually include a fair bit of tarmac in between the lanes.
I know from both what I’ve read over the years and talking to owners, that 2-strokes have moved on considerably in the last 10 years or so and specifically since they’ve started fuel-injecting them.
As part of that, you also don’t have to faff about with pre-mix on the FI KTMs/Husqvarna/GasGas range , they all have a separate oil tank and (electric) oil pump.
The electric start ( a very high priority for me on any green-lane type bike I have) has also been considerably improved over the last few years on them- up until 2018-ish it was a real Heath-Robinson add-on on the KTM/Husky smokers, and notoriously unreliable- just a shit design really.
Of course, with KTM as they now are, they badge and market what are essentially the same bikes throughout the road and off-road ranges as either KTM, Husquvarna or Gas-Gas, with Huskys being the premium brand, GasGas the cheapest and KTM in the middle.
Alongside the KTM/Husky/GasGas, I also had a serious look at buying a new GPX TSE250.
For anyone who doesn't already know, these are basically a Chinese clone of a Yam engine and KTM cycle parts. They’ve been out at least a couple of years now, have been getting good reviews from owners and are dirt (
) cheap- £5k-odd compared to the £8-10k of the nearest equivilent KTM/Husky. Anyway, looking was pretty much all I did and I decided that I’d prefer to stick with the orange I was ideally looking for a KTM, for the main reason that the Huskys and GasGas have rear suspension linkages and the KTM doesn’t. Whilst it can be argued that the linkage arrangement is both technically and functionally superior over the KTMs, which just bolts straight to the swinging arm, at my level I’ve always found it great, and importantly for me, there is nothing sticking out underneath the swing-arm to get clouted and potentially damaged on some of the knarly rocky climbs we do.
I also ideally wanted the 250 rather than the 300, as although they are identical apart from the top end of the motor, they are (so I read) significantly different in character, with the 250 being more traditional 2-stroke and top-endy in terms of power, the way 2-strokes make their power has always been a love of mine and so this appealed to me
In fact, I ended up with neither of those, as this is a Husqvarna TE300i- I’d decided that I wasn’t buying new, so in the area I’d decided to look at ( 2 or 3 years old, with low hours/miles green-lane rather than enduro/race use) and ideally one owner / loved, the 250s I found were either too far away, or had a harder life than I wanted, so I compromised.
The reality is I didn’t really know whether I’d like or hate any of them never having ridden any of the options, but I share the same approach as Tiepin in that I buy something, and if I don’t like it, or fancy something else more, then I sell it.
The one I bought is a one-owner bike, and I bought it directly from the owner, so known history and all the books, receipts etc.
It has been used as intended so is by no means immaculate, but it has been loved and had some useful additions ( that I would have bought if it dodn’t have them ) such as engine case/exhaust port, wheel bearing and suspension linkage protections, along with one that I wouldn’t in the (Marquez?) sticker kit, but that’s easily changed if I choose to.
It also had a carbon fibre exhaust protector, which had a fair bit of damage from an off and looked scabby, but the good news was it had definitely done its job as underneath it, the damage to the pipe was minimal, so I ordered another one up, and it arrived last Friday, the day before my scheduled first proper outing on it, so that has now been fitted.
It’s also been tested too as of the week-end and has survived unscathed as it was clay I went down on, but the pipe is so sticky-outy and vulnerable on these it’s bound to get damaged over time.
The bike had been just sitting unused in the previous owner’s garage unused for the last year and a bit, so although it was due its first MOT last year, it hadn’t happened so I had to get that sorted, with of course a good check-over from me first, and the purchase and fitting of a legal size rear plate for the MOT.
I also wired in a little 12v to USB power supply for my Garmin , took a feed from the lighting circuit so I don’t have to worry about flattening the battery.
The good news is that it had had a new piston and oil pump 3 hrs previously at 80hrs as recommended by KTM, and it was also wearing a brand-spankers pair of Mitas enduro tyres that had not touched the ground since fitted, a nice little bonus as they are by far my off-road tyre of choice, and what I would have put on it, if needed.
MOT was of course just a formality, so as soon as I got back, I taxed and insured it, filled it up with Super and took it out on the (tarmac) B-roads around here, just to give it a bit of a shake-down before it’s first proper ride which was planned to be a 120ish miler on Hants and Wilts lanes, and here it is nestling in the Buckinghamshire countryside last Friday before I fitted the new exhaust protector
I did approx 20 road miles, and I have to say, first impressions were pretty underwhelming- the bike itself all seemed good, but I was expecting it to be much faster/ more power-bandy than it seemed to be.
Riding any of these bikes on the road isn’t of course their intended environment and not a good test, but I have to say I was slightly disappointed.
Some of it was undoubtedly due to the much shorter gearing on it than I have on my 525, which meant I was in top in seconds and flat out at 65-70, whereas the 525 easily pulls 90+ in a flash.
As I say, all very largely irrelevant on a bike like this, but whereas the 525 lifts the wheel in 3rd or 4th if you want, the 300 just seemed to run out of revs every time I opened the throttle with no wheel lifting.
Anyway, got it home, fitted the new exhaust guard, filled it up with fuel, checked tyre pressures and in the van it went.
And this was Saturday’s planned ride route
Some great (and very slippy) lanes, but a fair bit of tarmac in between on this route, which on reflection made it an excellent test for the new bike.
And I have to say, it was brilliant- my meh-ness of the previous day disappeared pretty much on hitting the first lane, I can see why the serious enduro boys (and Yorick
) like this motor, pulls from absolutely nowhere and really flies.Overall there is probably only 6kg or so weight difference between it and my trusty old orange girl ( 106 v 112kg) but as anyone who rides off-road knows, weight (or lack of it is key), and the 300 feels just that little bit more nimble- perfect novice bike IMO in that respect.
But the biggest revelation to me is how civilised they've managed to make a 2-stroke- it’s even Euro4 FFS!
Gone are the days of fannying about with over-rich chokes from cold, oily drippy tailpipes and having to “clear its throat or worrying about it oiling up after tootling at low revs for extended periods, and almost 4-stroke-like in that respect, it just goes.
And the fuelling at constant throttle on the road- although it sounds like it’s 4-stroking sometimes, you can cruise along at whatever throttle opening you choose- no surging or having to pick one speed only or speed up and slow down all the time like you might have to on pretty much any other (non FI) 2-stroke, it is just so civilised.
It was an absolutely cracking day, the only slight negative in its performance was the suspension, which I’m sorting this week.
The original owner is a fairly hefty unit and had it re-sprung for his (not inconsiderable) weight, and although I’m no racing snake, it is massively over-sprung for me and was a bit of a bone shaker t times.
The standard rear spring on these is a 48N/mm, it’s currently wearing a 63 which is a massive difference.
Similar, although not quite as severe, story with the front-std springs are 4.4 or 4.6N/mm, and it’s currently wearing 5.2s.
The good news is I got the originals with the bike (and a 54 rear too which was what he first tried and still too soft for him), so I’ll swap them back to standard over the next week or so before the next ride.
I’ve also got some new grips, levers and hand guards to replace the originals- why Husky bother with those silly non-wrap-around hand guards on an enduro bike beats me- my old 525 is still wearing the original 20 YO wrap-around KTM ones, they have saved the grips, levers, bars etc and me from damage more times than I can count so some of those are also going on too.
Other things that I will probably do will be to raise the gearing a bit when it needs chain and sprockets, and possibly change the sticker back to standard, or maybe one of the retro-Husky kits you can get to make them look like a resto-modded 70s/80s bike- that might be cool.
I’ve also ordered and will be fitting an ignition switch- I know it wouldn’t stop somebody nicking it if they wanted to, but it will mean that somebody can’t just walk up to it, push the button it and ride it away on a petrol station forecourt or if I park it outside a cafe etc
Anyway, suffice to say our first date went well and I’m very happy with my purchase so far- more to follow as our relationship progresses!
), lots of rock and clay which after the amount of rain we’ve had over the last couple of days made it slippity with an absolutely massive capital S! 
) saved me every time 
