You laid that thing down like a champ. Man alot of obstacles that could smash you up out there. That is one of those the conditioning of the rider is key in that place. Your defiantly a hard working rider.
I'm writing this comment at 3:46 in the video. I just bought a 2005 KTM and can't come to grips with it. 1st bike in 18 yrs. Last bike 1998 KX 500. Loved the KX but my buddy destroyed it 30 seconds into his 1st test ride by hitting a jump too fast and using way too much throttle. Ugly crash. Tore the seat and subframe off and other damage to the bike and his knee. I went and got the truck and loaded him and both bikes and went to the emergency room. I told him he had just bought the KX and he agreed with me! He was able to repair and sell the poor thing. Fast forward 18 yrs. Now 57 yrs. old, bored, decided to see if a bike would change my lousy mood. Bought a 97 Kawi 100 enduro. Mint, 3k original miles. Great for running dogs, trips to the mailbox, etc, 500 bucks, couldn't turn it down. 2 weeks later I stole a 03 Yamaha YZ 450f for 1000 dollars from a heartbroken young man who wanted to move away from his fiance RIGHT NOW. Love the bike, hate the kickstart. Found a 2005 KTM 525 SX with some serious upgrades, low miles, clean, right price. I rode it for 20 minutes and ordered a complete supermoto kit for it. I don't know if it is me or the bike but the KTM is so snappy off the bottom and all the way to the top it's intimidating. I've never seen a bike or anything with too much power, but the throttle seems like a light switch. On or off. You just said in the video something about the throttle, am going to go back and listen to what you said. Your bike sounds nice and quiet, mine has an FMF pipe that is painfully loud. I wonder if something is missing in the pipe. At night if you snap the throttle it blows a flame out of the pipe. Is it missing the spark arrestor? Packing blown out? Jetting is probably not the issue because it runs great and is psychotically fast. You also kind of said that you preferred your DRZ 400. I rode my buddies DRZ and hated the handling, power and the seat which makes the top of the bike completely flat. Weird. I've heard nothing but rave reviews about the DRZ so it's me that's weird. Your 525 seems much more tractable and controlable than mine. I'm going to watch the rest now.
John Slaughter hi I'm John as well .. thanks for watching John .. and I gotta tell ya friend , I've been riding on and off-road bikes since I was 4. I hadn't been on a dirt bike in about 8 yrs when I started my first motovlog with the xr250 .. loved that little bike( but hence the little).. I'm a big hill climber fan out here in Az and the 250 just didn't have enough umf for me and having it geared for dual sport duty... in steps my first drz400 , a 2007 E model ... same power as S just a little lighter ... then steps in my 2nd drz.. a 2001 E model .. big carb big cam and again light weight(for a dual sport that is) then I go CRF450 X ... omg this is a long story in my search for the perfect dual sport ... then comes in the KTM... not impressed at all ... so I had gotten a DRZ400SM.. took it apart and put the inverted front end and updated swing arm on my hot rod E Drz .. best bike ever .. still have it love it and has never let me down .. 3000mi service schedule (not 600) ... I'd like to tell you more or answer any questions for you... email me at dragon_50s2005@yahoo.com Thanks for watching.. cooler weather is here so videos every week coming soon !!!
Cool video, so this clutch allows you to use the bike like you would an auto car, without having to press the clutch and switch gears? Just turn the throttle? Any disadvantages to this? Thanks.
PhatJay yupp ... kickstart won’t work and if you stall on a hill by by to engine braking, or if you get stuck on a hill no eng brake ... so if you have good clutch control I’d recommend not getting it
I've got a 525 supermoto and the power would leave a drz in the dust... It will wheelie off throttle in first 3 gears and I've got it set up for top speed, does 105 mph... I rode my brothers drz 400 and felt like a tank in comparison.. So slow and heavy. It could only wheelie off throttle in the first gear!!! Ktm is a much better bike. The only thing good about the drz is it is good on fuel and less maintenance but if you want a bike for fun, ktm is the way to go. My brother sold his drz for a ktm 450 exc as it is a much better offroad bike all around. He just isn't impressed with how much fuel it uses compared to his drz 😁 but with more power comes more fuel!
patrick thomas thanks Patrick ... really haven't gotten to ride it since then.. good news I got the back break parts on it now ... so I'll be able to ride it like a dirt bike now... I have it geared for hwy since it's a 40+ min drive to most any off-roading here in central Az... thanks for watching
08:34 seems like the engine breaking isn’t anywhere near as good as a standard clutch...the bike rolls away from you downhill. I guess you’d get used to it over time and adapt by braking differently. BTW I have the wide ratio 5 speed in my DRZ400E. It’s great, well worth the $
Divinehood yes , the characteristics of the KTM, the WR450and The CRF450X are way more on the aggressive side of trail riding or single track .. I liked mr XR250( euro model for electric start) but it just lacked in power for the kind of hill climbs I do ( some of my earlier vids have the 250((CK is one)) ... I've been riding a. Long time , the best ( and lightest for street legal) all round bike that can be lazy rider all day long and still have enough to hot rod it is the Drz400.... The SM with dirt wheels is the absolutely fav of all the dual sports I've had..))( all the ones I listed )
I'm sorry. I see you're having fun and that's great. But if you can't tell the difference between a DRZ400 and a KTM 525EXC, then i recco you get more riding experience.
Nathan Jenkins well this was just a first impression of the KTM... and I only spent 30 min or so riding it... obviously you have seen many of my videos ... been riding offroad since I was 5... the KTM has 36 click possistion on both front and rear ...rebound and damp..., the Drz only has 22...,, with polliminary set up the way I like it on the KTM they felt very similar on this single track... defff more to come as to testing this thing out ... but never assume that I don't have experience ... I prob have way more than you... oh ... and I am for sure a Honda guy at heart... just not happy with what they offer at the moment ... so far... for dat trip Dual Sport riding that I do ... the Drz is king .... thanks for watching ... stay tuned for further vids on the KTM
You might not realise that he's comparing to a DRZ400E, not DRZ400S. The E is much higher performance than the S, especially in the power department. I haven't ridden the 525, so I don't know, but maybe it doesn't feel that different from the E on these types of trails?
After watching the rest of the video, it seems your 525 is more tractable and better handling than mine. I wish I had figured the bike out as a dirt bike before changing it to a supermoto. When I got the supermoto kit nothing fit so I called the manufacturer and realized the problem was not their kit. Everything on the bike had been changed to much newer stuff. 2013 forks and shock and swingarm, plastic, seat, huge ugly gas tank, wheels, basically everything. Also street legal.You said the throttle was too touchy, mine seems even more so.Your bike seems to plonk around like a normal 4 stroke at low speed. Nice. Mine had 14/48 gearing as a dirt bike and top speed seemed like 125 MPH! I immediately got a 13 but didn't get to try it out because I had already torn the bike apart. Idiot. As a supermoto, it's geared 13/44. Still seemed too high. Went to a 48 but sacrificed too much top speed. I will go back to a 44. I guess I need to order manuals from White Power so I can figure out how to adjust the suspension. As for the engine, I will start by repacking the so-called silencer and call FMF to see if it is missing a spark arrestor. Maybe it just needs some backpressure. what gearing are you using? Are you happy with the Recluse? would you still buy a KTM? Any advice or comment would be greatly appreciated! Great video! Thank you.
John Slaughter got rid of the KTM after just 3 rides on it ... no amount of money, suspension or tubing can make it as good as a Drz400E with the SM suspension on it ... please check out my camp creek wash video on the e model after I did the SM setups on it ... friggin epic and awesome!!! Thanks John
No amount of money? Lord, I hope you're wrong! Sounds like I should bail before I get any deeper. You had a 2006 525 EXC. Looking at it, it appears stock except for the ugly fuel tank and maybe the seat. I can call your tank ugly because mine is double butt ugly! I got a stock fuel tank with the bike but a friend and I could not make it fit. That's wrong. The tank fit, but then the aftermarket seat wouldn't fit. I need to sit down and figure out what year and model every part is. The title says 2002 520 SX. The former owner said he installed a new 525 6 speed engine. New meaning 2005. Serial numbers back this up. Start over. I saw the bike on e-bay and called the guy and talked about the bike and all kinds of bikes. Really nice and honest guy. He said he rode desert races and this bike was his back-up bike. He said he would go to the port in Texas and bring back bikes for the KTM dealer who sponsored him. He said that since the bike was his back-up, it had very low hrs. but had all kinds of cool stuff. The bike was and is very clean and obviously well loved and cared for. Strangely, he said he thought the forks were newer (2005-6). They turned out to be 2013 450 EXC units. Looking at the 2002 manual, Everything looks different and I mean everything. But, street legal, clean title with correct numbers and passed AZ. out of state inspection, I guess it's not stolen! I think the bike was a tough sale because every picture had the hideous gas tank in it! Anyway, back to your bike. Stock exhaust? Jetting? Carb? Air cleaner? Gearing? Any suspension mods? My shock doesn't look like the original and has a sticker on it that says Dick's racing suspension and lists all the settings. No amount of money? I would hope that modern WP suspension could be made to work. Maybe it does work. I've only ridden the bike less than 1.5 hrs. It's been so hot I don't feel like going outdoors. I work on the bike at night making changes and have to wait until 7:30 or 8:00 AM to test drive it because I have neighbors. I need to wait 2 weeks and hopefully the summer that would not die will be over. Talk later. Thanks.
@@arizonadualsport2590 I've got a 525 supermoto and the power would leave a drz in the dust... It will wheelie off throttle in first 3 gears and I've got it set up for top speed, does 105 mph... I rode my brothers drz 400 and felt like a tank in comparison.. So slow and heavy. It could only wheelie off throttle in the first gear!!! Ktm is a much better bike
Adem Arslanovski it doesn't Adem, you still have to shift gears.It's more of a ( you don't have to concentrate on clutch control ((ever)) .. and can focus on the technical difficulties of line choice ... the clutch still works as a clut in every normal aspect ... but if your slow going you don't have to use the clutch at all
Adem Arslanovski Lol yupp.... KTM was sold the very next weekend !!!!! Max... my 09drz400 is the best for me , low maintenance , lots of power with the E motor setup, inverted forks on it ... thanks for watching !!!!
You laid that thing down like a champ. Man alot of obstacles that could smash you up out there. That is one of those the conditioning of the rider is key in that place. Your defiantly a hard working rider.
The KTM 525 exc is a great bike I own one as well. I bought mine used and had to refurbish the machine. And I love it now
Nice looking bike! I just picked up an 07 525exc
I'm writing this comment at 3:46 in the video. I just bought a 2005 KTM and can't come to grips with it. 1st bike in 18 yrs. Last bike 1998 KX 500. Loved the KX but my buddy destroyed it 30 seconds into his 1st test ride by hitting a jump too fast and using way too much throttle. Ugly crash. Tore the seat and subframe off and other damage to the bike and his knee. I went and got the truck and loaded him and both bikes and went to the emergency room. I told him he had just bought the KX and he agreed with me! He was able to repair and sell the poor thing. Fast forward 18 yrs. Now 57 yrs. old, bored, decided to see if a bike would change my lousy mood. Bought a 97 Kawi 100 enduro. Mint, 3k original miles. Great for running dogs, trips to the mailbox, etc, 500 bucks, couldn't turn it down. 2 weeks later I stole a 03 Yamaha YZ 450f for 1000 dollars from a heartbroken young man who wanted to move away from his fiance RIGHT NOW. Love the bike, hate the kickstart. Found a 2005 KTM 525 SX with some serious upgrades, low miles, clean, right price. I rode it for 20 minutes and ordered a complete supermoto kit for it. I don't know if it is me or the bike but the KTM is so snappy off the bottom and all the way to the top it's intimidating. I've never seen a bike or anything with too much power, but the throttle seems like a light switch. On or off. You just said in the video something about the throttle, am going to go back and listen to what you said. Your bike sounds nice and quiet, mine has an FMF pipe that is painfully loud. I wonder if something is missing in the pipe. At night if you snap the throttle it blows a flame out of the pipe. Is it missing the spark arrestor? Packing blown out? Jetting is probably not the issue because it runs great and is psychotically fast. You also kind of said that you preferred your DRZ 400. I rode my buddies DRZ and hated the handling, power and the seat which makes the top of the bike completely flat. Weird. I've heard nothing but rave reviews about the DRZ so it's me that's weird. Your 525 seems much more tractable and controlable than mine. I'm going to watch the rest now.
John Slaughter hi I'm John as well .. thanks for watching John .. and I gotta tell ya friend , I've been riding on and off-road bikes since I was 4. I hadn't been on a dirt bike in about 8 yrs when I started my first motovlog with the xr250 .. loved that little bike( but hence the little).. I'm a big hill climber fan out here in Az and the 250 just didn't have enough umf for me and having it geared for dual sport duty... in steps my first drz400 , a 2007 E model ... same power as S just a little lighter ... then steps in my 2nd drz.. a 2001 E model .. big carb big cam and again light weight(for a dual sport that is) then I go CRF450 X ... omg this is a long story in my search for the perfect dual sport ... then comes in the KTM... not impressed at all ... so I had gotten a DRZ400SM.. took it apart and put the inverted front end and updated swing arm on my hot rod E Drz .. best bike ever .. still have it love it and has never let me down .. 3000mi service schedule (not 600) ... I'd like to tell you more or answer any questions for you... email me at dragon_50s2005@yahoo.com
Thanks for watching.. cooler weather is here so videos every week coming soon !!!
pretty darned good video there dude.
michael adams thnx... my fave part is fri 12 min to 14 min...
Cool video, so this clutch allows you to use the bike like you would an auto car, without having to press the clutch and switch gears? Just turn the throttle? Any disadvantages to this? Thanks.
PhatJay yupp ... kickstart won’t work and if you stall on a hill by by to engine braking, or if you get stuck on a hill no eng brake ... so if you have good clutch control I’d recommend not getting it
I've got a 525 supermoto and the power would leave a drz in the dust... It will wheelie off throttle in first 3 gears and I've got it set up for top speed, does 105 mph... I rode my brothers drz 400 and felt like a tank in comparison.. So slow and heavy. It could only wheelie off throttle in the first gear!!! Ktm is a much better bike. The only thing good about the drz is it is good on fuel and less maintenance but if you want a bike for fun, ktm is the way to go. My brother sold his drz for a ktm 450 exc as it is a much better offroad bike all around. He just isn't impressed with how much fuel it uses compared to his drz 😁 but with more power comes more fuel!
I find myself riding in one gear higher with the relkuse...not sure if you noticed that or not. Great video, thanks for sharing.
patrick thomas thanks Patrick ... really haven't gotten to ride it since then.. good news I got the back break parts on it now ... so I'll be able to ride it like a dirt bike now... I have it geared for hwy since it's a 40+ min drive to most any off-roading here in central Az... thanks for watching
08:34 seems like the engine breaking isn’t anywhere near as good as a standard clutch...the bike rolls away from you downhill. I guess you’d get used to it over time and adapt by braking differently. BTW I have the wide ratio 5 speed in my DRZ400E. It’s great, well worth the $
Is this bike much harder to trail ride then a 250 4 stroke would be?
Divinehood yes , the characteristics of the KTM, the WR450and The CRF450X are way more on the aggressive side of trail riding or single track .. I liked mr XR250( euro model for electric start) but it just lacked in power for the kind of hill climbs I do ( some of my earlier vids have the 250((CK is one)) ... I've been riding a. Long time , the best ( and lightest for street legal) all round bike that can be lazy rider all day long and still have enough to hot rod it is the Drz400.... The SM with dirt wheels is the absolutely fav of all the dual sports I've had..))( all the ones I listed )
Arizona Dual Sport thank you for the great info.
I am from Southern Arizona , where is this single track ?
Ron A north phx by lake pleasant blv and carefree hwy 74... by the wild horse bar
I'm sorry. I see you're having fun and that's great. But if you can't tell the difference between a DRZ400 and a KTM 525EXC, then i recco you get more riding experience.
Nathan Jenkins well this was just a first impression of the KTM... and I only spent 30 min or so riding it... obviously you have seen many of my videos ... been riding offroad since I was 5... the KTM has 36 click possistion on both front and rear ...rebound and damp..., the Drz only has 22...,, with polliminary set up the way I like it on the KTM they felt very similar on this single track... defff more to come as to testing this thing out ... but never assume that I don't have experience ... I prob have way more than you... oh ... and I am for sure a Honda guy at heart... just not happy with what they offer at the moment ... so far... for dat trip Dual Sport riding that I do ... the Drz is king .... thanks for watching ... stay tuned for further vids on the KTM
Nathan Jenkins i agree lol
You might not realise that he's comparing to a DRZ400E, not DRZ400S. The E is much higher performance than the S, especially in the power department. I haven't ridden the 525, so I don't know, but maybe it doesn't feel that different from the E on these types of trails?
After watching the rest of the video, it seems your 525 is more tractable and better handling than mine. I wish I had figured the bike out as a dirt bike before changing it to a supermoto. When I got the supermoto kit nothing fit so I called the manufacturer and realized the problem was not their kit. Everything on the bike had been changed to much newer stuff. 2013 forks and shock and swingarm, plastic, seat, huge ugly gas tank, wheels, basically everything. Also street legal.You said the throttle was too touchy, mine seems even more so.Your bike seems to plonk around like a normal 4 stroke at low speed. Nice. Mine had 14/48 gearing as a dirt bike and top speed seemed like 125 MPH! I immediately got a 13 but didn't get to try it out because I had already torn the bike apart. Idiot. As a supermoto, it's geared 13/44. Still seemed too high. Went to a 48 but sacrificed too much top speed. I will go back to a 44. I guess I need to order manuals from White Power so I can figure out how to adjust the suspension. As for the engine, I will start by repacking the so-called silencer and call FMF to see if it is missing a spark arrestor. Maybe it just needs some backpressure. what gearing are you using? Are you happy with the Recluse? would you still buy a KTM? Any advice or comment would be greatly appreciated! Great video! Thank you.
John Slaughter got rid of the KTM after just 3 rides on it ... no amount of money, suspension or tubing can make it as good as a Drz400E with the SM suspension on it ... please check out my camp creek wash video on the e model after I did the SM setups on it ... friggin epic and awesome!!! Thanks John
Going to e-mail you right now.
No amount of money? Lord, I hope you're wrong! Sounds like I should bail before I get any deeper. You had a 2006 525 EXC. Looking at it, it appears stock except for the ugly fuel tank and maybe the seat. I can call your tank ugly because mine is double butt ugly! I got a stock fuel tank with the bike but a friend and I could not make it fit. That's wrong. The tank fit, but then the aftermarket seat wouldn't fit. I need to sit down and figure out what year and model every part is. The title says 2002 520 SX. The former owner said he installed a new 525 6 speed engine. New meaning 2005. Serial numbers back this up. Start over. I saw the bike on e-bay and called the guy and talked about the bike and all kinds of bikes. Really nice and honest guy. He said he rode desert races and this bike was his back-up bike. He said he would go to the port in Texas and bring back bikes for the KTM dealer who sponsored him. He said that since the bike was his back-up, it had very low hrs. but had all kinds of cool stuff. The bike was and is very clean and obviously well loved and cared for. Strangely, he said he thought the forks were newer (2005-6). They turned out to be 2013 450 EXC units. Looking at the 2002 manual, Everything looks different and I mean everything. But, street legal, clean title with correct numbers and passed AZ. out of state inspection, I guess it's not stolen! I think the bike was a tough sale because every picture had the hideous gas tank in it! Anyway, back to your bike. Stock exhaust? Jetting? Carb? Air cleaner? Gearing? Any suspension mods? My shock doesn't look like the original and has a sticker on it that says Dick's racing suspension and lists all the settings. No amount of money? I would hope that modern WP suspension could be made to work. Maybe it does work. I've only ridden the bike less than 1.5 hrs. It's been so hot I don't feel like going outdoors. I work on the bike at night making changes and have to wait until 7:30 or 8:00 AM to test drive it because I have neighbors. I need to wait 2 weeks and hopefully the summer that would not die will be over. Talk later. Thanks.
@@arizonadualsport2590 I've got a 525 supermoto and the power would leave a drz in the dust... It will wheelie off throttle in first 3 gears and I've got it set up for top speed, does 105 mph... I rode my brothers drz 400 and felt like a tank in comparison.. So slow and heavy. It could only wheelie off throttle in the first gear!!! Ktm is a much better bike
I don't understand how it knows when to change gear?
Adem Arslanovski it doesn't Adem, you still have to shift gears.It's more of a ( you don't have to concentrate on clutch control ((ever)) .. and can focus on the technical difficulties of line choice ... the clutch still works as a clut in every normal aspect ... but if your slow going you don't have to use the clutch at all
Arizona Dual Sport ok fair enough. If you're very comfortable using a clutch this is essentially useless and pointless.
Adem Arslanovski Lol yupp.... KTM was sold the very next weekend !!!!! Max... my 09drz400 is the best for me , low maintenance , lots of power with the E motor setup, inverted forks on it ... thanks for watching !!!!