New Bike Review: Orange Flavor Buck-Fiddy

[Steve300xcw]

Well shit. Least you ended up with guards that work.

We rode today. Have an issue with the rear brake not releasing. This is the second time ot has happened

 

[Squamch]

Well shit. Least you ended up with guards that work.

We rode today. Have an issue with the rear brake not releasing. This is the second time ot has happened

Buddy loaned his bike to a guy while we were camping and the guy comes back "Your front brake doesn't work! I crashed! You gotta tell people!"
Wtf, we rode yesterday and it worked....

Eventually came out that the borrower had run into a log and bent the fuck outta the front rotor and it was pushing the pads so far back that it didn't have the throw to grab the rotor...at least with it sticking you can dump some fluid!

 

[Steve300xcw]

Eventually came out that the borrower had run into a log and bent the fuck outta the front rotor and it was pushing the pads so far back that it didn't have the throw to grab the rotor...at least with it sticking you can dump some fluid!

This summer on a long stretch of road between trails the bike started bogging out. Somehow the rear master cylinder got enough pressure in it to lock up the rear brake. Wouldn't release until I pulled the fill cap. Weird...

So new rotor, pad, an fluid.

Then this last ride. Middle of the ride, I went to push the bike to the side. And it's dragging hard again. Bled the brakes and all seems good again.

Tired of working on this bike

 

[Squamch]

This summer on a long stretch of road between trails the bike started bogging out. Somehow the rear master cylinder got enough pressure in it to lock up the rear brake. Wouldn't release until I pulled the fill cap. Weird...

So new rotor, pad, an fluid.

Then this last ride. Middle of the ride, I went to push the bike to the side. And it's dragging hard again. Bled the brakes and all seems good again.

Tired of working on this bike

Soft line deteriorated internally? Or a tiny piece of crap somewhere acting like a valve?

 

[Gots_a_sol]

If you have too much fluid in the system is can lock itself up. Fluid gets hot, expands, but has no where to guy so it pushes out the pads.

Happened to my Husky once. Was a head scratcher for a bit.

 

[Yotota]

Pulled a dumb rookie move and fouled the shit out of the bike. After a quick rinse off, I tried starting it with the exhaust plug still in. Turns out TPI bikes are really finicky when the plug is fouled and pretty much need a fresh plug at $25 each. Runs great again after a stumbling start up and aside from extra exhaust spooge it's been great. I may pull the pipe and spark arrestor to clean out the oil.

Aside from that I added a TM Designworks skid plate for better case coverage. And I ordered some Midwest Mountain Engineering levers to try. And one day I will probably swap the rest of the orange plastic to white with different graphics, just for something to do. Maybe that'll be it for now. 😁

The bike is fun as hell. It's light and engaging and it's not going to kill me with raw power or speed, but it has enough for me to ride my local terrain how I want to. It is a great evolution of the prior carbed 200XC-W with what feels like equivalent power. It doesn't tolerate lazy old man putt putt riding like a 300 does... It needs to be flogged a bit to get power out of it. But it's honestly not too much work like a 125 race bike is with light switch power. I'd definitely recommend this 150 for guys who are willing to ride it like they mean it, and don't need extra power to hit desert race speeds or haul around an extra 100lb of junk in the trunk.

Random gear update: I bought a new Oxbow Voyager helmet light and it's a big improvement. Well worth the $100. My rides this time of year are usually in the dark so it's nice to actually see what I'm looking at.


Just a lil' guy:

Night mode on my phone, pretty close to how things look once your eyes adjust to the dark:

LET THERE BE LIGHT:

 

[Steve300xcw]

About half our group is getting into the night riding. They are having a ball.

What plug does it call for? Last time I bought plugs, think they are the BR7ES? was around $23 at ktm and was $4 at napa

 

[Gots_a_sol]

I'm curious if that Oxbow is upgraded over the generic version the MTB guys have been using for years.

I ran my first night race with a pair of the generics. The next race I kept one generic mounted for back up and a Baja Designs S1 as my primary.

 

[Yotota]

About half our group is getting into the night riding. They are having a ball.

What plug does it call for? Last time I bought plugs, think they are the BR7ES? was around $23 at ktm and was $4 at napa

It's an odd one... NGK GR8DI-12. Some special Laser Iridium plug that is made for this engine and nothing else. A couple random places online list them as NGK branded 90908 plugs but still close to $20/ea. I just threw a couple KTM plugs into a small parts order I needed anyway.

 

[Yotota]

I'm curious if that Oxbow is upgraded over the generic version the MTB guys have been using for years.

I ran my first night race with a pair of the generics. The next race I kept one generic mounted for back up and a Baja Designs S1 as my primary.

Not sure what's different.

I've seen this light body style before but this specific light was well reviewed and seems to work great for my needs. All I plan to do is wire it up to the bike to avoid batteries.

I'd be all over the BD lights if I hadn't dropped a bunch on other stuff lately. Trying to rein in the budget. 🥲

 

[Gots_a_sol]

I tried running a helmet light off the bike and the cable was quite annoying while riding in the tight woods and it seemed every branch reached out to grab it.

Also, having become separated from my bike in the middle of the night during a 24 hour race, having the helmet lights stay on in that situation made it a lot easier to find the stupid bike after I regained my composure (went over the bars, in the woods, in the rain)

 

[Yotota]

I tried running a helmet light off the bike and the cable was quite annoying while riding in the tight woods and it seemed every branch reached out to grab it.

Also, having become separated from my bike in the middle of the night during a 24 hour race, having the helmet lights stay on in that situation made it a lot easier to find the stupid bike after I regained my composure (went over the bars, in the woods, in the rain)

Well that's a point I didn't consider.

Maybe I'll just get a second battery.

 

[Yotota]

Ordered another Oxbow battery, thanks Gots_a_sol.

Ordered a starting capacitor from Tokyo Offroad because I didn't realize the XCW bikes won't kick or bump start with a fully dead or damaged battery.

Gutted, cleaned, repacked and resealed the oil and gas soaked Turbinecore 2.1. Also cleaned the pipe out which wasn't too bad for oil.

Installed thinner (4mm thick) Jam Nuts on the steering stops to get more steering angle.

I also got these Axia Alloys mounts installed for the headlight mask. Previously, I spent quite a bit of time adjusting the position of the mask to get the clearance I needed for the back of the Cyclops LED bulb. The OEM rubber straps annoy the shit out of me and didn't work for the position I wanted. So I got the position right with zip ties and pieces of Kydex then spent way too much time googling to find a better solution. These are actually windshield mounts to put a sheet of lexan into a SXS or Buggy, but they work well here too.

 

[Yotota]

I was researching spark plug options, which took me down the rabbit hole of tuning and heads.

The mid - range torque dip is definitely noticeable, but only when ripping through the full rev range in multiple gears like on a long straight. For most of my technical trail riding it's not an issue. But still...

I'm eyeballing the TSP Head and ECU tune.

I was looking at the RK Tek head but after lots of forum diving the guy's posts and behavior really discouraged me from running his product.

I'll probably wait a while, maybe even until my first top end rebuild, but the proven gains are too good to pass up.


Also, I threw on a little something for better brake action.

 

[willis_racing]

What's the deets on the RK Tek guy? Seems like that product is really popular, especially among high elevation riders like NM.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Yea he's a little rough on the forums Asshole or not, he makes a good product

I put the RK head on my 300, worth every penny. Everybody that has rode that bike has been impressed.

 

[Steve300xcw]

What's the deets on the RK Tek guy? Seems like that product is really popular, especially among high elevation riders like NM.

He isnt afraid to piss people off. And half the folks on thumper talk are kinda fragile. Least thats what I noticed.

Dunno if he still is offering it. But he was offering 100% money back if you didnt like it.

 

[Yotota]

What's the deets on the RK Tek guy? Seems like that product is really popular, especially among high elevation riders like NM.

Yea he's a little rough on the forums Asshole or not, he makes a good product

I put the RK head on my 300, worth every penny. Everybody that has rode that bike has been impressed.

His posts really seem to indicate an attitude of "I know my shit works, I don't really know why or I can't/won't explain it, other tuners and cylinder head guys are idiots and their proven claims with dyno results are wrong, etc..."

I agree that his shit seems to work. And he does offer a money back guarantee. But his methodology of "trust me, I'm right and everyone else is wrong" rubs me the wrong way. The tests I found for his heads all indicate high compression numbers so much of his gains seem to come from simply reducing chamber volume. His Singh style grooving is... Questionable.

His constant shitting on JD Jetting and Two Stroke Performance is also questionable. Those two shops have consistantly produced great running bikes with data and testing to back them up.

 

[Steve300xcw]

How many hours of woods riding are they getting out of a top end on those lil bikes?

 

[Yotota]

How many hours of woods riding are they getting out of a top end on those lil bikes?

From everything I've heard, the usual 80-100hr. I may do it at 60hr just for shits.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Thats not bad

 

[Yotota]

Apparently I forgot to update this thread.

I still love this bike. So much.

But I'm also sightly retarded and can't leave anything alone.

Today I'm shipping off the ECU to SB Moto who is the US TSP dealer and ECU tuner. The mid range flat spot is annoying, and a TSP Power Kit solves it and all other TPI quirks (adds more oil, evens out the AFR, etc). Their Injector Relocation Kit makes the bike even better. Minor bolt-on mods though in the grand scheme of things... Head, IRK, ECU tune, idle screw, spark plug. For anyone who hasn't ridden a TPI bike, the flat spot feels like:

BRAAAAAAaaaaaaAAAAAAP!

After the mods, it will feel like:

BRAAAAAAAAAOHFUCKYEAHAAAAAPPPPP!!!!!!


My long fingers and single finger style needed shorter levers so I went with the cool Midwest Mountain Engineering levers. Added a longer bolt and locknut to the clutch adjuster to resolve the only common complaint of the adjuster backing out.

And then a Bulletproof Designs TPS guard. The TPS is in a vulnerable spot and a lucky stick can easily snap the harness off the sensor.

Lastly, some side plate backgrounds and a white front fender to break up all the orange.

 

[Squamch]

Deadly!

 

[TrikeKid]

Pretty sweet! I like the small bore bikes, one of these is probably what I'd buy if I were to replace my KDX. Everyone I know rides 300's and says they're the best thing since sliced bread but all of them also like to brag on how lazy they can be while riding em like it's the best feature of the bike.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Pretty sweet! I like the small bore bikes, one of these is probably what I'd buy if I were to replace my KDX. Everyone I know rides 300's and says they're the best thing since sliced bread but all of them also like to brag on how lazy they can be while riding em like it's the best feature of the bike.

You can ride them lazy, thats a fact. They flatten off on the upper rpm range unless you start swapping parts around.

Get it set up right and you have a bike that pulls like hell without much hit, an will still lug lower than most 4strokes. Pretty badass for a woods bike, expecially in the technical stuff

That said. Some of the most fun I have had on a bike. Was on a yz125 on some fast flowy single track. I was smoked after 40 miles, but damn that was a good ride

 

[willis_racing]

Pretty sweet! I like the small bore bikes, one of these is probably what I'd buy if I were to replace my KDX. Everyone I know rides 300's and says they're the best thing since sliced bread but all of them also like to brag on how lazy they can be while riding em like it's the best feature of the bike.

Funny how people react differently to certain power curves.

Some just love riding around in the plug fouling sub-idle range and never pipe the bike literally at all, going "Damn it's amazing that this 300 can take this, I'm just gonna ride like this all the time!"

Then there's me, "I dunno, i guess it puts the power down decently and finds traction well at lower RPMs when trying to do technical stuff. Anyway, where's that rev limiter again?"

 

[Steve300xcw]

Probly really depends on where you are riding

 

[Yotota]

Probly really depends on where you are riding

Also the riders skill level and riding style.

A vast majority of 300 riders that I've seen tend to ride them just like they would an XR400... Butt on the seat most of the time, 1000-4000 RPM, minimal throttle inputs. Putting around. Which the bike can take. Now put them on a 150 and they'll try to do the same thing, and the bike basically gives them the middle finger. Then they claim that 150s suck.

I compare a 150 to something like a Lotus Elise. Rev it hard, throw it around, drive it at 90%, and still be within sane limits and my skill level. I wouldn't casually do that on a 300.

 

[Yotota]

UPDATE!

We had a really wet early spring and things are finally dry and solid enough to ride and not tear up. I got my motivation together to finish my upgrades and get the bike out.

Added some stickers for more HP (also because the purple on the shrouds bothered me)
TSP TPI Power Kit (Head, Tune, Plug), Injector Relocation Kit, Idle Screw mod
SBMoto aluminum fuel fitting
KTM coolant reservoir (minimal weight, avoids coolant barfing if I ever get this too hot)
Trailbound bar bag, master cylinder caps

Shout out to Steve at SB Moto, he is the US TSP dealer and ECU flash servicer. I annoyed him with many questions and he was always willing to respond or call to discuss the bike.

How it rides now:

Map 2 is what the stock power delivery should have been. Smooth, even, moderate power valve hit, no mid range flat spot.

Map 1 is, simply put, aggressive. Power from idle to the power valve opening is noticably increased with crisper/cleaner delivery. The power valve hit is improved and just gradual enough to not be a light switch.

I left the power valve spring at the stock setting, 0.32mm in from flush, and I don't plan to change it. I also did not delete the oil injection as the new TSP tune injects more oil than stock and I like not having to premix. Air screw and idle screw tuning was minimal and well explained by Steve. The 150 is the odd bike out since most of the TSP literature focuses on the 250/300 but it's not hard to figure out what's what.

This is definitely everything I wanted out of the mods and brings out the potential of this engine. Now I need to go get it dirty again.

 

[Yotota]

KTM just unveiled the 2024 XC-W Enduro bikes...

They are not at all enticing.

Plastic subframe, electric power valve, new TBI that still needs tuning to correct, MORE ORANGE, new plastics that are hard to find, lots of other new parts that are unobtanium due to KTM not being able to keep any parts in stock, and more.

Anyone considering a new KTM should probably snag a 23 while they are discounted. And do the TSP Power Kit + IRK, to end up with a better bike than a 24.