2018 KTM 350/500 EXC-F review

When anyone asks me which dirt bike to buy, particularly if they aren’t every-week riders, I have always unflinchingly recommended the 350 class – just pick the colour you like and ride the wheels off it. Leave the 450s and 500s for those that ride every week. You can now scratch that: my mindset has now changed!

When presented with the fresh 2018 KTM 350 and 500 EXC-F, back to back and fresh on Aussie soil, it’s clear the rider-friendliness gap between the two has closed. They are very different bikes, but both can be either easy to ride or ferocious, depending on how hard you yank their chain.

Our test ride took in the Watagans State Forest (NSW), a mixture of rocky, sandy and at times loamy trail, including fire trails, tight single track and some serious hills – when you knew where to find them.

I’ve ridden there for years, so was the reticent tour guide for two blokes who really know how to pedal: enduro guns Glenn Kearney and Christian Horwood. There’s nothing like having those two enduro leg-ends behind you to motivate new individual levels of “pressing on”, and make you feel like an utter squid…

Getting things done
But this is the thing: on either of the new KTMs, the tweaked fork and excellent ergonomics meant I could get away with things older models would have slapped me down for. Both bikes are stable, steer well, offer ridiculous feel through the Xplor fork and quality traction from the WP back ends. With bases like that, it’s down to the engine’s manners to complete the package, and both bikes nail it, albeit differently.

The 500, not surprisingly, has more at the throttle hand, but if you remember “torque is speed” in the bush it doesn’t mean you need to wring its neck everywhere. The throttle response is snappy (nowhere near as bad as the early EFI machines), but once you’re used to it sticking the bike in third and chundering your way over and up everything the trail throws at you is sublime.

Keep momentum with a sniff of throttle and let that 510cc turn that rear wheel over, without bursting into a rear-wheel tantrum of wheel spin. If you’re wheel-spinning heavily on a KTM 500 EXC-F, you’re doing it wrong – open trail roads excepted!

I actually find the 2018 500 easier up the hills than the 350EXC-F, just because you can relax the throttle hand and chill your way to the top; the engine barely turning over and keeping the bike straighter and easier to manage – you are working harder on the 350 EXC-F.

Lighter and less excitable
The 350’s big bonus, of course, is that it’s lighter and less excitable on the throttle in general. Get it wound up like a top, however and it makes those trees go real blurry! It’s not dead down the bottom, though.

There’s enough grunt to roll it over tree roots and rocks, but then be able to blow apart a sandy berm, as Glen and Christian do in the video. It needs more revs than the 500 and the power isn’t as rich, thick and creamy, but navigating between the trees is a delight, while keeping the thing on the boil is all part of the fun.

The crucial thing is, the gap between it and the 350 isn’t as large, and I am not in a hurry to get the optional traction control and engine map switch fitted to the big girl – the throttle feel is so good, experienced riders simply won’t need it. Traction control remains a great idea for those wanting to make just getting on a bike as easy as possible.

RELATED READING
2017 KTM 350 EXC-F and 500EXC-F review

Comfort and sharp response
The suspension remains the bike’s highlight. Engines are easier to make compliant these days, but building boingers that fit such a broad range of riders is still an art form – one that KTM has painted the town red with.

Both bikes are like a lounge chair comfort-wise, but steer neutrally and are close to race-spec in response. The amended bottoming resistance is hard to judge, but some seriously degraded sections of trail really gave both bikes a workout. Moreover, some awkward drop-offs didn’t bottom the fork or shock, yet allowed me to feel how each tyre (the OEM Maxxis rubber) was coping with the variety of terrain we covered.

I would ordinarily go leaping for a full knobby aftermarket tyre option for a new bike, but in the dry-ish trails we rode they did a good job, aided no doubt by some of the best-dialled suspension you can get on a production dirt bike.

The 500 sits on the trail slightly heavier, a feeling added to by the monster engine, and jumping from bike to bike the increased effort to get the big girl turning was obvious. But with that comes some stability, as well as a less eager turn-in procedure. It does stay planted though.

Special test
I took both bikes to a special test enduro loop and rode them back to back. In the middle of one long rut was a vicious tree root, and I hit it at the same speed each time on both bikes. The handled the hit well, especially as they were cranked over and already through much of the travel, but the 500 stayed on line better. The 350 was no slouch, mind you, and the memories of 10-year-old KTMs that could get pretty snappy up the front is a distant memory.

Forty-five minutes into the ride, just as I was starting to get tired and the pace was starting to crank along nicely, I found another advantage to the 350 over the 500.

Aboard the 500, I took a crap line, with Glenn and Christian looking on, and hung myself up on a log. I tried all sorts of manoeuvres to get off the bugger, but ended up jumping off and just man-hugging it over.

“You’re on the heavy one, too,” Glenn called out helpfully from his vantage point, before casually bouncing his way up and over it. The 350 certainly would have been easier to dis-entangle myself with.

Work of art
So are the 2018 four-strokes better for the Aussie bush? The WP Xplor 48 fork is a work of art. On both bikes, the way that forks works is simply incredible, and can be made even better with some more dial-in time. I’d opt for the optional spring preload adjuster fork caps – the Husqvarna version comes with them pre-fitted – just so I can play with that very under-rated fork adjustment without tools. The front end gets an almighty tick from me.

The Xplor shock hasn’t seen any major change, but didn’t need to. It’s traction and effect on the steering is magical, with a broad range of abilities across the sand, rock, loam and rock we hit. We rode all day and no one crashed (not even me, with the heat of the enduro fellas behind me), always a good sign.

The new cooling system makes no difference to the riding, however the new bodywork is tight and tidy, while the graphics look magnificent. There are a lot of reasons to be bike-proud with that setup.

The clear tank is such a great feature for those that like to push the range limit, and check out that seat – flatter than the Nullarbor. Moving around on each bike is so easy and so is standing up for my 178cm. I wouldn’t change a thing.

Downsides? The EFI throttle response on both bikes still feels more EFI than carby and, while you get used to it very quickly, I’d prefer a little less initial snap. A well-jetted carb offers better throttle response, but “well-jetted” is the key – EFI bikes jet themselves.

Summing up
There is also a lot of orange in the bush. If you want to be unique, then keep walking past the KTM dealership. There is, however, a very good reason these bikes are popular, and Australia is KTM’s third biggest international market. We love the things.

By the time you hit the first bump on either the 350 ($14,195) or 500 ($14,695), you know why. The thought that has gone into the suspension has made it one of the best handling bikes you can get, and pays off in a solid platform that allows you to just ride all day without being kicked in the wazoo all day long. The suspension and superb trail manners mean each bike can keep you calm and in control, as well as making up for any (or should that be “many”?) mistakes you make on the trail.

Each engine is different, sure, but both can be ridden in mellow or attack mode. These are spectacular motorcycles, and the opposition has a hard job to battle the bang for buck and sheer competence of these rigs.

Which would I choose? The 500 this year, the 350 the next. Changing between capacities and even two- or four-strokes is becoming common place these days, because the bikes have so few downsides and are their own version of fun. They are far from bland and the world has changed since air-cooled thumpers literally ruled the roost.

KTM ENDURO RANGE IN BIKE SHOWROOM

SPECS: 2018 KTM 350 EXC-F (500 EXC-F in brackets)
ENGINE
Type: Liquid-cooled four-stroke single-cylinder
Capacity: 349.7cc (510.4cc)
Bore x stroke: 88mm x 57.5mm (95mm x 72mm)
Engine management: Electronic fuel injection

PERFORMANCE
Claimed maximum power: not given
Claimed maximum torque: not given

TRANSMISSION
Type: Six speed
Final drive: Chain
Clutch: Wet, multiplate

CHASSIS AND RUNNING GEAR
Frame: Chrome-moly steel
Front suspension: WP XPlor 48 upside-down fork, 300mm travel
Rear suspension: WP Xplor PDS shock absorber, 310mm travel
Front brake: 260mm disc
Rear brake: 220mm disc
Tyres: Front 21-inch, rear 18-inch

DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES
Claimed dry weight: 104kg (106.5kg)
Seat height: 960mm
Ground clearance: 355mm
Wheelbase: 1482 ± 10 mm
Fuel capacity: 8.5 litres

OTHER STUFF
Price: $14,195 ($14,695)
Colour: Orange
Warranty: Six months parts and labour
Test bike supplied by: KTM Australia