RealtorGordonB
New member
I am a KTM 525 exc fan. As with all bikes, it's Not great at everything, but it's sure alot of fun for what I like. Less than 1% highway, less than 10% gravel and as close to 100% dirt and mountain riding as I can get.
I am enjoying the rock rides in Inks Lake and Duffy/Greenstone, but I am finding that kind of fun hard on the bike- I currently need a right rad and full frontal rad protection.
I already have a ktm fan kit and skid plate, shark fin, CS cover, handguards. Last ride I dented the head pipe and broke the front fender. Previous ride I finished off the stock rear fender and signals and crack the speedo display. Previous ride to that I broke off a Pivot Peg(Looking for stock pegs). Previous ride to that a stick poke took out the right rad(Had it repaired, but it is cock eyed
My first 2006 525 exc was street plated and a whole lot of fun for dirt bike riding with a plate to get from home to the trails close in the city, it was a wild bike and the head shake over the rough rocky ground of White Rim in Moab was nuts without the steering stabilzer, I have a GPR Steering Stabilizer on my 2007 as well as Rekluse.
Then I moved up to the 2010 530 exc- by the time it got to 150 hours it was starting to smoke and I sold for a good deal. I have some mechanic friends that didn't mind putting in new rings and rebuilding their 2008+ 530's motors. I don't have the experience or interest in that much work to keep the motor running clean, so I went back to 525 and this time got the DOT legal 2007 525 exc.
The 530 was a nicer ride(suspension frame etc), but the motor had to be revved alot higher to do throttle wheelies like the 525 was capable of anywhere. I had to push the 530 motor harder to get the power and I didn't like that. 530 makes power at higher revs, and in the mid and lower power band I found it boring- good but boring until pushed and when pushed - didn't last.
In fact my 525 can start a wheelie pretty well anywhere in the powerband when I crack the throttle. Many of the current 525 owners I talk to .... they have never rebuilt anything in the motor department unless racing demanded or they felt guilty for leaving it so long. 600+ hours on the race bikes is common before rebuild- that's the kind of reliability I need.
Ok, I did have one problem at around 170 hours, I rode it this last March 2012 from Vegas to Mexico on pavement(around 14 hours of highway buzz)- that was not what I set out to do as shortened trip days forced me off dirt.
When I got to Copper Canyon, a bolt had come loose in the transmission and it took me playing with the clutch for 2 days(in a remote town with no new parts) to figure out I couldn't fix it or get parts in time to save the trip. We hired a van back to the border and once back in Vegas, I finally found the loose bolt inside the transmission a few layers down- with help/hints from the experienced KTMtalk RFS guys, I fixed it myself with red locktight. I got to ride around Vegas a bit and then 3 days of Moab before returning home.
I am having a blast with this bike but I keep breaking external things and am in the process of upgrading protection on an older bike and parts are not as easy to find anymore. And all the anodized orange bling my 2006 had does not seem to be for sale anymore.
BTW, I destroyed stock 530 rear fender and 2007 525 fender from bottoming out. The angle of attack of those rear fenders is too upright. My 2006 525 had the better version that doesn't get wrecked, so I just bought one of those KTM OEM rear fenders with tail light for aprox $50 plus shipping from Munn Racing. When you look at Munn on KTMtalk the microfiche for the 2004 525 exc shows the 2 different fenders. Cheap ....OEM molding, plug and play tail light. Excellent.
So if you have anything for the 2004 to 2007 - 450 and 525 exc - I'm interested.
I am enjoying the rock rides in Inks Lake and Duffy/Greenstone, but I am finding that kind of fun hard on the bike- I currently need a right rad and full frontal rad protection.
I already have a ktm fan kit and skid plate, shark fin, CS cover, handguards. Last ride I dented the head pipe and broke the front fender. Previous ride I finished off the stock rear fender and signals and crack the speedo display. Previous ride to that I broke off a Pivot Peg(Looking for stock pegs). Previous ride to that a stick poke took out the right rad(Had it repaired, but it is cock eyed
My first 2006 525 exc was street plated and a whole lot of fun for dirt bike riding with a plate to get from home to the trails close in the city, it was a wild bike and the head shake over the rough rocky ground of White Rim in Moab was nuts without the steering stabilzer, I have a GPR Steering Stabilizer on my 2007 as well as Rekluse.
Then I moved up to the 2010 530 exc- by the time it got to 150 hours it was starting to smoke and I sold for a good deal. I have some mechanic friends that didn't mind putting in new rings and rebuilding their 2008+ 530's motors. I don't have the experience or interest in that much work to keep the motor running clean, so I went back to 525 and this time got the DOT legal 2007 525 exc.
The 530 was a nicer ride(suspension frame etc), but the motor had to be revved alot higher to do throttle wheelies like the 525 was capable of anywhere. I had to push the 530 motor harder to get the power and I didn't like that. 530 makes power at higher revs, and in the mid and lower power band I found it boring- good but boring until pushed and when pushed - didn't last.
In fact my 525 can start a wheelie pretty well anywhere in the powerband when I crack the throttle. Many of the current 525 owners I talk to .... they have never rebuilt anything in the motor department unless racing demanded or they felt guilty for leaving it so long. 600+ hours on the race bikes is common before rebuild- that's the kind of reliability I need.
Ok, I did have one problem at around 170 hours, I rode it this last March 2012 from Vegas to Mexico on pavement(around 14 hours of highway buzz)- that was not what I set out to do as shortened trip days forced me off dirt.
When I got to Copper Canyon, a bolt had come loose in the transmission and it took me playing with the clutch for 2 days(in a remote town with no new parts) to figure out I couldn't fix it or get parts in time to save the trip. We hired a van back to the border and once back in Vegas, I finally found the loose bolt inside the transmission a few layers down- with help/hints from the experienced KTMtalk RFS guys, I fixed it myself with red locktight. I got to ride around Vegas a bit and then 3 days of Moab before returning home.
I am having a blast with this bike but I keep breaking external things and am in the process of upgrading protection on an older bike and parts are not as easy to find anymore. And all the anodized orange bling my 2006 had does not seem to be for sale anymore.
BTW, I destroyed stock 530 rear fender and 2007 525 fender from bottoming out. The angle of attack of those rear fenders is too upright. My 2006 525 had the better version that doesn't get wrecked, so I just bought one of those KTM OEM rear fenders with tail light for aprox $50 plus shipping from Munn Racing. When you look at Munn on KTMtalk the microfiche for the 2004 525 exc shows the 2 different fenders. Cheap ....OEM molding, plug and play tail light. Excellent.
So if you have anything for the 2004 to 2007 - 450 and 525 exc - I'm interested.
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