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Expensive when it goes bang!

 

And how many have you heard go bang? Esp on here?

What Rob said ^^^

 

Madness. I sold my one year old 17 model 350 at 80hr in November 2017 for £5.8k…

one thing I’ll say though is hours aren’t the important thing, condition and not having lots of owners is important to me. More owners means murky history. A bike in good condition with the right receipts (correct servicing on a 4T and the usual stuff on any bike like bearings etc) at 200+hrs will be honest.

low hours bikes that have had the magnet removed to stop them clocking up are too common. You can usually tell by the wear on the bikes too

 

Absolutely.

It’s one thing finding a bike on paper. Quite another deciphering the sellers spiel…..

And hours here spent looking at more expensive and supposed sub 50 hours bikes where the wheels have clearly had more tyre changes than Lewis Hamilton; or where the engines cases have so much wear they must literally be paper thin 🤦‍♂️

It’s somewhat of an expensive minefield. But I do agree / see your points on less owners and ALL the appropriate receipts…..

 

Fair point. You don’t hear about many going wrong. The melting plastic oil feed cog issue should all be sorted now. All the Austrian 4t bikes do seem mega reliable but there’s no getting away from the fact that if they do go bang it’s very expensive to fix.

 

If you're going for a 250f, just try to make sure it's not been raced by an expert and then under 100 hours should be fine. It could be worth budgeting for a top end anyway just to know, but the bottom end should be good unless it's been drowned at some point.

Personally, I'd never buy a second hand bike I didn't know but then new bikes are eye wateringly expensive at the moment.

Good luck and well done for going for a sensible bike and not jumping straight on a 300 2/.

 

If you have 5-6k why not get one on finance? 3.5k more on finance could get you a brand new 350 6days.
If you buy a used one and turns out to have issues, can easily spend 1.5k to rebuild the engine...so you are not miles away from a new one. IMHO in the long term is cheaper to buy a new one and look after it properly.
I would never buy a used 4t unless I personally know the owner....ragged and unserviced bikes, this is when you hear the horror stories.
On my 3rd TPI now, never had one single issue with them ...nor did I have with the 2018 excf 350(85hours Trevor Pope replaced the spark plug cap at round 40 hours because was reading low, but the bike was rideable before)

 

Unless something see-through and excellent appears: that’s pretty much the conclusion I’ve come too. I could probably scrape 7k together: meaning I would only need to borrow / finance a couple.

That then seems a heck of a lot of money to guarantee a running bike for a couple of hours green laning twice a month. There must be a sensible compromise somewhere……..🤷‍♂️

 

Any opinions on this ? Says green-laned only: and being a 500…..likely to have been less stressed hours.

Aren’t these things supposed to be bullet proof…..?

2017 KTM EXC 500 SIX DAYS 510cc for sale for £5,895 in Leyland, Lancashire

 

Any opinions on this ? Says green-laned only: and being a 500…..likely to have been less stressed hours.

Aren’t these things supposed to be bullet proof…..?

2017 KTM EXC 500 SIX DAYS 510cc for sale for £5,895 in Leyland, Lancashire

The bike looks looks to be in very good condition for the hrs that are on it - appears to be well looked after and subject to gentle use. But, with those hrs, chassis parts are going to need to be looked at and potentially renewed, especially if not taken apart and greased up from new. You might well end up looking at wheel, pds, swingarm, and headstock bearings, chain slider kit, chain and sprockets, ......... more cash and time on a 3-4 yr old bike, and 2nd hand prices are bonkers atm. Personally, l only like to buy new, unless the used bike is in vgo on inspection. Remember, dirt bike years are dog years.........

 

I bought a 2017 FE 350 2 and a bit years ago - allegedly 53 hours, on 2nd set of bodywork - owner (late 40's ish) admitted the odd race and laning, provided a box with spare oil / air / fuel filters.

on 95 hours now and still runs nicely, was thinking of top end at 150, but a mate came on a guided trip with us and hired a FE 350 with 270 hours on it, the guy had several more and said they all run past 250 hrs on the lanes without any major issues, so maybe leave it until 200 - giving me about another 4 years use.

I too considered new - as it was "only" £2200 more for a discounted leftover bike - but then mine came with a load of protection and other nice bits so by the time the bike was PDI's / Registered / delivered and I add the protection it would of been almost £3k more....

...That's a lot of fuel / tyres / trips.

 

Very helpful info on engine longevity laning. That’s eased my mind a bit…

Health to enjoy continued fun on yours 👊

 

These bikes are pretty solid and reliable nowadays. They are full on race bikes so yes, it's a bit much to buy a brand new one for a bit of green Laning. Also, being race bikes, they can not surprisingly put up with a bit of racing.

If you are considering new, then look at Beta too. They are significantly less expensive and are easily as good. If not, the. A decent 2nd hand bike will be easy to find. Honestly, if all you're doing is greenlaning then I would find anything that is in good condition for the age and go from there.

But it's a gamble. My 2014 300 has 240 hours and is cosmetically showing it. It's been maintained and looked after to a good standard and would be a bargain for someone, but then I know the bike.

I'd say decide how much you want to spend and just get the best bike for that amount.

And no, don't get a 500.

 

P.S factor in also spending a few hundred quid on almax chain lock and ground anchor.

 

Cheers muchly for your advice and thoughts

Still pondering the whole used versus new. Actually just found a new 21 model 250 EXC-F on the road, PDI’d etc for a shade over £8k. Something like this starting to look more tempting by the moment…..

KTM EXC-F 250 2021 * £7999 * | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for KTM EXC-F 250 2021 * £7999 * at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!

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Ref garage: I’m alarmed, security lighted and CCTV’d up from previous toys being in there. I’ll probably make a chain ground anchor point at work which I’ll concrete into to the floor: and then buy a really decent chain / lock.

Thanks again.

 

Don’t rule out a Gasser either, there’s a low hours one owner ‘21 350 on FB for £6450. Re the finance, consider a 0% money transfer from the bank. All you pay is the set up fee which is minimal in comparison.

 

My 500's the easiest to ride KTM 4stroke I've ever owned.
Don't be put off by the engine size.
Buy new if you can,but some dealers might have a fairly priced low hours bike.
I know Enduro bikes are expensive but they're the most fun I've ever had...
Good luck mate

 

I've known some of the "bad owners" of 250 EXC F's and been amazed what the bikes put up with. Boiling up in the woods riding proper extreme stuff, brutal clutch abuse, wide open on the limiter hill climbs, sucking water through, expert level H&H's races, Weston and all with almost zero maintenence! The odd oil change every 15-20 hrs and riding with clogged air filter most of the time! Finally started smoking & burning oil at 150hrs.
If you keep on top of filters (air, oil & fuel) & regular oil changes it will go for a bloody long time!

 

I've known some of the "bad owners" of 250 EXC F's and been amazed what the bikes put up with. Boiling up in the woods riding proper extreme stuff, brutal clutch abuse, wide open on the limiter hill climbs, sucking water through, expert level H&H's races, Weston and all with almost zero maintenence! The odd oil change every 15-20 hrs and riding with clogged air filter most of the time! Finally started smoking & burning oil at 150hrs.
If you keep on top of filters (air, oil & fuel) & regular oil changes it will go for a bloody long time!

Well said mate,most of my mates ride extreme all the time,their bikes are really put thru' the mill.
Never any problems,KTM engines,gearboxes and clutches are the best...

 

250F's in the hands of trail riding companies last 100's of hours, if they didn't they wouldn't use them.

 

My mate ran a trailtour company,1 525 and 7 RFS450exc's
Most of his customers were novice/intermediate so they'd potter round all day on the idle jet
His bikes chalked up a lot of hours without complaint...