KTM has been a global powerhouse for decades now rivalling the big four Japanese Motorcycle Manufacturers and Kayden Minear’s KTM 250 SX-F is proof of that. The commitment to racing along with research and development runs deep here in Australia with the brand regularly at the forefront in both the junior and senior element of the sport.
KTM’s racing program for 2024 in Australia is a true in-house factory team compared to the satellite team that we have seen in Australia from time to time and their presence at the track is ultra clean and professional. KTM’s MX2 team rider for 2024 is former MX3 ProMX Champion Kayden Minear from Western Australia and the number 66 machine is the topic of this month’s factory bike review. Minear has his own unique riding style so I was intrigued to see just how he sets up his race bike and how it translates out there on the track.
KAYDEN AND HIS NO.66 BIKE
Minear dominated the junior amateur motocross scene here in Australia accumulating 10 National Junior MX titles before turning senior. At the age of 15 he won the ultra-competitive MX3 Championship at Pro MX while still a junior and now finds himself racing for the Factory KTM Team in the MX2 class at the age of 17.
With a weight of 76kg and a height of 171cm Kayden is a stocky, strong rider that prefers to bulldog his way around a track. He has always liked to run a low rear end on the bike with ride height numbers reaching 110mm.
When I first sat on Kayden Minear’s KTM 250 SX-F I was pleasantly surprised with almost everything. The handlebar had a nice, flat shape to it and was rolled back to a comfortable position that would be perfect for both corners and jumps. His lever height was spot on for me however I noticed straight away that he had both his clutch and front brake levers pushed a long way in. When you rest your finger on the levers they almost touch the very ends where the ball is. I tried my best to ride with it but it was way too foreign for me and I had to change it immediately to where I would have mine.
The back brake and gear change levers were set nice and horizontal to the foot peg height and everything else felt great. Kayden’s 110mm of ride height felt a little low in the rear just sitting on the bike but I really wanted to feel this machine the way that Kayden races it on weekends so we left it as is and I headed out for my warm up laps.
NOT SO SUNNY SKIES
I lobbed into a crazy New South Wales weather pattern that has seen a whole year’s worth of rain fall over the last three months. Originally planned for the hard pack Mount Kembla circuit, our KTM test day was frantically shifted to a private track with a much sandier surface than Mount Kembla, just 10 metres off the Hawkesbury River an hour and a half drive from Sydney airport. A brief reprieve from the rain allowed me to gear up and get about 60 minutes of riding done before the skies opened up again and drenched me for the last two hours.
TIME TO LITERALLY WARM UP
My first few laps was honestly more about finding parts of the track that weren’t underwater. I’m always mindful to be kind to the factory bikes that I get the honour of riding, as these are someone’s pride and joy. Also, I was doing my best to keep clean so I at least looked half decent for some of the photos.
Without too much time wasted I found a portion of the track that had a couple of berms, two huge jumps and really nice deep sand, combined with plenty of bumps. I proceeded to cut in a shorter loop and get to know this bike a little better.
The first thing that popped into my mind was the motor on Kayden Minear’s KTM 250 SX-F and how it delivered its power. It was immediately strong right off the bottom into a fantastic midrange and screamed into a strong top end. I straight away thought to myself that this was a well-rounded, balanced motor that did everything you could want out there on the track.
The chassis and overall suspension package felt a little low in the rear but I somehow found the bike still wanted to turn in the corners which surprised me quite a bit. With the sag being so low in the rear at 110mm I found that the firmness of the shock allowed the rear to hold up quite well, keeping good balance in that critical first part of the turn.
WHAT I LIKED
Sitting at the top of my list is the motor and its well-rounded power delivery. Having previously ridden the Factory Yamaha and Honda 250 four strokes only a handful of days prior I found Kayden Minear’s KTM 250 SX-F to sit somewhere in the middle. The Yamaha had very little bottom end but a monster of a top end while the Honda was a torque beast producing most of its power from right off the bottom through to upper midrange.
The KTM doesn’t quite have the bottom end of the Honda, nor the top end of the Yamaha, but it had really strong power everywhere. Such a strong motor and when you listen to Kayden ride the bike on race day you can easily hear that he uses every part of the power.
REAR SHOCK
The handling of the shock was something that surprised me a little. I expected it to be OK but when I first sat on the bike I found it to sit low and almost have a Supercross feel to the valving spec. It felt firm in the compression and slow in the rebound. Everything about it felt like it shouldn’t have good small bump sensitivity on the track.
In fact the rear of the bike was almost the hero for me on a track that was really quite rough and technical. The back end was predictable and exceptionally stable on the small choppy bumps. The rear end held up well on the two big booter jumps that I was tackling and felt well balanced to the front of the bike. I didn’t even bother to touch any of the clickers as the current setup felt fantastic to me.
TURN UP THE VOLUME
The sound of the factory KTM is deep, throaty and tough and when you let it rev right out to its maximum it has almost a crackling sound like you often get with high horsepower engines. You know immediately that you’re on something special. The Factory KTM runs an Akrapovic full titanium exhaust system that apparently adds the most amount of horsepower to the bike out of all the bolt on parts.
MOUSSE TUBES
A lot of riders these days seem to run a configuration of mousse tubes on their bike. Once upon a time it used to be mainly for prevention of punctures on rocky tracks, however these days a lot of top riders run mousse tubes for the feel of the bike out on the track. You can generally get a lot more tyre spread with mousse tubes once they’ve been run in and softened up a bit.
In the wet and sloppy testing conditions I found the spread of the mousse tubes allowed so much traction. This was evident when I hopped straight on a production GASGAS 350 for a ride immediately after getting off Minear’s bike. The GASGAS had normal tubes at 13psi and the difference in traction was astronomical.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Overall I found Kayden’s set up to be quite normal for a factory team rider with so many options to choose from. He had an interesting setup with the shock and particularly his ride height which I got used to straight away. Other than that it was really just his lever positioning that I’d need to change for personal preference. I loved the power delivery and overall handling of the bike. The grips, seat cover, handlebars and overall look of the bike was absolutely spot on!
SUMMARY
Of all the Factory 250’s that I’ve ridden in recent years I would have to say this one suits the most amount of riders out there. It does everything well and for someone weighing between 60kg and 75kg would be an absolute rocket ship. It was even fast for me at 80kg.
The suspension and overall handling is more aimed at stability than agility with a slightly lower rear end built for a WA Sandgroper that loves to ride a little off the back of the bike but the bike still turns well and feels light in the air. KTM have done a terrific job here and it’s no surprise that Kayden Minear finds himself regularly battling for podiums here in Australia in the very tough MX2 Pro MX class.
SPEC SHEET
Renthal 821 handlebars and Renthal bar pad
Renthal half waffle soft grips
OEM triple clamps and bar mounts
KTM Powerpart factory racing brake and clutch Master Cylinder guards
Nihilo SOS start button
WP Steering Damper tuned by Choice Suspension
WP Factory start device
WP XACT PRO 7548 spring fork tuned by Choice Suspension
WP XACT PRO 8950 shock absorber tuned by Choice Suspension
KTM Powerpart AKRAPOVIČ “EVOLUTION LINE”
Haan Wheels with Excel Rims A60 by JTR
Dunlop tyres
Dunlop Mousse tubes front and rear
Renthal sprockets
EK Chains 520MRD race chain
Works Connection axle blocks
Moto Master 270mm front floating aluminium disc
Moto Master caliper bracket
Moto Master 220mm rear disc
KTM Powerpart rear caliper support
KTM Powerpart brake disc guard
Engine tuned in house by KTM Racing Team
KTM Powerpart Hinson clutch cover
KTM Powerpart Ignition cover plug
KTM Powerpart oil plug
KTM Powerpart factory racing oil filter cover
KTM Powerpart clutch slave cylinder protection
KTM Powerpart factory skid plate
KTM Powerpart stator cable protection
Hinson clutch cover
BRISK Spark Plug
Twin Air Powerflow filter and cage
Vortex ECU tuned by Vortex
Raptor Footpegs
SKDA Graphics kits
KTM Powerparts Trim Kit
GUTS phantom seat foam and ribbed seat cover
Fluids
VP Roo100
Motorex Cross Power 10W60
Motorex Coolant M3.0
Motorex Racing Brake Fluid
WORDS | LEE HOGAN
PHOTOS | MITCH LEES
