If you are old enough to have taken your first breath, fresh out of the womb, sometime in the 70's or 80's you'd remember the ORAL B commercials about Rob the Dentist.
It was probably one of the most successful marketing campaigns of the era!
If you have no clue what I am on about you can click on the link. It'll make so much more sense.
The concept was all based on one single, very fundamental concept:
The brand used by 'people that know best' IS the brand you should use too!
That being the case, when the icons in our sport change dirt bike brands it takes us very much by surprise.
To be honest, we feel a little left out in the cold; we are left looking for an explanation.
Recently, this happened here in the WHESt.
YES! Y'all know what I'm talking about! The Braaaap Daddy jumped ship!
He has abandoned France and landed in Austria.
Damien Pruden's hard bits are no longer from Nimes; they're now made in Mattighofen.
If you've found this article through FB's Enduro Tips/Tricks, you are probably thinking who the #$%#$ is Damien Pruden?
If you've tripped on Twist through any of the major east coast pages, you're fettling with some familiarity and thinking "Yeah....I know that guy".
But over here on the dark side, we WHEStralians are currently suffering the intensity of this monumental vagary. Something just feels 'not quite right'.
But that's OK. It's all good. Pruden knows damn well that, when you get 12,500 views of a reel changing a tyre, you are going to have to give your fans an explanation for your actions.
Taking the task direct to the Braaaaap Daddy, TWIST managed to nail Pruden down between rides and ask the hard questions. So, les go.....
TWIST “The 2024 KTM 300EXC. How hard was it to make the final decision and commit?”
To be honest I’ve been really curious about the KTM’s since the new TBI system was released on the ‘23 XC’s.
I saw some teething problems like the cracking cylinders, overheating and dead batteries which really put me off (especially considering how reliable the Sherco had been), so I decided to 'bookmark' the idea and wait for KTM to sort their shit before having another sniff.
I was ready to move the 2023 Sherco on a few weeks ago, so I decided to re-visit the KTM idea and it appeared things had gotten a lot better for them.
I did consider a ‘24 Sherco, but the decision to entertain my curiosity was made easier when Jared at Savage offered me a killer deal on the EXC.
TWIST “Did you think you’d cop more shit from Sherco riders for leaving the brand. Or more shit from KTM riders that reckon you should’ve made the jump sooner?”
Neither has eventuated so far!
For the most part, everyone is just interested to hear what I reckon. As it turns out, there’s not too many folks in the country riding Hard Enduro on the new EXC platform.
With regard to Sherco, I really love the brand, so I plan to stay a part of the Sherco community and offer my knowledge and experience to others still through Facebook groups and the like!
TWIST “W.A. is small. The market is small, with few dealers for the boutique brands. As an accomplished rider and one handy on the tools, is it safe to say support was not an influencing factor?”
Nah. I'm not getting any special rider support or anything. My wife does more than enough of this haha (Ed...was I supposed to delete this?).
Jared at Savage looked after me with the bike; something they will try and do for any WHES rider.
ED - shout out due here as Savage have just gone Platinum Sponsor for WHES in 2024!
TWIST “You’re now only just 'speccing' the bike. Got the gummies, etc. How did it go now that you’ve dragged it out of “common folk” mode?”
Still a bit of a work in progress.
I haven’t added all the protection parts I’ve got on order yet. I'm loading it up with everything from the Force Accessories catalogue.
But the only real performance change coming is a Two Stroke Performance ERM which I’ll have this week.
As a stocker, it really did amaze me.
TWIST “I wondered where the XC sat in the grand scheme of things (obviously between the EXC and the SX), and it seemed to be a huge investment for KTM – but has it been a bit of a swing and a miss as far as you can see?”
Nah not really.
I think the XC is definitely more suitable than the EXC is for some applications. There's no better bike for T&E/harescramble/pony express style racing.
Just not designed for riding long days of technical terrain.
And the cylinder cracking ordeal was just unlucky!
TWIST “Is the TBI sorted now? Certainly, the concept of TBI is sound!!!!! Especially for HE where fuel consumption and emission control are a secondary (is thirdary or fourthary a word?) consideration?”
Yeah, I reckon they’ve got it dialled.
And with companies like TSP supporting even further improvements, there’s really no looking back.
Two Stroke Performance = Improvements & adjustability to suit what you’re doing.
ED - For you lot out there that are not that accomplished on the tools (like me) TBI is replacing TPI!
TPI is Transfer Port Injection which replaced the traditional carburetor setup with electronically controlled fuel injection. But ever since it came about a lot of riders haven’t been happy with it. “Less snappy” is probably the most vocal rant.
TBI is Throttle Body Injection which is best defined, almost, as an electronic carby. That is....it's now back to being more like it was, same same only different.
TWIST “You’re getting closer to the pointy end of gold: do you reckon in the early rounds this major change might slow you down while you bed into the bike? Or do you feel like you’ll become one with it by Round 1 at Mildwood?”
Top 5 finishes are my goal for the year, and I’ve definitely rolled the dice making a colour swap, but that’s the risk ya take.
After spending only a few hours on the new whip, I’m already feeling pretty comfortable.
I reckon we’ll have formed a decent bond by Round 1, so I’m hopeful it won’t be holding me back from full potential, maybe even the opposite.
TWIST “You talk of Sherco as a community. I get that. KTM…..it’s a legion. That’s my feels. Where would the AVERAGE punter best spend their money? What should the average punter buy?”
Oh man, that’s a tough one!
Sherco have really proven themselves over the last couple of years, particularly in the hard enduro scene - look at the top 10 AHEC for example.
And KTM is as you say, a legion.
I reckon it’s a 50/50 you’d be all smiles regardless of the choice.
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