Well, looks like my '05 FE650e is faster than I originally thought. My brother had bought an 04 KTM EXC 525 just last summer and had been after me to buy another dirt bike so I could ride with him and his son. Told him I didn't want another 500cc 4-stroke dog (like our old Honda RVFC's!) He didn't think that was funny and said his 525 was plenty fast enough....far faster, lighter and much better handling than the Honda's (and he's right too).
Well, fast forward to Janurary 05. I still wanted a bigger engine, so after a lot of research, I opted for the FE650 (which I got at Z-Racing in Anaheim, CA for a REAL good price too), to which my bro said it would be NO faster than his 525, and maybe slower and heavier.
Well, guess what...just to make sure he didn't look TOO bad, he tried to sneek a 610cc kit into his ktoom without my knowledge.....but one of the guys that did all the case work for the bigger bore let the cat outa the bag unknowingly on one phone call I had made, so my bro had no idea I knew! And....as it turned out, my FE was a few pounds lighter than his "525". Needless to say, he wanted to make absolutely damm sure (had to spell it that way) he was one up on me!
Now fast forward to the weekend before last where we both had just put on 140/80-18 Teraflex MONSTER tires for the ABSOLUTE in traction (they definitely ARE too!) and went up to Jawbone where we could wind these turds out. Also, my bro snuck in a 50 tooth rear sprocket where I still had my stock 45 tooth unit!!! 8O 8O 8O
Ok, sooooo....after riding on trails all day, we finally ended up on this long straight where we can both grab WOT side by side and guess what.....YEP, my FE pulls his 610 ktoom every time we try, and at a solid walking pace too!!! On the third try, he cheats and takes off early, but my FE is rapidly closing the gap, so what does he do....he shuts down BEFORE I catch him, but doesn't dare try to claim he won. And now he won't race me anymore!!!
So, I told him that he shouldn't feel too bad because his bike wasn't all that far off my FE650 with "just" 525cc's....to which he starts to choke a little under his breath. He even tried to say he ran out of gear because of his taller 50 tooth rear sprocket, but I quickly reminded him that neither of us even got past 5th gear....and that his gearing should still have given HIM the edge on acceleration anyway.
I then told him I knew he had just spent $3k+ on all his mods and what did it get him? Yep, it got him a $11K+ BUILT KTM that is SLOWER than my STOCK $8k Berg!!! Weeeelll, he definitely choked on that one, and he's not so happy now. On top of all this, his KTM overheats sometimes because his 2-piece rad has moderately less frontal area than the 1-piece Berg rad (but we still need a fan of some kind though). He's even tried larger aftermarket rads with no change in the overheating problems (they are thicker, but the frontal area is nearly the same....which is THE most important aspect of a good rad anyway).
So now he finally sees the folly of all his work and all that hard spent $$$, but it's too late....so, word to the wise, just sell the KTM and buy the DAMM BERG!!!
Well, fast forward to Janurary 05. I still wanted a bigger engine, so after a lot of research, I opted for the FE650 (which I got at Z-Racing in Anaheim, CA for a REAL good price too), to which my bro said it would be NO faster than his 525, and maybe slower and heavier.
Well, guess what...just to make sure he didn't look TOO bad, he tried to sneek a 610cc kit into his ktoom without my knowledge.....but one of the guys that did all the case work for the bigger bore let the cat outa the bag unknowingly on one phone call I had made, so my bro had no idea I knew! And....as it turned out, my FE was a few pounds lighter than his "525". Needless to say, he wanted to make absolutely damm sure (had to spell it that way) he was one up on me!
Now fast forward to the weekend before last where we both had just put on 140/80-18 Teraflex MONSTER tires for the ABSOLUTE in traction (they definitely ARE too!) and went up to Jawbone where we could wind these turds out. Also, my bro snuck in a 50 tooth rear sprocket where I still had my stock 45 tooth unit!!! 8O 8O 8O
Ok, sooooo....after riding on trails all day, we finally ended up on this long straight where we can both grab WOT side by side and guess what.....YEP, my FE pulls his 610 ktoom every time we try, and at a solid walking pace too!!! On the third try, he cheats and takes off early, but my FE is rapidly closing the gap, so what does he do....he shuts down BEFORE I catch him, but doesn't dare try to claim he won. And now he won't race me anymore!!!
So, I told him that he shouldn't feel too bad because his bike wasn't all that far off my FE650 with "just" 525cc's....to which he starts to choke a little under his breath. He even tried to say he ran out of gear because of his taller 50 tooth rear sprocket, but I quickly reminded him that neither of us even got past 5th gear....and that his gearing should still have given HIM the edge on acceleration anyway.
I then told him I knew he had just spent $3k+ on all his mods and what did it get him? Yep, it got him a $11K+ BUILT KTM that is SLOWER than my STOCK $8k Berg!!! Weeeelll, he definitely choked on that one, and he's not so happy now. On top of all this, his KTM overheats sometimes because his 2-piece rad has moderately less frontal area than the 1-piece Berg rad (but we still need a fan of some kind though). He's even tried larger aftermarket rads with no change in the overheating problems (they are thicker, but the frontal area is nearly the same....which is THE most important aspect of a good rad anyway).
So now he finally sees the folly of all his work and all that hard spent $$$, but it's too late....so, word to the wise, just sell the KTM and buy the DAMM BERG!!!
