KTM 50's

[Born2Ride]

I'm looking at buying my son a KTM SX 50 and just wondering if anyone has had issues with them. especially over heating? does that happen?

 

[Metalfusion]

Are you buying it for racing or trail riding.

Great race bike but the Carbs are very finicky, always need to be jetting. Clutches are the same. My nephews both raced them and it was constant work.

My opinion is that they would not be a good trail bike. They are not a bike that works well in slow technical stuff.

 

[rounder]

my buddies son has one and can tell you from the one experience riding with his son it over heats ALOT. we had to stop every 15 min for about 5 to 10 min cool down time. quite frustrating

 

[JackSplat]

I am looking at picking up an '04 50 ktm sr. It is air cooled, and i'm wondering if this overheating relates to the older air cooled or newer liquid cooled 50's?

 

[sleddinfamily]

From years of experience racing these bikes, the overheating relates to both models the air cooled and the liquid cooled. The overheating is caused by the clutch slippage ( by design). We were constantly restaking clutch washers after each moto or every second moto. The moto lengths were about 10-12 minutes long. My oldest son had great success on these bikes when ridin wide open during race conditions. Overheating is greatly increased by blipping the throttle in tight conditions. Once mastered they are a fantastic bike for racing, in my opinion not for trails. These bikes are like a light switch either on or off. Depending on the size of rider and ability a much more desirable bike for offroad use would be a Kawasaki KLX 110 or a Yamaha TTR90E. Both of these four strokes are easy to operate and about a third of the cost new. Many upgrades are avaliable for the two models to increase horsepower as needed and rideability. If you are set on the KTM 50 I would recommend that you research the aftermarket clutch that is avaliable through R&D Racing. This clutch has allen screws to make adjustments but still requires draining the oil each time and removing clutch cover risking damage to the gasket.

You will hear from many moto dads that their happiest moment of racing was not seeing their kids accomplish thier goals but when the kids came to them and said "DAD SELL THE 50 I'M READY FOR A 65CC" and so on and so on......

 

[JohnBoyTurbo]

From years of experience racing these bikes, the overheating relates to both models the air cooled and the liquid cooled. The overheating is caused by the clutch slippage ( by design). We were constantly restaking clutch washers after each moto or every second moto. The moto lengths were about 10-12 minutes long. My oldest son had great success on these bikes when ridin wide open during race conditions. Overheating is greatly increased by blipping the throttle in tight conditions. Once mastered they are a fantastic bike for racing, in my opinion not for trails. These bikes are like a light switch either on or off. Depending on the size of rider and ability a much more desirable bike for offroad use would be a Kawasaki KLX 110 or a Yamaha TTR90E. Both of these four strokes are easy to operate and about a third of the cost new. Many upgrades are avaliable for the two models to increase horsepower as needed and rideability. If you are set on the KTM 50 I would recommend that you research the aftermarket clutch that is avaliable through R&D Racing. This clutch has allen screws to make adjustments but still requires draining the oil each time and removing clutch cover risking damage to the gasket.

You will hear from many moto dads that their happiest moment of racing was not seeing their kids accomplish thier goals but when the kids came to them and said "DAD SELL THE 50 I'M READY FOR A 65CC" and so on and so on......

I agree. My son raced KTM50 Liquid cooled senior pro from when he was 4 until he was 8. We went through two bikes in that time. They are great for racing, They are great for cross country racing as well. But if your child is kind of timid and rides to slow the clutches have to be serviced more frequently. I never had a problem with it over heating. We actually still have one of the bikes and a pile of parts FOR SALE. I posted an add.