photos by Kinny Jones and Barbara Miller
video by Brad Phillips and Joe Tolle
After a year with KTM’s first ATV, the 450 and 525 XC, we’ve certainly confirmed that KTM is accurate when they say “Ready to Race”. Tim Farr won the Open Pro National Championship on a prototype cross country KTM before they were even available to the public. Once ready, Farr’s FRE KTM sponsored team of Adam McGill and Taylor Kiser, have been proving the point equally as well in this year’s GNCC Series. The duo tore up the first half of the series, where McGill and his 525 won three rounds in a row and currently sits in third place, while Taylor Kiser hangs in the elite top ten in seventh respectively. ATV Scene’s own, John Pellan, recently took KTM up on their “Factory for a Day” opportunity and raced the Millfield, OH GNCC on KTM’s newly released white 525. Pellan, who hasn’t raced in several years, finished up with a respectable finish of his own -- top five in the +30 class – confirming that the bone stock KTM can make even slow guys fast.
And now it’s time for KTM’s second installment to their recent success story in the new 2009 SX 450 and SX 505 “Ready to Race Motocrossers”. We originally figured that KTM’s new SX would be a tweaked version of the already successful XC machine. You know the drill, widen it up, suit it up with motocross tires and call it good to go for moto in 2009. Once we heard this was far from the case and that KTM’s new SX would be built specifically for motocross from the ground up, we sat a little more upright in our chairs.
Perhaps what really got our attention however was the fact that we heard the quad would be Pro class worthy from the showroom floor. With this said we knew we needed the opinion of someone that could tell the difference between an A level machine and one worthy of blue number plate backgrounds.
Who better than legend Shane Hitt? Hitt has nearly twenty years in the Pro ranks and has raced just about every brand. With 10 Championships, (including a GNC title in 1997), about 50 Pro National wins and an encyclopedia of ATV set up knowledge in his head, we would surely get the low down on just how Pro class worthy this new KTM really is.
The decision was made; Hitt would represent ATV Scene at the KTM SX Introduction held in conjunction with the Red Bud ATV Motocross National in Buchanan, Michigan.
And now that he has ridden, tested, raced and thoroughly checked out the 2009 SX 450 and 505 Ready to Race ATVs from KTM here’s our ride review in the words of arguably the most winningest Pro ATVer of all time, Shane Hitt….
Okay Shane, you’re pretty stoked about this new KTM, but before we get into why you think it’s such a great race quad we need to clear up a few things. You’ve been wearing orange KTM shirts at a few of the GNCC events this year. Are you employed by KTM in any way?
I helped them out as one of their test riders about a year ago. I came to Ohio for a couple weeks to ride test the 450 SX. They sent the 450 over to the States to make sure it didn’t need any last minute changes before it went into production. But to answer the question, no, I’m not employed by KTM. I do help out Tim and Julie at FRE (Farr Racing Enterprises), but I’m not employed by KTM.
So you’re completely unbiased here, and you’re going to give us your honest opinion correct?
Absolutely. You know me by now. I always say just what I think. (Laughing) even though it’s gotten me in trouble a few times.
There are a lot of new ATV enthusiasts out there that might not know that you were quite a good motocross rider. With all the TT Championships, many might think that’s all you’ve ever rode. Can you educate some of our newer readers with your past moto accomplishments a little?
When I started racing the MX Nationals and TTs were combined into one GNC Series. I was always a little better at the TTs, but I was always in the top 5 at the end of the year and that went on for pretty much ten years even though the competition was pretty stout. I mean you had Gary Denton, who won it eight times. Then there was Tim Farr, who was probably the best that there has ever been. And Gust was always up front and still going strong today. And Joe Byrd was always right there. Then Jeremiah came along….. It goes on and on. To say the competition was stacked was an understatement.
And you won a Grand National Championship in ‘97 too, don’t forget about that.
Oh I won’t ever forget about that. Actually I missed the MX championship by two points that year as well. All in all I’ve always loved both, and certainly have a lot of motocross history.
Okay now that we’ve established that you’ve got plenty of motocross experience let’s get down to business on this new KTM. What do you like most about the new “Ready to Race” KTM SX Motocrosser?
It truly is fully ready to race as is. I know that’s their slogan, but it’s definitely accurate. You really don’t need anything but numbers and maybe a steering stabilizer. I mean it comes with nerfs, beadlocks, shocks, a strong-running engine…. Just pull the headlight off, put the nose cone on and you’ll be competitive in any class just the way it comes. You don’t even need to screw around cutting and splicing wires for a kill switch, it comes with one. It’s really pretty incredible. I didn’t think we would ever see the day, but this thing isn’t just ready to race the B or A class, or whatever. This quad is ready for the Pro class, just the way it is!
Wait a minute. You just said Pro class. That’s a pretty huge thing to say. You, more than most, should know that the Pro class is a whole other level. Are you sure?
Yeah, I guarantee it is. It’s way better than anyone might think. It was heavily tested by top pro riders. Whatever input we told them it needed, they went and did it.