We're definitely fortunate, some areas are seasonally pretty muddy so we skip those until summer.

Hey I really appreciate that, thank you! Suffering this year a bit but mostly because I've been out of the gym and lost my routine. Working at it now as there are some big races and I want to be able to push harder.

Yeah love it! I've made a few changes. Mine is a '23 model and came with air forks. I didn't know anything about air forks and having WP 6500s on my xcw and loving them I immediately added WP 6500s. Next was the tune. The first tune in this bike was good but had the issue of giving a blink code if you accidentally hit the start button when the bike was running. The next factory tune was amazing, big low end power hit (I liked it) but the next factory update moved the power hit to the mid and up range and I didn't like that. So I put on a TSP head and tune and it's awesome. As for gearing I changed that up when it was time to replace the drive. I think stock is 14/45. I'm at 13/50 now. I don't need flat out speed. No fly wheel weights, this thing will lug way way down in the rpm. I hear the suspension on the 24s (forks) are really good and are very similar to the WP 6500s and I've been watching too many videos on the new 25s and the frame updates.... lol

Never been there, closest we came was a trip to Baja a couple years ago. That was on a GSA so not doing a lot of hot dogging in the desert lol. My buddy has a good eye for picking lines to burn in for turn tracks. I'd like if this one was bigger so we could run laps for 30 min motos to get a good flow moving around on the bike and a work out to boot.

Yup, Claudie road area.

Yes it was a good one. Fun to show people from outside our area some of the trails.

It's a good course for a season opener, really reminds you that you should have put in a few more 2 hours non-stop rides before you lined up on the start line lol.

Yup, that's how it goes sometimes. It's is all for fun and I had a good time challenging myself. Being competitive with myself aside, no one is ever going to pay me for my talents as a racer lol.

Geez Craig, way to out me for being slow hahaha... I ride a gear high often as it smooths out the throttle and if I need a big hit of speed I can slip the clutch or on this bike just crank open the throttle. The low revs, particularly in low traction situations is me slipping the clutch so I don't break traction and sit there on a hill and spin. Another approach is to be faster so I have more momentum and then you'll hear more throttle. There are examples of both in this video. Lastly I'm always, well usually unless Colin is behind me and I'm in mud (lol), conscious of not roosting the crap out of the person behind me.

@@TeamStruggleBunny you are always such a gentleman. My roosting I blame on my inexperience and lack of clutch control, 😉. I will try a gear higher and see how that goes. I am still astonished how the bikes lug at low RPMs.

@@craigtilford5118 " I am still astonished how the bikes lug at low RPMs." - The benefits of a two stroke. The gear higher is when you're not dealing with obstacles where you need the lower gear torque. It just allows you to flow better without a jerky throttle response.

Funnily this year I'm having trouble with arm pump and sore hands. I'm working on body position and think I may put lower pegs on so I don't need to fold myself up as much.

Lol, I don't know if the switch let me down, whether it was my fat thumb or just double starting. I'm a leery of the switch though because I took it apart thinking it was the issue that turned out to be a bad ground. Now I did move the throttle tube a bit forward which exposed the kill button a bit more, but I think it was rider error really. ....but if it happens again I'll get the two button set up and let you know.

@@TeamStruggleBunny I did all the "juggling" of throttle and moving the combi for/bac but couldnt find anything that made me happy. I guess riding for years with a big kill button, then two buttons is embedded in my dna. lol nice race!

@@davewatt5215 I hear ya, I get all sorts of messed up when I move between bikes but I've mostly adapted.

I got rid of the stock starter and bought the Enduro Engineering separate start stop switch. Made a huge difference. Before I would stall and I’d have to literally come to a stop to try and push the start button now I dab it and I’m going without losing much momentum at all. Highly recommended.

Always room for a safety talk and had I not forgotten my boots I'd be at least wearing those for protection. At least I have my helmet and goggles and a beer lol. I used to be pretty handy with a saw but haven't run one seriously for a few years. I just move carefully and deliberately and think though the problem, especially with hung up trees,.

Can't disagree with you on any point. Bike is nice, they are my legs and safety gear make sense whether on a bike or running a saw. Sometimes I take acceptable risks, well acceptable to me and where its my legs etc lol.

Absolutely. I'm using a GoPro 9 and settings are 4k 30FPS with the lens on superview with hyper smooth on. Protune settings are: Bit Rate: High, Shutter: Auto, EV Comp: -0.5, white balance: auto, ISO min/max: 100-1600, Sharpness: Medium, and Colour: Gopro. You may need to adjust to light conditions where you ride.

If you don't say so yourself eh? lol

@@TeamStruggleBunny yeah I wonder who that cool guy is 😎

@@lucasthompson952 Just a dude, riding with some other dudes all being dudes.

It's good to practice for sure and really highlights any weakness in balance and bike control.

I did not like the start. (lol)

Sure do! We've done a fair amount of trail building to have some pretty good stuff local to us.

Lol, there looks to be an easy way to adjust the sensitivity of the low fuel, look at tacomoto video where he talks about the new and old style fuel pump set up. The newer CCPS set up is better protected than the old one but I've never really had an issue on my '19 or my '23...wait I think I did replace the CCPS on the '19 once. I've never messed with the TPS but have been tempted as I did a mild increase in volts on my '15 500exc and that woke the bike up significantly. Are you running the most current map? Strange to be fouling plugs on the xcw, I've heard of this on the xc but not so much on the xcw. I've never fouled a plug, save one time on a te250 I owned and it was totally my fault. Also no issues with the oil reservoir or start stop switch, though I totally get you on that as I sometime get a bit confused moving between bikes. Hope you can get those annoyances sorted out, because I think these are great bikes.

@@TeamStruggleBunny I meant the start stop switch on the handlebars, yes I’m running the current oem map. It started fouling plugs a little after 30 hrs.

@@ryanstewart1521 Yeah I don't mind the start stop, have mine set up so when my hand hits the bar (dead engine race starts, hands on helmet) my thumb falls to the go button. When I jump on my '19 xcw I sometimes get messed up looking for the kill switch. Have you had any map updates since getting the bike or have you adjusted the air screw any?

@@TeamStruggleBunny no map updates yet, not sure where the air screw is at on a tbi bike. lol.

@@ryanstewart1521 Lol, right forgot ...tbi. There's some good videos, tacomoto again that walk through TPS setting and how turning the red idle screw and, what I didn't know, turning the yellow high speed idle can throw things off for the TPS and how rich it might run at low rpm.

Which maps did you go with? I wouldn't say it makes more power I just like where the power is available.

@TeamStruggleBunny not sure I bought the ERM I think it was just a reflash.

@@Mostviews111 I have the medium compression head and trail mapping. The original map in my bike had the issue of the error code if you accidentally hit the start button while the bike was running. The dealer updated the ecu tune and that tune was great, but when I had a issue (turned out to be the fuel filter) the dealer put in the latest tune and I didn't like it, to soft down low. The TSP head and tune put me back where I wanted to be. I may get the ERM so I can mess with the tunes a bit.

@TeamStruggleBunny interesting I've had this weird noise since it was new and it's gotten worse. I'm going to rip the clutch apart next as soon as I grab the clutch or rev it at idle it goes away. But at higher speeds if I let off the gas it's almost like a knock sound.

@@Mostviews111 KTMs do make some noise sitting at idle but what you're describing seems outside of this. Have you changed the oil and check it for any abnormal metal?

Lol, can always stand up more but I stand for most of it. Sitting is energy conservation as I ridden that morning and had been running the chainsaw to cut back some of the trails.

My chainsaw mount is based on something like the EE design, made by a guy local to me.

Clogged fuel filter. It shouldn't need to be replaced for hundreds of hours. Video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/naKtlHhqlNaCjpo

That's a solid lead for a possible cause. Is it the wire loom that goes over the wiring that fell apart? I noticed there is a new part number for the fuel pump so I ordered it and can compare the two. Super curious about that stealth.

It was just around the wires, honestly I wasn’t paying attention to it until it fell off wile fiddling with putting new filter on.

@@mark_Hershey Definitely going to pump my pump and look at that as a possible source for contaminate in the filter. I was thinking fuel pump brushes but this is an interesting possibility too.

@@mark_Hershey I'm guessing it was covering the blue and white wires. Also was just looking for info on heat shrink and wire wraps and they may be susceptible to breaking down with alcohol so fuel with ethanol might be why yours came apart maybe.

I've been told that washing the tank out with soap and water has helped. Haven't tried that myself. I think the carbon coming off the pump's brushes is contaminating the filter. I see there is a new part number for the pump so so maybe something there, no idea.

Yeah I'd say it was around there. Generally we ride down to -10C as the bikes are not prepped in any way for colder temps to keep some temperature in the motor and not freeze your hands off!

Yes I do. Put it in after my first filter failed and it's been there ever since. That said the fuel jug I use is new, the fuel comes from the same station where all my fuel comes from for the bikes, truck, and tools. It seems unlikely it is contaminate getting in from the outside and looking at the filter it looks like carbon from the fuel pump brushes. I think the filter screens to a very low micron. When you changed your inline filters were they dirty or did you change just as preventative maintenance.

I'm told that rinsing the fuel tank out with soap and water helps before replacing the fuel filter. I'll try that next time. Taco Moto snorkel goes back to the old style fuel filter which I think is more durable. Idk... I'll try a the rinse, maybe a new fuel jug and go from there.

Well, I wasn’t able to pull my pump out tonight, fuel to high. Rode a little but hot. I’ll check it out tomorrow. If washing is good then buy one, washing old one, and keep swapping. My issue with the filter being clogged is after I do stuff or fill it up it goes away. It seems it only happens when fuel level is low, but not low enough for the light to come on. Looking at pump maybe will tell if I got a loose filter maybe? But my bike is doing exactly what yours is doing, sometimes….

Definitely did not put my bike into the trees three seconds later at the end of the video

We'll have to make a plan!

Get a filter that can be cleaned.

That's a GTI. No Polos here in Canada. I suspect the Polo is the VW Golf? Here there is the VW Golf, the VW GTI and the Golf R. It's been a good car that we've had for 10 years. In this video it still had the winter tires and rims on.

Thank you for that, always appreciate the feed back. I had a 2015 500exc that never gave me any issues, my 2019 xcw has been a great bike too. This one, I love but I don't love this issue. I'm sure I'll figure it out.

No idea. Haven't found an aftermarket version and I'm sure the filter is doing what it was designed to do so a couple of ideas, the tank mould release agent is leaching from the plastic fuel tank, the pump is working to hard and carbon off the brush contaminates the filter and the filter screens to a to fine micron level. Other thoughts, something in our fuel or the 2T oil.

Nope don't think it was fuel. My working theory is: 1. The filter strains down to a very low micron 2. The carbon from the fuel pump brushes contaminates the filter.

@@TeamStruggleBunnyare you sure it's brushed motor and not brushless?

@@Tacoexplorer Pretty sure. Here's Taco Moto talking about the pumps. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2eui6KppqqgsKc

@@Tacoexplorer Pretty sure they have brushes. Here's TacoMoto's dissection of the old and new pump. Seems to think the new pump had less failure points. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2eui6KppqqgsKc

Yup this is in NB. You could pull it off and visual inspect, (see my next video coming out today) or you could test fuel pressure maybe? The symptoms seem to show up a bit randomly at first but that can be bad if the bike bogged on the face of a jump. I did notice that the KTM part number for the fuel pump changed so maybe they did something there to reduce contaminate from the fuel pump brushes which is where I think the problem stems from, well that and the filter is to fine and cleaning to low of a micron and more easily plugged up.

Ultimately if you're not having an issue I wouldn't worry about it.

My 2015 500 exc never had a fuelling issue either. I remember changing the filter at 400 hours and while it looked pretty dirty (likely from the fuel pump brushes) it still flowed fuel fine. My other bike, a 19 xcw has no issues, same Mahle filter set up. I think those filters were more robust. in some ways and I know they improved the plastic as some were prone to splitting. I'm not 100% sure that its this new pad like filters. This strainer type filter exists on every car with an in tank fuel pump and they are lifetime filters it seems. That said changing it out eliminates the problem I have. If it isn't the filter then it may be a weak fuel pump that is failing slowly. That will be my next thing to look at.

Would it stand to reason that if the inline filter had dirt in it that the filter that is before it would be dirty? To answer your second question, yes I'm sure as I cut open the filter. I think the carbon coming off the brushes on the fuel pump is where the dirt is coming from. Working theory right now.

@@TeamStruggleBunny make sense. Maybe you have a faulty fuel pump?

@@Tacoexplorer Maybe, that is my second working theory lol. There have been a few that have had failed fuel pumps, so the pump might be the weak point, or it could be the filter is the issue and causes the pump to be over worked and prematurely fail. Don't know. I'm looking at both as possibilities. But I replaced the filter and the bike runs as it should now.

@@TeamStruggleBunny look into Holly Hydomat. It's a really cool product and basically acts like a filter and sponge together. If you find the real cause make a new video! Good luck.

No remap. A little less heat on the ankles as the exhaust flows a bit freer and no issues with fuelling, bike runs good, just a bit more aggressive sounding and a bit cooler on the legs.

It really is a good area to ride with flowing single track, some technical areas but they are for the most part optional. Good area for junior+ riders with some option space for novice.