First Race on the four stroke / 2023 KTM 350 XC-F

Ride along with me through the final special test at the 2023 Red Canyon TSCEC Enduro. This event was a blast and the club did an awesome job on the course! I raced my 2023 KTM 350 XC-F for the first time and it was a great learning experience on the bike. This was also my first race since April of 2022 and it was great to get back out and battle with my friends. I ended up second place on the day, forty plus seconds back from Hunter Smith who was the overall winner. The traction was really good but it was a cold one! Temps were as low as nineteen early on so keeping the body and fingers warm was a challenge.
Takeaways on the 350:
The bike stalls much easier than the two-stroke
I need to get a little stronger to be able to attack the technical stuff like I could on my two-stroke
The bike is very planted and stable
I'm going to try a 48 rear sprocket to try to make third the main gear. I was in second a lot and it worked but I felt like the engine breaking was a little much and I was slowing down too much in the corners...need to work on my roll speed on this bike.
Exhaust: Akrapovic Evolution System
Tires: Michelin StarCross 6 Medium/Soft with Michelin Bib Mousse
Bar Clamp: XC Gear Mako 360sx
Suspension: WP XPLOR PRO Cone Valve Fork and Trax Shock
Suspenion Tuned by: Solid Performance
Gearing: 14/47
Protection Parts: Enduro Engineering
CDI: OEM
Clutch: Rekluse TorqDrive
Footpegs: IMS Core Enduro
Tank: IMS
Fan: Trail Tech
Lubricants: Motorex
Seat: Seat Concepts Race 2.0
Graphics: Bike Graphix
Brake: DP Brakes

[@tf841]

Awesome dude! I'm so getting one of those bikes!

[@DirtZen]

What a hell of a run! That was a blast to watch, you were ripping. It's impressive how close the top riders are. You were only 47 seconds behind Hunter? That's nothing on a 2+hr race! Awesome 👍✌

[@timelymedal1131]

That was insane.. Your cornering skills are next level. Looked like so much fun

[@dwaynecopeland9537]

Nice ride Cole. Other than being extremely cold, it was a fun race.

[@packracer515]

Looks COLD! Great job.

[@canklemedkits3772]

That was AWESOME!

[@reineherrera8897]

Good riding. I’m gonna start getting used to the two stroke again soon because of how much easier it is to maintain that roll speed without the bike feeling “snatchy” if the throttle gets touched mid corner.

[@Danman1972]

Great ride. It looks like they flipped some of the stuff really well this year.

[@munghini]

dope ride! I was at Twin Hills myself this weekend just putting around. Chilly 32 deg out there, but was 58 when i left my house (east of Dallas)!

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

Thanks! Sounds like perfect weather for some technical riding...I felt like I stayed warm at the race as long as I was moving. The free times after the race sections is what was so brutal.

[@munghini]

@@ColeKirkpatrick for sure, was great when moving. They actually were doing a Trials bike competition/event there too so we’d stop occasionally and watch the expert/master classes bounce around a bit but kept a hand on the exhaust in the idle times in an effort to keep some feelin in my fingers lol

[@Tankerman]

Wow that got insane quick even though you made it look easy. By the hooting you were enjoying yourself snd thats awesome.

[@momitch62]

really nice riding

[@duaneliptakjr493]

I like how you race up and make sure the GoPro is clear on sections where I'd be white-knuckling the bars, just to make me feel even worse about myself, lol.

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

It's all for the footage! See you this weekend.

[@jimzigouris]

awesome riding....

[@williamcrotts7054]

Great video Cole. Quick question, I have the same bike and I've put KYB's on the front and 110% better than air, on the rear I've been revolved by Stillwell Performance and it's quite good but I was still getting a spike in breaking and acceleration bumps. Also on high speed hits, thought it was the HS circuit but shock shows no spike on the dyno. My fix was the K-Tech linkage, now it's smooth as silk and works as it should. Now I know what Cooper Webb was complaining about. I think you notice it more when you jump back and forth between a 23 TPI and this bike. Anyway, I run 105mm of sag and I've never ridden anything as planted as this 350. It's a hoot.

[@davidbabbitt106]

Skillz!

[@bam14bam]

Awesome video Cole! Thank you for sharing. Curious...how much do you ride on the balls of your feet vs covering the rear brake (i.e. what do you change, if anything, from what moto technique teaches)? You absolutely rip offroad!

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

Hi Brian, I have plans on trying to cover this topic in a video but I've had such a hard time mounting a GoPro to the bike to be able to provide examples. In an enduro scenario I feel like I cover the rear brake a lot, especially in the more technical stuff. I'm a brake dragger as it is but I do try to be mindful in the faster stuff and get my foot off the brake when not using it. It's a constant dance of being on the rear brake and then off for me and it's something that happens without me even thinking about it. Hope that helps!

[@whitehollywood6447]

Nice riding man! Killing it on the 4 stroke too!! 🤙🏻 are you gonna race the snakebite hard enduro coming up in April for the ama series??

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

Thanks! I probably won't race that event but may come out to watch/help the club. I like technical stuff but don't think my back would hold up to the abuse of the hard enduro and having to lift a bunch.

[@Danman1972]

This is pretty close to the lease of where the Snake bite is. I missed out on this one. This place is super fun to ride.

[@KTM96]

Great video! What size front tyre was you running?

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

80/100-21

[@Tlisotta2010]

Just awesome! Wondering how you would have felt on the 23 TBI 300 :). Q - I notice you do sit a fair amount when racing as far as I could tell in the video? Do you use it to conserve energy and/or are you a tad faster using a sitting/standing combo? I think you said when you are just trail riding you stand most of time. Love learning from you. You were ripping as usual.

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

The TBI 300 would’ve been sweet and I’m hoping I’ll have one before too long. I did enjoy the 350 though. I was doing a lot of standing and sitting at this event and honestly I got tired later in the day and a bit lazy so I ended up sitting a bit more. In the high speed flowy stuff though I felt like I was standing through the rough stuff and bumps and to help under hard braking and then sit to help get traction to the front and rear of the bike through the slick corners.

[@Tlisotta2010]

@@ColeKirkpatrick thanks for the reply! Hope to meet ya some day. Great race!

[@randytidwell5836]

ridiculous how smooth you are through the rough canyons. A quick question about the 350. I heard some say it fills lighter and more maneuverable through tight Enduro trails than a ktm 300 2 stroke. Is that accurate?

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

The 300 two stroke feels much lighter and more manageable to me in tight technical terrain. It’s also much harder to stall the two stroke at low rpm.

[@randytidwell5836]

@@ColeKirkpatrick yeah I always liked 2 strokes for tight technical Enduro and could believe when someone with both bikes said that. 2 strokes are just much easier to flick back and forth through the trees. thanks.

[@goncalosilva15]

Top! Close handguards brand?

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

Enduro Engineering, it's the EVO2 model.

[@tandccreations6383]

I have a 2023 ktm 350xcf too and my 350 is always having issues the main one right now is it'll act like a 2stroke and load up and bog out when you hit the throttle even when you're riding it, if you don't have it just right it'll load up and die. When you try to start it after it does that it'll back fire and pop you can feel the pop come from the airbox when your boot is against it. Anyone have any ideas on why or what it's doing?

[@sergiomonohoma.]

Great ridding! Crazy fast!!! Great footage also! What frame rate are you filming at?

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

Thanks! Filmed at 24 fps and 1/96 shutter

[@sergiomonohoma.]

@@ColeKirkpatrick Thank you!

[@Texastrailrider]

I am guessing you have ran just about every series in Texas and beyond. You obviously mostly run TSCEC enduros and I was wondering if you could comment as to why you seem to prefer enduro over hare scrambles. Is it the properties, race format or other?

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

Hi Johnny, great question! When I was racing the national enduros, I used to race TORO, TSCEC, and TORN to get as much racing under the belt as possible. I'm not a professional racer anymore and am at a much different stage of life. I've got two young kiddos and do the Gnarly Routes tours throughout the year so my bandwidth for racing is much lower than it used to be. I like the enduros because I can leave late on a Saturday, get up early and race Sunday and then get back home. I also really like racing unknown trail that nobody has practiced. It also gives you an entire day of riding as opposed to just over an hour. I hope to make some hare scrambles this year but I'll always try to make an enduro if my schedule allows. To sum it up, I like the properties and format that these events feature.

[@Shecki603]

Question for ya: Notice no map light glowing on your map switch. Running an aftermarket ecu? Which one? I have the same bike and in the hot map with the stick ECU, the flameout (even with a high idle) is just to frequent. I have to ride the bike in the soft map for single track to limit flameouts. Can’t find anyone who’s mapping or putting out ECU’s for this bike yet.

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

Good question. I'm running a stock ECU in the standard map. Not sure why the light wasn't shining very bright but that's for sure what it was set on. I've tried the stronger map but prefer the engine characteristic of the standard map.

[@richardmartinez5261]

Where was this race at in Texas

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

near Fluvanna, Texas

[@jimmywhite766sar7]

You went left around the little ledge at 3:34-3:35… why? Assume b/c it put you in a more gradual & flowey arc around that knoll, less opportunity to ding a rim if you didn’t wheelie it, less upsetting to the bike when going into a corner, and it’s dirt w/a very slight berm.

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

Yes, much smoother transition into that right corner and much lower chance of deflection. It’s bigger in person that it looks but still not huge. That section had very little traction so tried to be as smooth as possible.

[@jarvis2101]

Do you believe you would have faster times on a 2t in this race? Being so tight

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

In the tight sections I would have been but I also might have been slower in the faster sections. It’s a toss up!

[@THMXCO]

Hey man, if you could only pick 1, 300 XC or 350 XC-F which would it be?

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

300 xc

[@THMXCO]

@@ColeKirkpatrick Thanks man! I appreciate that, In the past I've always been a better rider on a 4 stroke but I've yet to ride a TPI/TBI. I hated the power delivery of my 2019 Y250 2t out on the trails and in tight stuff, but loved it for motocross. Is the 300 a different animal?

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

@@THMXCO if you didn't care for the power of the YZ 250 you're probably still going to prefer the four stroke. The 300 has a broader range of power and doesn't have to be ridden as high in the rpm range as something like a YZ 250.

[@SWFlowseeker]

What is the gauge on your bars?

[@ColeKirkpatrick]

It's just a $20 watch if you're referring to what's by the left grip. The other small screen above and to the right of the XC Gear clamp is an hour meter.

[@SWFlowseeker]

@@ColeKirkpatrick Gotcha Great riding by the way