On the Pipe KTM 250EXC

Dirt bikes are the coolest vehicle ever made. Especially the two-stroke. I think so anyway. Most people aren't even remotely interested, but for everyone I know who's ever ridden one, dirt bikes become more than just a hobby. They become your life. The 250 two-stroke engine is fast, but you kind of have to predict its acceleration before you open the throttle. The power just pours out in a surge, so you've got to feel it and flow with it. Whether you ride motocross, supercross or enduro, you've really got to be in sync with the 250 to make it work. It's not a lazy rider's bike. You've got to be fit to ride it well. And yeah, there's plenty of easier models to ride, but they're not as much fun as a 250 two-stroke. Some of the best riders in the world were born and raised on two-strokes, and once you learn to ride one properly, you can ride any motorcycle. When you've experienced the feel of a two-stroke on the pipe, it doesn't matter how old you get. You'll always love riding one. I like that the two-stroke hasn't evolved beyond my mechanical knowledge. Beneath its modern look, there's still this raw reciprocating beast that you can tune and modify in your shed. Two-strokes live and die by the right ratio of air and fuel, so you have to understand the system which governs that. A carburettor is complex by design, but simple by function. All it has to do is trickle fuel into the vacuum of air created by the engine. It does this by engaging a series of jets at various throttle positions, which meters the fuel into a mist before it reaches the spark plug. Working out jetting is a bit like cooking. It takes a bit of trial and error to find that perfect recipe, but when you get it right, man, your engine runs sweet, and it's so eager to rev. It just wants to lock into this perpetual gasp for air and fuel, much like a jet engine. So to shut it down, you've got to reduce air and fuel simultaneously to settle it to a lower rpm. It's like sticking your hand over the end of a vacuum cleaner. The throttle is constantly supplying and suffocating the engine of air and fuel. This is why two-strokes have an aggressive nature, but you can alter their attitude with adjustable power valve springs, which change the rate that exhaust can discharge from the engine. Combine that with a few ignition curve options, and you can totally alter the nature of the beast. How do you like your two-stroke? Angry or really angry? I just like the power-to-weight aspect of the 250. It gives you the confidence to hit things that would otherwise make you hesitate if you were on a bigger bike. It feels really light, it's agile, and if you can keep the thing on the pipe, it's just as fast as anything else. I've learned a lot of skills through years of competing, but for me it's not about being better than anyone else. I just want to be good at riding a dirt bike. I like knowing that I've got the skills to use a motorcycle to take me places that no other vehicle can.