i am a huge ktm fan, but let’s give credit where credit is due: it was yamaha, not ktm, who revolutionized the dirt bike world. the yzf 400 was the first ‘modern’ dirt bike, with an engine that was a lot lighter, faster revving than anything that had been around previously. with the exception of the husabergs, probably, and that was certainly one of the reasons why ktm bought husaberg, and that particular merger seems to have been the reason why ktm was able to catch up with yamaha quicker than most other manufacturers.
enough history.
i bought a second model year exc 400, but even the first year models were pretty reliable. especially coming off the lc4 series the bike was amazingly light and balanced, and cornering was a breeze, while it did not seem less stable at speeds.
the engine was less powerful than the 620, but much faster revving and frankly: very few people needed the sort of power the 620 produced (not on dirt anyway). it required a different style of riding – took me a long time to figure it out – but once managed it actually took a lot less energy to ride the 400.
and then there was the electric starter. only someone who has tried to kick a 620 back to life after hours of racing can possibly appreciate the importance of this addition. can’t think why it took so long to figure this out. 😉
i really enjoyed the bike, and had no plans whatsoever to sell or replace it … but it was stolen from me.