redrider7202
New member
Well, yesterday i had my first ride on my new to me 2006 DE300. First a little background. I learned to ride on a CT70. Once i got back into riding I rode that around, and within a year had gotten a XR100R then a XR250R. Currently I have the CT70, and a beta trials bike to go with the DE. I also have some seat time on a KTM 450.The ride consisted of probably 15-20 miles of CATRA trails. For those of you who haven't been there it's almost exclusively single track with rocks and roots everywhere.
So, first impression, WOW. This bike is so far and above my XR that I have a hard time explaining it. The suspension is re-worked by LTR so I can't comment on how things work stock, however, with the re valve the easy trails felt flat and smooth... and even those have whoops and roots. As the day continued and the trials got rockier this feeling continued. The bike felt extremely smooth and light. It seemed to respond almost by thought. I never found myself having to muscle the bike through the woods.
Now, i have a D776 on the rear (i think) and i'd say soil conditions are more of an intermediate, and there are a lot of rocks, so to say this tire isn't suited for the conditions is an understatement, although it did work better then I would of thought. I say this to talk about this next part, the engine. The engine is the best and worse part of this bike. The torque and delivery is to die for. When you want power, just touch the throttle and you have it. That's also the worst part, at least for now until i can get used to it. If you get out of shape on this bike and twist the throttle it's nothing but trouble. On more then one occasion I was mid turn and would hit the throttle. Front wheel would of course hit a rock, and i'd be on the back wheel before i could blink. This resulted in more then one encounter with a tree, or getting bounced off line. This is going to take some getting used to. I also got to do a couple of quick full throttle, or at least close to it, runs. I don't know if the bike ever fully hooked up by about 4th gear. At which point i decided I was going fast enough and had to brake soon anyway. Plus I was opening a massive gap on everyone else in the group.
So brakes. It's got stock rotors, I don't know what it has for pads. Coming from four strokes I'm used to engine braking. Normally when i'm not pushing things i'll just chop the throttle slow down and enter the turn. Well, the 300 seemed to be interested in going much faster, even though i wasn't trying to. Did i mention the suspension made things smooth? This resulted in more then one "oh s**t turn!" moments. Like the handling, by the time my brain processed that i need to brake, i had the bike slowed down and was mid turn. They do an extremely good job at slowing down the bike, without ever being grabby or overpowering where it can cause a wash out.
The clutch is equally good. It is almost heavy, but in a good way. It's not the super smooth lifeless pull of the KTM, or the yank of the XR. You can tell that the lever is connected to something and in a way that gives you a lot of control and is extremely smooth. It's up there with the clutch of the trials bike. Not quite as much control, but not far from it. Without this clutch I don't think you could deal with the power of the 300 when things got real tight or nasty. Actually, it made it easy.
So how did this all work together? Better then you could imagine if you have never had a chance to ride one of these. The power will take some getting used to, and i'm out of shape from so much time off the bike and behind a desk. Everything became easy. Even starting after a fall wasn't so bad, usually firing right up on the first or second kick. If it didn't, i was tired and not really giving it a good kick. It made hills that would be mounted using a bunch of speed and brute force into a surgical affair, putting down power where and when i wanted to. Would of been a perfect clean run up the hill if i hadn't hit a rock and gone into a wheel and gotten scared and gone back into just get up it mode. One thing i'm not happy about is it did seem to suck down fuel. Looking at the markings on the left side of the tank it's reading like 3 liters. I thought i had it pretty full to begin with, something i'm going to pay attention to next ride. Also, it's got an LTR jet kit, and seemed to run about perfect, with quite a bit of splooge coming out the pipe. Gonna lean it out a hair (it's at 32:1 with motul 800) with the next fill up.
Wanted to finish this up with saying this bike is far and above anything else i have ridden. The KTM felt like a massive brute in comparison, and the XR just felt like a little pig. Once i'm used to it I think the power will be perfect, and once i'm in better shape, i won't be so sore, afterwards.
So, first impression, WOW. This bike is so far and above my XR that I have a hard time explaining it. The suspension is re-worked by LTR so I can't comment on how things work stock, however, with the re valve the easy trails felt flat and smooth... and even those have whoops and roots. As the day continued and the trials got rockier this feeling continued. The bike felt extremely smooth and light. It seemed to respond almost by thought. I never found myself having to muscle the bike through the woods.
Now, i have a D776 on the rear (i think) and i'd say soil conditions are more of an intermediate, and there are a lot of rocks, so to say this tire isn't suited for the conditions is an understatement, although it did work better then I would of thought. I say this to talk about this next part, the engine. The engine is the best and worse part of this bike. The torque and delivery is to die for. When you want power, just touch the throttle and you have it. That's also the worst part, at least for now until i can get used to it. If you get out of shape on this bike and twist the throttle it's nothing but trouble. On more then one occasion I was mid turn and would hit the throttle. Front wheel would of course hit a rock, and i'd be on the back wheel before i could blink. This resulted in more then one encounter with a tree, or getting bounced off line. This is going to take some getting used to. I also got to do a couple of quick full throttle, or at least close to it, runs. I don't know if the bike ever fully hooked up by about 4th gear. At which point i decided I was going fast enough and had to brake soon anyway. Plus I was opening a massive gap on everyone else in the group.
So brakes. It's got stock rotors, I don't know what it has for pads. Coming from four strokes I'm used to engine braking. Normally when i'm not pushing things i'll just chop the throttle slow down and enter the turn. Well, the 300 seemed to be interested in going much faster, even though i wasn't trying to. Did i mention the suspension made things smooth? This resulted in more then one "oh s**t turn!" moments. Like the handling, by the time my brain processed that i need to brake, i had the bike slowed down and was mid turn. They do an extremely good job at slowing down the bike, without ever being grabby or overpowering where it can cause a wash out.
The clutch is equally good. It is almost heavy, but in a good way. It's not the super smooth lifeless pull of the KTM, or the yank of the XR. You can tell that the lever is connected to something and in a way that gives you a lot of control and is extremely smooth. It's up there with the clutch of the trials bike. Not quite as much control, but not far from it. Without this clutch I don't think you could deal with the power of the 300 when things got real tight or nasty. Actually, it made it easy.
So how did this all work together? Better then you could imagine if you have never had a chance to ride one of these. The power will take some getting used to, and i'm out of shape from so much time off the bike and behind a desk. Everything became easy. Even starting after a fall wasn't so bad, usually firing right up on the first or second kick. If it didn't, i was tired and not really giving it a good kick. It made hills that would be mounted using a bunch of speed and brute force into a surgical affair, putting down power where and when i wanted to. Would of been a perfect clean run up the hill if i hadn't hit a rock and gone into a wheel and gotten scared and gone back into just get up it mode. One thing i'm not happy about is it did seem to suck down fuel. Looking at the markings on the left side of the tank it's reading like 3 liters. I thought i had it pretty full to begin with, something i'm going to pay attention to next ride. Also, it's got an LTR jet kit, and seemed to run about perfect, with quite a bit of splooge coming out the pipe. Gonna lean it out a hair (it's at 32:1 with motul 800) with the next fill up.
Wanted to finish this up with saying this bike is far and above anything else i have ridden. The KTM felt like a massive brute in comparison, and the XR just felt like a little pig. Once i'm used to it I think the power will be perfect, and once i'm in better shape, i won't be so sore, afterwards.
