Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1456806
March 2022 37 29 With a quick shout out on the Big Bore FB page, I'd found a replacement cylinder head and had it mounted within a day or two later. Carbure on on the 90's KTM's were known to be quirky and along the way someone had ditched the stock Dellorto carb for a Keihin PWK. Once we got the 550 up and running reliably we dived into the je ng process and it was blubbery down low. With Unadilla's MX Rewind on the schedule and me running out we elected to shelve the PWK in favor of a Lectron H-Series. The match was made in heaven and let me tell you, a crisp running 550 KTM is an eye opening experience. From idle on up, this thing pulls clean with torque like a loco- mo ve. Brutally powerful and begs to be ridden a gear or two high. As for the Unadilla MX Rewind, we made the event pu ng our lead man Beau Viens behind the bars. With zero race me on the bike, our man Beau sent the big 550 to a second place finish with no front brake to boot! Beau said he soon warmed up to the 550 and learned to only use what was needed out of the thro le. Cosme cally, once deep cleaned the 550 looked pre y nice for a twenty six year old dirt bike. Typical of old bikes, the graphics were looking a bit ra y. Our friends at SLM Graphics / SLM Racing flat out nailed it with a full factory graphics pack- age. (Slmgraphics.com Phone 817 229 5576) The look is spot on with the factory orange and purple colors popping. For now, we've resisted the urge to toss the original res but once we start racing this beast once again, it will be shod with a new set of Kenda res. I'm sure a hard compound such as a Parker would be a good choice for this trench digger! SLM Racing nailed it on the graphics package. Spot on! SLM Racing nailed it on the graphics package. Spot on!