Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1517946
April 2024 9 About 60 miles into the day, Crandall offered the gesture once again and just to shut him up, we swapped bikes. Three miles into it, I was floored. The new chas- sis was narrower and felt so much lighter. The bike tracked be er and seemed much more planted. It also steered be er. Not long a er, I sold the '09 for a new 2013 300 XC-W and this is where my eyes began to open. Although I was thoroughly sat- isfied with my previous rides, KTM had raised the bar with improvements in han- dling, ergonomics, and ease of opera on with each and every genera on. Like my previous bikes, I'd dressed that '13 300 with all my favorite accessories along with suspension modifica ons. It got a big tank, pipes, carbs, carbon fiber bars, isolated pegs, fancy adjustable triple clamps, GPS, locomo ve ligh ng, yup everything but the kitchen sink. Truth be told, I gumped up that '13 so much that it weighed a whopping 290 lbs. but I really liked that bike and at the me, couldn't imagine a be er tool for the job. It just worked incredibly well for me. Summer of 2018, I received a call from my friend Tom Moen at KTM. He was telling me about the new fuel-in- jected 300 XC-W soon to be unveiled at the 2019 Product Launch. Being a freak for technology, I hung on to every word and put my name in for one if KTM would be so kind as to send one this way. About a month later, KTM hooked us up with the new 2019 300 XC-W TPI (Transfer Port Injec on) and as expected I was chomping at the bit to ride it. The bike was shipped to our go-to dealer, Motor- bikes Plus in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and arrived the day before our annual Rip to Rangeley; a two-day event circumnaviga ng the woods of northern Maine. The R2R would be a perfect opportunity for a back-to-back com- parison test of the previous genera on 300 XC-W to the newest fuel-injected model. The Rip to Rangeley is no joke with several mountain peaks to climb, challenging trail, and endless rocks and roots. Both days are approximately 150 miles in length. My new test bike was loaded in the chase van and the plan was to ride my tried and true 2013 on day one and the brand new, fresh out-of-the-crate 2019 TPI on day two. As we gained mileage into the first day, again I couldn't imagine a be er bike. I even remarked to my buds at how well my old '13 was working for me. Basically, that bike was like a comfy old shoe; I liked it, and it liked me.