Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1519754
16 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com The exhaust note is drama cally different, too. The Ranger has a bit of a trials-like lope to it while the Pro has a bark that lets you know it's ready to rip. The Ranger has a standard head and the power valve is set to open later to calm the engine down a bit, although it is adjustable. Aside from the componentry differences, the basic pla orm is the same for both bikes. This is a departure from bikes like the Beta Xtrainer and KTMs Freeride with a chassis approximately 10% smaller than full sized models. A huge bonus is that components can be swapped back and forth, and we'll talk about that later. Our intrepid test crew was mainly middle-aged long- me A and B riders including one for- mer pro-level motocrosser, but we also had a 16-year-old A rider, an early 40s ex-ISDE vet, a late 50s ISDE vet, and an experienced intermedi- ate female rider to round out the crew. Our test- ing was done in Louisiana, not far from the site of the Cajun Classic NEPG that ran the next day. The terrain was fairly flat with some nominal eleva on changes, the soil was a sand-clay mix that offered good trac on, and most of our trails wound through piney woods and low brush. We didn't have any huge mud bogs or lengthy steep hills to climb, but from my own experience on my 18 'Gasser, I can tell you both bikes would be up to either task. My first impressions on the Pro were like holy hell this thing is gonna kill me! The engine absolutely ripped like a freakin rocketship. It hit right off the bo om and just kept ge ng stronger. I found my- self having to be careful not to blow corners, mainly because I got there lots faster than I expected, and was relieved to find I wasn't the only one. Our for- mer pro-MXer, Lavon, launched himself 50 feet into the bushes when he hit a corner and the Pro lit him up. The Pro also rode high in the suspension stroke, and in retrospect, we are kicking ourselves for not playing with the clickers more. Kevin Hutchinson, our expert mechanic, did play with the rebound which did let it se le into the corners be er, but that was towards the end of the day a er we'd been playing with other stuff.