Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1536785
Vintage Feature: 1981 KTM 495 MC Vintage Feature: 1981 KTM 495 MC The World's Fastest Dirt Bike! The World's Fastest Dirt Bike! By Kurt Flachbart By Kurt Flachbart 34 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com The KTM 495 was an infamous beast. At the me, no bike on the market had come even remotely close to the sheer top speed of KTM's mighty 495, with Dirt Bike Magazine even doing a speed test on a slightly modified '81 495 on El Mirage dry lakebed, recording a whopping 123.75 mph speed run with none other than Rod Bush behind the bars. I re- member well this feature, and ge ng my hands on one of these monsters has been on the bucket list since your editor Kurt was s ll in his teens. It was a chance encounter with one of our subscrib- ers, Brian O'Keefe, while making my way down to Pennsylvania for the annual Potomac Vintage Riders Swap Meet, that this bucket list bike was able to make its way back to Trail Rider Central. Let me paint the picture. Brian knew I would be traveling right past his exit in northern PA and reached out by phone with an invite to check out some of his old bikes. As one who prefers to arrive early for events such as this and me on my side, I said, "Why not? " And peeled off I-81 for a li le detour. Having yet to meet in person, we shook hands and soon cha ed it up like old friends, then hopped in our vehicles to a small farmhouse a few minutes away from the saw- mill that he owns and operates. A few steps behind this house is a small, unassuming barn that looks like it hasn't been opened in decades. Secured with a padlock, we entered this dimly lit building when I feasted my eyes on a plethora of vintage dirt bikes that occupied all the space available. Once my eyes adjusted to the light, this is where it got good. Buried in the building were what were the best of the best off-road motorcycles from the 70s to the early 90s. Pentons of all displacements, Ossas, many KTMs, and even a Kawasaki KX 500 lurked in the corner. Seem- ingly lost in me and covered with decades of barn dust, these fine machines s ll wore the dirt from the last me they were enjoyed. Just the way we like to find them. Unmolested. Amongst the treasures was an '81 KTM 495 MC, the bike that's escaped me for the last four decades. As one who always enjoys the backstory of old bikes, this one is pre y cool. Our friend Brian was quite the compe tor back in the day, and his field of exper se was racing hare scrambles. The 495 held a special place in his heart as he won the 1981 East Coast Na onal Hare Scrambles Championship aboard the bike.