Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/215244
corner, wringing out his KTM for all it's worth. He holds the throttle wide open and makes the KTM howl in a way I have not seen. Ordinarily we talk about what we're going to do. On this day, he just hit it and ripped through the sand pit for 25 minutes before stopping. I didn't know Mike when he first began his factory racing career, but it was easy to imagine him ripping through the woods with the same enthusiasm that I saw on this day. "You like that bike" I asked. "Hell yeah I do, I can't wait to get started!" It's full circle, full tilt, one last time for the 8 time national enduro champion. Mike Lafferty's KTM XC 300 Mike is always good about letting me ride his bikes. I've pretty much rode most of them and they have all been impressive machines with that little extra "umph" in the motor that we mortals don't need. Still, they've all been ride-able and usually result in me wanting to set my own bike on fire. So when he said "You've got to try this bike!" early on during our last visit, my interest was piqued. When we wrapped up our photo shoot I swung a leg over it. "It's a fire breathing dragon," is all he said. That's curious, I thought to myself. He's never said that before. In fact, that sounded more like a warning than anything else. Normally his bikes are stock machines with some minor modifications to the engine that typically include an SX head and ignition box (if a 250), an FMF exhaust system and a little transmission work. Of course the suspension is tailored to his demands but generally the bikes performance has been within the grasp of those willing to put the time into it. Jetting specs are always a little secretive, but with a little work and research, you can have a top tier machine too. This bike, however—this felt as though it had a little more work done to it, courtesy of factory mechanic Tony Hall. The bike was originally put together for Chris Birch for the X-Games and came to Mike with .9 hours on it. It was then converted from a 250 to a 300. The suspension is straight from the factory with a Trax rear shock and the cone valve forks. The shock has two adjustment dials on it, one for the high and one for the low speed compression adjustments. When I was asking about the motor, things got a little vague. There may have been a little porting and polishing done, but I wasn't able to fully ascertain. The bike had its red power valve spring turned all the way out but in truth, we know very little about the bike's inner workings. The results, however, are obvious. It took less than 20 yards to understand the "fire breathing dragon" comment. I cracked the throttle through a stretch of single track and blew through the first corner I came to. In the past I've used terms like "deceptively quick" to describe some stock machines. I need to rethink that term after riding this bike. This bike takes "deceptively quick" to a whole new level. His XC 300 was the 10 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com