Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/318411
24 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com I t's been about six months since our first review of the KTM XC-W 250, and in that me, my opinion of the XC- W has changed quite a bit. It's a classic case of "the more I ride it, the more I like it." I like it so much now that my KTM XC 250 hasn't even been started since November of 2013, and most of you know that I am an unabashed XC 250 fanboy. Why all the love for the XC-W? A bunch of reasons. For starters I am riding the bike completely stock (save for the 51 rear sprocket) and have everything working well. I have also been doing most of my training for my Red Bull Romaniacs on this bike as I will be riding a bone stock bike over there. Everything I have thrown at this bike—big log crossings, steep hills, and the most technical and sloppy terrain I can find—has been handled with ease. And with the yellow power valve spring inserted, the XC-W has such a smooth delivery of power that it makes lugging up those steep hills and riding through the gnarl an easy affair. I've even grown to appreciate the lower first and second gear, which make crawling through the technical stuff even eas- ier courtesy of less clutch work. And with the red power valve spring installed, it has all the motor I need, some- mes more. Despite how much I like the motor, it's the stock suspen- sion that's the real winner here. I now have it working re- ally well—beer than some of the professionally re-valved KTM XC-W 250 LONG TERM RELATIONSHIP