KTM powered Blaster
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I didn't know DID made any chains in China. I have a feeling that is a fake DID chain. I bet the name of the company was "DID Taiwan" I'm guessing they make chains for a few months then changed their name once DID cought wind of it. I have never seen a DID box that didn't say "Made in Japan".
"damn broke the chain thats exactly what i was worried about when i finally got my bike running. good looking so far, But with such a custom bike you almost need to rebuild it and give it that added character to back up the newer aftermarket motor. still is an amazing swap, great mod to the exhaust too.
I hear you!
Definitely something to check out, and I did, but the alignment looks good.
The chain did not, and I should have known better on the install. It had stiff spots even after soaking for a week. Probably water damage.
It was bad when I installed it. Probably seized and twisted a pin and dropped a sideplate.
Did you ever put something on that wasn't quite right and tell yourself: "It'll be OK, it'll wear in..." It often doesn't...
On a better side, that fixed up pretty easy. Had to pull the swingarm bolt to clear the chain. Bought a new chain and up and running.
Have been riding it on short jaunts, no more than an hour before checking it over. Took it on a 4 hour run yesterday.
Woods, mud, sandpit, rocks. Went with my son and his stock Blaster.
Meant to catch lots of video, but only got a few brief snippets that don't really show or prove anything but I will post them below.
Riding impression, especially compared to the stock Blaster, is pretty good.
The longer tuned pipe (Gnarly lengthened and inch or so) really changed the nature of this engine
from a screamer to a torquer. It lowered top RPM as well. It does suit the nature of the quad and works well.
Even with tall 14/40 sprockets and a tall 1st gear it idles through the rough stuff with little need to slip the clutch.
That is surprising for a motocross engine with little flywheel weight.
Top speed at about 105kph (65mph) is about 10mph or so faster than a stock blaster. Acceleration is much quicker,
but my son, the better rider, has no problem keeping up to or getting ahead of me on most trails. It's 90% rider, baby!
65 mph is plenty fast on a short quad like this. Handling was a bit odd if you let off the gas in a corner.
My 660 Raptor would do about 75mph but it too felt plenty dangerous at those speeds.
I don't think I am going to look for any more speed out of this quad. This is plenty.
Weight and balance is pretty much the same as the stock Blaster. The rad doesn't seem to raise the center of gravity.
No problems with overheating, even with slow woods trails and rocks. Damn I like the light weight better than the Raptor I had.
It doesn't wheelie like the 660 Raptor however. Tons of power and better acceleration, but not the
"anywhere in the revs" torque of the 660. This motor is more likely to spin than wheelie.
Center of gravity is lower than on the 660 Raptor too. Much easier quad to ride and get unstuck. LOVE IT!
I have a better shock on back, and it was worth the work, you can feel it. Now I need something better on the front.
The Raptor had better brakes and suspension for sure. The Blaster really hammers my arms on rough going.
Got more involved with riding than video, so this is all I have at the moment folks.
It doesn't show or prove much. You might note the low tone of the engine, indicative of the improved torque.
Not quite sure how to do videos yet but here is my try:
Video link to Steve's KTM Blaster
Video link to Neil's stock Blaster
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Longish rough trip this weekend. Lots of mud and rock.
Found some issues, some things needing changes but overall the Blaster worked well.
This was really a case of bringing a knife to a gunfight. Everyone else had 4x4 quads, big ones.
First off, my gear ratio was too high for trail riding. Spent most of the time in first gear and slipping clutch.
I was using 14/40 so my fault, should have had the 12 on. This terrain was RUGGED.
You have to give the Blaster engineers credit, the 200 motor and transmission is a very versatile rig with its wide ratio gearbox and 6 speeds.
It will do almost anything. A motorcross engine has a very narrow ratio range.
You have to pick: "Do you want to play at high speed or at low speed?"
This weekend I picked high speed in a low speed game. It managed but barely.
Tires: the wide and low "Turf-saver" pattern is surprisingly good at rocks and forest floor, but not so good at mud and water. More height is needed to clear the sprocket and disk. More tire height will require more sprocket too, so a 42 or more rear may be in order.
Chain guide: I ran a large aftermarket plastic chainguide , but it precluded using the skidplate.
This was a bad idea, because I was hitting underwater rocks and logs and it took a bashing. I need a skidplate and a chainguide that fits it.
Mud protection: Wow, only way through with 2wd is with speed and momentum and tire spin. I got soaked. I need the front and rear floor extensions just to be able to see.
Front brakes: Need hydraulic disks. Period. The drums ran out of adjustment by the end of the weekend. I suspect mud and grit didn't help but disks keep a constant adjustment. I like that. The rear Ninja 250 disk and M/C worked well and as the pad seated in, I was very impressed with the firm feel and performance of it. I needed both brakes a lot on this trip, especially on steep hills and rock climbing.
I will probably keep the 250SX (motorcross) engine in my Blaster for the summer, but think eventually I will switch to either my 300 or 380 EXC enduro engines for the wide gear ratio transmissions. Very happy with the bike, but also feel the stock Blaster is something to be marveled at.
Found some issues, some things needing changes but overall the Blaster worked well.
This was really a case of bringing a knife to a gunfight. Everyone else had 4x4 quads, big ones.
First off, my gear ratio was too high for trail riding. Spent most of the time in first gear and slipping clutch.
I was using 14/40 so my fault, should have had the 12 on. This terrain was RUGGED.
You have to give the Blaster engineers credit, the 200 motor and transmission is a very versatile rig with its wide ratio gearbox and 6 speeds.
It will do almost anything. A motorcross engine has a very narrow ratio range.
You have to pick: "Do you want to play at high speed or at low speed?"
This weekend I picked high speed in a low speed game. It managed but barely.
Tires: the wide and low "Turf-saver" pattern is surprisingly good at rocks and forest floor, but not so good at mud and water. More height is needed to clear the sprocket and disk. More tire height will require more sprocket too, so a 42 or more rear may be in order.
Chain guide: I ran a large aftermarket plastic chainguide , but it precluded using the skidplate.
This was a bad idea, because I was hitting underwater rocks and logs and it took a bashing. I need a skidplate and a chainguide that fits it.
Mud protection: Wow, only way through with 2wd is with speed and momentum and tire spin. I got soaked. I need the front and rear floor extensions just to be able to see.
Front brakes: Need hydraulic disks. Period. The drums ran out of adjustment by the end of the weekend. I suspect mud and grit didn't help but disks keep a constant adjustment. I like that. The rear Ninja 250 disk and M/C worked well and as the pad seated in, I was very impressed with the firm feel and performance of it. I needed both brakes a lot on this trip, especially on steep hills and rock climbing.
I will probably keep the 250SX (motorcross) engine in my Blaster for the summer, but think eventually I will switch to either my 300 or 380 EXC enduro engines for the wide gear ratio transmissions. Very happy with the bike, but also feel the stock Blaster is something to be marveled at.
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Buy a new frame cheap off Ebay and start working on a pipe for one of those big motors 
Your best best is to start with a stock or aftermarket pipe designed for the motor and cut/twist/bend it to fit without adding anything.
With the sprockets I wanted to to get a 12 at one time for sh*tz and giggles but I had fitment issues with the chain rubbing.
Your best best is to start with a stock or aftermarket pipe designed for the motor and cut/twist/bend it to fit without adding anything.
With the sprockets I wanted to to get a 12 at one time for sh*tz and giggles but I had fitment issues with the chain rubbing.
Buy a new frame cheap off Ebay and start working on a pipe for one of those big motors
Your best best is to start with a stock or aftermarket pipe designed for the motor and cut/twist/bend it to fit without adding anything.
With the sprockets I wanted to to get a 12 at one time for sh*tz and giggles but I had fitment issues with the chain rubbing.
You can get with Rubbersalt who can help you change your pipe for what kind of powerband you want. I would imagine that KTM likes to only run well at high rpm's. Gabe (Rubbersalt) has over 2000 views and has one of the post popular threads over at 3ww Pipe Design !!Pictures!! on page 4! Nasty fast.
The Yamaha 175 engine is nearly the same as a blaster engine and he made a pipe from the ground up, this is a great resource, who else can do that??
Good luck, love this thread!
Buy a new frame cheap off Ebay and start working on a pipe for one of those big motors
Your best best is to start with a stock or aftermarket pipe designed for the motor and cut/twist/bend it to fit without adding anything.
With the sprockets I wanted to to get a 12 at one time for sh*tz and giggles but I had fitment issues with the chain rubbing.
Actually, this pipe will fit the 300 or 380 too and may be better tuned to their lower RPM range. The stinger is sized a bit differently in some cases but I can change that easily. I was glad to have the low end torque with the tall gears but I do feel the pipe tuning is fighting the port tuning of this engine. It should be a real torquer with those larger, lower RPM engines.
Make no mistake, this thing really hauls butt. I am a bit jaded being used to this motor in a 100 pound lighter machine, and having another couple thousand RPM to play with.
My largest problem with this motor is gear ratio. I need a lower first gear and the EXC (enduro) motors come with a wide ratio gearbox. Lower 1st and taller 5th. This SX (motorcross) engine comes with very close gears. It also don't have much flywheel weight which confounds the problem. I soon learned the best technique for clearing long mud holes was to hold 1/2 throttle and modulate rpm with the clutch. All I could see was a tunnel between two walls of spraying mud! Speed and tirespin were my friends for clearing the mud holes. I hope someone in the group caught it on video.
The KTM will run a 12 to 15 sprocket on the countershaft. I have never tried the 15 on any motor yet (close to clutch cylinder) but the 12 works fine. I read Rubbersalt's thread, good stuff!
Not too hard to mod a pipe to fit the frame. I just cut a slit in it where I wanted it to bend. If you cut a slit on the outside and weld a wedge in, it gets longer (and lower RPM). If I cut a wedge out of the inside of the bend and weld it up, the pipe gets shorter (and RPM higher). If I want to keep the stock characteristics of the pipe, I would cut it at the desired bend both inside and outside 1/3 through so to keep the same average length. Using various tuner's books I have built or modified several pipes over the years, most were learning experiences and eventual successes. This pipe might be a bit lower RPM than I was hoping for, but that is a better way to err than too high and no low end torque.
Jetting is another issue, and might be pipe or intake related. I put the "book" jets into it, 45 pilot and 180 main, and they were way too rich. For this trip I leaned it down to a 42 and 170 and yet still fouled plugs at low speed and didn't idle well as the weather warmed up. I need a 40 or 38 pilot which defies common practice on this engine. It may be from the pipe or the longish straight 2.5" intake giving a stronger signal?
I realize you guys may not be too interested in tuning KTM engines, but this does give some insight into what pipe and intake mods can affect.
This isn't exactly what a Blaster is designed for but is what I did with it over the weekend...
I wasn't always successful at getting through and had to get towed on occasion. A better tire might have made the difference.
Picture what is going to happen as I rev up and dump the clutch to get out of there...
At least this hole was clean water, most were pretty muddy.
Trout cooked on the fire.
Heading off, tow rope at the ready...
The next mud hole..
Camp
I wasn't always successful at getting through and had to get towed on occasion. A better tire might have made the difference.
Picture what is going to happen as I rev up and dump the clutch to get out of there...
At least this hole was clean water, most were pretty muddy.
Trout cooked on the fire.
Heading off, tow rope at the ready...
The next mud hole..
Camp
AWESOME!
I think your tires might be due for replacement. They're nearly bald!
Some of that stuff looks like something I would go through on my bayou 4x4 (never my blaster).
I think your tires might be due for replacement. They're nearly bald!
Some of that stuff looks like something I would go through on my bayou 4x4 (never my blaster).
Yeah, you are right on that! It was "Bayou" country all right, and I do need tires.
I was hoping to wait until Fall, but all this rain has made things really wet this Spring.
It wasn't all cold wet he11:
Lots of eating and drinkin' and fish and campfires and gee-tar music mixed in with the 2-stroke smoke and mud...
Looks like one HELL of a camping trip!
I really like the pallet platform around the campfire with the old grill in the corner. Looks like some of the stuff we do!
I really like the pallet platform around the campfire with the old grill in the corner. Looks like some of the stuff we do!
The grill (we call it a BBQ up here) is actually filled with charcoal instead of propane. Works great that way.
Weather was cool and rainy, usually is in May. No bugs, no sunburn, no problem for us to all get the time off together. Good time. My Blaster and my efforts to get it over mud holes was a lot of entertainment for everybody. No video taken of it unfortunately, probably because of the mass of mud thrown around!
Some vids:
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If it was a choice of that or stay home, I'd go for it. Made me think of the time I used a185 atc to chase my son on his first trail ride on YZ 80. LOL. I like your choice of power tho.
My mate had exactly the same cracks on his blaster, it was down to jumping it too much. he has elka stage 4s all round and the stock swing arm, the shocks went to his head i think lol
Yeah, those cracks on the bottom of the swingarm are pretty common.
A friend of my son's just brought his in with them. I think they are from twist on the swingarm.
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