AUSTRIAN TAKE OVER

125 XC-W

The XC-W is the non-registerable version of the EXC. KTM Australia also brings in a 150 which wasn’t available for us on the day, but we’ve been told by Jeff Leisk himself that it’s an epic bike. We’ll get to that as soon as we can.

The 125 XC-W was the bike that, if we’re to be totally honest, none of us were all that keen to ride given we had every other model there to choose from. By the end of the day it was a bike that we all wanted to keep riding because it was ridiculously fun to ride and so rewarding when you get it right. It’s a challenge at times and at some points it’s just not the easiest bike to be on, but we probably did more laps on the natural-terrain track on the 125 than on any other model.

Riding a 125 only every now and then can be difficult. You need to get back into that headspace and ride it so differently to any other bike. We’ve all gotten used to four-stroke engines and to get on the 125 and get it in your head to rev the shit out of it can take a while. But man its so good when it all comes together. The ride and the sound are irreplaceable and no greater loss will be incurred when electric bikes take over. It was obviously easy to throw around but the XC-W was surprisingly planted over a wide range of terrain, too.

Once there’s a bit of room to open it up and hit that sweet spot in the revs, it’s just such a great bike to be on and it most certainly ain’t slow. The 125 XC-W most definitely suits younger riders best but we still had a great time on it.

FEELS AT HOME

Single trail for experts Semi-open

IT’S LIKE LISTENING TO

Nirvana

THE BEST OF THE COMPETITION

Sherco has the 125 SE-R which not only has electric start but is also registrable and carries a tank