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KTM 620 R/XC Still the dual-purpose king of the hill?

KTM CAME OUT OF nowhere last year to take this magazine's Best Dual-Purpose Bike of the Year award. Based heavily on the company’s off-road Thumper, the 620 R/XC was nonetheless well-finished and fully street-legal. Except in California, that is, thanks to the Golden State’s stringent emissions standards.

For 1995, that omission has been remedied, in the form of the 620 R/XC-CA. Unlike the 49state model, which will remain unchanged for ’95, the R/XCCA incorporates a number of improvements, most notable among those being the addition of a gear-driven counterbalancer and a larger cush-drive on the clutch hub. The new 1.5-pound counterbalancer is housed in the front left sidecover, aimed at smoothing out power pulses during lower-rpm use without compromising high-speed performance. The 620’s frame had to be lengthened at the front lower cradle to fit the new engine cases, and a filter is now mounted to the lower, oil-carrying downtube. This replaces the micro-filter that previously resided behind the cylinder. As for the larger clutch, the cushdrive unit has plates straight off the 250 MX bike. Also new is a cooling fan mounted to the leftside radiator.

Unlike the other R/XCs, the CA-model is fed fuel through a 38mm Qwik Silver II carburetor (replacing the 40mm Dell’Orto), and has a fuel-evap canister mounted behind the right sidepanel, previously home to a plastic toolbox. At 324 pounds fully fueled, the CA model weighs about 5 pounds more than the 49-stater.

Last year’s R/XC was one of the easiest-starting four-stroke Singles ever. The CA-model, was more finicky and took longer to warm up. The CA bike pulls cleanly right off idle and into a healthy midrange, where it feels stronger than last year’s bike. But the Qwik Silver carb seems to flatten the top end compared to a Dell’Orto-fueled R XC. It also doesn’t seem to care for jumps or charges through big whoops, either, exhibiting an occasional stumble and bog in those conditions. Richening up the mixture with a new needle may be the answer (the Qwik Silver is a jetless carb, see the KTM Duke test elsewhere in this issue for more info).

On the street, the KTM’s heavily knobbed tires demand some restraint, but off-road, a rider can attack every type of terrain with confidence. Suspension is straight off the E/XC Thumper, which means that overall the 620’s off-road ride is nicely taut and never wallowy, no matter what the speed, a claim most dualpurpose bikes can't make.

As for the counterbalancer, well, don’t get your hopes up too high-you won’t be outlasting Gold Wing riders.

The edge is taken off the vibration, but that’s all.

So. is the new KTM 620 R/XC still king of the dualpurpose hill, heir to the throne of DP Bike of the Year? On the California model, carburetion is a concern, but the rest of the bike is as up to the task as it ever was.

Jimmy Lewis