Dirt Rider
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Changing the frame color, plastic, and fuel tank are just a few of the modifications made to transform this KTM 350 XC-F into a very trick GasGas EX 350F.

Read the full article here: https://www.dirtrider.com/story/tests/2022-gasgas-ex-350f-project-bike-riding-impression-review/

Video: Mason Owens

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Transcript
00:00 (silence)
00:02 - What's up everyone?
00:07 Andrew O'Leary with Dirt Rider here,
00:09 and we have a 2020 KTM 350 XCF we're testing today.
00:13 At least that's what Jay tells me it is.
00:15 Jay, this looks more like a gas gas man,
00:17 but you turned it into a gas gas.
00:19 - Yeah, it was, you know, we had this bike,
00:21 it had like 44 hours on it,
00:23 and it had kind of been beat up.
00:24 It had been owned by a couple of different buddies,
00:26 and it's been seen, and I'm like,
00:28 hey, we can fix this thing up.
00:29 And so when I pulled the engine out
00:30 to get Jamie it twisted to go through the engine for me,
00:33 I figured, let's just paint the frame red.
00:35 And San Diego Powder Coating does the exact red.
00:38 They do it for the race team bikes,
00:40 the ones you see Bar Show racing,
00:41 they use the same red right here.
00:43 And San Diego Powder Coating in Southern California
00:45 does a great job with that.
00:46 And so I went ahead and had it painted while it was down.
00:49 I figured might as well.
00:50 And then, then I just kind of went all out, you know,
00:52 just made the ultimate, you know, EX 350 now.
00:56 We, the only thing left from this being a KTM
00:58 is the hour meter, as you saw.
00:59 So I left the orange hour meter.
01:00 And as you can see, it's got the black triple clamps here,
01:03 the billet clamps.
01:05 And that's a giveaway that it was a KTM
01:07 with that and the hour meter.
01:10 And to convert it to a gas gas, it's really not,
01:15 you know, with a Husky, you can't do this,
01:17 you know, easily, at all, really, you know.
01:20 So, but with the gas gas, it's just switching the tank.
01:23 That allows you to run the shrouds.
01:24 So we switch, and since we were gonna make it
01:26 into a more of an off-road bike,
01:27 we put the larger IMS tank and we got the UFO plastic,
01:30 just the red gas gas plastic,
01:32 and we're able to make it convert it all.
01:34 And then we give it a very unique look
01:36 with Decal Works making these,
01:37 we call it a little bit Ronald McDonald graphics going on.
01:40 So it's been pretty fun.
01:41 - Absolutely.
01:44 So yeah, tell me a bit more about some
01:46 of the aftermarket parts you put on this thing.
01:48 I see we have a spring conversion here in the fork, right?
01:51 - So of course, I do like the stock air forks.
01:53 They're pretty good, but I, you know,
01:55 I got the luxury of being able to kind of do even better.
01:57 And Factory Connection did,
01:59 we've done a couple sets with them
02:00 and with some other companies,
02:01 and we did this KYB conversion technical touch cells,
02:04 this conversion kit that Factory Connection installs.
02:07 And it's pretty awesome.
02:08 You know, I can't argue with that.
02:10 Although if you're limited on funds,
02:11 I think the stock air fork can be made to work really well.
02:13 And FC's done some really good air fork stuff for us.
02:16 It's been fine.
02:17 So, but since we had the luxury, we were able to do that.
02:19 And back when it was a KTM, you know,
02:21 see it has these red caps.
02:22 So it just worked out that I converted to red anyways.
02:25 So it worked out really well.
02:26 So, and when the engine was apart,
02:29 we went ahead and went through there
02:30 and Jamie went through and ported it.
02:34 We got the, we left it stock bore.
02:36 I've done some big bore ones.
02:37 We wanted to leave a stock bore,
02:38 got the Wiseco race relief piston in there
02:40 and in the engine,
02:42 and we went through and got our Henson clutch set up.
02:45 So it's all kind of really strong and bulletproof.
02:49 And then while it was apart,
02:52 Sano metal finishing did some cool, you know,
02:55 vapor blasting and Cerakoting
02:56 on some of the pieces of the engine.
02:57 So that would look all good.
02:58 Cause actually the water pump was all scraped up.
03:00 So we got that all cleaned up, looking good.
03:04 And then when we assembled this thing,
03:06 got a P3 skid plate on this thing for protection.
03:08 We've got some, some flag hand guards on here
03:11 because we are going to ride this thing
03:12 on the track and trail some.
03:14 And I might put wraparounds on when I go
03:16 to the tougher stuff, but for the most part, that was it.
03:19 And then Jamie put a Vortex ignition in this
03:21 and he mapped it on the dyno for the Vortex
03:24 and it works really well and power's pretty dang good.
03:27 And we've got an 18 inch rear wheel, of course,
03:29 and Bulletproof Designs has these wheels
03:31 that are pretty good.
03:32 And of course, Pro-X chain and sprockets,
03:34 got the O-ring chain on there, Dunlop AT81 front.
03:37 And then an MX33 we put on there for today,
03:39 just cause it's kind of a cool off road tire
03:40 in that 18 inch size.
03:41 And you can ride it on the track and the trail
03:43 and works pretty dang good.
03:45 And then of course, to add to our graphic look,
03:48 we got the Moto Seat, did a custom seat cover
03:50 to match the graphics.
03:51 The ODI bars, I really like this bend and the champ bend.
03:55 And of course the grips, really nice.
03:58 I really enjoyed the lock on grips
04:00 and it's so much easier installing.
04:02 Life is just a whole lot better.
04:04 We got the Scar foot pegs.
04:05 And I think that's, I think it's really it.
04:09 Oh, the frame guards, a lot of people ask about those
04:11 cause they cover so high up.
04:13 A lot of guys write me and ask about that.
04:15 And UFO has those and they're for a Husky,
04:17 actually a 20, like the new generation Husky.
04:21 It has those and UFO is gonna have them in red soon.
04:25 We've been working on that.
04:26 So we'll hopefully have those soon.
04:27 - Absolutely.
04:28 And then rims, spokes and hubs?
04:31 - All complete from Bulletproof.
04:32 They do it all complete.
04:34 And then we take out the backfire screen
04:36 and we run a two stroke air filter cage with our uni filter.
04:39 And then of course the FMF exhaust.
04:41 And we just got, you know,
04:42 like the stainless exhaust with an aluminum muffler here.
04:46 Good, you know, cost-wise, a really good option.
04:50 - Absolutely.
04:51 And brakes are aftermarket too, correct?
04:53 - Yes, we do.
04:54 We do have GALFER brakes, front and rear.
04:55 We've got an oversized front
04:57 and we've got the GALFER pads as well.
04:59 We've got the stock lines on there, which have been good.
05:01 And we, of course, while it was apart,
05:02 we bled the clutch and both brakes.
05:05 We bled those, flushed them out with new fluid.
05:08 So this thing's all good to go new.
05:10 While it was apart, we had ICW strengthen up the radiator.
05:12 So we don't have to run any radiator braces.
05:14 And this thing's like a new bike
05:16 and it's gonna be a fun bike for us for quite a while.
05:18 We think this is kind of the ultimate bike for most guys.
05:21 If you have to buy one bike,
05:22 a 350 XCF is great because it has the wider ratio tranny,
05:26 works great on the track or the trail.
05:28 The bike works really well.
05:29 It comes with a kickstand,
05:30 which you just strap it up here when you're on the track.
05:33 You just put that little rubber strap on there
05:35 and go at it on the track and you have a great time.
05:38 - Absolutely.
05:39 Well, very cool.
05:40 Well, hey, I am super excited to ride this bike.
05:41 It looks incredible and yeah, we'll put some time on this
05:45 and give back to you guys a little later.
05:47 (engine revving)
05:50 (engine revving)
05:57 (upbeat music)
06:01 (engine revving)
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06:30 (engine revving)
06:33 (engine revving)
06:52 (upbeat music)
06:54 - All right, so we just finished riding
07:03 Jay's 2020 KTM 350 XCF on the trails
07:07 and Vetrac here at Cahuilla Creek.
07:09 And man, what a fun time this bike was.
07:11 On the trails where we started the bike,
07:13 the first thing I noticed was the fork.
07:15 The KYB spring conversion kit
07:18 by Factory Connection is incredible.
07:20 The stock forks on this bike are okay.
07:23 They're maybe not as great as a spring fork like this,
07:26 but it's not really until you ride this,
07:29 which today was my first time
07:30 riding the KYB spring conversion.
07:32 I've obviously ridden the Yamaha and Kawasaki,
07:34 which come with a similar fork internals anyway.
07:37 And this is just incredible.
07:39 The amount of comfort is just phenomenal.
07:41 And Jay had mentioned it's right around $2,000,
07:44 which is a little steep, obviously,
07:46 but if you have the cash,
07:48 I think it might be well worth it
07:50 because the comfort and the plushness
07:51 that can be found with this is fantastic.
07:54 Super pumped on it.
07:55 As far as the engine goes,
07:57 this bike kept the stock 350 XCF's
08:00 super linear power delivery.
08:02 I love that Jay was able to hold onto that for this bike
08:05 because it's just super easy to ride,
08:07 really easy to manage,
08:08 especially when you're on the motocross track
08:10 or the more wide open areas out on the trails.
08:13 It's just super predictable.
08:14 But I would say slightly better throttle response
08:17 and a little more torque feel throughout the RPM range.
08:20 Not a huge, huge difference,
08:22 but definitely enough that I was happy
08:25 in the more technical areas.
08:26 It was a bit easier to keep the bike running
08:29 and to keep it from stalling.
08:31 So all in all,
08:32 the engine package is definitely a noticeable improvement
08:34 over stock, and I was really pumped on it.
08:36 Another cool feature on this bike is the Trail Tech Fan.
08:39 When we first started riding,
08:40 we were out on the trails
08:41 in some pretty tight technical stuff
08:43 and obviously doing photos and videos.
08:45 And it dawned on me after a while,
08:46 I was like, "Oh shoot,
08:47 I better be careful that the bike doesn't overheat."
08:49 And right when I thought that, the fan kicked on.
08:52 So that's a really cool feature,
08:54 especially if you're riding some tight technical trails
08:56 and your bike won't overheat.
08:57 So thanks to Jay Clark for allowing us to test
09:01 his 2020 KTM 350 XCF here
09:04 that has been essentially turned into a Gas Gas EX 350 F.
09:08 We had a blast riding it.
09:09 We look forward to the next one.
09:11 So thank you all for tuning in.
09:12 If you enjoyed watching this video
09:14 and you're watching on YouTube,
09:15 be sure to like, comment, and subscribe.
09:17 And be sure to check out the full story on DirtRider.com
09:20 and we'll see you next time.
09:21 (upbeat music)
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