EP#45 - 2026 KTM 300 EXC Tested

We jumped on the 2026 KTM 300 EXC and as it turns out, KTM in Europe undersold this bike climbing there weren't many changes for 2026 when there actually were. There's been a bunch of motor and suspension changes but the biggest news is the final gearing which i now a 14/42! We took it into the hard enduro stuff and somehow it worked! Here's what we thought. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the ADB Podcast, where we talk all things dirt with your host, Mitch Lee. Hello again, it's Mitch Lees, the editor of ADB magazine. We are back out today doing some more bike testing. This time we have the uh legendary KDM 300 EXE two-stroke. This is the 2026 model. Now, this is probably one of KDM's biggest selling dirt bikes of all time, I'd say, to be close to the KDM 350 EXEF, and certainly in this country the KDM 500 EXEF, but the KDM 300 EXE from a uh global standpoint has to be one of their biggest sellers. They're super popular over in Europe, obviously with the hard enduro scene going crazy over there. And uh it's been around for so long, this bike with KDM, and it has built a reputation as probably one of the best bikes in class, it's won so many championships. So we wanted to jump on the 2026 model and test it out because KDM told us that there weren't many changes. Uh this is the directive we got from KDM overseas for the 2026 model, and then it turned up here in Australia, and we got a call from Mick Careus and Rosie from KDM to say that you need to test this bike. It looks like it's got more changes than they kind of let on in the press releases. So we have grabbed it, it has a suite of changes. I'll kind of run through it there with Mick Carusi uh while we've done this out live testing. Um but yeah, one big change was the final gearing. You're gonna hear about that in a second. It kind of blew us away. I used I got Jeremy Cowley from Dirt By Breeder Podcast to come with us on this test. He is a two-stroke fanatic, does a lot of the hard enduro stuff, loves that whole scene. Rides a 300 two-stroke himself. He's also a punter like me, and I think would be a good representation of you know 99% of the riders out there buying this bike, so he'll have some good feedback. Uh so yeah, here's what we thought of the KDM300 EXE. The minute we got off it, we just stuck the microphone under our nose to guide and give you guys as much raw feedback as we thought. Uh, but hey, before I we get into that, I'm just gonna thank our sponsor Dunlop. They are sponsoring this podcast with the AT82 tire. It's a pretty cool tire. You can actually switch the tire around so you it has different uh tread pattern from on one side of the knob to the other that works differently in hard pack and soft terrain. So that's pretty cool. If you've got a track that's changing throughout the day, you can actually turn the tire around and get better traction depending on whether it's soft or hard. So go check it out. That's the Dunlop AT82. Thanks for helping us put this podcast together. Now, without further ado, here is what Jez and I thought of the 2026 KDM 300. And remember, way more changes than KDM Europe told us in the press release. And the reason I got Mick in here especially is because we I it was indicated to me that this bike, the 26 model, came with bold new graphics, and that was kind of it. There weren't many other changes, but as Mick discovered when he was pre-delivering it for us for this test and getting it out of the crate and getting it ready for what we're gonna do today, there is more that's changed.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

So Mick kind of from from what I can understand, it's they've changed the engine characteristics, not a full internal thing, but they've changed engine characteristics for the gearing as well. So, like we said, it's got a 1442, but it comes with a 50 on the to put on the rear. Yeah, um, so yeah, it'll be quite interesting to see. That's a drastic change back to 1442.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

When Jez and I heard that, we're thinking like first gear will do 40ks an hour, which is just not what you're used to with these. So that'll be fun. We're gonna take this brocket with us. Where we're gonna go is this nasty valley. We're gonna take the bigger sprocket with us and see how much of a difference it makes. Um now the other thing that you mentioned was the at the back of the cylinder head, there is a little port that you've had the plug that comes with it. That whenever anyone buys this bike from a dealer, they're gonna notice that, so they're gonna see it. Can you give us an ex so people don't panic? Can you give us a brief explanation?

SPEAKER_02 3:50

It's for the um whatever the emissions they're gonna make to bring them over. So that there's another injector that normally was was in there, and that comes out, then we put the plug in and lock it off first thing.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

So okay. So you'll see, guys, when you buy one of these, there is a little uh space at the back of the cylinder head where uh an injector was that that will be blocked by your dealer. It's not in the gas gas. Funnily enough, that we've already tested, so it's just on this KDM model. Uh who knows? Maybe that's going to be space, some of the rumours around extra injection in that part of the motor later on down the track. We don't know. Uh I doubt it. But uh yeah, just when you'll see that, don't kind of get alarmed. That's now part of how they come. Uh, apart from that, that's the rear gearing. There's no new internal gearing. No. That's the same as it has been, it's just the rear gearing is different. Uh, Jez, have you ridden 300 EXE, the KDM?

SPEAKER_00 4:40

I know you've got it. Yeah, yeah. A couple of guys have got older ones in there, but nothing this new. So I think once again, it'd be great just to kind of figure it all out. I'm quite upset that we didn't keep the original exhaust that was on it. I think we should keep the original exhaust that comes on it. I think uh that's a bit heightening, but no, I'm excited to see it. I mean, it looks very similar to all the other ones and um has that same kind of design, that real flat seat so we can really move around. And um, yeah, I guess for an Enduro bike, that's exactly what you want. It seems to have the same kind of uh kind of orientation of all the other bikes that we can sit in and move the cockpit exactly the way I want. So, no, I'm excited to see what it's like.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Okay, that's it. Day done testing the KDM 300 DXC. This is 2026 model. Now, the uh thing that Jez and I are going to talk about the most because it stood out the most, and when we we heard from Mick Carusi, KDM's mechanic, about the spec of this rear sprocket, we immediately thought this will definitely not work. All we've done today is pretty much hard and duro stuff. We blasted up and down some of the paddocks to get a gauge on a bit of top speed as well. Like we said earlier, it's a 42-tooth rear, and I will go on the record to say I think that that works and probably works better for someone who is entry-level hard enduro and is gonna trail ride a lot of single track and want to do a little bit of hard enduro.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Would you agree? Yeah, 100%. Because we always send everyone in the opposite direction. You've got a you a bike comes out with a 48 or a 49, we say go to a 52. I've never said go to a 42. And I just found out for the 42, somehow it worked to use first gear.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Yeah, it's like auto.

SPEAKER_00 6:08

But but I I I wouldn't say to use it in like maybe an older bike. This bike I feel it works. I haven't tried it on an older bike, and I think I'm gonna go do that now anyway. Yeah, but this it just had as long as you were an aggressive at the start, yeah, you could pull all the way through and actually get a good amount of speed up a hill. And we found a lot of times the traction was so great because it had so much low-end torque with this rocket on. Man, I mean, I think there was one hill down there, once you got going, it just could go for days. It was awesome.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

Um, I think the key thing you just said then is it's got to be this model because we did have the My 25 in our shootout last year, and I feel like if I mean we didn't get to test it, but if you stuck a 42 on that, whatever they've done with the power distribution for 26, which is different, it works off the bottom with a 42. I'm not sure if previous models would work off the bottom with a 42.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Good try though.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

It could be it'd be good to have a go because it's it's the opposite of what everyone recommends, it just means you can carry first everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 7:06

And this is a 13 at the front.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

14. 14 at the front. 14 at the front. Um, so whereas the gas gas that we've tested is a 13 at the front. That's right. Uh, if you you you had a section, so we got to the end of this nasty kind of creek we follow through, then you've got a pivot wheelie around and go up this off-camber rocky section, and you were on this bike. And I'd just done it on the gas gas, and I thought to myself, this is the first time we've got to test this where it's gonna have to carry some momentum. And inside I was laughing, thinking this will be good, he's just gonna, it's just gonna bog out, it won't be able to do it. And I was eating my words because you made it smoother than I made it on the uh gasser with a different gearing. Yeah, once you got off, it just lugged and crawled on just a little bit of clutch, it never lifted the front wheel, and the rear wheel didn't go whoop and spin up.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

We we did that more on the last hill coming out of the valley. Uh we swapped back, and I was on the 300, and you got to ride this up the hill, and you get to really see this thing can lug, it just lugs great, it lugs long too, which I think is a bit different. On the um on the Gasser, it's just so aggressive, and obviously we're on different maps too, so we're gonna change that. But this here was just a bit was a great hill climb monster, nice and slow. Like I suppose on the bigger hills and all the top guys, they really want to ride something you know, fast, high speed. Um, this here, for all that really techie stuff, and for like silver bronze riders, yeah, fantastic. Gold they may change it a little bit more, but I think um if you're an entry rider or a weekend warrior or just someone who does some of the hard endure stuff, the way this is set up right now, phenomenal. Yeah, phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

I was following Jez up uh section at the end there where we've got kind of a steep hill and there are two logs stuck in it, and you kind of got to wheelie over them, and I watched you kind of into second and then back into first and then back into second, it kind of kind of spinning up, and I was able to carry first. And I you'd think with the 42 rear that I'd be clutching, clutching, clutching, but I wasn't really on the clutch much. They've done a really good job at getting that bottom end crawling torque uh pretty good on this bike. Okay, so we've established the the 42 Sprocket so now works. It works. The motor is improved over the previous mode life. I feel like it's got more torque, it's smoother. Also, I reckon I stalled once. I didn't stall as often as I thought I would.

SPEAKER_00 9:10

Yeah, I think at the start when I was learning how to ride it before we found out the aggressors, yeah, aggression is what you need. I was stalling a lot because it is quite low and the bottom end torque isn't right there. I mean, I suppose it could be, I mean, you could there's a lot of things you can do with these bikes nowadays, but for me it just was enough. And then when I found out it just had to be more aggressive than what I usually am. Oh man, absolutely. This thing could chug through, it picks the front wheel up, you can and it's the balance on the bike is really good, and it kind of when you really need to pivot turn it for like even a 180 nowadays on these bikes, this is so easy to get around. Yeah, I really do think this was a really well-balanced bike.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

It's we're incredibly well balanced. Um one my one thing we noticed. I was running through the creek actually getting some footage of Jez, and um this comes standard with the Maxis FIM tire. And boy, this I mean, if you're gonna go anywhere where there's water and rocks, yeah, uh, you're gonna want to swap that tire over. It's probably good in single track and on the road.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Yeah, maybe probably not even that.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Yeah, like I'm it's an FIM tire.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

It looks like a tire. I mean it does work, and I mean it's great. You can just go and blast it and wear it out, it's great. It just it did work in there, it just was a it was a bit more of a struggle than what you got to do on that. And then obviously they're running standard tubes too, so we couldn't go all the way down. So, I mean, as I said, it will get you through, but if you want it a bit more easier, yeah, go get a better tire.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

I know Grabbo uses that FIM rated tire for uh Fink. So that gives you an indication of how hard it is and how hard the carcass holds together. He runs that at Fink. So the Michelin tire that comes on the gas gas 300 GP is a six-day extreme, it's a far superior tire. Uh we talked about the balance, it's excellent, we talked about the gearing, the motor. Uh, fork, this is the firmer fork that turned up two years ago. Um we didn't really hit any braking bumps. We really weren't testing it at speed, we were just mainly doing what most people spend their time on on 300s up and down hills. I thought it was pretty good. We were dropping into holes for water, but you yeah, we haven't done enough, really. Yeah, it's not hard break, we didn't do any hard braking stuff.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

And like even like when you tried to ride the front wheel coming in here and try and get the back up, it was really hard to do endos and stuff on it because it it is really hard fork. I mean, once again, I think if you just had time with this bike, you could make this absolutely perfect, just the way it's set up, and um really out of the box, you could can't fault it. The exhaust is a bit softer.

SPEAKER_01 11:23

Yeah, okay, so as soon as we dropped into the creek first two minutes, um didn't even crash, it just kind of landed on a rock, and we did bend and fold the exhaust and then it popped off the manifold. Um, Jez was then able to use his superhuman strength to bend it back and then actually get it back onto the manifold with his hands, which I'm gonna do.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

It's not a good thing. It's probably soft. I've never done one before. I mean, obviously, with hard injury, you always smash these pipes up, and they can get dented. This is the first time I've ever hit it just enough to pop it out of the manifold, and that was weird in itself. Took it all off and you know, tried bashing it and getting it, it wouldn't work. So I managed just to pry it, and I don't know if that's good or not. That's definitely not my brag, but uh it managed to then full sit back in, so I'm not too sure what that is about. Yeah, but I mean we all we all run bash guards and plate bars and stuff like that, so really not a big issue.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Um yeah, that was weird, it was a little bit soft. Um handguards standard, I think the KDM, um, which nowadays is odd because it's a funny thing to say that most brands aren't bringing out induer bikes with handguards, that's kind of a nice uh appeal. It doesn't get the map switches that you get on the Husky. But no, I didn't think it needed a different map. I thought mapping was fine. When we had a gas gas here today with the map switch on, we got to the top, came back to Mick the mechanic, and he goes, Did you try all the different maps? And we went, Oh yeah. So you kind of like set and forget. Yeah, so we're gonna go and do more on the Gasser. Um uh, but apart from that, comfortable seat, everything else felt so neutral. Brakes, they're excellent on this bike. The husky gas gas KDM run different brake setups, uh, and these the they're running a Brembo on the KDMs now, then they were Bractech there for a while, and they had combinations of Bractech and Brembo. Love the brakes, I thought they worked really well, especially the front, solid.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

Oh, yeah. I think it's a it's a great Enduro bike. I think you could make it into an amazing hard Enduro bike. Um yeah, I don't see anything that sticks out though for the price. That's the only thing I'm I'm gonna say is that what it's just like 19,195 yeah, right away.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

That's that's K DM's right away price. It'll be different by states, you might get get it for 18 something in certain states.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

So like it's a great bike, it really is. And I think for what it is off out of the box, if you just go riding with your mains, and people who bleed orange anyway, they're always gonna take it no matter what. But I think out of the box for the money you get, it's it's it's good. It's just not phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

Um and I guess the cool thing for us to test with this 26 was that gearing, like we said, the gearing worked with the 42, and with the bike, you currently get this other sprocket, so you can stick a 51 on there if you think it needs it. So that's kind of cool. But we encourage you if you do get one of these 26s, just give it a run. Don't just change it straight away, try it with the 42. We actually were surprised that it worked. Um, all right, that's it for us. We're gonna go and do some more testing on the gas gas 300 GP and we're gonna uh test that bike. So make sure you tune in for that review uh for now. That's what we thought of the KDM 300 2026.