My 2008 KTM XC-W dirt bike

To get the most out of any review, you need to know something about the reviewer. If you’re a beginner looking for feedback on a bike, it will do you no good if the review is written by a AA rider, and vice versa. It also helps if you know the type of terrain the bike is ridden on. A trail bike that works for the snarly single track of the northeast will not work as well in the wide open deserts of the west.

I'm a 53 year old female, not competitive, but an assertive and capable rider. The bike is ridden in the northeast, primarily on a small five acre homemade woods track, with occasional trips to larger acreage with considerably rougher terrain. Always off-road, never motocross. Being a mechanically challenged individual, I won’t be able to comment on the Keihlin carb, PDS geometry, or Brembo pistons. All I can tell you is that the bikes accelerates smoothly and powerfully, stops as soon as I tell it to, and handles obstacles with gentlemanly aplomb. It scoffs at every hill it has climbed and has never left me stranded in the woods. It is the most reliable and confidence-inspiring dirt bike I have ever owned.

The KTM XC-W 250 is a potent weapon in the hands of an accomplished professional, but its controllable power makes it a joy for those who, like me, prefer a less aggressive pace (not every rider has the need to rearrange every dirt molecule on the trail). The XC-W may not be the best choice for an absolute beginner, but I can’t think on many dirt bikes that will please such a wide spectrum of riders. Two stroke potency combined with four stroke controllability. What more could a rider ask for?

A Random Musing

So I was at the doctor's office the other day, and in the waiting room is a huge fish tank. Like six feet long, by three feet high, by two feet wide huge. As I waited, (and waited, and waited, and waited) for the nurse to call me inside, I watched the fish in the tank. At first it looked like the silver ones swam with the silver ones and the long skinny ones swam with other long skinny ones, but then they'd switch direction and seem to swim at random. It was much more interesting than watching the television.

I wondered if they conversed in some aqua language. Were they happy? Do the guppies fight with the other little fish? Did they know they were swimming in circles or did they think they were in the coral reef? Did they care? Was a clean home and free food sufficient? My guess is, yes, they're happy. They weren't given the blessing/curse of higher intelligence, and since they know nothing else, they have nothing to compare their existence to, nor would their tiny fish brain register those thoughts.

Humans on the other hand, have many other experiences to compare their lives to, and that can be an endless life-journey to "discover" happiness. It's our nature to want more, to better our lives and the lives of our family, but that endless searching can wear a person down. When is enough enough? I have no answer for that. I just know I'd rather be a free and frustrated human rather than a clean and well-fed fish.