R&d, Ktm-Style
R&D, KTM-style
There's a half-truth lurking in the back of almost every American motorcyclist's mind, a scenario entitled Where Motorcycles Really Come From. The image is of massive Japanese board meetings and monstrous R&D departments with legions of engineers bent over their drafting tables.
While that image. no doubt, has some elements of accuracy. there's another side to the story: one that consists of more humble beginnings. For example. small parts ofAmeri ca's motorcycling future are being constructed right now in the village of Mottighofan. Austria-right down the street from the town church and about 20 miles from the local schnapps distillery-in the smallish R&D department at KTM.>
One particular chunk of MX fu ture is the KTM 8OMX, a prototype motorcycle that eventually will mark Europe's first venture into a market that previously was the sole property of the Japanese. This isn't a committee-made motorcycle, but rather the product of a few Austrian engineers, most notably engine de signer Sigi Stuhlberger. Stuhiberger's primary target is the Kawasaki KX8O, currently the leader in the mini class. Even though the KTM 80 still is in the early prototype stage. it already is said to top the KX engine in power output. with 20 horsepower delivered to the counter shaft sprocket.
In some ways, though, KTM is shooting at goals even higher than Kawasaki's. For one, the 8OMX is said to have a smaller, lighter engine than the KX. And, while nothing is yet finalized, the KTM will likely have a White Power upside-down fork handling the front suspension chores. The target price for the ma chine is in the $ 1200 bracket-about $200 more than its Japanese counterparts.
The8 isn't the only iron in KTM's R&D fire, either. A project that's even more ambitious is the LC-4, an ultra-lightweight 496cc four-stroke Single. Currently, the prototype engine weighs about 70.5 pounds, but the ultimate goal for the production motor is 65 pounds. To put the number in perspective, the Rotax engine currently used by KTM weighs just over 90 pounds. The Husqvarna 5 1OTE engine, cur rently the lightest Open-class thumper powerplant available, weighs 78 pounds. If KTM meets its goal. it's conceivable that the fin ished motorcycle could be in the 230-pound range-that's lighter than KTM's Open-class two-stroke ofjust three years ago.
KTM is u~ng several tricks to keep the weight down on the LC-4. One is the Nikasil cylinder. The wet sump motor uses no counterbal ancer, but unlike Husqvarna, KTM is employing an oil pump. For that matter. the engine also has a water pump because it is, of course, liquid cooled. Performance-wise, the KTM thumper is expected to pump out 48to 50 horsepower at 8000 rpm.
Progress. however, is slow with the thumper. Don't expect to see it hit this country until late 1986. Jo sefHattinger. the engineer charged with the LC-4, also is responsible for the 500cc two-stroke engine. "The two-stroke is my job," he says. "This is my hobby."
So when you next conjure the Where-Motorcycles-Come-From im age. you can't get a complete picture unless you balance the visions of monolithic Japanese research facil ities with those of tiny rooms in obscure corners of the world. And keep in mind that the corporate search for profit doesn't have to hold any greater motivation than one man pursuing his hobby.
