On The Pegs Vol . 3 Issue 1 - January 2018 P 85
On The Pegs Vol . 3 Issue 1 - January 2018 P 85
STEWARD BAYLOR ’ S
KTM 350 XC-F
Steward Baylor won the Kenda AMA National Enduro title and the Kenda Full Gas Sprint Enduro title on a KTM 350 XCF . We talked to Stew ’ s mechanic , Allen Gravitt , to get the scoop on his championship winning bike . Here ’ s Allen ’ s rundown of the bike :
The suspension is done by Coppersmith out of Ohio . At the Enduros Steward likes the closed-cartridge forks , and at the GNCC ’ s he runs the cone valves . The cone valves are a little bit stiffer , and he likes the feel of the closedcartridge forks in the Enduro type stuff because they ’ ve got a little bit more plushness right at the top of the stroke . For National Enduro it ’ s really stiff , but for his weight and ability it ’ s kind of soft at the very beginning , but then it firms up real quick . I ’ ve never seen him really bottom it hard . He ’ s never had knobby tire marks under the rear fender or any of that stuff . The shock , we had to have some springs special-made because with his weight and his ability he was right between two springs . So , instead of running the stock 50 or going up to a 54 we had some 53 ’ s made , and that ’ s what he seems to prefer on the enduro bike .
The Enduro motor is tuned by Factory Services to have a little bit more bottom , where the GNCC motor has more top-end , over-rev stuff . The guys in Factory Services , they know whose motor it is they are working on , so they have specs for every person ’ s motor and they pull the sheet out . Okay , this one gets built this way .
He ’ s running the KTM hard parts triple clamps , with stock 22mm off-set , right out of the KTM hard parts book .
He uses Flex bars with G2 throttle cam and tube , and G2 hand guards . He ’ s been known to get a little whiskey throttle every now and then , so I leave a little play in the throttle .
He ’ s kind of picky about lever placement , especially with the problems that he ’ s had with his wrist . The brake lever and the clutch lever have to be in exactly the right spot .