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KTM Sportmotorcycle AG is an Austrian motorcycle, bicycle and moped manufacturer. The company was founded in 1934 by engineer Hans Trunkenpolz ^[1] in Mattighofen. It started out as a metal working shop and was named Kraftfahrzeuge Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. In 1954 KTM began producing motorcycles.

KTM is most commonly known for its off road motorcycles though in recent years it has expanded into street motorcycle production.

History[link]

KTM Duke 620, KTM's first stock supermoto bike.^[2][3]

KTM 990 SuperDuke, Circuit Carole

KTM 690 Duke Orange

The company was founded in 1934 by engineer Hans Trunkenpolz ^[1] in Mattighofen. It started out as a metalworking shop and was named Kraftfahrzeug Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. It wasn't until 1953 that KTM began production of motorcycles. With just 20 employees, motorcycles were built at the rate of three per day. In 1955, a businessman Ernst Kronreif became shareholder of the company, on acquiring a sizable portion of the company. It was then renamed Kronreif & Trunkenpolz Mattighofen. Hans Trunkenpolz died in 1962 of a heart attack with his son Erich taking his place in the company.^[4] During these early years of motorcycle production at KTM, almost all components for the motorcycles were built in-house by KTM.

Design[link]

Since 1990, KTM motorcycles and automobiles (X-Bow) have been designed by KiskaDesign, a Salzburg-based design firm. It is responsible for the overall branding for KTM; including the design of the vehicles, shops, exhibits and printed material.

Financial structure[link]

In 1992 the company became insolvent and was divided into three companies:

• KTM Sportmotorcycles GmbH, was renamed 1994 to KTM Sportmotorcycles AG
• KTM Fahrrad GmbH (Bicycles)
• KTM Kühler GmbH (Radiators)

In the fiscal or business year ending in 2005, KTM Sportmotocycles AG delivered 80,000 motorcycles worldwide and began a partnership with Polaris Industries. Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will help one another to extend their brands into the other's home market, KTM extending their reach into North America, and Polaris extending into Europe. This partnership is a two year trial arrangement, at the end of which both parties are giving the option of merging the two companies into one. In 2006, KTM announced that the partnership with Polaris had been ended early, and would instead only supply their 450 cc and 510 cc RFS engines to the ATV manufacturer.

In November 2007, Indian two-wheeler manufacturer Bajaj Auto acquired 14.5% stake in KTM Power Sports AG (parent company of KTM Sportmotorcycles AG). The two companies have signed a cooperation deal, by which KTM will provide the know-how for joint development of the water-cooled 4-stroke 125 cc and 250 cc engines, and Bajaj will take over the distribution of KTM products in India and some other Southeast Asian nations. In December 2007, Bajaj increased their stake to more than 20%. Bajaj increased its share to 38.09% in November 2010.^[5] As of March 2012^[update] Bajaj Auto holds a 47% stake.^[6][7]

The Swedish motorcycle company Husaberg AB and Dutch WP Suspension are now subsidiaries of the KTM Group.

Racing sponsorship[link]

Mika Kallio's 125 cc road race motorcycle.

Samuli Aro's WEC E2 class bike

KTM began in motorsports with Motocross Racing. In the last few years KTM has gained more success in motorsports by dominating rally-raid events such as the Paris-Dakar Rally and the Atlas-Rally. In 2003, KTM started sponsoring and supporting Road racing in various capacities, with the most successful results stemming from their Supermotard or Supermoto efforts. KTM's new road racing focus will soon grow to include Superbike competition with the help of their newly developed V-Twin engine dubbed the LC8 as employed in the 950 Adventure dual-sport motorcycle, and more specifically the 2005/2006 990 Super Duke followed by the superbike contender known as the 1190 RC8. The Super Duke will have a higher output, second generation version of the LC8 engine, geared for high rpm peak power as required in road racing and superstreet applications while the RC8 will sport a 1,190 cc version of the LC8 for more midrange.

KTM offers a range of different engines for its larger motorcycles, all liquid-cooled.

KTM's official company/team colours are Orange, Black and Silver. To create a strong brand identity, all competition-ready KTMs come from the factory with bright orange plastic with "KTM" emblazoned on the side of the radiator shrouds. All KTM bikes also come from the factory with a Motorex sticker on the outside of the motor. All first fills of oil come from Motorex as well. Some official KTM teams use different colors for their bikes, most noticeably in the Dakar Rally.

Off-road motorcycles[link]

KTM 640 Adventure

A KTM Supermoto bike

The term off-road refers to a driving surface that is not conventionally paved. This is a rough surface, often created naturally, such as sand, gravel, a river, mud or snow. This type of terrain can sometimes only be travelled on with vehicles designed for off-road driving (such as SUVs, ATVs, snowmobiles or mountain bikes) or vehicles that have off-road equipment. KTM manufactures vehicles for these environments.

Motocross - The 2010 SX line includes 65, 85, 105, 150 and 250 cc two-stroke models, and 250, 350, 450 four-stroke models. In 2005 KTM released the new 250SX-F to the general public. For the 2007 model-year, all of KTM's four-stroke SX motors were re-designed similarly to the 250 SX-F, in a dual-overhead cam 4-valve line dubbed the "RC4". The SX-F's are KTM's new racing motocross range introduced in 2007.

KTM now produce a 150SX (144 cc), which was developed to take advantage of AMA (American Motorcyclist Association) rule changes in the amateur classes.

Cross-Country The XC line includes 150, 250 and 300 two-strokes, and 250, 450, and 525 four-stroke models. The XC line updates and replaces their old MXC bikes. They feature a close-ratio gearbox, stiffer suspensions, and the four-strokes have a shorter-stroke design, mimicking their SX line. In 2007, they introduced the 250XC-F which is based on the 2006 SX model.

KTM's XC-W offroad bikes are 200, 250 and 300 two-strokes, and 250, 450 and 530 (actually 510 cc) four-strokes. They feature plusher suspension and a wider-ratio transmission than their XC line counterparts. The XC-W replaced their old EXC two-strokes, a move the company made in order to comply with EPA restrictions in the United States. Two-strokes are still designated as EXCs in Europe markets.

Enduro The 2009 EXC line consists of 250, 450, 530 (actually 510 cc) four-strokes, and 125, 200, 250 and 300 cc two strokes. The EXC line has been a long-time favourite for Enduro market, and outsell other larger-volume brands to Enduro racers. The RFS motor (2000–2007) was replaced with the XC4 motor for the 2008 model year.

Super Enduro consist of 690 cc and 950 cc machines, mix between an enduro and a trail bike

Supermoto KTM produces several supermoto race bikes with displacements ranging from 450 (a supermoto version of the 450sx-f) to 690 cc. They also make four non race-oriented models in 625, 654, 950 and 990 cc displacements. KTM was the first manufacturer to offer a competition-ready Supermoto bike to the public, and their sponsored racers currently sit atop the US Supermoto racing circuit. The new LC8 SuperMoto 950 has received rave reviews from all the bike magazines and newspapers in the United Kingdom.

Dual-sport Adventure bikes offered with both the LC4 Engine (Adventure 640, 640R) and the LC8 Engine (Adventure 950, 950S, 990), the 640R is the base of the Rally 660 which has won many Dakar Rallies.

KTM two-stroke development[link]

Since the major rule changes in Motocross to make 4-stroke bikes more competitive in motocross and being given a 125 cc 2-stroke to 250 cc 4-stroke advantage the cheaper, simpler 2-stroke bikes have been dying out.

Since other manufacturers have decided to discontinue their 2-stroke models, KTM has continued with creating and improving their 2-stroke models and taking up a very high proportion of the 2-stroke bike market.

KTM has also created a new 2-stroke MX bike with 144 cc to comply with the 2008 AMA motocross class changes. This change has been made to bring back the 2-stroke bikes to encourage more entry to the market as the 2-stroke bikes are cheaper to maintain and repair than the expensive 4-stroke bikes.

Environmental agencies have tried to remove 2-stroke machines because they produce more pollution than 4-strokes. However with newer advances in technology 2-strokes have begun to burn cleaner and pass stricter green standards.

In recent interviews KTM has revealed that they will continue to produce and improve 2-stroke bikes and have already begun looking at DFI (Direct Fuel Injection).^{[citation needed]} A DFI fuel induction system injects fuel at high pressure, over 100 bars (1,500 psi) into the combustion chamber, after the piston has closed the exhaust port. This eliminates almost any unburnt fuel escaping the combustion process and entering the atmosphere.

In 2011 KTM changed the look of their two-strokes, and in 2012 they re-introduced linkage suspension (KTM dropped linkage suspension in favor of their PDS system in 1998), on the SX and XC models.

X-Bow[link]

Beginning in 2006, KTM has begun the development with a lightweight street legal (Europe) car known as the X-Bow.^[8] It will use an Audi engine and a Dallara sourced chassis. This new car will seat two people.

• start of production July 2008. Delivery of the Dallara Edition (100) cars starts in August 2008.
• weight: 790 kg
• length: approximately 3.6 m
• engine: 1,998 cc, 237 hp (240 PS, 176 kW), 310 NM (229 ft-lbs) (Audi 2.0 TFSI); Topversion 300 hp
• 6-speed gearbox
• price: about 45,000 Euro^[9][10]

Joint ventures[link]

In January 2008, Bajaj announced that it would jointly develop two new 125 cc and 200 cc bikes for Europe and the Far East. The bikes would be badged 'KTM'.^[11]

In January 2012, Bajaj launched the Duke 200 model in India.^[12].

KTM models[link]

Motorcycles manufactured by KTM include:

• 50 SX Mini
• 65 SX
• 450 EXC
• 690 Enduro, 690 Enduro R
• 950 Adventure, 950 Adventure S
• 990 Adventure, 990 Adventure S, 990 Adventure R
• 1190 RC8
• 990 Adventure, 1500 Adventure Zebra, 1500 Adventure Zebra

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: KTM motorcycles

• International website
• KTM Bicycles
• KTM Car Company

Coma running in the Dakar Rally 2010, near Copiapó.

Marc Coma i Camps (b. 7 October 1976 in Avià, Barcelona, Spain) is a rally racing motorcycle rider. He won the Dakar Rally in 2006, 2009 and 2011 riding a KTM motorcycle. He is also the World Champion in the Rallies Cross Country Motorcycles Tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Honours[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marc Coma

• Official website (Catalan) (Spanish) (English)

This biographical article related to Spanish sports is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This biographical article relating to motorcycle sport is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Toby Price is an Australian motocross racer. He lives in Singleton, New South Wales and rides for the Motorex KTM Shift Off-Road Racing Team.^[1]

Amateur career[link]

Raised in a family that loves motorsports, he started riding motorbikes aged 2 years^[2] and started winning races at four.^[3] His father John Price is a former off-road buggy Australian champion.^[3] As a junior, living in Roto and then Hillston, NSW, Price regularly won NSW and Australian junior titles from around 1994 to 2003.^{[citation needed]}

In 2003, Price won both of the two top divisions in the Australian Junior Motocross Championships, the 15 Years 125cc class and the 13–16 years 250cc 4-stroke,^[4] 12 weeks after breaking both wrists in a training accident.

Australian career[link]

2004-2008[link]

Price began his professional career in Australia in 2004, aged 16.^{[citation needed]} After winning two Australian junior titles in 2003 he was signed by Kawasaki Australia. Injuries kept him from competing for much of this time.^{[citation needed]}

2009[link]

Price, riding for Kawasaki, won the Australian Off-Road Championship in his first year of competition. He was awarded Australian Dirt Bike Magazine Rookie of the Year.^[5]

Chosen to ride for Australia in the 2009 Enduro in Portugal, Price was the fastest under 23 years rider and placed 14th in the world.^[3]

2010[link]

Riding for KTM, Price won pretty much all the major Australian Off-Road titles of 2010; AORC, Finke (on 1st attempt), Hattah (on 1st attempt), A4DE.^[6]

2011[link]

Except for a fuel mishap in round 1 of the 2011 AORC, and a mechanical failure in the Finke Desert Race, Price has again won all major off-road races in Australia so far. He won rounds 2, 3 and 4 of the AORC,^[7] Hattah and the A4DE.^[8] A mid-season injury put him out of the AORC title chase, leaving him in ninth overall.^[9]

Selected in the Australian team to compete in the 2011 International Six Days Enduro competition in Finland from 8 to 13 August, coming 4th in the E2 class of the ISDE and 8th overall, making him the highest finishing Australian.^[10]

2012[link]

First place Pro Class Melbourne Enduro-X^[11]

Sponsorships[link]

^[1]

• Lancaster Hyundai, CTI2, Go Pro cameras, Ogio, Spy, GT Bikes, Endurra, Rampant clothing
• KTM (2009–present), Kawasaki (2003–2009)
• Fox Racing, Shift, Alpinestars, Pro Circuit, Bel-ray Oils

Major titles[link]

^[1]

• 2009 Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC)
• 2010 Australian Off-Road Championship (AORC)
• 2010 Finke Desert Race
• 2010 Hattah Desert Race
• 2010 Australian 4 Day Enduro (A4DE)
• 2011 Hattah Desert Race
• 2011 Australian 4 Day Enduro (A4DE)

References[link]