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PRO MACHINERY

It was a huge surprise this year when Taddyshowed up to race aboard a four-strokeKTM 350SX-F. He has been a two-stroke guysince exploding on the scene, winning theErzberg extreme enduro on a borrowed KTMyears ago. Because his two-stroke was a lotlighter than the 350, many thought Taddywould have a hard time adjusting to thethumper. He has proven that theory bunk bywinning every round of the EnduroCrossseries so far this year, including the X Games.He looks right at home on the bike, so here isa look at Taddy’s four-stroke race machine. The 350SX-F engine is prepped by the

factory; every part is matched, polished,perfected and massaged. The crank is care-fully balanced, and softer springs are usedin the clutch for a lighter pull at the lever.Taddy likes the power delivery to be verysmooth and super responsive, because hedoesn’t want it to explode out of his hands.Traction is king when riding technical terrain. The front forks are 52mm WP and out

back, working through the linkage, is a WPfactory shock. His suspension setup isEnduroCross-specific, with a light initial feelwith big resistance to bottoming. He likes tobe able to slam into logs without hitting thestops or getting bucked off the bike. The ini-tial plushness helps him float through therocks. Taddy uses Xtrig Factory tripleclamps, Renthal 996 bars and soft Renthalgrips. Taddy bends the ends of his brakeand clutch lever up and trims the bottomcorners of his handguards off. If laid on aflat surface, the end of the lever would beabout an inch higher. A factory machine is always adorned with

titanium, and Taddy’s 350SX-F is no excep-tion. Every nut and bolt is Ti to shavepoundage, and the subframe is also titani-um. The Akrapovic exhaust system is alsofull Ti, saving even more weight. �

Tires are a serious element when it comes tomaking an EnduroCross bike work properly.Taddy uses Metzeler 6 Days Extreme rubberwith modified Mousse foam inserts. TheMetzeler tires have very soft side walls, which isperfect for finding traction on rocks and logs. Acarbon skid plate and carbon front disc guardserve as added protection. An aluminum reardisc guard keeps the brake rotor from seriousharm. Brembo calipers provide big stoppingpower. Gearing on the 350 is 13/53.

A carbon fiberguard protects the

TPS unit on thethrottle body from

damage.

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DECEMBER 2011 / DIRT BIKE 63

The Akrapovic system is held inplace by carbon fiber straps.

Taddy likes his levers bent up at theends.

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