KTM 250 TPI ISSUES & SOLUTIONS: MR. KNOW-IT-ALL

TELL ME WHAT TO DO!
Dear Mr. Know-It-All,
I have a 2020 KTM 250XC TPI.

• Love the handling and suspension.
• Only “like” the motor performance.
• Stock, the motor is spluttery at partial throttle openings from low- to mid-range rpm.
• Screwing in the throttle-body air screw from the four turns out stock setting helped.
• Based upon pipe spooge and blackish plug, the bike generally runs slightly rich.
• JD Jetting sells a piggyback tuner.
• Coober sells a replacement performance ECU.
• Two Stroke Performance (Australia) will re-flash the stock ECU.
• Slavens package is a GET ECU, new head and fuel-injector relocation to between the throttle body and crankcase.

As these TPI bikes are getting more common, could you please do a new article focusing on just engine mods?Maybe a comparison between the above-listed four different engine-mod approaches?
John Barnhart
via [email protected]

KTM 250s have always been a little soft and the TPI version is no different.  The common complaint is lack of low-end grunt which can be improved by increasing the compression and correcting the fueling. That issue is easily resolved with the Two Stroke Performance (twostrokeperformance.com.au/) or Slavens performance packs (wwwslavensracing.com).

Your complaints, sputtery low to mid performance and flat top-end, are fueling issues that can only be resolved with the ECU. First off, make sure that you have the latest settings on your ECU. Your dealer can help here. We have tested the GET ECU (slavensracing.com) with great results and we’ve heard the TSP (two stroke performance) reflash gives good results, but we have not tested it. We’ve tried getting the Coober ECU (cooberecu.com) for testing but haven’t been able to secure one.
We will put a 250 engine mods article in the queue for the future.