KTM Macina Action plus 27.5- new owner

NoDTMF

NoDTMF

Active Member
Hello All,

I bought a demo 2014 KTM Action Plus 27.5. It has about 250 miles on it. I bought it to commute roundtrip 15 miles. The commute is a mixed paved all the way to dirt trail. I'm in the Santa Cruz Mountains commuting to Los Gatos, California. Elevation change is around 750' some of it rather steep.

My serious riding days were in the 80's on a Miyata RidgeRunner for the oldies in this group.
I have put 45 miles on it since I got it. Barely use one "bar" on the battery for the roundtrip commute.

Very nice bike, since it is a hard tail, I am adding a Thrudbuster suspension seat post.

I'll post more if there is interest. I love this bike so far. Since it is from Europe, the top assist speed is about 16 mph, which for my purpose is okay....but it would be better if it wasn't limited.
 
Last edited:
Brambor said:
Cool. I didn't know KTM was available in the USA
Click to expand...
Yeah, I don't think they are available in the US yet. Motostrano in the Bay area brought it in, and as I mentioned, it was a demo bike. Since I ride a KTM EXC300, I was comfortable in going with this bike. No regrets. (BTW, Joe and Kenny ay Motostrano were very patient with me as I played around with numerous bikes, and I ended up going with Joe's recommendation. I had contacted them by email first, letting them know my goals, and they were ready for me:)
 
In the Bosch Forum I posted about keys for the battery lock, and the conversation took a turn. I needed up posting some info on my hardest ride to date with this bike, so since this is KTM forum here is an excerpt:

I live in the Santa Cruz mtns in California.
I rode Limerick trail to Priest Rock trail to Kennedy trail and stopped at a lookout at 2500 ft for those who know the area. I just found out it is referred to as Dog Meat as very few people can make it up due to how steep it is and how dusty. Total altitude climbed was just shy of 2000 feet in 47 minutes and about 3.6 miles. I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest a few times. I would have never gotten up there on a normal bike. I also came down very fast bouncing around all over.

The motor worked great, no chain rap, no chain slap, etc I have the active line, I assume the performance line would be awesome. I now have about 500 miles on the bike.

Well I hope it lasts, I find it works well (this is in reference to EddieJ constantly slamming Bosch motor design). Also I see people slamming the sample rate saying its over kill. When you ride this steep hills it seems to be helping very dynamically. I certainly rather error on the high side vs low side of sampling. (I am a computer scientist since the 80's, I will not get into an argument about sample rates)

Oh yeah, so total loop was 7 miles and I had 1/2 a battery charge left. I used Turbo mode quite often. However under range it said I had about 4 miles left on Sport mode. Seem like you always want to ride up, and when the battery gets really low..turn around.
 
Oh hi,

Haven't posted in a while. I finally crossed a 1000 miles. Been traveling so much haven't been able to ride to work as much as a thought I would (15 mile round trip).
Anyway, no problems. Still would like to upgrade motor to performance line, but no real need to, and Bosch still won't let me :-(

I did not get the seal update done yet, I haven't ridden in the rain either.

I have been getting a lot of flats, so I have changed tires to a heavier tire. I had Rocket Rons, went to these tires:
Continental Mountain King Wire Bead Mountain Bike Tire 27.5 x 2.4
They are thinker and wider...basically that is wide as I can go on this bike.

I plan on a chain and cassette replace, and probably do a brake fluid change-out.

If anyone is reading this...can you get KTM's in the US yet?



 
Thanks for the link!
I went to the Instagram site, seems to be Bicycles. I joined the group :) Then I started searching and oddly, I found where I bought mine from, they are advertising a few models. Link: http://www.motostrano.com/KTM-Electric-Bikes-s/8199.htm

I guess I should go visit them.

Instead of adding more power, I am now thinking of a gearing change, 40 or 42 tooth (currently i have 36t)...any thoughts out there? I believe that will get me up the hill until I lose traction.
 
I made the switch to an 11- 42 cassette a very long time ago, and I also run a 15 t on the front of the Performance Line powered KTM Lycan.

I spent far too much time in first gear when I ran the OE 36t set up, but oddly now that I have made the switch, I still spend most of time when climbing steep ascents, in the 36t sprocket!

I've probably only used the 42t a handful of times. Very odd.

Anyway, mine happens to be a Sunrace 11 - 42. As far as cassettes go, it seems to be wearing very well, and I've had zero issues with it.

cassette.JPG
 
EddieJ Thanks a lot for the info...I was just starting to research this. I see I can get that on Amazon :) Did you have to change the length of the chain?
 
Hope it's a great bike... Wasn't there a software plug for Bosch rigs that unlocks the speed limiter.
 
No change in chain length and the rear mech (derailleur) was still okay as well. Hopefully your one will be okay as well, but you might possible need a slightly longer 'b' screw on the derailleur if it sits too close to the first gear sprocket.

The Active line is a brilliant motor, and very frugal in respect of battery consumption. Hopefully this will get you sorted. :)
 
I love the bike (been riding KTM dirt bikes for years). I like the KTM philosophy, build what they are good at and then add quality aftermarket parts.

I agree with Eddie about the Active line...the range is killer. I ran my battery to "0" on a ride with total elevation of 3300 feet. I had to walk the bike up some of the hills, so I will get the new cassette and give it go. Yes I read something about the B-screw so I will have to watch for that.

About the speed limiter, it hasn't been a big concern for me, though at times I would like the cut-off to be higher. I was thinking of Performance Line for more power.
 
I'm not concerned about the speed aspect either. If I had wanted a motorcycle, I'd have bought one.

Just out of interest, what size front sprocket are you using?
 
> Just out of interest, what size front sprocket are you using?
15T

Today I bought a Praxis 11-40T because I could by it today:) Actually, Praxis is a Santa Cruz, Ca company, so I had to buy it (I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains). I wonder if I will be sad about 2 less teeth.
I will be putting on a new chain, front sprocket and the new cassette. I have a big long hill I'll try it out on.
 
Okay, put the 11-40T, new 15T front and a new KMC chain. I was surprised that my original chain had only 108 links. The front sprocket did not look that bad and chain stretch was .5 on the park tools gauge. So after a 1000 miles the drivetrain wear does not seem that bad. I do need new brake pads.

I went on the same hill climb trail as last year, basically 3000 feet of elevation in 1 1/2 hours. The 40T was noticeably better, I think it even helped my battery life. I got back with 2 bars. I need to look up my history from last year. The cassette shifting works well, but I think there is more noise. I had to adjust the derailleur and fortunately the b-screw was long enough.

I still got stuffed had to push the bike up a few times (thank God for the walk function). Not sure if Performance line would have help as some time I just lost track. However I did also get winded, maybe performance would have helped with that.

Summary: Thumbs up on the Praxis 11-40T, still wonder what it would be like to try on a Performance motor.

Here is an interactive map of the trail.

https://www.gaiagps.com/datasummary/track/fc9e97dad09f26cac1d586d1e3100489/#?slideshow=false
 
Good to hear that the chain of rear cassette has helped. :)

I could be wrong, but the actual climb elevation gain might only be approx 2,314'

According to the start of the blue line on the gps, the ride starts at 696' above sea level, and ends at 3,010' above sea level.
 
Well the absolute height is what you say but there are ups and downs along the route. Somewhere on that webpage is stats of total positive and negative elevation.

It's at the bottom of the page. Ascent was 2942, descent 2882
 
@EddieJ I see you use Strava to track your rides. It was fairly easy for me to import the Gaiagps into Strava. Interesting thing about Strava is it gives you the Grade at any given point. Unfortunately, it lost my waypoints, which indicate where I had to push the bike up, but that is probably obvious:)

https://www.strava.com/activities/596271115
 
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