ASK THE MXPERTS: IS MXA GOING TO PUT THE KTM 350SXF IN THE 2020 450 SHOOTOUT?

MXA doesn’t put the 350SXF in the 450 Shootout because it’s not a 450. Plus, at six bikes it is already pretty packed and having to add the Husky FC350 and KTM 350 SXF would make it gigantic.

WE HAVE OUR REASONS

Dear MXA,

Is MXA going to include the 2020 KTM 350SXF in the “2020 450 Shootout”? You didn’t do it in 2018 or 2019.

The most obvious reason that the KTM 350SXF isn’t in the 450 shootout is that a 350 does not fit the requirements of “MXA’s 450 Shootout,” namely it isn’t a 450. Plus, after including it for several years after it was first introduced in 2011, we noted that it always finished fifth or sixth overall, largely because it gives up 10 horsepower in the midrange to a 450. We are willing to admit that the 350SXF would win “MXA’s 350 Shootout,” because we did a 2018 KTM 350 versus Husqvarna FC350 shootout in the January 2018 issue, but we felt that riders in the market for a new 450 would benefit from a pure comparison between the six available 450cc bikes, not six 450s and their two little brothers.