MXA RETRO TEST: WE RIDE JOHN DOWD’S 2001 KTM 520SX

We get misty-eyed sometimes thinking about past bikes we loved and those that should remain forgotten. We take you on a trip down memory lane with bike tests that got filed away and disregarded in the MXA archives. We reminisce on a piece of moto history that has been resurrected. Here is our test of John Dowd’s 2001 KTM 520SX. 

When John Dowd lost his Kawasaki factory ride at the end of the 2000 season, it looked like we might have seen the last of John. John had several strikes against him. He was old. He was injured. And, he had been let go. It was not the way that thousands of race fans wanted their hero to go out. But, without sponsors or a team, the only way Dowd could go back on the Nationals was in the Hotel Dodge—and that was unlikely because the then-35-year-old wasn’t a kid looking for road-trip adventures. He was a married man with two kids. John Dowd didn’t have the right stuff for the privateer lifestyle—at least not at his geriatric age.

A TEAM MOLDS ITSELF 

Luckily for John Dowd, New England racers are a tight-knit family and like to help each other out. The man who came to Dowd’s rescue was John Franco. Franco had been a successful racer back in the ’80s, qualifying for a few outdoor Nationals. Franco brought money to the table, money from his successful custom home-building business. He also brought enthusiasm, business savvy and the belief that motocross is on the verge of gaining commercial acceptance in the form of outside sponsors. Along with partner Al Cordner, John Franco began the search for those ever-elusive outside sponsors. 

At one point Franco had Mobil One on the line, but at the last second they slipped the hook. Left without a big-name sponsor, the New Englanders went looking inwards for sponsors. They came up with PCWorldwide.com (a company that refurbishes and recycles computers for Fortune 500 companies) and Ken Kaplan computers. What’s the New England connection? Ken Kaplan owns both businesses and is an old racer from New England. His dot.com business signed on the dotted line to sponsor Dowd. John Dowd’s other big sponsor is Cernic’s. One of the biggest dealerships in the nation, Cernic’s decided Dowd’s team was the perfect vehicle to get their dealership and internet connection nationwide publicity. 

MAKING THE CHOICE 

Why start the team with a guy Kawasaki and Yamaha thought was past his prime? Fan appeal. Franco, Kaplan and Cernic believe in John Dowd and, even more, they believe that he has a wide base of fans who want to see him succeed. Combine that with the Vet market, the New England market and the four-stroke market, and the fan base is full of people who would actually go out and buy product.

GOING FOR THE EURO CONNECTION 

Long before Franco joined the picture, John Dowd had made up his mind that he was going to ride a KTM 520SX for the 2001 season. Dowd’s initial experiences with KTM bikes were through Dan Salomone, KTM’s Northeast sales rep. Dan allowed John to ride his demo bikes. John liked them, and the gears were set in motion. 

You would think that being KTM’s only presence in the premier class John would get full factory support. Wrong! Dowd was lucky to get a bikes-and-parts deal. Anything beyond that was gravy. Why? KTM had spent every cent they had hiring Grant Langston, Brock Sellards, David Pingree and Kelly Smith. They had little or nothing to offer. As time passed, KTM hooked Dowd up with a couple of sets of suspension from last year’s works bikes, but instead of having KTM do the suspension settings, John worked with Factory Connection.

THE BIG SURPRISE OF THE YEAR 

When the MXA wrecking crew dove into John Dowd’s KTM 520SX engine, we were surprised to discover that it was bone stock. Mechanic Ron Bushey adjusted the valves (to stock spec), and that’s it. It boggles the mind to think that Dowdy has holeshot so many Nationals this year aboard a showroom-stock 520SX (with stock gearing). The only thing changed on Dowd’s engine package was the exhaust pipe. John runs a Big Gun exhaust system. It looks like a privateer’s best defense against works bikes is cubic centimeters. 

A close look at Dowd’s bike will reveal lots of other trick parts, including Talon wheels, Braking oversize rotors, Pro Circuit titanium footpegs, Acerbis plastic, Dunlop tires, Factory R&D triple clamps, Renthal Fatbars and a GPR steering damper. If John has an aftermarket part on the bike, it’s because it improves the performance. Nothing is for show.

THE MXA TEST RIDE 

Riding John Dowd’s KTM 520SX down a long straightaway is the equivalent of driving John Force’s Funny Car down Pomona’s drag strip. As with any stock 520SX, the power is smooth, broad and long. All it takes is the intestinal fortitude to leave it on. 

Dowd obviously isn’t short on nerve. He starts in second gear and leaves it there while other riders are busy shifting to third. Then he shifts into third just as other riders are thinking about shifting into fourth. Time is slowed down on Dowd’s start. He isn’t rushing around. He is barely shifting. He is waiting for the right time to go to fourth. Once in fourth, he waits until everybody else shuts off, and then uses the thumper’s decompression braking to back the orange bike in. It’s amazing to watch. 

The beauty of Dowd’s 520SX is that you can ride it two ways. If you want the ultimate thrust, as well as arm extension therapy, you can do the turns in second gear and dump the clutch. Lots of luck hanging on! The other choice is to run the bike in third and use the torque of the engine to get it out of turns. We prefer the second choice, and so does Dowd. Paradoxically, Dowd discovered that he liked to torque the bike more than hammer it after a collision with Mike LaRocco broke his clutch lever off on the first lap of the second moto at Unadilla. This forced John to ride it like a four-stroke instead of an overgrown two-stroke. Since then, he rides it on the torque curve. 

ABSORBING ALL THE NUANCES

Before we even noticed the suspension on Dowd’s bike, we caught a glimpse of the GPR steering stabilizer and Factory R&D triple clamps. Dowd runs 18mm offset triple clamps (instead of the stock 20mm units) to improve cornering, while the steering stabilizer cuts down on head-shake. At the speeds John travels, we don’t blame him. The MXA test crew has lots of experience with the 18mm triple clamp offset (in fact, we prefer 16mm offset) and, in our opinion, that is the only way to get the KTM to hog the inside line. 

When it comes to the suspension components on Dowd’s bike, his 48mm works WP forks (with external compression, rebound and preload adjustments) are copies of what the 2002 models will come with stock. Dowd’s special WP shock, with high- and low-speed compression, is also standard issue for ’02. 

The MXA test crew never knows what to expect from a Pro’s suspension (although we have ridden several of John Dowd’s works bikes before). Some factory riders run their suspension so stiff that the bike is unrideable by mere mortals, while others run low-rider rear ends that hang down (most notably Jeremy McGrath). Dowd admits to having run the gamut. Lucky for us, Dowd’s KTM was on the plush side. Little bumps were absorbed without mid-stroke harshness, while hard flat landings didn’t send a metal clank ringing out the top of the forks. For our tastes, the shock had too little rebound damping, but Dowd likes the rear to be lively rather than dead.

MXA’S PARTING SHOTS 

John Dowd is part of the new wave of four-stroke privateers who are driving the factory teams crazy. In the hands of veterans like John Dowd, Larry Ward, Damon Huffman and Keith Johnson, the broad powerband of the four-stroke is as close as they can get to factory power. 

John Dowd couldn’t have picked a better bike to compete in the Nationals. It has more power than almost every works bike out there, and it is built by a company that will give Dowd more help in the future. What other bone-stock bike could make it to the podium of a 250 National?