250 EXC CHAMPION EDITION (MY2025)

The Champion Edition is a limited run built around KTM's competition two-stroke, and the parts list reads like a race entry. A 249 cc single with throttle body injection sits in a chromoly chassis, making 51 hp and 32 lb-ft through a 6-speed gearbox. A 48 mm upside-down WP fork works the front with 11.8 in (300 mm) of travel, a WP shock the rear with 12.2 in (310 mm), both adjustable without tools. Brembo handles the hydraulic clutch and brakes, a Map Select switch offers two ignition maps, and the skid plate and radiator fan are factory fitment. Red Bull Factory Racing graphics and the orange frame come straight off the podium.

This is a genuine technical-terrain machine, tuned for traction and drive rather than a headline power figure. The fueling is smooth and linear where it matters, low in the rev range, so it climbs and picks its way through rock instead of spitting you off the line. Suspension travel is deep front and rear, ground clearance is 13.7 in (347 mm), and the whole thing is built to be crashed, cleaned and ridden again. The caveat is honest: a 37.8 in (960 mm) seat and 2.4 gal (9 L) of fuel mean this bike asks something of you before it gives anything back.