Even though it doesn’t make as much horsepower or torque as a cross-country model of the same displacement, the 450 XCF-W engine is still awesome for off-road.

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KTM’s 450 XCF-W stands on its own as the Austrian manufacturer’s only four-stroke enduro model, at least for 2023. It’s joined by two other headlight-equipped thumpers that aren’t street-legal for 2024—the 350 XW-F and 500 XW-F, but they’re tuned to be 50-state off-highway compliant. Unlike them and the 350 EXC-F and 500 EXC-F dual sports, the 450 XCF-W doesn’t have a carbon canister for the fuel system, sound-deadening reed system in the airbox, or choked-up muffler. It’s still KTM’s only competition-focused four-stroke enduro model in stock trim.

As a new model for 2023, this year marks the first time we’ve tested the 450 XCF-W and run it on our in-house Dynojet 250i rear-wheel dynamometer. With a Dunlop D404 street tire on the rear wheel, we documented 48.3 hp at 9,200 rpm and 31.9 lb.-ft. of torque at 7,400 rpm. Those aren’t the highest numbers we’ve seen from a 450 dirt bike, but the way the fuel-injected liquid-cooled SOHC four-stroke 450cc engine delivers that power is what’s so impressive. “The 450 XCF-W engine is simply magic, and does nothing wrong,” test rider Allan Brown said. “It builds power from the lowest rpm and never stops without ever being too much to handle.”

Full story here: https://www.dirtrider.com/tests/ktm-450-xcf-w-dyno-test-2023/

Video By: Bert Beltran

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