TM has announced its 2017 line-up of bikes, which, if you include all of different displacements of mx, enduro, flat track, and supermoto models, is a whopping 39 different motorcycles. This is even more interesting when you consider that last year (2016) TM sold 1,380 units all models combined, with only about 10 percent being sold in the US. That is a total of 138 bikes in all of the United States. The only reason we point this out is that it illustrates how rare it is to see a TM out in the wild and in the pages of Dirt Rider. That being said, we are working on some plans for the near future so you might just see one of the new 300Fis here pretty soon.
In 2015 the four-strokes (250, 450, and 530) got a very unique chassis design that is akin to the layout of modern Yamahas. That is, the air box sits in front of the set where the gas tank usually resides, and the gas tank is under the seat where the air box is typically found. But, that is where the similarities stop. While Yamaha swapped the motor round so that the intake is in the front of the cylinder and the exhaust is in the back, the TM four-stroke design has the typical layout of air/gas entering the rear of the cylinder and the exhaust coming out the front. Also, on the TMs the gas tank is much farther back on the bike which puts the gas cap in the upper middle of the right number plate.
On to the newest bike, the 300Fi MX/EN. According to US TM rep Ralf Schmidt, unlike many 250/300 two-strokes where nearly everything is the same on bikes from the same brand, there are very few interchangeable parts from the TM 250Fi and 300Fi. He points this out to drive home the point that, sure, a 300cc bike isn’t much different size-wise than a 250, but TM set out to make a whole different machine than the 250, and 450 for that matter. The cases, transmission, and most of the engine is different. According to Schmidt, TM tested many engine sizes and found that a 300cc four-stroke (rather than the more popular 350cc size) worked best. Also, according to new rules for the FIM World Enduro Championship, the premier class (now called EnduroGP) includes all motorcycles 250cc to 450cc, thereby including the 300Fi.
The details on these bikes are a little hard to navigate because, in TM's defense, it isn't easy having 39 different models with their own specs. For more information you can go to tmracing-usa.com and there is a 2017 catalog that has the specifications for the bikes, yet it is all in metrics so it is a bit confusing.
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