And it looks like pretty serious off-road business at Motorcyclist.
Look at those sexy radial mounted front calipers! Should be about 110HP... eagerly awaiting the wet weight.
And it looks like pretty serious off-road business at Motorcyclist.
Look at those sexy radial mounted front calipers! Should be about 110HP... eagerly awaiting the wet weight.
Yeah, I am stoked. I hope it is as good as the last one.
Very interesting. I was just looking at GSAs (thanks to you GPS) and KTMs ... This might be worth the wait.
Took them long enough!
Slippery wrote: Very interesting. I was just looking at GSAs (thanks to you GPS) and KTMs ... This might be worth the wait.
Well, don't discount the fat GSAs and Orange Crush too quickly... you can buy them used for well under 10k... you ain't getting one of these things for less than a new Super Tenere.
I did 200 miles of mixed dirt roads, muddy two track and a mess of twisty asphalt with the luggage still on at ridiculous speeds on the GSA today. Like 45-50 in grass centered two track fast. It's really brilliant once you get over the fact that it's "different". Honda has some big shoes to fill if they want to steal the "does everything really well" market but I'm rooting for them anyway. I think, though, that the AT looks more like a big dirt bike than a super tourer that happens to do dirt ok.
blah, blah, blah.... I'm so going to test ride one of these ASAP.
I'm still waiting for a 350lb adventure bike with a 600-700cc twin making 75hp, good range, nice fairing and windshield.
Nobody has made anything that remotely can replace my KTM 640 Adventure and that bike is almost 10 years old.
In reply to docwyte:
Agreed... the Wee Strom, KLR, DR, Tiger and F650GS all would be players on power but the weight is almost the same as the liter bikes.
The KTM 690 Enduro R is still playing at 350 wet though according to google. I did not know that.
Yeah the KTM 690 is the 640 replacement. I just want electric start on my 2007 XR650R and I'll be totally happy.
The KLR makes 38hp, the DR not a whole lot more and the F650 T\thumper makes 45ish hp. That's nowhere in the same league as 75hp and the KLR and F650 weigh closer to 425lbs.
Everyone loves the KLR, but it's a total POS. It's really heavy, makes no power and has crap for suspension. The BMW is a nice bike, but doesn't have the greatest suspension, doesn't make a ton of power and is too heavy for what it is. I've never really paid too much attention to the DR, so don't know alot about them.
The Weestrom and Tiger don't have the offroad chops that my KTM has, although they're FAR superior on road than my bike.
While KTM markets the 690 as the 640 replacement, it's not. If they made a 690 adventure, then it'd replace the 640 adventure. As of now, the 690 Enduro replaces the 640 Enduro.
I like the motor in the 690, not as vibey and it makes around 71hp. The weight is where I'd like it to be too, it just needs a larger range, fairing and windshield to make it a proper adventure bike.
Aside from the expense of having to mod up a new bike... a quick trip to google found this Adventurizing the KTM 690 enduro R
The Rally Raid tank and extra guards would add weight and significant cost above the bike but... I think you would be in the 375lb range before adding the extra fuel. Not shabby.
There are several options to add tanks/fairings to the 690, but they're all wickedly expensive. The Rally Raid Evo 2 kit is $3000. The Basel Quest kit is $6000.
What I dislike about both those kits is the fairings are made out of fiberglass. That's no good for me, I know I'm going to crash off road and then the fairing will get cracked and damaged.
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