I've been thinking about a 690 SMC - would the 790 likely be coming out in SMC variant?
I've been thinking about a 690 SMC - would the 790 likely be coming out in SMC variant?
I took one out for a test ride the other day. Had it for about 45 mins and these were my overall first impressions.
Immediate first thoughts pulling out of the dealer was that it felt very natural to me with a surprisingly "open" feeling seating position. My body felt very relaxed and everything just settled in place quite nicely for me. It's surprisingly narrow and I had the slight feeling that I was sitting right above the front wheel. It definitely does feel on the lighter side.
The very first thing I did was take it down the road to an empty parking lot to preform some basic low speed maneuvering. I was very happy but not really suprised by the way it handled. Light, flickable, easy to point and well balanced. It did take me a while to get over the slight falling over the front wheel sensation I initially got but I put that down to the seating positing on my current bike (f800r) being a bit further back. My only complaint was that the throttle was a bit snatchy. A quick scroll through the riding modes and found there were 4 settings: Rain, street, sport, and track. As the bike was currently in sport mode I flicked it down into street to see if it would change anything at all, not really expecting much of a difference. Boy was I surprised, street mode immediately made low speed maneuvering much smoother and more manageable.
Next I took it out for a short highway blast and to see what it felt like with a more aggressive wrist. The instant punch this engine makes is quite surprising and it revs up quickly. Although it only has about 10 more hp than my f800 it felt like a hell of a lot more. I'm sure there are many factors in play here but it did seem mighty quick to me. At highway speeds then engine felt surprisingly smooth with lots of life left. I will say the wind protection on this bike is non existent even compared to other nakeds I've ridden. The upright riding position makes it even more noticeable. I personally don't mind win blast at all though. Next up I did a bit of city riding. Tight turns, filtering, speed bumps, and brick roads. This thing is just so darn easy to ride. I'd been on the bike for about 30 mins now when I started to notice the seat was very hard. Pretty standard for ktm from what I hear but definitely something I would personally look at changing. Also moving in low speed traffic and waiting at lights I did notice rather more heat around my legs than I'm used to, especially on the left side. Being as it's currently winter it was actually quite nice but I could see how it might get a bit toasty on a summer day. All the more reason to filter I guess...
This bikes got a whole bunch of other fancy stuff going on with the electronics which I bet are pretty cool. To be honest though my biggest concern is how a bike feels for me personally. I have to say this bike really ticks a lot of boxes for me personally. Is it the fastest bike? Does it have the BEST breaks and suspension? Doubt it, Is it the best looking bike? Defiantly not. Did it feel great to ride and incredibly natural for me personally? Yep. To the point where I might actually think about buying my first new bike ever. I'm going to go back in the morning to see if they'll let me take it out for a few hours this time so I can get a bit of real world time on it. So far im really digging it and if feels so much like what I wanted my last couple bikes to feel like.
Anyone else had a chance to take one out? Someone talk me down from getting myself into debt?
I'm not surprised as the only road test I've seen to date raved about it. Like you, they found a couple of little things they didn't like, but absolutely loved how it felt on the road.
What you've said seems to gel with what I've read about the bike thus far. That is not perfect but for the money amazing value. Plus the very few shortcomings can be fixed to some degree.
Your existing bike, the F800R, is also a cracking machine. I assume that you'd be looking to trade the BMW for the KTM? Even if that's not the case I'd think long and hard about replacing the BMW. They are a really good bike - Perhaps a few hours on the KTM may give you a more comprehensive perspective.
is it worth the ~3K more than the MT-09?
The bike looks good in the darker colours, not so keen on the orange. Seat height is average, and the bike is very narrow, more like a dual sport than a naked. The engine looks small too. Wind protection is non-existent. The mirrors are serviceable with a good range of adjustment although the rubber sleeves over them look too bulky. The front wheel rake is sharp and this is definitely what gives the bike it's "scalpel" name, making u-turns a breeze and giving the bike a very tractable, nimble feel. Engine is torquey but lacks that KTM single thump. Display is nice, and clear, I believe this also supports the smartphone app to pair it up. Front suspension and brakes are just adequate, tyres look cheap and will probably need to be swapped out to get 100% out of the bike. Overall it looks like it has been stripped down to a price, there's barely anything to it, thankfully KTM offer a range of accessories to customise it though. Maybe a 790 R with better specs will get released in a year from now? Side by side with an MT-09 SP I'd pick the Yammy, but if KTM were to wine and dine me like they do with the motorcycle journalists, I'd probably rate it higher .
It means the forks are closer to vertical than normal.
That, along with steering head angle, steering head offset and axle offset defines how much the tyre's contact patch on the road trails behind the center of the steering head, projected down to the road. They all do, to a greater or lesser extent, just like a shopping trolley castor, for exactly the same reason.
It more or less defines how easy/difficult it is to steer, less trail makes for a more agile machine, at the expense of stability. A modern dirt bike, (including motards and motard influenced machines like the dukes) is at the agile/unstable end of the spectrum, a cruiser will be at the other end, slow to maneuver but very stable.
Go soothingly on the grease mud, as there lurks the skid demon
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