KTM 990 - long term experience wanted

**Newguy** · 7th May 2009, 22:55

Maybe this will help you with your choice

This is a buddy of mine and he has not complained one day about this bike. I have ridden it a bit as well and can certainly see one in my future. When he cruises with me the fuel consumption is no worse than my 400, 120km in 5th. What chews gas is the fact that it just wants to go the whole time and most of us tend to follow

**Oscar** · 7th May 2009, 22:59

Originally Posted by dmc

Buy a 950, fully service it check all the usual recalls, stick a set of TKC's on it and some nice pipes and pocket the rest of the difference in cost of the 990 and stick it in the tank.

Yup.
What he said.

**Digitdion** · 8th May 2009, 17:59

I have done 12000km's in the last six months and about to take my 990 Adventure for a spin to the North Island. When considering a new bike hopefully you will take the advice of a few real fussy buggers with a big grain of salt. Yeah, the bike has a twitchy throttle. Only really an issue at very low speed.Remember its designed to go for it. Not the best on gas. mostly to do with the fact that the bike begs you to give it a good handfull. I love riding this bike. Its a beast and so much fun. not a cheap bike to service etc.you do know that though when you buy it.My Advice, go for a ride on a demo, and make you own mind up. That was the mistake I made about a year ago. Rode and had to get one. Oh, and whereever you go its a bike enthusias magnet.

**young1** · 9th May 2009, 09:27

Time for my 10 cents worth!

I come from a dirt bike background, I have had two road bikes - a VTR 250 and a Ducati SS750. The 990 is like a big dirt bike, I love the seating position etc, I feel in control. Although I love Ducati's reaching forward for the bars I never really felt in control.

All the comments about throttle snatch etc etc make me smile. Standard it is bad. I have geared my bike down one tooth on the front and AFC motorcycles have done the throttle cam thing. Now I can not fault it. However you have to remember there is a lot of horsepower waiting to go through that back wheel - that can be a lot of fun, or it can tighten the old butt muscles!!

Screen is crap, although if I ride more at the speed limit it isn't so bad.

For me, when ever I walk into the garage and see it sitting there it puts a smile on my face! I just love it.

**Digitdion** · 9th May 2009, 14:50

Here Here YOUNG1. I second that.

**pete376403** · 9th May 2009, 22:10

A friend has a 950 adventure. Heaps of power (too much in some places)
fuel consumption is not a great deal different to my KLR at similar speeds.
Rear tyre wear, though...

Regarding maintenance, he does all his own so not too bad, apart from the time and effort an oil change takes - lots of bits to remove.

**Digitdion** · 10th May 2009, 00:21

These bikes are stallions. Wild at heart, built with performance in mind, and capable of something special.If you want a bike like that it will cost you a tad more at service time. But jeez, in these financial times I would say well worth the investment. I love my KTM 990 Adventure in orange!

**Waihou Thumper** · 10th May 2009, 08:22

My 1.85 cents worth (Recession of course, don't ya know)

I kept the 640A and got rid of the beast....
Knew it wouldnt perform for me, going over the ski fields in Ruapehu, it wan't much fun in tighter, slower terrain, but it is a wilderbeast on the road....BUT, it is meant to be an adventure bike?.....hmmm

At the end of the day if you want a bike for the tighter trails, slower turns, the knarly up and downs of something like the 42nd Traverse or tighter places, get a 450...
If you want to explore at high speeds on the metal roads, flicking the tail out and watching the rear wheel flick endlessly, the 990A will do it!
Gas is the issue though as it does beg to be ridden like a road bike on some roads...

**Digitdion** · 10th May 2009, 08:39

NZKTM, I have a question for you. Do you ever see the bike in a race(EG paris -dakar) going real slow thru technical stuff? I have not. I have always seen it always going like the clappers over wide open terrain.

Bottom line is, if you buy a machine to thread thru tight technical stuff you do not buy a bike like this.

**Waihou Thumper** · 10th May 2009, 09:20

Originally Posted by Digitdion

NZKTM, I have a question for you. Do you ever see the bike in a race(EG paris -dakar) going real slow thru technical stuff? I have not. I have always seen it always going like the clappers over wide open terrain.

Bottom line is, if you buy a machine to thread thru tight technical stuff you do not buy a bike like this.

The Dakar isn't about going flat out all of the time, you would end up getting killed. There are sections that require slower speeds too. I was merely suggesting that due to the Horsepower of the Motorcycle it may be more suited for the wider expanse of roads and dirt trails.
The 990 has been tried in the Paris-Dakar and they failed miserably, why?
They are simply too heavy. When riders got into the desert, the bikes really bogged down, and I guess the continual digging, picking up etc took the toll on the riders.
Hence, the 640 Rallye, the 640A in earlier days was the more suitable machine.
I totally agree with your last two lines. Yes, these are not the machines for tighter terrain. Even that was abundantly clear with BMW too...

**NordieBoy** · 10th May 2009, 11:00

Originally Posted by NZKTM

The 990 has been tried in the Paris-Dakar and they failed miserably, why?

Because twins above 450cc were banned?

**dmc** · 10th May 2009, 12:07

Originally Posted by NZKTM

The 990 has been tried in the Paris-Dakar and they failed miserably, why?

Slightly over the top I would say, Honda, BMW, Yamaha, Cagiva and KTM all won on big twins, the organisers decided to ban large twins in a bid to make it easier for the amateurs to compete against the pro teams tho alot say the pressure was on as guys were killing themselves racing at 200+ on the KTM's.
They changed the race's target towards the smaller bikes so the big twins are a thing of the past but in their day the twins like the KTM were the only real option if you wanted to win.

**Waihou Thumper** · 10th May 2009, 15:10

Originally Posted by NordieBoy

Because twins above 450cc were banned?

Correct NordieBoy, thanks.

Thanks fellas, yes, agree. Point taken and don't get me wrong, I did buy one and did love the speed factor.

**Waihou Thumper** · 10th May 2009, 15:14

Originally Posted by dmc

Slightly over the top I would say, Honda, BMW, Yamaha, Cagiva and KTM all won on big twins, the organisers decided to ban large twins in a bid to make it easier for the amateurs to compete against the pro teams tho alot say the pressure was on as guys were killing themselves racing at 200+ on the KTM's.
They changed the race's target towards the smaller bikes so the big twins are a thing of the past but in their day the twins like the KTM were the only real option if you wanted to win.

Yep, point taken again...

This sums it up nicely me thinks...

The KTM 950 Adventure is also up to the task as Meoni has proved in the Dakar but, being somewhat heavier, takes a lot more muscling around in the thick sand and over the technical stuff. On the fast tracks, when the 640's are reaching the end of their legs at around 160, the 950 will cruise past you sounding like a jet and run right up to over 200 km/h - yes, these are the speeds you can do on these bikes on sand roads!

**cooneyr** · 10th May 2009, 15:42

Don't know when the big twins were banned but it looks like the 9x0's only one once - 2002 with Meoni as the pilot (see here). From the footage that I've seen the benefit of the speed of the 950's was limited and over all the power and weight evened out the field so that the single riders were not that much slower. Besides Yammy has still won more times than a KTM

Yamaha 9 wins
Honda 5 wins
BMW 6 wins
KTM 8 wins
Cagiva 2 wins

Really comes down to if you are a road blaster who is seriously into walking home speeds or if you want to carry a passenger. If you will be mostly one up I recon the 640 is the way to go.

Anyway this whole discussions is a bit off topic and a bit moot. We are comparing a Tiger/Tranny with an Adv. Yes the Adv is a "stallion" compared and it will be much better off road but at what cost I think was the original question?

Cheers R