A shop full of KTMs

[98tls]

Was up in CH-CH today,whilst there looked up a reli i havent seen awhile who works at Superior Motorcycles,all good and whilst waiting for him to finish dealing with a customer i had a gander at the various KTMs in there,in particular a 07 950 tard,got to thinking how this thing would go as an all-rounder ie long trips away road miles combined with gravel road excursions,kind of adventure but not so much adventure,didnt really mention my interest at the time as didnt want a sales pitch,just got to thinking more on the long boring trip home.So those that own/ridden them what you say?They had the Adventure model in there and as good as they probably are it just didnt light my fire.

[YellowDog]

If I had enough cash and space for 4 bikes (which is the ideal).

A KTM 950 Tard would be one of the four
(Other 3 = Cruiser, Sports & Tourer)

[98tls]

If I had enough cash and space for 4 bikes (which is the ideal).

A KTM 950 Tard would be one of the four
(Other 3 = Cruiser, Sports & Tourer)

Fair call,mate im real old school and all this Motard/super motard/adventure etc is all a bit unnecessary really,well probably not that basic and yea i know the basic differences but hey this thing looks like a huge bloody dirtbike with crap all over it,these days theres suspenders for this suspenders for that etc but surely one of these things would handle some gravel n mud fine,surely when faced with a river crossing it wont suddenly stop and say "fuck off mate you need to go buy my sister whos got Adventure written on the tank".

[Mikkel]

If you want me to, I'd be quite happy to ask one of the guys who used to have one how he found it for longer trips (I am confident everything else will be in the awesome+ department).

If I had enough cash and space for 4 bikes (which is the ideal).

Hmmm, not quite as ideal as the cash and space for 5 bikes - which in turn isn't quite as ideal as cash and space for 6 bikes - which in turn isn't quite...

[98tls]

If you want me to, I'd be quite happy to ask one of the guys who used to have one how he found it for longer trips (I am confident everything else will be in the awesome+ department).



Hmmm, not quite as ideal as the cash and space for 5 bikes - which in turn isn't quite as ideal as cash and space for 6 bikes - which in turn isn't quite...

Yea do that mate,cheers.cant imagine it would be as uncomfortable (supposedly) as the TL and ive done many long days aboard that.

[Gremlin]

The issues I had with the 950 Supermoto (I assume thats what you mean by tard, as strictly speaking, its not a supermotard) is that its carbed and didn't have a rev counter. Might not seem like a major, but being unfamiliar with the bikes, I had no idea where or what redline felt like.

However, it is easier to work on, and has less fueling issues than the model that replaced it, the 990 Supermoto (exact same engine as Superduke). Except I totally love my 990 Supermoto. Best bike I have ever owned, and while not cheap, who the hell cares, I'm having such wicked fun on it.

One second you're showing the sportsbikes how to go around corners, next second, you're exploring a gravel road that may stop existing. Never going to be as capable at the Adventure obviously, but gravel/dirt roads are easy. High seat height and almost 200kg can make it a bit of a handful in really rough stuff, and it will sink straight into soft sand, but otherwise, I haven't found its limits yet.

Power delivery around 4k ish is fantastic, its piss easy to wheelie and the real best bit is that doing the speed limit is fun. (ie, ideally, I don't lose my license again)

Wow, 9 months now, and she'll be going in for a 23,000km service in the next couple of weeks. Hasn't skipped a beat, I believe they are incredibly reliable, its KTM and long distances aren't too much of a problem either (recommend a small screen to take some wind off your chest and do something with the seat).

Take it for a test ride!