KTM super adventure

[TheIglu]

I don't understand what all the praise is over the Tiger. I demo'd one. It's nice and all, but not nice enough for me to consider it vs the KTM.

Good suspension?

160hp?

All that abs/traction/lean angle trickery?

Great brakes?


For the price difference, it's a no brainer. KTM is way more bike for the buck over the Tiger.

[nhbubba]

I agree. Also vs the new DL1000, the 1190 isn't that much more.

Although the Tiger 800 brakes are pretty darn good. The brakes and the seat were the highlights for me.

[Chippertheripper]

I will say the 990's front brakes are a little lacking. I could probably fix that with some pads, but don't expect to be dazzled by the at all.
It also essentially has 2 dirtbike calipers up front. Not dual street bike type binders.

[sandman]

Nope. Just sat on one. So far I can't tell if it's the best thing since sliced bread, or a dumb idea I'd get sick of in a season.

I guess everyone has different opinions on what an "adventure" bike is. I think it's more of a does everything swiss army knife and less of a badass Dakar weapon. Personally, I have no interest in owning that Honda pictured. Way too intense for me. What I do want is something kinda-sort-of dirt oriented that is lighter than my DL, better equipped, yet still comfortable for US highway use.

I'm not convinced a thumper with a G-string seat gets that done.

70% scale 1190 please.

it all comes down to what you want from the bike.

i like the 690 but would need to dump around 3k into it to make it closer to what id want it to doo.

i like that its light, but find it under powered.

for me if i could make my se950 lighter it would be the perfect bike.

as it is other than when i take it where it has no business being and not currently having enough light at night it's the perfect adv bike for me.

[sandman]

What you want is a Tiger 800 XC. May not be much lighter than the DL, but it's FAR better in the dirt, and also better on the street than the DL (I've owned both so can make an informed comparison).

That said, KTM has confirmed that they're coming out with a 1050 Adventure to be announced at EICMA next month, but as of yet no one has provided an accurate idea of what sort of bike it will be. One magazine speculated that it'll be an entry-level ADV bike, but KTM doesn't really do entry-level, and that displacement would be too big for that category anyway. I have a hunch that it'll be a more dirt-focused ADV bike, like an updated Super Enduro.

--mark

the se is hands down my favorite bike ever.

160hp would just be more fun!

i liked my tiger.

it was good at lots of stuff great at nothing.

not enough gears, power, front brakes, suspension or watts.

[reks95]

My 675 triple is smoother and has more or similar torque across a much bigger RPM range than the similar displacement twins that I've tried. From a performance perspective, I think this makes them better. You can be lazy and lug it around town and it's almost inline 4 smooth. But whack it open and it'll make sweet music and pull until you see blue lights in your mirrors. Maybe the bigger displacement bikes are different, but I think this is why the BMW Boxer also gets such good reviews compared to the higher strung v-twins - smooth low end torque.

Character is another matter. Personally, I love the triple induction noise and I could do with a quiet exhaust on every bike. But if you're into exhaust note, few things are going to beat a v-twin.

I love that my 690 is pretty close to 300lbs wet and I think that bike is a ton of fun. But:

Compared to my triple it vibrates like a paint shaker.
Triple's make 80-85% peak torque from a little over 3k to redline.
The 690 is pretty tame until 5.5-6k and then it's bouncing off the limiter before you know what happened.
I find myself climbing all over the front trying to keep it on the ground.
I can't imagine riding a 690 with more power.

I don't really like big heavy bikes, so the adventure bikes really aren't my bag.
But, I don't see how the 1290 is really going to be that different from an 1190 on an American road (i.e. 0-80mph).

[backinthesaddle]

Took a brief ride, maybe 5-7 miles on the new 1290 super duke. mega power for sure out of that engine.

[zombie]

I'm waiting to see what the new Africa Twin is all about
Anyone one know anything about a release date?

[sandman]

I'm waiting to see what the new Africa Twin is all about
Anyone one know anything about a release date?

Mick,

whats up?

i found a few pics of the new Africa Twin, but its a honda.

it would need to be something awful special.

honda bikes have no soul i'll stick with ktm's

if i had more time to ride id more than likely get rid of the gsa (should doo this anyway) and get a super adventure.



one of my dislikes with the bmw has always been the lack of power. 160hp is reasonable.

[markbvt]

I don't understand what all the praise is over the Tiger. I demo'd one. It's nice and all, but not nice enough for me to consider it vs the KTM.

Good suspension?

160hp?

All that abs/traction/lean angle trickery?

Great brakes?


For the price difference, it's a no brainer. KTM is way more bike for the buck over the Tiger.

Which Tiger did you demo, the Roadie or the XC? The XC's suspension is substantially better, FWIW.

And some of us don't want all the electronic shit on our motorcycles. The simpler the better, as far as I'm concerned. And personally, I don't care about 160hp. The 95 the Tiger makes is plenty on the street.

Flipside is that the Tiger has given me 65,000 completely trouble-free miles, whereas KTMs are not known for being so easy to live with…

--mark

[Chippertheripper]

Flipside is that the Tiger has given me 65,000 completely trouble-free miles, whereas KTMs are not known for being so easy to live with…

--mark

The 1190 has had its quirks for sure. The rest of the lineup has been as solid as any other brand over the years. Myth: busted.

[TheIglu]

Which Tiger did you demo, the Roadie or the XC? The XC's suspension is substantially better, FWIW.

And some of us don't want all the electronic shit on our motorcycles. The simpler the better, as far as I'm concerned. And personally, I don't care about 160hp. The 95 the Tiger makes is plenty on the street.

Flipside is that the Tiger has given me 65,000 completely trouble-free miles, whereas KTMs are not known for being so easy to live with…

--mark

And my KLR had less electronic wizardry than the Tiger and is just as reliable, if not more so.

I rode the Roadie. Suspension was fine for the road IMO. So is the suspension (rear) of my Wee. Motor did nothing for me. All that triple love I keep hearing about meant nothing when I have two 4 cylinder bikes with far more torque down low.

I don't ride on trails. I ride on some dirt roads. Mostly it is a street bike that can handle well on bumpy paved and unpaved roads. 160hp is not a detriment, it is a benefit.

For the $4000 price difference between the '14 Tier 800 XC SE and the KTM 1190 (~$16500 est), you get a TON more bike. Brakes, engine, suspension, lean angle sensing ABS, traction control, etc etc.

[zombie]

[QUOTE=sandman;1382452]Mick,

whats up?

i found a few pics of the new Africa Twin, but its a honda.

it would need to be something awful special.

honda bikes have no soul i'll stick with ktm's

if i had more time to ride id more than likely get rid of the gsa (should doo this anyway) and get a super adventure.


Hey Jim
I had an older Africa twin overseas and I really liked it a lot.
Honda reliability and the bike just worked well ,
I have my 1200 gs and 1150 gs adv but have a hankering for a KTM
but still want to see the honda.

Decisions decisions

[number9]

I want an old Ténéré with a 11 gal. gas tank, because I am a masochist

[abeer]

I think, honestly it doesn't matter how adventury the adventure bikes can really get. Most people are really happy with them, and they are actually fantastic sport tourers. But I still would really like for one of the brands to build an adventure bike that fits the Paris Dakar spec a little more closely. Light weight, agile, but durable and built to travel long distance under load.

I did this 10 day trip around Iceland recently, and our guide was their national enduro champ. A bunch of us were complaining about the GS's because we all felt they were a bit too soft and heavy, and also a bit too prone to expensive failures.

His take on the best 'adventure' bike ever made was the old Africa Twin. Mainly because it was the only off the shelf bike that he felt you could safely ride around the world without a movie crew and chase van full of spare parts. It had amazing tank range, was super easy to maintain, and rode like a dream. His personal 'adventure bike' is a heavily modded Honda XR650.

[markbvt]

I did this 10 day trip around Iceland recently, and our guide was their national enduro champ. A bunch of us were complaining about the GS's because we all felt they were a bit too soft and heavy, and also a bit too prone to expensive failures.

His take on the best 'adventure' bike ever made was the old Africa Twin. Mainly because it was the only off the shelf bike that he felt you could safely ride around the world without a movie crew and chase van full of spare parts. It had amazing tank range, was super easy to maintain, and rode like a dream. His personal 'adventure bike' is a heavily modded Honda XR650.

I can see all of that. The old Africa Twin was a highly compelling bike for its time; hopefully the new one will follow in that legacy. As for the XR650L, it does have a lot going for it. It's the most offroad-capable of the Japanese 650 dual sports, it has a very reliable motor, it's dead simple, and it has pretty decent suspension right out of the box. But it does take a fair amount of work to turn it into a good tourer -- badly needs a better seat, the subframe needs reinforcement gussets welded in if you're going to carry more luggage than a very light tail bag, and it desperately needs an oversized gas tank. But there's no realistic way of solving several issues that you'd just have to live with -- gas mileage is fairly shitty (40-45mpg), alternator output is too weak to power very many accessories, and that very old-school air-cooled motor just doesn't make much power.

I did take my XR650L (with large gas tank and Renazco Racing seat) up to Labrador and Newfoundland, and it did better than I expected on a 3000-mile trip. On the gravel of the Trans-Labrador Highway it was great; but on the paved roads of the Canadian Maritimes, it felt seriously tapped out.

For a while I seriously considered picking up a KTM 950 Super Enduro. I'd ridden a BMW F800GS and didn't like it. But then rumors started emerging of the Tiger 800, and the Tiger 800 XC turned out to check pretty much all the boxes for me on paper. And in reality it's even better than on paper. Yes, it weighs a good 150lbs more than the XR, but for anything higher-speed than technical offroad trail riding, it does great and is surprisingly sure-footed. It's comfortable for long pavement stretches as well. And as I've pointed out previously, it's been superbly reliable -- more so than the XR, actually.

I'd still like to see someone come out with a viable multi-cylinder dual sport -- something with the geometry and suspension of a dirtbike, the power and smoothness of a street bike, long-term reliability, good-sized gas tank and ability to mount luggage, and weight under 350lbs or so (anything less seems seriously unrealistic given the motor).

--mark

[nhbubba]

Mark. You bought your XC sight unseen, correct? IIRC you were one of the first in the region to get yours.

[markbvt]

Yes, I took a leap of faith. I already liked Triumph as a brand, loved my Bonneville, and had watched them put out one excellent bike after another for the previous several years, so I felt confident that the Tiger 800 XC would be good. I was not disappointed.

If I had been wrong, I would have just sold it and picked up a lightly used Super Enduro.

--mark

[abeer]

I am in the middle of planning for a Scotland tour for next year and we are hoping to do the tour on Tigers. One of the riders on our Iceland trip had done a trip around Japan on the Tiger and was raving about it. It seems like it has a more enjoyable engine than the BMW among other perks.

I did my Iceland trip on the F800GS, and... well, It was comfy... that's something I suppose

[TheIglu]

Yes, I took a leap of faith. I already liked Triumph as a brand, loved my Bonneville, and had watched them put out one excellent bike after another for the previous several years, so I felt confident that the Tiger 800 XC would be good. I was not disappointed.

If I had been wrong, I would have just sold it and picked up a lightly used Super Enduro.

--mark

Have you ridden the 1190 Adventure?

[markbvt]

Have you ridden the 1190 Adventure?

I have not. But the 1190 Adventure was still two years away when I got the Tiger. If I were in the market currently I would consider it.

--mark

[TheIglu]

I think KTM should give 5 or so of us in this thread 1290 Super Adventures to use for a year, because "marketing".



I haven't ridden one either. I will next June at Deals(1190R). Hell, I may never let the owner ride it all week. Because he knew I wanted one last June and then went out and got one for himself. That's just his way of saying "Here man, you can take it for the week next year.". That's my story and I'm stickin to it. Right Chris? Better hide your key.


I did ride the Triumph. Motor/chassis was underwhelming for my expectations given the $$$ difference between that and a superbike level motor in the KTM. That's all.

[markbvt]

I think KTM should give 5 or so of us in this thread 1290 Super Adventures to use for a year, because "marketing".

I approve of this idea.

Though I'd actually be even happier with an 1190 Adventure R.

--mark

[nhbubba]

Chris' is sexy too. Those orange crash guards set me off. I leg humped the shit out of it in the parking lot at B&J.

[nt650hawk]

Those orange crash guards set me off.

i've got a fix for that.
or swap it out with someone that wants the orange ones.