2010 KTM 690 Enduro Review
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So I got a newer KTM 690 Enduro R.
The first impression was while pushing it around the dealer's parking lot: this is a dirt bike! Very light but with the turning radius twice that of a Goldwing! That's still annoying today...
Riding it to work the next morning, strait from the dealer, 1 hour on the freeway up to 130 km/h, I must say I was really doubting my choice when I got to work.
The seat is utter crap! I don't understand why they even bother, other than to sell you their "comfort" seat separately. Honestly - shame on KTM for that. I already decided I need to buy the Corbin seat++. I have seen the original seat described as a thong or, as a friend of mine aptly put it - a log on wheels. All true!
There is a lot of vibration past 100 km/h. As stock, this bike is not suitable for long distance touring!
Then, the drive home through rush-hour traffic. Took almost two hours and got home with a big smile on my face... this is a hooligan bike and rips through traffic like nothing. Under 100 km/h is very rideable, except for the piece of sh** seat, which will chew your butt to pieces.
While stuck in traffic, I had time to adjust the controls. It still has a low idle (there is no idle adjustment that I can find) but it doesn't die on me anymore while in the middle of an intersection, which it did on the commute home!
I adjusted the play in the throttle - it was really bad and now it's tight, i.e. almost no play. At home, first thing was to fill up the tank and mix in quite a bit of injector cleaner.
For all of those out there complaining about the FI issues and stuff with these bikes, please make sure you adjust the throttle to no play first and put a few tanks with some expensive and concentrated injector cleaner.
I dropped it twice in the first day already... first time playing on grass - the 80/20 street oriented front tire has no grip on grass, under braking - now I know! The second time, also off-road trying to turn around, the handlebars surprised me reaching the limiter almost immediately... this very limited turning radius is honestly, really stupid from KTM. I can't see why it would be so difficult to make some room in that frame to have a decent turn radius. This is not a problem on-road, but seriously limits the bike off-road, I think.
That's it for now, I will post more as I play with it some more in the following days.
See part 2 and more updates here: 2010 KTM 690 Enduro Review - part 2.
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