Did you move the seat? AFAIK they have two positions.
Buying a motorbike is something of a spiritual thing. It has to feel right.
Buying a motorbike is something of a spiritual thing. It has to feel right.
Agreed 100%. If it doesn't feel right, and you don't have a passion for riding it, then for gods sake don't buy it! Especially not if you're financing it... And this is highly personal, what floats my boat might send you to sleep and vice versa!
I keep looking at the KTM 1090 Adventures, the pricing is very keen now they've been discontinued, it's enough power without being too silly, it gets great reviews etc. But I just can't bring myself to go for an Adventure bike if I'm not going offroad! Besides, everyone ends up with a BMW GS anyway if they go down the Adventure bike route, I'm told with good reason, but I just have no passion for them!
I've test ridden a KTM SuperDuke GT, staggeringly quick and capable but it left me quite cold I'll be honest. I'm a big V-Twin fan, and even have another bike with an LC8 in it (RC8 1190), but it felt rather more lumpy than other twins I've owned/ridden, and though progress was monumentally quick, the engine doesn't like to rev much either! So I was so busy changing gear it felt more like riding a 250GP bike than a continent crushing Sports Tourer...
So for now, I'm stuck with an old Honda Blackbird I bought just to see if the missus liked coming out on the back with me. She does, loves it in fact, so been on the hunt for something much newer and with more toys etc, and I can't find anything suitable! In fact, the Blackbird is way more fun to ride than more modern bikes I've tried too! The only downside is it's a bloody long reach to the bars, can get quite uncomfortable for me on longer runs. Rode from Worcester to Dolgellau for RedBull Hardline yesterday, then up to Lake Bala and back (230 miles in all) with the missus on the back, and I needed 15mins on the foam roller the moment I got home. I couldn't stand up straight after more than 6hrs in the saddle!
What would STW do
I'd buy it. But then again I've owned nearly 40 bikes in the last 10 years
I have to say that I love my KTM 950 SMR, I've had a 750, 600, 900 & 1000 4's, a 250 2 stroke and a 640 single and even though the KTM makes less power than the 4's with a stupidly small tank it's definitely my favourite.
I too thought the tiger 800 was a bit meh - engine was boring compared to my Versys.
I can recommend test riding the Tiger Sport 1050 - it's on another level compared to the Tiger 800. I'd get one in a heartbeat if the insurance costs around London weren't so crazy.
I love my GS but it’s just popped the counter balance shaft oil seal and it’s 10+ hours labour just to split the bike in half to get to a £10 seal
Bigger bikes. Bigger bills.....
The 1090 adventure can go off road I’ll be putting suitable tyres on mine soon for this, the 1090 motor is also for me a nicer unit than the 1290, freer revving and still enough power to pull proper wheelies in 3rd gear. In normal riding is also amazingly economical, regularly 200+ miles from a tankful. As a road bike that can do a bit of off road and the occasional Trackday I can’t think of much better and certainly not for £8800 brand new
Well I can only apologies for the weather, this is because, and no surprise to anyone I think, I picked up the 1090 this morning.
Panniers make filtering a bit hairy, I tried it once and then chickened out, they are MASSIVE.
Off to get a KTM tattoo later..
Thanks for all the comments, it really helped/made me paranoid in equal measure.
I was just checking out the latest iteration of the Africa Twin, the list price is £16k!
That’s just mental.
Ace, I love my 1090 it's a superb bike. I swapped the tyres for proper sticky ones with a 170 rear and 120 front for track days. I'll put more off road ones on for green lanes. Also changed standard dustbin exhaust and swapped the standard screen for a much shorter one, I then cut the shorter one down some more as this gave the smoothest airflow. One of the best bikes I've owned and that's saying something. A to B on the roads it's as quick as anything and pick the right roads it's quicker 😉
Awesome! Know what you mean about the cases. Do yours have the anti weave linkages?
Enjoy it and stay safe!
I had a Street Triple R when they were first released. The bike was great, the dealers were awful. I also had two Ducatis. One was perfect and lulled me into a false sense of security, the other was nothing but trouble!
definitely not a tiger, the running costs are insane, i have one, and the suspension is awful at least on the WP versions, ive had the rear shock replaced as it knocked over every bump, the forks do the same but are out of warranty. to be fair Triumph did offer me a 12 month warranty extension for around £350!!
if you plan on using it daily get the africa twin, the KTM will end up in the workshop more. the KTM will perform better off road but how often will you take it out on the lanes etc
the tiger is the best road bike, KTM the best off road, Honda sits in the middle and will be the most reliable. horses for courses and all that. the Honda also sounds great.
The 1090 KTM isn’t better than the Africa twin off road as it has smaller wheels, the Africa twin is quite capable off-road. I did plenty of green lanes on mine. Reliability wise I’ve had 20+ Ktm’s and the only one I had warranty claims on was a 2008 super duke R. All my 50+ hondas have been good too, the Africa twin did have new wheels but nothing else.
The KTM is a the best adv road bike I’ve ridden, my S1000XR was close but the KTM gets the nod from me as I prefer twins. Tiger 800’s are nice but a bit slow and revvy, the 1200 is just too heavy 😁
300 miles on my GS1200 today - nipping out to Oban for lunch. Last week it was a trip from North Ayrshire to Wigtown for breakfast - just 220miles round trip.
Super capable, goes quick enough...
Checking in after popping to the dealers to remind them about a missing tool kit and surprisingly the spare key is missing which they are now sorting.
So now the panniers are safely being used to prop up a small lorry I could check out its filtering mojo properly and all good apart from getting feet down on the really tight in-front of car filtering. It’s so much taller than my slightly saggy NC that there is a lot of muscle memory to unwind and get some confidence in where the floor is.
Can confirm that going through some flooded roads on Saturday was very exciting, my inner Charlie Boardman had a little tingle. Although daughter complained I got her hockey stuff wet. She also reports that it more comfortable and makes a good noise.
Coming out of the dealers and sat at the lights I took the longer route home, this turned into a 100 miler route home, which was nice. Can report that performance is adequate bordering on mental. Element protection also good although top of my lid getting an lot of loud turbulence.
Had to tot up the extras it has for the insurance, £2k based on the online prices I could find! Heated seats are weird and resulted in some frantic poking of buttons as I gently fried. Also odd that the menu system doesn’t seem to pick up on the button presses so doesn’t change when the separate heating buttons are pressed.
Hot_Fiat - daft question, but what are the anti weave linkages?
Weeksy- thanks for the forum link, have also found a Adventure bike forum that seems to have a lot of useful stuff, including operating instructions for the heated seats, which is handy.
Couchy- did you try out many of the screen options? Also do you know what the large black control box under the pillion seat is?
The linkages are a device that isolates some of the pannier's sideways movement from the bike. It basically allows them to float from side to side by about 5cm. Comme Ca:
That looks trick, mine doesn’t have those, doesn’t look like something you can add on to mine either without some big changes to the rear end, was that vid of a 1090?
mboy - you need a ZZR1400......
Missed this thread and just skim read the odd post.....
I did 40,000 miles on an NC700x before a change of circumstances led to me and my wife selling that and her MT07 for a fully loaded CRF1000l Africa Twin which we share
We looked at virtually every adventure bike on the market, and here’s my take on them
KTMs feel flimsy. Even ones with 10,000 miles on them had not worn the miles as well as my 48,000 mile NC. Lad at work has a small KTM. Always broken down. I didn’t even sit on one as they look cheap and I don’t like the styling.
BMW GS - just too big for us. I can hardly get them off the side stand. Too popular too. Boring.
Ducati Multistrada - again, a real struggle to get them off the stand and we don’t need 150bhp. Good value for money though. Loads around used. Look good. I like Ducatis.
Aprilia. No thanks. Heavy. Bad rep. Ugly.
Triumph. Liked the 800. Comfy. Look good. But I doubted the smaller triple would have the low down clout of the bigger twin. And the dealer never got back to me
So we’ve had the CRF about 18 months
It was 20 months old at the time we bought it. 1395 miles. Literally the entire Honda accessories catalogue bolted to it. Every single thing. So much we sold the satnav mount and big screen which caused a lot of buffeting. £8395. (RRP as specced £14775)
I added a Hyperpro rear spring to help with the loaded 2 up riding we do and it’s been perfect.
Engine is a gem. Just like the NC but more. Low revving and smooth but with more than enough clout for us. Sounds good.
Great 2 up. I like it on the back too. Good passenger bike.
Very chuckable around the Peak District lanes. Even I can skid into corners if I really want to. A real weapon on rough roads.
I also did the RLBR1000 charity ride on it. 1041 miles in 20 hours. It munched that easily. Standard seat was fine. Lights are SUPERB.
We get about 55mpg average and 60 is possible with a little care. 220-240 mile per tank.
It feels solid. I don’t clean an it much. We’ve done 10000 miles on it now and we won’t be swapping it anytime soon.
Couchy- did you try out many of the screen options? Also do you know what the large black control box under the pillion seat is?
I know from adv bikes in the past I dislike tall screens, I tried mine without a screen and there's little to no turbulence and it's perfect for me like that. I've cut mine right down so it mimics not having a screen. I prefer the looks that way too. It's also worth trying different helmets if you have one as that can make a difference too, glad you're enjoying it. One note turn TC off soon as you get on as it interferes without you knowing. With it off it wheelies in the 1st 3 gears 🙂
It’s the back of my 1290. Was just wondering if they’d used it across the range. I’ve still got a big “90mph max!” Sticker on my panniers.