Bit of a copy and paste, forgive me.

As you may or may not know, I’ve been in a pondering state of mind with the MT07 and sitting with it as a meh, hmmm, maybe.

As a bike to ride it’s great. But there’s a few things it’s lacking.
1. Slipper clutch
2. Character/pride of ownership.

I walk into the garage and I don’t know it’s there, it’s just something in the corner taking up space. I don’t love it, cherish it or feel even happy it’s there.

So on my drive/cycle with [mention]crust[/mention] and [mention]Couchy[/mention] I mentioned it and both commented with “well, you’ve debated one loads of times before and always wanted one, so why not”

A quick message with [mention]Welsh Muffin[/mention] gave me “it makes no difference what I think, you’ll buy it anyway” and I rang Darren at @[mention]PremierBikes[/mention] and the rest was just a quick “what do you want for yours” followed by “have a word Daz, I want more than that” and a deal was struck.

So I’ll be taking in the MT07 on Weds next week and in the not too distant future I’ll be taking away this..

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2nj6AS4]2022-05-07_06-04-25[/url] by Steve Weeks, on Flickr

Which as you can see, is a KTM 690smcr with 460 miles on it. Supplied by Premier to Daz’s mate who traded it for a 22 690smcr for the plastics and paint.

It comes with all the electronic gubbins like a QS, blipper and traction control. Along with a slipper clutch and more leg/knee room which will also help me. Despite my best desires the mt07 wasn’t quite a happy place on the knee.

I know 690s, love 690s and as crust mentioned “you’ll either keep it for a week or many years” and i absolutely agree with him on that.

So, on we go, let the games begin and bring on Donington in 3 weeks.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2nmwX6t]2022-05-19_01-37-10[/url] by , on Flickr

So how’s the new bike then? It’s ace.

It’s uncomfortable! Well, not massively so but it’s not spongey that’s for sure.

It’s nimble, smooth and nice. The power is as we’d expect, I’ve owned enough of this engine after all.

The lack of gear indicator isn’t a problem, due to how it rides and previous ownership I know what I’m in.

The QS is ace, I’ve not missed a gear! None! The blipper is even better than the QS. Throw in the slipper clutch too and it’s a very easy bike to ride.

I’m struggling to pick any faults at this stage

It’s uncomfortable!

I’m struggling to pick any faults at this stage

Haha, you’re amusing – you did this with the Trek 😉

I’ve still got the Trek and it’s brill

How many new bikes is that since you laughed at my suggestion that the previous one wouldn’t last five minutes?

Depends which bike that was

Nice bike! I’m on a 09 SMC which is already sooo much fun so this must be even better! And probably not affected by the idle cutout issues mine has

Best upgrades for mine were the O2 mod, which I don’t think is relevant on these newer ones, and going down a tooth on the front sprocket. It only does about 95 now but it really wants to do 95 all the time

But I think you know a bit more than me about 690s anyway 🙂

Enjoy it, and try not to lose your licence

There is an o2 mod from Kevxtx but in honesty I tried it in both Street and Supermoto mode today and both were great.

Throwing a 15t on is a maybe, but I’ve got some trackdays lined up so may leave the 16t.

Thank you