Question for ktoom single owners

The 701 is a lovely bike....never ridden one off-road only on road and I’d have no issue with doing decent miles on one.

It’s a smooth ( by comparison to my exc) and a very rapid bike
 
JohnnyBoxer said:
20000
Click to expand...

Wow! I thought they would be needing a full rebuild every 5,000 miles or so.

Although I think a WR is probably still a better bet for someone like me that only does fairly basic maintenance and does not fancy attempting a full engine build myself, or paying a grand for someone else to do it for me.
 
As for the 690 coming from SM heritage, which bike came first ?

The 690 originated as the SMC/SM after the 640 Duke etc
Then BMW made the G650 X range in 2007 and ktm thought they could widen the 690's appeal in 2008 by introducing the enduro variant
You only have to look closely at the design of the 690 to see it was initially designed as a road bike - clues are rear master cylinder under the engine FFS, no frame rails under engine, close ratio box, chain runs on outside of frame spar and without much protection to a dirt rider's left boot, turning circle of a super tanker with no lock etc
Nobody with a clean sheet of paper would design a dirt bike like that - for sure
Not saying it's a bad bike and yes I have ridden one a few times - but it has a lot of downsides (check AdvRider for all of those )
Rockers having to be changed at 2700 miles (above) is a PITA and will probably go again too
701 is same frame with a better stronger Duke engine - better, but still a compromise
All dirt bikes are a compromise and fragile - if the perfect one had been invented we would all buy it
A KTM 500/530/525 is decent compromise and as shown above can do the miles - 2015 one on RTW trip has done 90000 km's with not much drama
I will also be looking closely at Honda's new CRF 450 L later this year
 
Rasher said:
Wow! I thought they would be needing a full rebuild every 5,000 miles or so.

Although I think a WR is probably still a better bet for someone like me that only does fairly basic maintenance and does not fancy attempting a full engine build myself, or paying a grand for someone else to do it for me.
Click to expand...

90000 Km's on a 2015 500 exc RTW with only a top end piston rebuild
Bloke is delighted with the bike's reliability
 
JohnnyBoxer said:
Indeed, lots for sale though
Click to expand...
Tis true,
Only ridden a 690 once,was impressed with the motor,but was ridding the 640 at the time,so not surprising :D
Was a customer bike so only went around the block.very pokey though.
Everyone I know that’s had one has sold them on and bought more focused enduro tackle,300 exc,500 exc .
which certainly tells me something about the off road credentials .
Which brings things back to the 701,
Might have a ride over to the dealer for a looksee,
But the few 2017 on 701 I’ve seen for sale are not much cheaper than new:augie
 
A quick Ooogle on ' RTW on KTM690 Enduro ' comes up with some positive results..a few simple mods later and get the front forks re-worked by Dr Shox and you have a pretty reasonable compromise.
Yes the rocker arms will have to be replaced again at some point but it's also well documented that SF13 and earlier had poor durability..£130 for both rockers ( SF16 ) and a 1 hour job to replace ( including shimming ) seems a no brainer to me.

If you are going to be doing 70/80% on trails then a 690 would not be first choice..for green lanes something in the 350/450cc range would be best choice, everyone has a different criteria.

I'm thinking about Mongolia/China in 2 years time ( if I can manage early retirement ) and I'd be looking to do it on the 690.
My glass tends to be half full..:beer:
 
mikeyboy said:
Tis true,
Only ridden a 690 once,was impressed with the motor,but was ridding the 640 at the time,so not surprising :D
Was a customer bike so only went around the block.very pokey though.
Everyone I know that’s had one has sold them on and bought more focused enduro tackle,300 exc,500 exc .
which certainly tells me something about the off road credentials .
Which brings things back to the 701,
Might have a ride over to the dealer for a looksee,
But the few 2017 on 701 I’ve seen for sale are not much cheaper than new:augie
Click to expand...

Isn't the 701 very similar to the 690?
 
....I don’t have much experience to compare things with but!

One of the things that suprised me when I got the 500 EXC was, one how fecking good off road they are - My experience to date had been a DRZ, the Airhead and lots of offroad miles on an X Chalange.

The next was how good on the road they are, aside from wearing out your tyres and needing to shift your arse around from time to time they wiz along.

First time I took it to Thetford I trailed it the c70 miles there after that I'd just ride it there do a nice day c130 miles with a group and when every one else is getting gear off and loading bikes I'm wizzing along at 70-80 and Home in no time.
 
I had a 530 exc when they first came along - absolutely loved it. The punch from the carbed engine is not something that FI bikes can match in my experience. Sadly as it was a new model and I kept reading the stuff on AdvRider I concluded that there were too many potential problems in waiting and it was too off road focused (14/45 gearing didn’t help), so I sold it and bought a 690 which is not in the same league off road but a better all rounder. It’s now at nearly 30k kms and I’ve had very few problems with it outside of usual wear and tear. Prone to looking scruffy very quickly which is true of all KTM off roaders, mine is now on it’s second cosmetic rebuild and I might think about selling it before it goes downhill again.
 
mspenz said:
And you did enquire about Tims' bike..now owned by me.
Click to expand...

I did - but told me all about why he was keeping the 640 Adv and what the 'issues' were with the 690 version

Also I was considering Lee's 690 ...,but went for a 500 instead as it was more potential to do both jobs better (short local work and longer type TET stuff)
 
Pssssssst, don't rule out 'older' Huskies Mikeyboy..............

<a href="https://andressotoscastello.smugmug.com/Husky/i-3bNbCdM/A"><img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Husky/i-3bNbCdM/0/2a8cabee/L/10150665_10201877207956251_2023099277_n-L.jpg" alt=""></a>

Andres
 
Outtomunch said:
Pssssssst, don't rule out 'older' Huskies Mikeyboy..............

<a href="https://andressotoscastello.smugmug.com/Husky/i-3bNbCdM/A"><img src="https://photos.smugmug.com/Husky/i-3bNbCdM/0/2a8cabee/L/10150665_10201877207956251_2023099277_n-L.jpg" alt=""></a>

Andres
Click to expand...
I do like the 630:::: but my main concern would be getting Oe parts for one
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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