GS ADV vs KTM 1290 ADV

[Cymru-Dave]

I spoke to a guy called graham from themotorcycleexchange yesterday, he was a real nice bloke, and his bikes look great, I'll be buying from him I think

 

[Nutty]

I'm not saying Ktm aren't as good they may be better

They're not!

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

They're not!

Correct they are better

One thing I definitely agree on, they picked the wrong bike for their travels. By that I mean the wrong size/class of bike no matter what the manufacturer. The best bike on large chunks on that trip was the cheap replacement bike for the camera man's broken bmw. Think how it would have went with a middle weight proper Adventure bike.

 

[Troppo]

KTM, BMW, Triumph, What ever, you pay your money you make your choices. We all like what we like and everyone is different. Get over it

You are no fun at all....

 

[Troppo]

Rode a mate's 1190 the other day. It was nice.

For a KTM...

 

[Gargy]

Rode a mate's 1190 the other day. It was nice.

For a KTM...

I rode a mates big fat missus once. It was nice.

For a fat bird...

 

[Troppo]

Oh dear....

 

[Deleted account 211025001]

They're not!

They are!

Andres

 

[Nutty]

They are!

Andres

 

[cookie]

...

 

[GrantR]

I bought my KTM when I was in Qatar....same dealer sold BMWs. All the guys there recommended the KTM for off road riding so I got the 990 Adv. Had some amazing times on it in the wadis and mountains in Oman after I moved there. It really was the bollox offroad and I am no expert by any means but it was just so easy to ride fast on the dirt. And on the road it handles far better than any bike with a 21" front wheel has a right to. But for road riding I do now prefer my GS LC. I still have the KTM (shipped back from the ME) but it will probably be sold sometime soon.

 

[Ash700]

I’m not sure if stirring this debate up again is a good thing?

Both markes have changed/evolved since this thread began. The latest that I’ve found is that it’s still a close call between them and probably comes down to personal preference. I don’t have a lot of knowledge of the KTM brand (never owned one), but the latest versions look ok, although I have no clue as to how reliable they are?

The old Ewan & Charlie argument... Apparently KTM initially agreed, in principle, to sponsor them but on reflection decided against it as they believed that Ewan & Charlie wouldn’t make it - nothing to do with bike reliability or prooving a point. As it happens, later down the line, KTM admitted that it was one of their biggest regrets not to sponsor them!

I’m changing my 2014 LC GSA in March next year... do I test ride a KTM? I know it has 160bhp but on the other hand I have grown to really like the boxer engine, but for me it comes down to the whole package, it’s not just about the engine. At this stage I don’t know enough about the KTM to have an opinion, so I’ll probably have a look just to satisfy my curiosity.

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

No its not a good thing to open a thread this old again but since you have personally I would say it would be a stupid and blinkered move not to look at a KTM or any other adventure bike.

The Long way round argument is even older than this thread and does not relate even closely to anything available on the market now. They were GS1150's back in 2004!

 

[Ash700]

No its not a good thing to open a thread this old again but since you have personally I would say it would be a stupid and blinkered move not to look at a KTM or any other adventure bike.

The Long way round argument is even older than this thread and does not relate even closely to anything available on the market now. They were GS1150's back in 2004!

Yes, you are quite right... I shouldn’t have bothered - not much point to it really. Sorry, it won’t happen again.