New KTM 690 Hard Enduro

[Captain Pugwash]

KTM are launching the new 690 Hard Enduro next month.

Details are still a bit sketchy,but it is rumoured to weigh less than 145kgs,comes with FI and slipper clutch as standard,and features WP suspension,as you would expect from KTM.

KTM have dumped the 690SM's twin periscope style exhausts in favour of a single can on the left side,to save weight.

It will be road legal and be on sale in the Spring for less than £6k.


A few pics,none of which show the bike that well :

Looks like the BMW X Challenge has serious competition !!

They are both around the 145kgs mark.The X Challenge puts out 53bhp and the KTM makes about 64bhp,if going by the same engine in the 690SM.

I have ridden the latter,and the powerplant is superb.

It makes amazing power for a single and is SOOO much smoother than the previous 640 engine.


The HD should be a stonking bike.


Even better would be a road legal version of the Baja 690,which may be on the way :

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

Cool

 

[TaffyScouser]

Like 145kgs is light????????????????????? Things are going backwards again.

 

[Captain Pugwash]

Who said it was light ?

 

[Losttheplot]

Thats about the same weight as a drz (crap) or an xr650(gimme gimme gimme). It not so much the amount of weight, but where it carries it that will affect how it rides, which is why boxers aren't to bad off road....

However, the flipside should be a bike with lots of power, and sensible service intervals, so you ride it and then throw it in the garage and forget about it until the next outing*

nathan

*not that i would suggest you do that, you'd end up missing things like knackered chain sideplates (which would lead to a busted chain) or clogged air filter it it was dusty, or a tyre full of thorns that would be flat when you finally retrieved it, but you would have an engine that wouldn't need the oil dropping out of it every other ride, and sensible valve clearance schedules....well you would have thought so anyway....

**come to think of it, the weight is only likely to be an issue on some of the hardest snotty climbs/descents or bogs in wales, for general south downs and salisbury plain riding it should be a right hoot, and just the tool for doing the baja, hafren and patrick james rallies.




*** is it that obvious i've just got back from the pub?

 

[snoopy]

I bet it's fun but it's too extreme to me. I'd prefer to be able to carry a pillion, luggage and have a more comfortable riding position.

PS), DRZ dry weight is 119Kg and I bet it takes half the servicing then that extreme machine.

 

[Captain Pugwash]

I bet it's fun but it's too extreme to me. I'd prefer to be able to carry a pillion, luggage and have a more comfortable riding position.

PS), DRZ dry weight is 119Kg and I bet it takes half the servicing then that extreme machine.

I bet it's no more extreme than a DRZ!!!

The new 690 engine is so smooth.

A DRZ is hardly equipped to carry a pillion and luggage !Plus,the Hard Enduro is an ENDURO bike.If you want to carry pillion and luggage,then buy a KTM 990 Adventure or a GS.


Why do you think the riding position will be less comfotable than the DRZ ?
And didn't you abandon your recent trip as you were in agony on your perfect bike

 

[bianchi]

690 adv

has anyone seen or herd anything about the 690 adventurer are they going to make one

 

[Captain Pugwash]

has anyone seen or herd anything about the 690 adventurer are they going to make one

Absolutely but KTM are often a little slow in getting models off the ground.

Expect it sometime mid 2008 at the earliest.

Having ridden a SM690,the ADV should be a blinder,as the motor is brill.

But there should also be a new Adv 1150 based on the RC8,and this may well be what I trade my GS in for.

I reckon that'll be launched at the shows this time next year.

 

[bigchris]

2009 for the adventurer, or now for the rally replica. If you want the rally replica tho, be prepared for a hefty price tag around £20k

 

[Timpo]

.Plus,the Hard Enduro is an ENDURO bike.

Dreaming........
Who the feck would enduro (Time Card or H&H) a bike with this engine size, and why?
Hard Enduro, maybe aimed at the Merkins for their let's have a bimble around the desert type events, but as for UK enduros, save your wonger and buy a 200EXC, it will be less embarasing when the youngsters blat past you on the 80 or 125s.

T.