RR: How to break in a new bike!

On Friday I picked up my new (to me) '08 KTM 690 Enduro... it was on consignment at Beemers & More in Fort Collins, CO. The deal was smooth as could be, they were great to work with!






I decided the best way to get to know the new bike was to go on a big weekend ride for Saturday and Sunday....Friday night I set up my new bike with my GPS, packed my bags, secured the tent. I planned out riding from Fruita, thru Paonia, over Kebler Pass to Crested Butte and over Cottonwood Pass to Buena Vista and a campground for the night.






























Sunday I set out from Buena Vista, planning on riding to Leadville, over Hagerman Pass, into Carbondale and up McClure Pass, then ditching the pavement for CR 265 and riding towards Vega Res and Collbran.


Sunday; Leadville, Hagerman Pass, Carbondale, McClure Pass, etc-
























Ended up with right around 500 miles, crossed the Continental Divide 2x and rode to over 12k feet elevation!

The KTM 690 Enduro is silly-fun... on the road it feels like a supermoto bike, very fast & predictable. Off-road, it's just like a big, powerful dirtbike... I'm in love! It has it's quirks, but overall it's a great dual sport! The KTM 'comfort seat' is a joke, it need bar risers for me to be comfortable, but the fuel injection was flawless to over 12,000 feet. I'm going to make some tweaks, but I'm already looking forward to the next ride.

Looks like an awesome ride!

The only bad thing is it makes me realize how little of the mountains I have seen on my bike. This is both a good and bad thing.

Nice ride and nice report.

Thats a great loop. I can't believe there is NO snow pack. I don't remember ever seeing it that dry in June before.
So was the bike all you expected it to be?

Congrats Greg!!!

Well, are you gonna keep those metal cans?

Greg,


Dude....you sold that ultra-reliable air cooled, maintenance free DR650 for that rolling, orange, maintenance interval machine???







Nice pics though

It was a great one, I feel recharged after that ride! I'm still grinning about it. There is plenty to see out here, I've barely scratched the surface of UT & CO and I'm always looking forward to the next ride.

Thanks!

Yeah, the snowpack up high is crazy, isn't it? The bike is great, everything I expected and more!

Thanks Uli, we'll have to get out and ride soon!

I'm not sure about the panniers, they were nice to have on this trip, but anything more offroad oriented and I think they'd get in the way. I've already bought a Giant Loop Coyote bag for the bike and I'm looking forward to trying that out. I will probably keep the aluminum panniers, since they came with the bike.

I know! Selling the DR and buying a KTM was a tough decision, but I will tell you, I was becoming bored with the DR650. Even after all the mods I did to my DR, it was... (and I hate to say this) not inspiring anymore. I wanted more. The KTM... holy hell, for the performance you get out of the 690, I will choose the 'high maintenance' KTM any day of the week. 315 lbs and almost 70 horsepower... if you have any doubts, you need too ride one.

On the maintenance thing... I've given my KTM-riding friend hell for the same thing... the 690 has a 3.5k km oil change interval and valves should be checked/adjusted at 10k km. I'll be changing the oil and checking/adjusting the valves way more often then they recommend, oil is cheap compared to a new engine!

Those things exit corner's like a trophy truck, good suspension, pretty comfy doing slab, and are capable of riding some tight stuff..

Great RR and congrat's on a great bike!

Yes, it's a friggin' impressive bike! Thank you... the ride was short, but epic!

Beautiful pics, Greg. I sure need to get out and ride more, too.

Thanks Walt, we will have to try get out again soon! Somewhere cool, though... it's getting too hot around here!