Hilarious conversation at my very first fill up

Just brought home a 2006 950 Adventure on Monday this week. Got the flu Monday night, so didn't get a chance to ride it until this afternoon. I rode 2 miles from my house to the local Kroger gas station and had this exchange...

I stop, get off, put the the bike on the center stand. A "dirt bike kid" (you know the type with the beat-up car, with the Fox window sticker, and the straight billed trucker hat on sideways) runs up to me screaming...

Kid: Dude! Where did you get that bike?
Me: I just bought it from a local guy, why?
Kid: I have been riding and racing dirt bikes since I was 4 and I have never seen ANYTHING like it!
Me: Well, I'm not sure, but I think KTM has been making this since about 2003 or so?
Kid: Is this thing brand new?
Me: Nope...2006.
Kid: That is bad ass! How fast does it go?
Me: I have no idea...I just bought it this week.
Kid: How much does it cost?
Me: New around 14 grand or so...this was used so I paid about half that.
Kid: What is it?
Me: KTM 950 Adventure
Kid: What is it called?
Me: 950 Adventure

Now I notice his friend (also in the same trucker hat getup) is now over just staring at it...literally with his mouth wide open!

Kid: That is bad ass, bra! (he actually said "bra" like he was a surfer)
Me: Thanks, man.
Kid: That is totally bad ass, bra! (yes, he said it again)

I had my helmet on, so I doubt the realized they were talking to a 39 married old geezer with three kids...

I filled up and busted out of there laughing my ass off!

The kid was right, your bike is bad ass

LOL.... everyone loves them, a Bandito on his HD pulled up next to me at a stop light, looks at me and says "is it running" I revved it a bit and he started laughing. Gave me a big thumbs up and I rode off??

A few weeks ago, I went to eat (with my family) at a local establishment (Rosario's). I was on the SE, and met them there.

Rosario's is in a historical area, on the southern tip of downtown San Antonio, and is a little limited on parking. So, as I normally do, I opted to park my bike on the (extremely wide) sidewalk, just outside of the restaurant. When they sat us, we were just on the other side of the window from the SE.


Anyhow, to me, the SE has always been kind of a Rockstar. And, whenever you park it, it turns grown men into blubbering idiots (I have caught folks posing and taking pics with it, and have seen MY BIKE in pics, on the internet, that I didn't post.)


Anyhow, that particular day, I noticed something that I had never seen before. As is always the case, the folks who walked by the SE gave it more than just a passing glance. But, it was the older gentlemen...60+...that just couldn't get enough of it.

It didn't matter that their friends and families were waiting to go inside. They stopped...and I mean STOPPED...to soak the whole thing in. They would walk to the front, then to the back. They would follow the lines, from top to bottom, bend down, and then stand back up.

Despite the fact that I had seen people do strange things, around the bike, before, this kinda' puzzled me. Did it (somehow) transport these men back to their youths?...Did they see themselves riding it?...Were they trying to figure how they would get a leg over it?


Despite my storied past, with KTM, the bikes that they produce are, definitely, two-wheeled sex. A coupla' days ago, I caught myself gawking at a 990 Adventure, that was parked at a hotel, downtown. I was gawking so hard that I had to remind myself not to hit the city vehicle, in front of me, with the city vehicle that I was driving.


These things are definitely long-legged supermodels...



EDIT- Sorry for the threadjack, Lobster. I didn't notice how long my post was. I had been thinking about starting a thread like this, for a few days (to note my observations). So, I hope you don't mind me sharing.


.

Mr Lobster, we've been expecting you. Your bike p.o, Roughidle, said we should be nice to you.
So, welcome

And start getting use to this kind of conversations.

Well, he sure seemed like a good dude to me, so listen to him!

Thanks...I'll post some pics soon.

Warrior...no problem...more of the same, man...too much fun.

Sorry guys, worryingly, I know the SE is a bit of a nutty bike. As I was about to put my skid lid on parked outside a college, a 40’s something transvestite/cross dresser shuffled over in its heals. Excuse me who make this bike, me, KTM, Oh thanks.

Get used to it. The big KTM will draw attention everywhere.

Yup, the 950 often causes mouths to gape open.

I was checking one out at the MotoGP in Monterey two years ago, next to a group of people asking questions about a Can-Am Spider. The old guy was about 70 something, and was answering questions like he designed the three wheeled creation.

Finally he decides it's time to go, so he puts his helmet on and procedes to climb aboard the super tall 950 Adventure! He drove away with the confidence of a pro BMX rider on a bicycle.

Turns out the Can-Am belonged to his wife, and he was some legendary enduro rider from the 70's. There were lots of open mouths.

HAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Love the mouth open "Nice bike bra!"

I honestly had no concept of the attention these bikes garner until I owned one. I always enjoyed watching people stare at it and scratch their heads. I'll never forget the first school bus I rode by, all the kids were smooshed up against the windows waving at me.

I love the absurdity of the 950. Its bright orange, LOUD, big, and fast. Plus it looks like the bike I would draw when I was 12. Maybe that's the best thing about it, riding it made me feel like a little kid on the dirt bike I always wanted.

I'll miss the "KTM" conversation:

Them: "What is it?"

Me: "A KTM 950 Adventure"

Them: "Wow, is that like a BMW?"

Me: "Sure" (Not wanting to open the explanation flood gates)

Them: "Who makes it?"

Me: "KTM"

Them: "looks like a dirt bike"

Me: "Yup"

Them: "is it fast?"

Me: "I think so"

Them: "What Kind of power is it makin?"

Me: "about 100hp"

Them: "GOD DAM!" (the harley riders reaction atleast)

Man Lobster, you are gonna have a blast with that thing, I know I did. It's a truly unique ownership experience. Glad its off to a bang. (and for saying I'm a good guy )

rode mine to the big commercial construction site today and it got lots of gawks while parked on a gnarly dirt mound in the center of the site
since im management I can park pretty much wherever I want

as I'm getting stuff out the tail bag
three people asked me " Wow, did you ride that to work today ?"
three times I said "no it rode me"

Is that along the same lines as, "Is that thing street-legal?..."


.

I was asked "What the Hell is That?" the other day My Response was "a Superbike for Singletrack"

Never had anything get the attention this thing does. And My other Bike is a Copper 99 Hayabusa.

Great answer, I'll have to remember that one.

I'm now almost a year into owning my 990Adv. I also own three other bikes.
Every day during my lunch brake I go to the parking to comb my Adv behind it's ear for a minute or two.
Just can't let it stand there without my attention for too lond.
I probably need some medical care...
So I fully understand why other people are staring at this bike with mouths open.

The Texas patrolman that stopped me for doing 120 mph+ in the middle of nearly nowhere at the outset of the Peaks to Port TAT ride acknowledged admiringly in the middle of our "conversation" that my 2010 990R was a "nice ride."

The nearly universal acknowledgement by riders and non-riders that the 950's and 990's are bad ass motos speak for themselves. Those that don't recognize it are simply brain dead.

long story as to how I ended up in this position, but:
I was riding to Redlodge, MT with a guy on a new HD streetglide ("with some motor work"). He slowed to about 50 and wanted to do a top gear roll-on. He was signalling 5th gear but I assumed he didnt't realize the 990 had a 6 speed so I left it in 6th. he apparently dropped to 5th and I proceeded to drive away from him. Once at our destination he proceeded to explain to all his HD buddies how the big ugly dirt bike had kicked his HD's ass. Everytime someone would give a questioning look he would say " I'm telling ya, that KTM will kick your ass, go ahead and try it if you don't believe me" . I just smiled and drank my beer.......

That 'old guy' who was 'some.... enduro rider from the 70's' was none other than Malcolm Smith.

Out here in Cruiserland, my 990 might just as well be invisible most of the time, because if you're not on a cruiser (preferably H-D) wrapped in leather, you don't exist to the other riders around here.

There have been a few exceptions, like the guy in Laramie who asked me who made KTMs, but by & large, I'm a motorcycling non-entity in these parts.

I'll be riding through Sunday morning, I can stop and look at it if that would make you feel better....