690 Rally Replica questions...

[bend27]

You are the luckiest, we all hate you, now get lost........

[italrally]

Originally Posted by Cummo

I dunno much about your riding style or intended use.....but if you intend to ride this thing at any speed off road..... the suspension will need more than tuning, the bike is a pig, you need to uprate the front springs to 5.0nm, change the valving and gas pressure. The rear will swap like nothing you have ever ridden, it will throw you on the second switch, get the 2009 rebound stack and revalve more, reduce the slow speed compression, dont play so much with rebound, its just the stack, get rid of it as soon as you can. Be wary of this bike, its a nasty thing at speed and you can never relax on it, or as charlie says, three switches and your out! Fun, fun, fun.


Ooppps, sorry I just read youre post above, should be a great bike for what you intend to do with it, enjoy it, its a dream on garvel roads and long hauls.

Cummo, could you explain me exactly please the differences between the 2007/8 and the 2009/10 KTM 690 Rally Replica shock ?

Thanks Mic

[schattat]

Congrats on the new purchase! Now with the 450s taking over the rallye raid world we'll be seeing more of these beasts for sale

[schattat]

Originally Posted by italrally

Mic, did you get a standard 690RR and do the Despres paintjob, or do you actually own an ex-Despres bike? How do you get your hands on an ex factory bike?!?

[F650Dakar_Norway]

Originally Posted by schattat

Congrats on the new purchase! Now with the 450s taking over the rallye raid world we'll be seeing more of these beasts for sale

Yup. That's what I reckoned too. And obviously the seller too. I'm riding over to his garage now to sign the contract and sort out the business part.
I'm damn lucky and can hardly believe it myself. Have to pinch my arm to be sure I'm not dreaming.
Testriding it in a couple of hours from now.

[italrally]

Originally Posted by schattat

Mic, did you get a standard 690RR and do the Despres paintjob, or do you actually own an ex-Despres bike? How do you get your hands on an ex factory bike?!?

Hallo Tony,

it is a standard 690 Rally Bike, but with a lot of factory special parts.

First i did the paint job with a local painter, but after 6 month all the paint on the tanks made bubbles. So i was lucky and i could buy !!! special painted tanks from the factory KTM Rally devision.

This bike is the best offroad (rally ) bike i ever owned.

Hopefully the KTM rally department will continue to sell this bikes.

I think, the rules for the 450 bikes are valid only for the Dakar, not shure if also for the 2011 FIM rally world cup.

So Tony, do you want to change from 450 homemade Rally Yamaha to a professional KTM 690 Rally Replica ?

Mic.

[F650Dakar_Norway]

Originally Posted by italrally

Hallo Tony,

Hopefully the KTM rally department will continue to sell this bikes.

I think, the rules for the 450 bikes are valid only for the Dakar, not shure if also for the 2011 FIM rally world cup.

The 450 rule will initially apply only to the top "A"-class Dakar riders in that specific rally. But most top riders will ride 450's - so it's anyone's guess
when FIM rallies etc. will follow suit. It may take some years - I hope.

But money speaks - and the organizers will decide what makes the best PR and make executive decisions thereafter. Time will show.

[LukasM]

That one really is mint, nice find and congrats!

[F650Dakar_Norway]

Thanks, Lukas. I actually got it through Pal Anders Ullevalseter, who put me in contact with the seller. It was a Once-In-a-Lifetime Opportunity - and I jumped for it.

The seller bought it new in spring 2008 to do rallies on Ullevalseter's team, but he got a daughter and chose to put his family first. His now 2 year old daughter has already got a mini crossbike and the father is raising her to be a motorsport enthusiast as himself. He's still racing RR, but decided to ditch his plans for rally riding. A real nice guy to deal with.

I'll take an enduro license this summer and need to pay some tax to get it on street-registered plates legally. That way I can use it as transport to/from the barren gravel-roads up in the mountains.

[italrally]

Originally Posted by F650Dakar_Norway

Thanks, Lukas. I actually got it through Pal Anders Ullevalseter, who put me in contact with the seller. It was a Once-In-a-Lifetime Opportunity - and I jumped for it.

The seller bought it new in spring 2008 to do rallies on Ullevalseter's team, but he got a daughter and chose to put his family first. His now 2 year old daughter has already got a mini crossbike and the father is raising her to be a motorsport enthusiast as himself. He's still racing RR, but decided to ditch his plans for rally riding. A real nice guy to deal with.

I'll take an enduro license this summer and need to pay some tax to get it on street-registered plates legally. That way I can use it as transport to/from the barren gravel-roads up in the mountains.

So you got your new toy finally ? Show us some more nice pictures from your baby !

[F650Dakar_Norway]

Originally Posted by italrally

That's one very nice RR you got there.
But I'm glad mine is a relatively discreet KTM orange so I don't attract that many devious & sceptical looks from our LEO's (Law Enforcement Officers) in my neighbourhood.
I just paid a studly sum of re-registration tax and will have it on street reg.plates next week. I need that for the transport streches enroute to the regional gravel paradises - or maybe I should call it "liasion-etappes" to massage the Rally mindset.

[F650Dakar_Norway]

Some trivial facts after a couple of weeks ownership.

- It's tall - seat height 98cm. I'm 186cm/6'3" and enter from starboard side after some swing-a-leg practice.
That way it's stabilized on the sidestand while I slide over and in place on the seat.
Thereafter it's a tiptoe experience even for my 36" inseam legs.
- It starts easy, and the choke has yet to be used.
- Fuel consumption is not that bad for ordinary road work - around 0,5 litre per 10km - until you give it buckets
of throttle Dakar-style - wherefrom it guzzles, ahem substantially more. At such achieved speeds it won't matter anyhow.
( Trivia: Ullevålseter ususally refuels every 250kms when racing. )
- Rear suspension is harsh and needs fine-tuning. Pål Anders Ullevålseter gave me some basic advice which will be tried later.
- It's fully capable of relatively comfortable commuting, although the indicator/light switchgear is relatively cumbersome to operate
in darkness.
- The ICO-switchgear and roadbook switch are prioritized on this rally-beast on the port handlebar side, so that takes some fumbling
and swearing to get used to when operating hi/lo-beam and indicator switches further inward on the LH handlebar side.
But heck, who cares. This thing roars and was not designed for ordinary roadwork - but will actually do that quite well.
With some minor quirks and effort.
- When i bought it, it had covered 260km and the gearbox was still a bit tight. This improved considerably after 800-1000kms.
Gear operation is now quite smooth and effortless.
- It vibrates strongly, but never uncomfortably. Since it's not equipped with a rev counter I have no idea about those values either.
I consider mounting a Vaportech enduro computer for that purpose. I won't race it, so the non-used extra ICO space under the
roadbook will provide a good place for the Vapor housing.

Adventure-riding a rally bike.
I've just done a 2-day gravel event this weekend and put some mileage on it on rough gravel, dirt roads, tractor tracks, deserted wood
paths and river crossings. Needless to say that worked very well and I had a blast. It's a very stable platform and performs very well on
dry and moist dirt surfaces. I'm not that experienced or skilled to really put it through its paces, but really enjoy it's immense capabilities.

Luggage, you say?
Hmm, that's its' main weakness, but a decently lightly packed luggage roll can be strapped on. That's about it, unless an
advanced, hi-tech & lightweight luggage rack is tailor-welded for it. I'll research that later on, but obviously that's not a high priority.
And no way will that nice 18 litre supporting membre rear tank be jeopardized or modified unless it's integrity is 100% guaranteed.
I strapped on a waterproof pack roll with a fleece blanket underneath for paintwork protection, donned a rucksack and did the 5 hour transport
to/from that event on ordinary tarmac roads. Then unloaded and rode that thing on everything from extremely bumpy rough gravel trails to nice
dirt roads and forest trails without any luggage other than my daypack rucksack with tools, rain gloves and some energy-rich food.
Conclusion: If you want long-haul touring luggage capability: Get yourself a 690 Enduro or any other dual-purpose motorcycle that can take
proper, stock luggage racks and panniers. I'll use my F800GS for that touring purpose and keep this beast for non-luggage dirt rides at most requiring
a lighweight roll bag and a rucksack.

Want your own 690 Rally Replica?
Expect more of these beasts for sale from now on, since the Dakar 450cc limit may influence the other races and most riders can only
afford one bike class... If you get your hands on a competition-used 690 Rally Replica, check out the reputation of the team mechanics and if
possible interview them politely to get the necessary facts about the history of the bike. It's basically a high-quality 70hp 653ccm LC4 engine
with a race camshaft and should easily be serviced by your favourite KTM mechanic. According to Pål Anders Ullevålseter this engine is extremely
reliable and won't budge even under tough races, but his favourite mechanic is a true perfectionist and I've seen him in action.

Parts etc.
The most expensive parts are mainly the front fairing CF panels, front CF mudguard, bottom CF bashplate, both front tanks, rear tank and rear
CF tooltray/tail fixture with rear light assembly. Mudguard, front fairing and bashplate can easily be swapped with cheaper components in glass fibre etc.

Example: https://shop.rallyraid.co.uk/proddet...p?prod=BI_1002

I most definitely won't play too much around with those CF components in place and will get the somewhat heavier replacements in place before
really gunning it in the dirt and mixing with some other amateur enduro-dudes on the few events this bike can do. It most definitely is too big and
cumbersome for ordinary Norwegian enduro tracks and is totally out of place on most motocross tracks.

[barrier]

Living the dream Good luck to you.

FYI IIRC Stan Watt of www.frontrowgb.com made/aquired a number of replica fairings for the 690RR. May be worth speaking to him.

[F650Dakar_Norway]

A few pics from Bukkerittet 2010 at Grimsbu, Norway:

[wachs]

Luggage? My neighbor has one of these cool rally machines and is using the Giant loop - Coyote - no racks or extra bits, fits like a glove and rides excellent.




Here's more about his rally/adventure experience: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...ighlight=wachs