First ride with KTM 690 Enduro R, lots of pic’s from north central PA

[matt33]

Earlier this week, I picked up a 2013 KTM 690 Enduro R. I've wanted one for at least a couple of years, and I finally decided to sell my Yamaha WR250R and pull the trigger on the 690. I was able to take a couple very quick 5-6 mile rides prior to today, but this afternoon I finally got some extended seat time. I traveled 75 miles southwest to Montoursville, PA to pick up an order from a place called EuroOptic. In total, I logged about 170 miles today.

It was a gorgeous ride. I took the long way home and explored some PA state forest roads in NE Lycoming Co. Most of the trails were pretty tame and allowed for some high speed fun. I am absolutely blown away with the performance of this bike; it flat out encourages bad behavior. I noticed that I was well over 80 MPH in the blink of an eye on several sections of road/trail today. I also had a hard time keeping the front tire on the ground. Most of the trails were well maintained, but there were also some pretty rutted up muddy sections. These weren’t as fun as I was stuck in first or second gear, but the KTM had zero issues navigating everything we came across. I felt much lighter to me than its 306 pounds.

I love reading ADV ride reports; mine was just a day trip, but I figured I post some pic’s and share my mini-adventure with you guys.

[Paratrout]

That is one sweet bike bro! I love those KTM 690s hoping to get one myself soon.

[Honkey Cat]

Nice pics, miss mine. I was just to short for mine.

[motocopter]

Great to hear you are enjoying your new bike! I may have to let go of my WR-400F, and spring for a dual sport.

Look forward to reading more of your adventures with the 690.

I'd be curious as to how many miles you get out of the rear tire before you replace it. I used to have a KLX-650 dual sport back in the mid-late 90's and a good 90% dirt / 10% street tire lost its off-road sharpness fairly quick in the wet Panama jungle terrain. I was always changing tires on that bike.

[murdock84]

Nice bike!

[manfromthestix]

Gorgeous, and looks like you've got some roads near you that the 690 was built for! I was going to say, isn't it about time for a new rear tire with almost 200 miles on it? God how I love to spit out a good roost and I imagine that thing is superb!

I bought a WR250R recently and one wonderful thing about it is the 26,000 mile maintenance interval on the valves. Do you mind me asking, what is the recommended interval on the KTM? That and the height were the only things that made me leery of Katoom when shopping...

Doug

[matt33]

Originally Posted by manfromthestix

Gorgeous, and looks like you've got some roads near you that the 690 was built for! I was going to say, isn't it about time for a new rear tire with almost 200 miles on it? God how I love to spit out a good roost and I imagine that thing is superb!

I bought a WR250R recently and one wonderful thing about it is the 26,000 mile maintenance interval on the valves. Do you mind me asking, what is the recommended interval on the KTM? That and the height were the only things that made me leery of Katoom when shopping...

Doug

To me, the KTM 690 seat height feels virtually identical to the WRR. I'm not sure what the spec's are, but if I had to guess I'd say the 690 might be a smidge taller. I'm 5'11.5" with a 32"-33" inseam.

The rear tire...yes, I will be replacing a lot of those. The roost it puts out is very impressive. It looks like a bass boat with a giant outboard ripping across a calm lake. About 70% of the rear tread remains after 200 miles on the clock. I will say that I drove pretty aggressively for much of the trip and 150 of the 200 miles were on paved roads. I'd imagine that rear MT21's will be good for 500 to 1,000 miles depending on riding conditions. The MT21 is an awesome performer on road and in the dirt (I'm very happy with both), but I do wish the Dunlop 606 was available in a 140mm rear size. If anyone knows of a 140mm rear DOT knobby that would be a better choice than the MT21, please let me know. The front MT21 still has the nipples on the tread, no measurable wear at all.

Maintenance on the 690 isn't bad at all. It's not as maintenance free as the WRR, but it certainly won't keep me slaving away in the garage. Both oil changes and valves are scheduled for 6,214 miles (10,000 km). I'm going to have the KTM dealer do the valves annually ($150ish) and I'll do everything else myself. Like the WRR I had, I'll certainly change the oil more than scheduled. It seems like cheap and easy insurance. KTM recommends Motorex 10w-60 oil, my local shop carries it for $18/qt (I used $12 Amsoil in the WRR). The KTM uses 1.7 qts and has two oil filters.

The 690 does vibrate a little more on pavement than the WRR. It isn't bad at all, but it's worth mentioning since I'm comparing the two bikes. Some of that is probably the aggressive tires on the KTM. I'm not really sensitive to vibration and I didn't consider it a problem at all, but my forearms were getting a little tired toward the 150 mile mark (keep in mind much of that was pretty aggressive riding and my arms are on the thin side). The fact that the WRR is virtually as smooth as silk was probably the only reason I noticed any vibration on the KTM at all. The KTM seat seems similar to the WRR seat, both were fine for me for the first 100+ miles, but my butt gets a little sore after that.

What I like most about the KTM compared to the WRR is the pure horsepower/performance advantage. At 70 MPH in 6th gear, the KTM will still accelerate with authority and in lower gears it will pull the front wheel off the ground very easily. As great as the WRR is, it lacks a bit in this area. The KTM was $3,500 more, but IMHO based on where/how I ride it was worth the money.

[MakoRider]

Just got mine a few weeks ago. Love it. Oil change myself. Only one thing weird, to me, was I replaced the small oil filter with the correct part # ends in ...100 the one I took out ended with ...101. ??? The replacement fit just fine. And, it is what they list on the dealer/ website. You can go to it too at KTM and just input your vin#. It pulls up all the parts as far as I can tell. Keep riddin'.

[matt33]

Originally Posted by MakoRider

Just got mine a few weeks ago. Love it. Oil change myself. Only one thing weird, to me, was I replaced the small oil filter with the correct part # ends in ...100 the one I took out ended with ...101. ??? The replacement fit just fine. And, it is what they list on the dealer/ website. You can go to it too at KTM and just input your vin#. It pulls up all the parts as far as I can tell. Keep riddin'.

Mako,
I've read similar reports regarding oil filter part#'s being changed. My dealer actually pointed that fact out when I bought the bike. He gave me two oil filters that are the same part #'s as the ones listed in the manual.

When I change the oil for the first time this weekend, I'll check and see if all #'s match.

[matt33]

I continued exploring the very rural area where I live on my new bike. Last night, I saw something which truly made me say WTF.

I was ripping around a “No Winter Maintenance” dirt road where a field and dense woods meet. I was just telling my wife the day before that recently I have come across many turkeys strutting around while all alone. Sure enough, a young Jake bobbed along on the trail about 50 yards in front of me. Now the weird part, right behind the turkey was a giant Peacock following him around. The two seemed like friends. By the time I got my phone camera out, they were both pretty far away. My pic’s are pretty poor, you’ll need to take my word for it I guess. Here’s the turkey:


…and here’s the Peacock:


Again, this Peacock was pretty far away by the time I got my camera out. It was really big; it must have been at least 4’ long with its tail and was a nice Yamaha blue color. I had never seen a Peacock in the wild in my entire life prior to this ride. They aren’t native to North America as far as I know. I assume it escaped from captivity somewhere and found a friendly turkey to hang out with.

The rest of the ride was nice. The KTM keeps forcing me to drive it like a hooligan. I love it. One downer though is that my tail light on this two week old 690 Enduro quit working. The problem appears to be with the socket where the bulb plugs in. If I wiggle it around or push the bulb in, it works, but as soon as I hit a bump it quits again. I tried a new bulb today, but it didn’t cure the problem. Because the KTM dealer is 100 miles away, it was actually cheaper and much easier for me to just order another tail light assembly for $50 and install it myself. It should be here Friday.

Here’s pic’s from the rest of my after work road trip:




My new bike:




Coming home up and down the hill through my woods:

[ride4321]

Great looking roads Matt and a beautiful bike to ride them on. I'll be out trying to find those roads as soon as I have a free day.

[Vermillionx]

Matt,

Looks like an awesome ride right in my backyard. It is kind of funny you stopped at the place that I work at. I wish I was home so we could have swapped info for a ride sometime.

[matt33]

Originally Posted by Vermillionx

Matt,

Looks like an awesome ride right in my backyard. It is kind of funny you stopped at the place that I work at. I wish I was home so we could have swapped info for a ride sometime.

You work at Eurooptic? I love that place! I've been dealing with Jason for a few years now; he always treats me great. My name is Matt (obviously), I'll have to introduce myself the next time I'm there. I keep meaning to stop and pick up a Sako Tecomate in 300 WSM, I wonder if you still have those in stock?

Each time I go down to visit, I'm blown away with the growth of EO. The first time I stopped, the shop was at Alex's home up the road. Now, I hear you guys are moving to another huge building near Lowes.

It's a small world for sure!

[moodfart]

Love that fuckin' bike... you're a lucky man!!

[Vermillionx]

Originally Posted by matt33

You work at Eurooptic? I love that place! I've been dealing with Jason for a few years now; he always treats me great. My name is Matt (obviously), I'll have to introduce myself the next time I'm there. I keep meaning to stop and pick up a Sako Tecomate in 300 WSM, I wonder if you still have those in stock?

Each time I go down to visit, I'm blown away with the growth of EO. The first time I stopped, the shop was at Alex's home up the road. Now, I hear you guys are moving to another huge building near Lowes.

It's a small world for sure!

Yeah I will be back there around the beginning of fall. And Jason was the one training me before I left.