2012 KTM 690 Adventure a no go.

[Stumpalump]

The KTM 690 Enduro is a fantastic bike from most reports. The 2012 690 Adventure model as speculated would have been a nice addition but KTM is not going to make it. 2013???....Maybe. Didn't we just read about the popularity suge in adventure bikes? Pehaps hiring Ryan Dungy to race the 450 supercross gave KTM tunnel vision.

 

[RHINO]

there will never be a 690A,,, it has been a rumor every year since the 640A went out, and every year we hope its true but alas, no.

 

[camper357]

690 reliability

Maybe you should read fishfund's ride report on advrider. That would be the last drivetrain I would want to depend on.

 

[RHINO]

so, do you walk everywhere? i mean there are problems out there with every car, truck, van, bicycle and boat in some thread somewhere on the internet.

there have been some issues with the bike, his particular case is pretty bad, but there are WAY more good threads than bad.

 

[sandalscout]

Maybe you should read fishfund's ride report on advrider. That would be the last drivetrain I would want to depend on.

I wasn't familiar with his thread over there, I believe you are talking about his trip to Africa earlier this year. Awesome thread, but he definitely had a ton of problems with that bike. I am far from being a professional mechanic, and I have never worked on an EFI bike, but I suspect that his problems stemmed, at least partially, from the modifications that he performed before shipping the bike. I have never ridden/worked on a KTM, but I can't help but think that they are held in high regard unless they were good bikes.

 

[Stumpalump]

People love to pick on KTM. I never liked them untill I bought and I'd buy again.

 

[camper357]

so, do you walk everywhere? i mean there are problems out there with every car, truck, van, bicycle and boat in some thread somewhere on the internet.

there have been some issues with the bike, his particular case is pretty bad, but there are WAY more good threads than bad.

You sound like a KTM apologist who drinks orange cool-aid! Anything fuel injected would be my last choice for adventure riding.

 

[RHINO]

funny you say that cause i ride a highly modded and personalized ATK605,,, about as far from any kind of sheep following cool aid drinking persona as you can get. :bike_rider:

just pokin fun at your example.

 

[Stumpalump]

Big deal if the first ones in 08 had a run of bad fuel pumps. I think a wire rubbed and a shroud rubbed on a radiator. Benifits of 305 lb bike with 10" travel and 65HP are still strong. Should anybody overload a light weight first production year, high performance bike marketed as an enduro then take it around the world?

 

[WU7X]

Say what?

Anything fuel injected would be my last choice for adventure riding.

I've been riding a BMW Dakar with a FI Rotax engine for the past several years with absolutely no problems with the fuel delivery system. Living on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, I can, and do, ride from sea level to 8K+ feet. I put about 5,000 miles a year on it.

There are tens of thousands of FI bikes around the world. People have taken them RTW hundreds of times. I'm sure KTM has a FI system that is equal to any out there.

Going back to carbs, jetting issues, etc., at this point is ridiculous! Especially if you are looking for a go-anywhere, reliable adventure class motorcycle. You are talking adventure bike, right?

 

[sandalscout]

Going back to carbs, jetting issues, etc., at this point is ridiculous! Especially if you are looking for a go-anywhere, reliable adventure class motorcycle. You are talking adventure bike, right?

You know, I thought the same thing, I figured if nothing else, FI would help with the jetting issue and so on. I've read two reports recently that the author said that about 9000 feet their bikes felt like crap and that they wished they could just swap jets to get power back. I'm not a dyed-in-the-wool carb guy, but familiarity is an understanding motivation for wanting to keep a carb setup for those guys that have lived with them their entire lives (FI was the norm on cars when I started driving, so I'm cool with FI and carbs are new since getting into bikes).

 

[Stumpalump]

The factory Rally bikes remove the FI and run carbs. They don't sell them and my goverment would not let me ride one on the road because of the emissions testing I must conform too. The 9000' elevation has nothing to do with carb vs EFI if the carb is tuned. The problem is a 30% reduction in power on any normally aspirated engine due to the thin air. So in otherwords a KTM at 9000 feet would feel like a KLR at sea level. Chuckle chuckle.

 

[sandalscout]

Yeah, I guess that's it. I just always hear of guys with carbs opening up their airbox at high altitude and adjusting jets and not having problems up to about 12,000 feet or so. I've lived below 3000 my entire life, so it's not common around here. I don't have anything to really compare it to.

I guess that's the same reason that the turbo diesel do better at altitude compared to their N/A siblings.

 

[RHINO]

when it comes to elevation changes an EFI bike is always going to have the edge. changing jets will get a bike running pretty good, but you still have passages for fuel and air at work in a carb that you cant change, its just never going to equal the fine tuning an EFI is capable of with out re-working the whole carb.

i like carbs but i see the day coming when i switch to EFI and i will love it.

 

[91redford]

without a doubt the newer tech that brings FI and anti lock brakes and computer controlled timing advance all make the newest bikes the best performers but outside of the 1st world carbs are more common and in terms of user friendly on the road adjustments/repair there are obvious advantages...i do have a KLR...and a BMW GSA...so different...if i left for a south america adventure tomorrow i would take the KLR...not for comfort or speed but just because it's dead on reliable and i can repair more things on it and feel like i could figure out WHAT was wrong if stuck in some remote location..all bet more mechanics in BLANK country have worked on KLR's than GSA's...when i rode my GSA all over Utah a couple years ago and loved going over 10,000 ft passes with some power...the big beemer is like nothing else..but it's over the top engineered to the point of wondering what makes it all go..i do love it..just don't trust it 100%