| Author | Message | ||
     Beachbuell |
I've been seeing more and more of these awesome machines cruising the South Florida bike scene lately. Is anyone familiar with the KTM SuperMoto (SM) 950 series? These bikes are kick ass dual purpose motorcycles. They are not as versatile as the Uly, but man there is something about these KTM's that has me lusting for one. I've never owned a KTM and don't even really know much about them. Except for that they make high end dirt bikes and the Adventure usually rules the Dakkar Rally, thats about all I know of these rare bikes. Theres just something about the way this particular model looks at me, I can see myself up and over curbing, splitting lanes, tossing it into corners and the occasional trails too. Anyhow, enough of my ramblings. I want, no.... Need one! | ||
| Ulendo |
hows your leg length? the KTM SM makes the uly look LOW!! I'd advise taking your own lube when you go ask about the prices, and lock up your wallet before getting any service work done!!! ( all second hand info, BTW - I loved the look of the 950 adventure, but the rest of it really put me off the KTM'swhen I was shopping) I DO know 1st hand from my dualsport run last weekend that they're not as good on-road as the Buells, and on-road they're THIRSTY | ||
| Nutsosane |
Beach, you're seeing A LOT of them? As far as I know the only KTM dealer in the local Dade/Brow area is Palmetto Motorsports(guess where they're at?) Seeing a bike like that there is akin to seeing fools riding their $5000 dollar downhill specific mountainbikes along A1A. Seen it a hundred times. Too many fools with too much money playing down there. Enjoy the heat down there friend and make good use of the local racetracks. NUTS | ||
| Beachbuell |
Hey NUTS, yeah this is a share of people down here with more money than sense! There is a KTM dealer in the hood aka Hialeah Florida down around North Miami. I would imagine parts are a pain in the a** and very $$$ to get and the service ranks up there with HD I bet! | ||
| Bevmiller |
My husband works as a tech at a KTM dealer. What he tells me is the KTM SM 950 is not taller. The KTM Adventure is about $13g and it comes with saddlebags. The Adventure is geared more towards off-road. The KTM's are a higher RPM motor than the Buell. Because of the extra width of the seat, the Uly is the tallest bike of the bunch. Oh, did I say my husband owns a Uly,which he loves for our twisty eastern PA back roads. He wouldn't trade his belt drive for a chain drive. Oh, his Uly is a BLACK one! | ||
| Ulendo |
KTM list the LADEN seat height on the 950 adventure as 33.85", and on the 950 SM as 35.5". right out of their 2006 spec sheets. Uly's LADEN seat height list ( is) 33.1". not sure how they'd compare side by side, with no one on them, but I DID test ride a Uly, and was UNABLE to physically test ride the KTM 950 ( weight / center of gravity may also have contributed to this - the KTM feels very top-heavy compared to the uly, making it hard to manage at full reach.) similarly, I can back up the Uly fine, but the KTM was darn near impossible. thsi bit is $0.02, but feel free to look up the listed heights. as for prices - I was interested enough I priced out KTM's - base price on the640 adventure was $11,999 here (higher than my Cityx), while the 950 was $18,996.} Freight, and PDI would also have been more expensive than the Buell...FWIW, financing also sucked here, but I'd put that down to a dealer issue. | ||
| Rocketsprink |
Actually I test road a KTM SM 950 and the Uly and the KTM fit me better and I'm only 5'-6" tall. | ||
| Ulendo |
I'm 5'4" - shouldn't make THAT much of a difference, but maybe.. I tried the 950SM, and the 950 Adventure - no dice on either, as I had to completely dismount to stop - seat height was higher than my hip. ergos ON the bike were fine, but you cant dismount at every traffic light with a passenger on the back. By comparison, the Uly took 5 minutes to adjust the suspension for my weight, and I could touch down by sideslipping ON the saddle: still wasnt a comfortable way to ride with a passenger, but I could do it. fwiw - I LIKE the KTM's and am still considering picking up a used 640 adventure at the end of this year as a toy for running local fire roads...but thats short distance, solo riding, out of traffic. | ||
| Pilot |
I took a Super Duke for a test ride on Saturday after taking a Uly for a spin and yes they do go well.The one is was on has the exhaust system chaged to akrapovic (my spelling)and the efi changed ,I was not impressed with the exhaust popping etc with decel,my right wrist was getting sore pained ,also the seat was starting to be a pain in the butt and it flamed out three times on the ride(engine stopped running and was hard to start)maybe a standard bike would have been a better test ride.Will some one take the orange spray can away from the factory and give the bike some new colours. | ||
| Bake |
I ran into a guy with the big KTM this weekend, his g/f had a BMW gs. He said he didn't like his KTM becase of poor gas mileage and low output. His next ride will be another BMW. | ||
| Trojan |
Try the KTM Supeduke 990  We recently had our race bike at a magazine test at Bruntingthorpe in England with a bunch of other bikes. Anyway, one of the brand new stock bnikes that was there was the new 990 KTM Superduke. Everyone that rode the bike came away with a grin a mile wide!! To put it into context, the test track mimics real roads with bumps, off camber turns etc rather than a smooth race track. PB magazine test all the bikes on the same track with the same rider and using GPS based datalogging for accuracy. The KTM was the fastest stock bike over the lap that they have ever tested (only beaten by a very modified Yamaha R1). Fater than all of the curent crop of 1000 and 600 sportsbikes and 2 seconds a lap faster than our racer! This was with a brand new bike with minimal mileage and no mods!! There is also a race team here in the uK who are beating the Ducati 999's etc using a very mildy modified KTM 990 in Sound of Thunder racing.  Make no mistake, this is a VERY impressive bike and one that Buell would do well to have a good look at. (Message edited by trojan on July 03, 2006) | ||
| Ulendo |
Trojan - last I heard, The Superduke isn't available in N.America - none of the 990 bikes are. for a while the 640's were only available in canada, not the US - not sure if thats changed yet?? Bake - was it goat boy & goat girl from ADVRider you ran into? If so, they were on the Big Traillie ride with me 2 weekends ago: some of my insights on owning the KTMs coem from his comments that weekend | ||
| Trojan |
Trojan - last I heard, The Superduke isn't available in N.America - none of the 990 bikes are. for a while the 640's were only available in canada, not the US - not sure if thats changed yet?? That really is a shame. I'm afraid that you are missing something very special  Mind you, now that KTM and Polaris have got their corporate tie up things will probably change in the near future. | ||
| Pinball |
A guy in Kelowna B.C. ,had one imported from the states.It looks and sounds great! But apparently they are a grey market bike and hard to insure, but I think they will be here for 2007! | ||
| Ulendo |
Pinball - not sure which bike you're talking about. we had every model that was available in the US, plus some that werent. there's one that has ( I think) had some 990 parts swapped on that the guy bought online - could that be it? oh, and there's an LC4 with DUKE plastic on it for sale at valley motosport...but I dont figure you mean THAT!! if you go here (http://www.ktm.com/frameset.asp and click on models, then scroll down, you can see that it says (specifically) not USA - might just be out of date, but I KNOW that the 640 Adventures are available here, 'cause I test rode, and priced one out.... | ||
| Bake |
Buell would do well to have a good look at. With KTM's prices I'd say Buell is doing fine without them. Don't take it that I don't like the Superduke cause I had my name down for 1 before I bought the Buell. I waited 6 months and they haden't imported them yet and it was gonna cost more than double the Buells price. It may be nice but it had better be spectacular for double the price | ||
| Glitch |
Mind you, now that KTM and Polaris have got their corporate tie up things will probably change in the near future. Can you say New American Sport Bike? I have a feeling Buell is in for some serious competition, in the next few years. Competition is most always a good thing. I'm looking forward to what's next for KTM/Polaris, and Buell. | ||
| Outrider |
I'm looking forward to what's next for KTM/Polaris, and Buell. Just don't forget Ducati and the "Big Four." I would like to see Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha battle it out in the category. Should result in affordable performance. I like the Honda Concept Bike that is in the Round Up section of the August issue of Cycle World. Then CW and Glynn Kerr did the same thing with the V-Rod a few years back and those bikes never came to fruition compliments of HDI's strategic marketing plan. |
