I'm talking about a 1000 mile or over trip....at least 500 miles one way.

I'm not a round-the-world "adventure" guy and never will be, although I can admire those who are. I like to ride moderately long distance road trips, and am of the type for whom the more "dirt bike like" any motorcycle is--even the ones I ride only on the street--the better.

I'm quite willing to give up touring bike comfort to be on a bike that handles light and nimble like a dirt bike (both on and off the road), and which is not abused by routinely using it for single-track trail riding.

In other words, I'm all about a serious (not pretentious) dualsport bike, and to my mind, the KTM 690 (and its predecessors) is the only current bike (among the "Big Five") which takes the whole dualsport proposition seriously. It's a brilliant bike and I'm proud to own it.

All that said, though, I'm afraid the long-sought "do it all" motorcycle is still a myth.

So the questions is....do you have plans to take your 690 on a trip or just trailer it to the area you want to ride?

For example: The kind of trips I actually do are weekend (or "long weekend") rides from here in middle GA to surrounding states.  I'd love to do that on the 690 and feel free to, on a whim, explore any off-road opportunities that present themselves along the way. To me, that's the definition of motorcycling. That's pretty much what I do with the 690, but on a more local scale.

If the 690 had greater fuel range (done), a tolerable seat (doable), and a truly wide-ratio transmission (not so much), it would be closer to my "single bike" ideal. It already is closer than any other I've ever owned in my 46 years of riding. But even with those things rectified, the tire problem remains. As Drblackbird so succinctly put it, even "DOT" knobbies wear "right before your eyes." There's presently no fix for that.

So things being as they are, as soon as any multi-day trip involves any Interstate at all (and they all do), I'm taking my 990 SMT and just have to forego the trail-riding opportunities. If I'm going to trailer (actually, in my case, carry a bike on the rear rack of the Jeep) it will be my Gas Gas TXT 321 which lets me do anything I care to off-road, not the 690.

If I trailered every where...I would have purchased a 500exc.

Like, I suppose, everybody, I also debated long and hard between the 690 Enduro and the 500 EXC. But a brief test ride on the street answered that dilemma and I bought the 690. I'd really rather have the geometry, weight, and handling of a 500 EXC under me, but the truth was self-evident that its actual use for me would be too restrictive. With only about 1500 miles on my 690 in the first couple months of ownership, I know I'm using it more than I would the 500 EXC, even though I'd still love to have one.

Post up what you are doing with your 690!

I routinely take the 690 out on all-day "get myself lost" rides on secondary state highways. If I encounter dirt roads and/or trails, I explore them at will. It does well enough on short Interstate bursts to get to the couple of realistically nearby offroad riding parks. But truth told, while it's far better off-road, it really doesn't have more highway capability than the DR650 Suzuki it replaced, despite its making half-again more horsepower. It desperately needs the afore-mentioned higher top-end gearing.

Widely-space high gear(s). 250 mile minimum range. Scientifically ergonomic seat (I am so convinced the whole motorcycle industry is intentionally negligent in this regard). Do that, KTM, and the 690 will have no peer.

But magic "transformer" tires still don't exist.

JET