Author Topic: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?  (Read 6465 times)

Dane1960

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Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
« on: April 12, 2015, 08:20:44 pm »
So the discussion came up about taking a trip on my 2014 690 Enduro the other day, and I'm talking about a 1000 mile or over trip. I am also going to add I have a couple of certified iron butt certificates not from riding the 690 though.... I did buy this bike to ride a few short touring trips and have plans to ride into Arkansas from southeast Texas which give or take at least 500 miles one way. My buddy Dr.Blackbird thinks I'm a little touched in the head for wanting to do this, LOL. I have ridden from Texas to Nova Scotia and back and don't think I would attempt that distance but a 2000 mile trip sounds like fun. 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? If I trailered every where and that was my plan, I would have purchased a 500exc, I bought the 690 because it had more of a touring set up. Post up what you are doing with your 690!

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Scutty

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We have trips planned this year down through France and Spain on our 690s. The whole reason for getting them was for long distance off-road trips.

Rusty Shovel

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Hey Dane,

I second your observation that as a trailer-to-the-trail bike, the EXC would have been the way to go.

While some on this site have modified their 690's off road specialists (and that's awesome too), I've chosen to go the lightweight touring bike route.  I've installed Touratech racks and have Wolfman Expedition bags.  I still need a more comfortable seat and a small windscreen.

My dream use for the 690 is to run the Trans-America Trail.  I see it as the perfect bike for this kind of ride; strong enough to carry weight at speed, and light enough that I (hopefully) won't be forced to avoid tighter sections of the trail.

But, when I DO trailer it to far flung locations, I can strip off the camping gear and do ALMOST everything I could do on an EXC.

I'm a one-bike guy.  Mostly because I don't have the money or space to have several "specialist" bikes.  We all can't be DrBlackbird!
D==[#)
2014 KTM 690 Enduro R

Drblackbird

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Hey Dane,
 We all can't be DrBlackbird!
I knew there must be a reason that my ears were ringing..........
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Let me first address my traveling partners question......"To Trailer or Not".....Well that depends on where you live. Let me explain. Some lucky 690 owners on here, live in Colorado, Montana, Calif, Australia, Germany...etc....where there are mountains, and less populated areas, so ripe for open exploration. These Blokes can leave their garage and in a few miles or Hrs, be off the asphalt and deep in the thick of things......Now don't get me wrong, I Love my 690 and think it's the best Dual-Sport machine money can buy. True, this is only my opinion....but I base my opinion on many Adventure trips...Canada-to-Mexico (CDR), most of the (TAT), deep travel into Mexico, Utah BDR, Colorado BDR....and all of these trips were trailered to the start point.
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Now where Dane, Myself, and this "Shovel" that needs some "WD-40" live, is deep in south Texas, Flat, Hot and Boring.....Yes, Texas does have mountains (10hrs) away.......If you wanted to get out of Texas in any direction, you're looking at a full days ride on hot asphalt. You should have bought a KTM 1290 Adv, GS1200, Yam Tenere, Triumph Tiger......etc
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The 690R can do it, sure....But if you have access to a trailer, WHY NOT ?.......The 690 = A Small narrow seat, not so great wind protection, some vibrations at speeds, the wind blows you around, Soft knobby tires wear right before your eyes, the Wear n tear on a single cylinder thumper motor at freeway speeds........
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The Alternative....You hop up in the comfy truck, put some tunes on, watch the sun come up over the "Flat Texas Countryside"...Drone on in comfort across Texas to the start of a great adventure, Fresh and ready to ride.......And here's the most important point....After a week of hard core Exploring,..... you must turn your dirty, tired self south and head home, all the while thinking about work on Monday, bills, unpacking, cleaning the bike, and the nagging thought keeps popping in your head..." Why didn't we Trailer"...?????
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By the Way, I own a Trailer Rental company.............. ::)
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Not Trailering is so,....GAY...... :-*
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ShakeWell

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With OP's credentials, he and the 690 would be just fine imo.

I've only managed day rides so far and our first scheduled long ride will be the LA to Vegas in November. I'm taking the slow route to setup the bike toward that ride. If you dial in the controls, seat, pegs, tires, gearing etc and get your gear planned/packed, there's guys running 690's across Africa, South America, Russia... a bike of many uses.

I end up doing the trailering thing about half of the time as well but by trailering, I mean a truck (sry Dr!). Get to the adventure, have it, change and hit drive-thru on the way home. However, these bikes are ideal for getting from 'here' to 'there' when there's mostly dirt in between and I'm planning on using it for that as well.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2015, 10:50:53 pm by ShakeWell »
2014 690 R, Rekluse, PowerCommander V, Rottweiler Intake, FMF, Scott's, Renzacco Seat, HDB handguards, MGTec levers, full sas removed, Pivot Pegs

mcrider

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+1 DrBlackbird has the correct idea.   ;)
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Rusty Shovel

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Yeah, Houston is an anomoly: 10 hours from everything.
D==[#)
2014 KTM 690 Enduro R

corsaire1773

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Hi

Last summer I went to Russia and Kaz ..during this long trip I met few guys in 690

Jussy ,  that came with his friend from finland ...all off road ..they went to Mongolia and came back to Finland..here his website..very useful if you want to modified your 690

http://therollinghobo.com/

An other guy name Dave ....Dave is only riding the world on his 690 ..

I was on 990 and I asked how was difficult to do so long trip on 690.. and all fo them were fine

So now, I amgoing to ride my 690 instead of my 990 Adv...I would like to visit Carpate mountains in 2016 and later go to mongolia

« Last Edit: April 15, 2015, 12:32:43 am by corsaire1773 »
http://advrider1773.com/

The sacrifice of a few ....for the salvation of all others

ShakeWell

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Yeah, when I was riding to the tip of Cape Town following the western coast of Africa...wait, no, that wasn't me, I have kids, a wife, a business, a mortgage... lolz.

Thanks for joining the forum corsaire1773, guys like you and the rollinghobo (great site, good info) do what I can only aspire to do one day. Also, the info that is passed on from putting that many miles on the 690 is priceless.

Meanwhile, I'm working on a two day ride... in November! Next year, when the little ones aren't so little, I'm want to ride some of the BDR's with one  in spring and the other in fall. Trying to get as much time a possible but I'm shooting for 7 days riding each trip.

So set that bike up and ride 1000 miles or to Mongolia or both, I want to read all about it! xD
« Last Edit: April 14, 2015, 04:45:41 pm by ShakeWell »
2014 690 R, Rekluse, PowerCommander V, Rottweiler Intake, FMF, Scott's, Renzacco Seat, HDB handguards, MGTec levers, full sas removed, Pivot Pegs

JET_690

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Quote
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.

Quote
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.

Quote
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.

Quote
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

truck11

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I got the 690 (vs 500exc or another smaller bike) for 2 reasons.  Passenger pegs so I can take my 8 year old son out for rides around town/pick him up from school etc, and I planned on riding the TAT this year (which now got postponed until next year!)   
I ride dualsport events and also the trails in WV (Hatfield McCoy trails) - to which I trailer the bike to save the knobbies for the trails.
2014 690 Enduro R


Rsquared

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I bought my 690 to replace my 990 for exploring. For a light weight adventure machine, the 690 is the only option for me. I just returned from a week of exploring in SE Utah and Colorado. We trailered the bikes out from SE Texas and averaged 300-ish miles a day exploring the area. On the days when we rode the "big bikes" the 690 was perfect for me...













 



 
« Last Edit: April 27, 2015, 07:06:15 am by Rsquared »

Alabama Adventurer

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Looks like a great set-up!  :)

Dane1960

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Liking the wind screen, what brand is it? price? Oh and I live in Southeast Texas.....Port Arthur....Nice pictures

Rsquared

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The wind screen is a Madstad. http://www.madstad.com/s.nl/sc.7/category.11244/.f It has alot of adjustability, and does a great job of knocking the wind off. We rode over to Telluride, CO and there was still snow on the ground, and at 31 degrees it was a necessity.