690 Enduro Forum

General Category => 690 Discussion => Topic started by: Dane1960 on April 12, 2015, 08:20:44 pm

Title: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Dane1960 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!
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Scutty on April 13, 2015, 12:47:56 am
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.
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Rusty Shovel on April 13, 2015, 11:03:30 am
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!
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Drblackbird on April 13, 2015, 07:28:15 pm
Hey Dane,
 We all can't be DrBlackbird!
I knew there must be a reason that my ears were ringing..........
.

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.
.
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........
.
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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.
.
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: ShakeWell on April 13, 2015, 10:41:17 pm
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.
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: mcrider on April 14, 2015, 01:36:45 pm
+1 DrBlackbird has the correct idea.   ;)
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Rusty Shovel on April 14, 2015, 02:48:38 pm
Yeah, Houston is an anomoly: 10 hours from everything.
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: corsaire1773 on April 14, 2015, 04:10:19 pm
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

Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: ShakeWell on April 14, 2015, 04:43:54 pm
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 (http://www.backcountrydiscoveryroutes.com/) 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
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: JET_690 on April 18, 2015, 08:45:57 am
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
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: truck11 on April 20, 2015, 10:24:42 am
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.
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Rsquared on April 26, 2015, 10:13:50 pm
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...

(http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad328/Rsquared_photos/Utah/DSC03317.jpg) (http://s948.photobucket.com/user/Rsquared_photos/media/Utah/DSC03317.jpg.html)

(http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad328/Rsquared_photos/Utah/DSC03313.jpg) (http://s948.photobucket.com/user/Rsquared_photos/media/Utah/DSC03313.jpg.html)

(http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad328/Rsquared_photos/Utah/DSC03422.jpg) (http://s948.photobucket.com/user/Rsquared_photos/media/Utah/DSC03422.jpg.html)

(http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad328/Rsquared_photos/Utah/DSC03421.jpg) (http://s948.photobucket.com/user/Rsquared_photos/media/Utah/DSC03421.jpg.html)

(http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad328/Rsquared_photos/Utah/DSC03419.jpg) (http://s948.photobucket.com/user/Rsquared_photos/media/Utah/DSC03419.jpg.html)

(http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad328/Rsquared_photos/Utah/DSC03415.jpg) (http://s948.photobucket.com/user/Rsquared_photos/media/Utah/DSC03415.jpg.html)

 (http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad328/Rsquared_photos/Utah/DSC03411.jpg) (http://s948.photobucket.com/user/Rsquared_photos/media/Utah/DSC03411.jpg.html)

(http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad328/Rsquared_photos/Utah/DSC03424.jpg) (http://s948.photobucket.com/user/Rsquared_photos/media/Utah/DSC03424.jpg.html)

 
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Alabama Adventurer on April 27, 2015, 08:04:41 am
Looks like a great set-up!  :)
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Dane1960 on April 27, 2015, 10:11:49 pm
Liking the wind screen, what brand is it? price? Oh and I live in Southeast Texas.....Port Arthur....Nice pictures
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Rsquared on April 28, 2015, 03:35:54 pm
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.
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Milesofsmiles on February 10, 2016, 08:51:53 pm
On my 990 I have done some very long rides with the renazco racing seat and raised bars and did not get fatigued. On my 2014 690 I did 160 miles with a seat concepts seat and could not wait to get off the bike. For me, it seems just to lite for serious slab miles. Just thinking about powering down the klondike's endless miles makes me shutter.
You guys who can stay comfy for hours on slab with the 690 are a true bread. Don't get me wrong though, I would take it in a minute across America On the TAT.
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: Roostmaster on February 17, 2016, 01:35:14 pm
After owning a 2002 Honda CRE500 since new and finding parts drying up (Honda Australia Road legal Enduro model) I purchased what I thought would be the best bike for my type of riding, the 2015 500exc.
I found it to be a great machine so I started doing longer and longer rides than Id ever done before like 250k's in a day, let me tell you after an hour on the exc its hard to sit down on the seat for more than a few minutes especially since Im short so have fitted the KTM low seat, about as comfortable as a piece of railway iron.
After less than a year this bike was not enough anymore, little did I know I was actually morphing into an Enduro / Adventure rider.
So after much homework and having never seen a 690 in the flesh I bought a 2015 690 enduro r.
First ride I was just as interested in its beauty as I was gob smacked by how clumsy it was, but the ability to ride such long distances in relative comfort was a new feeling for me, compared to my other bikes.

So Ive researched just about every site available to help choose which modifications I will make and what products I will use on the 690.

To date Ive got 2500k's on it, Ive planned to spend a year or two getting it ready for a long distance tourer as I plan to ride across Australia on her, from the top, down the West, across the Center, then back up the East, probably around 15000 kilometers either by myself or with some friends if they get bikes (they are looking at DR's & KLR's)

So far Ive done a 350k ride and a 565k ride, both day trips on mostly dirt.

For me the order of modifications just to get it up to a decent day tripper went like this:

1. Steering Stops on day 1 after nearly dropping it due to its poor turning circle.
2. Wings Silencer after the stock burnt my 10yo son.
3. High flow Uni air filter.
4. KTM Rally pegs (the stockers are way to small IMO and the wider pegs make the bike a dream to ride)
5. Wide foot for the side stand (nearly fell over a few times in soft soil)
6. 16 tooth front sprocket - best upgrade to date besides the pegs, kind of WR transmission now with acceptable 1st gear crawl speed and great highway ability.
7. Double take 'adventure' mirrors - way better looking than the enduro mirrors IMO and they sit snug with the curves of the bike.
8. Scott billet rear disc guard.
9. Kenda Big Block tyres, UHD tubes and rim locks - balanced (I made a small mistake by ordering the rear 150 trying to get more rubber on the ground but the wide tyre has curved a lot to fit the rim.
* one thing I found when I did the tyres was that the stock rim strip isnt adequate to stop the sharp edges of the spoke nipples, there was evidence that this would be a potential tube killer so I taped the spoke nipples also.

The big ticket items Im chipping away at now (after much research) to get her long range capable:

*KTM wind screen
*Rally Raid Radiator Guard
*Rally Raid tank bolts mod
*Increased fuel capacity (undecided on what but maybe a Safari tank due to bigger size & lesser price than Rally Raids)
*Rally Raid luggage racks
*B&B engine guard, front sprocket guard & rear luggage rack - http://bboffroad.com.au/shop/online-brands/ktm-products.html?model=168
*Andys Straps soft panniers - http://www.andystrapz.com/products.php?productCategoryId=22&Level=1
*Navigation - Undecided
*And of course camping gear

For me the 690 has practically made my 500exc redundant, but Im reluctant to let the exc go as it is a great bush weapon or at least better suited to ride with my sons on their bikes.
My CRE500 is officially retired although it goes to the pub for a beer once every 6 months.
Title: Re: Do you plan on riding long distance on your 690 enduro?
Post by: rastawheel on June 17, 2016, 03:47:59 pm
I only trailer the race bike to races and rides. The 690 is my commuter/ weekend adv bike. I've only had it for two months now, but already got one 800 mile weekend in. I use a GL Great Basin bag to pack all my camp gear and I also run a 15L dry bag on my tail rack. The set up worked great. I will be doing two more extended weekend trips over the next three months. I think we are taking our dual sports out to CO this year instead of the dirt bikes. So that will be nice to have the big thumper and FI.
My long rides are mainly farm roads and forest roads.