I just had some time on my hands so I stripped off the triple clamps and reversed them. They are now set to 22 degrees as opposed to the 24 the bike was delivered with.

I try it out and see how it handles and report back.

Any update on how this worked out?

I've had an issue of my 09 front end wanting to knife/plough at the first sign of an even slightly soft surface, soft sand is outright horrible. My brain is trying to tell me that moving the axel back (reducing the offset), closer to the steering pivot (24mm to 22mm) should ease this tendency @ the cost of losing some steering lock angle.

Bruce

I have set my rear, but cannot find the recommended range for the front. What is it?

Sorry about the delay in posting my results about this. West Oz get shockingly hot over summer and hit about 115 in the shade, so I did what any self respecting rider does....put the bike in the shed and went to Japan for 3 months and spent my time snowboarding.

Ok, so today was my first ride back. What did I find?
I always find 1st ride back I'm not up to race speed, so I took it easy but still went out on my usual enduro type terrain. Baja rocks, the famous west Oz ball bearings (pea gravel) and sand. Big wash out gravel beds with jutting rocks, and nothing flat other than a couple of washboard gravel roads. I neglected to do any single track today tho.
I should again point out, apart from short bitumen sections to trails, I only use the bike the way the factory intended...as a big thumper in the vein of the big Honda's and other desert bikes. I think it would by crap as a dual sport, but each to their own as I know many people do happily dual sport them. Whatever floats your boat I always say.

Tires were run at 20 psi front, a Pirelli scorpion mx mid hard. Rear an Ed 78 also on 20psi. The front is halfway to its use by date, rear is new. Tub lists up front, UHD behind.
Bike ecu is set to wild, open Airbox, O2 censor disconnected, 15/45 gearing. Wings can, Suspension is Ohlins rear and Sxf closed cartridge front (16mm push thru). I was a little concerned about the geometry of the bike having changed the triple position. I may try some subtle changes with the mm of the forks thru the clamps, but that's for later.

I found the bike initially did feel a little different. Strange to say it, but it did feel more compact. I noticed a faster response when steering, I guess became it now just a little shorter. It was easier to turn the bike via locking the rear wheel in gravel and weight shifting to thro the rear out before grabbing the gas to finish the 180. Fun, but I was well used to it turning on its old clamp setting so the difference was well evident. More 'flick able' was what I felt.

Riding fast on (very) rutted and rough gravel roads, I found no feeling of the front end pushing into corners or feeling unpredictable, other than the fact my front rubber is getting worn and its not a tire I'd run again. It's ok, but not my fav. I'll go back to a battle cross next time. Some rocky hills gave things a good trial, with some nice gravel beds and washouts as well. A little pogoing between front and rear wheels was noticed as I launched a bit off rocks but that's more my lack of riding in the last few months ( not getting my butt into the correct position) or a suspension tweak. Small stuff but I was trying to by very analytical for the write up. Same for a couple of series of whoops, but by the second set I'd slid back a bit and no control issues were noticed.
What else? Turning the big orange beast...I always get on the noise to spin the rear around so any loss of turning ability is not really a big thing. No feelings of rear end swapping over whoops, felt like it was a little easier to lift the front wheel when I wanted, or maybe I just forgot how easy that is on the big girl.
To try to sum up the general feeling of change I noticed with this, I'd say it felt a bit more nimble for such a bike on hard terrain (mind you, I think the 690 is an easy bike to ride even on very harsh terrain. I always say, try a 500cc two stroke, a kick only xr650r that you've dropped and flooded, on a steep hillside) and you realise how well mannered and set up they are.
 6 km of tar to get home fast, I think the trade off became apparent. Not so nice for the black top...I noticed more bounce via the rim lock up the front. But having spent years on exc's and xr650r's which occasionally got a run down the highway it was not a big issue considering how close I am to trails.
A good change? For my type of riding, definitely, it was a good noticeable difference.

Firstly I don't find my 690 as stable in deep soft sand as either exc of Sxf bikes were, until I really crank the speed. Then I think the greater rolling mass helps to stabilise the bike. It's always going to plough a little more in corners because of the nature of the surface and the greater mass will have an effect on pushing a bike thru a soft surface. I'm going to try to get out onto a nice deep sandy area I know of this week and do some hands on testing for you. I did noticed when I first hit the deep gravel (very soft ball bearing shaped crap) I was on a fair downward trail and had to do a fairly hard up off camber turn.
With trail junk there was every opportunity of the bike to push thru the turn but noticed nothing. I always felt the bike had wanted to drop into corners a little, but just cornered it in the mx way...hard weight to outside peg, shift butt to upper side of tank, get well over the bars and gas/clutch control. I do notice I can front brake skid easier...more weigh directly over the front axle perhaps? Note in the below section from Emig Racing his use of the term 'chopper end out'.

In the interim, this is from Gary Emig of Emig Racing, and is one of the best explanations on offset I've read.

"KTM produces a line of excellent motorcycles, however, there are a few steering geometry problems. Changing the offset of the triple clamps can have a tremendous effect on the bike. However, to rely on this solely is naive. I lend my opinion to our customers everyday regarding what is the "right" offset to use. Well, the answer is always different and affected by many factors.

Things to consider when changing offset:

BIKE: This is not too significant, but, a lot of riders notice a dramatic change in steering when changing from a 2 stroke to a 4 stroke for the first time. The 4 stroke has to be ridden entirely different, which takes some time.

SAG: We have noticed that the new KTM's come with around 115-120mm of sag. With that much sag, it gives the bike a very slow steer feeling. It is a reason why a lot of riders say the bike doesn't turn. It creates a sluggish feeling to the bike. When you get the sag set properly, (no more than 100mm is plenty), you get the attitude of the chassis correct and it helps it to turn. With too much sag, it makes the front end "choppered out" or too much outward angle in the fork. It can be adjusted and with various suspension settings the bike can have a totally different feel to it.

TRAIL: Some opinions are that trail creates stability. If that were a true statement and trail is what helps stability, why wouldn't we all use 10mm offset clamps? If trail is the most important factor, than why do the Japanese bikes all run 22 - 24.7mm of offset? Keeping in mind that they all, including KTM, have around the same degree of steering angle in the frame (approx. 26 degrees.)

Let's take a KTM450 with 18mm clamps on it, switch it to 22mm, why is there a noticeable increase of chassis stability and handling characteristics? Example: For years and years, Kawasaki has had 22mm offset clamps and nobody complained about the handling. It was always a great turner and had great straight line stability. Then in 2003, they made a slight change in their steering angle degree and went to 24.7mm offset. Immediately the bike still turns fantastic and has great stability. No one complains about the chassis of the KX. I'm trying to show a comparison in the relation of offset clamps to having the chassis set right.

FRONT TIRE: With the wrong tire on the front, it creates many bad habits that get blamed on the offset. KTM's like a more aggressive front tire, to help reduce the knifing effect, that is commonly attributed to less offset. The wrong tire makes the bike wash out easier, not giving it good stability. Washing out also gets blamed on offset.

I realize some people disagree with these opinions, but being both riders and in the clamp business, these are points we have found to be of real significance. Factors vary with many chassis setups, suspension, and riding style. Every rider demands a different response from the bike. There is an appropriate offset for every style. Each rider need to know his style, type of riding and what he is looking for his bike to do. Here at ER, you can be assured we can help you to get the offset that suits you and your individual style.

And in closing, Emig Racing rides KTM's, too. We have tested on our own 250MXC, 300 EXC, 380 EXC, 400EXC, 450EXC, 520EXC and 525EXC. In every condition" Motocross, Woods, Desert and Trail. Sand, Tight Woods and Extremely Rocky.

I thoroughly enjoy my KTM and want you to, also. Give us a call, we're here to help."

Thanks for the reply and posting the Emig take.
In my case I definitely need some suspension work before playing with the offset, to do otherwise would be placing the cart before the horse.

Bruce

Is your rear sag set properly for you? .....

1 of the original posters details how he suffered the same problem you have about pushing into corners. I believe he solved it via the rear shock settings.

Not there yet, it's going to take more then settings for my fat axx. Hesitant to spend the $ if the knifing front remained after, as I would likely just sell the bike and move on.
Thanks again for the detailed replies!

Bruce

Got some time recently to pop the big girl through a bit of deep sand and also had a good run in some very loose gravel beds. By this I mean small pea gravel that is common over here in west oz.

Results are best described as follows.

The bike does feel strangely more 'compact'. I can defiantly feel the minor change in the wheel base. It's an odd sense of being fractionally more over the front wheel. And that's the rub I guess, in that it's putting the mass of both bike and rider a little more forward.

That helps with the bike tracking over very rough ground and also in deep sand and gravel. It rails after the change with the clamp. No ploughing or pushing ...only let down was my lapses in technique. As another rider over here stated, he changed it, couldn't get his suspenders sorted so changed back. He tried again, got the combo of setting and suspension sorted and it was "foo kin' oar some".
Get yr weight over the front of the bike, look to the exit of your corner and and twist the throttle...and hang on like hell! Coming back into straights I'm finding the back end is spinning out wonderfully reminding me of a big old two smoker. While the turn circle is reduceded, it's easy to flick the back tyre around by using the gas...gonna eat even more tires I guess!

Conclusion....its a great tweek on the bike. But it's got to be used in conjunction with correct suspension set up. And that should be sorted The First Time You Ride The Bike....before you think of cans, tires, luggage, whatever. Can't do it yourself, then pay for it. I'm always stunned the people will spend big money on boots, pants etc but not set the bike up properly.

And also, ability. Learn to ride it where you want to ride it...and keep learning! None of are ever to old or too talented to stop.

Happy riding on the big orange pig!