Narrow box has so far put me off getting one too.

And yes, same question .... WHY ?

It's because the 690 Enduro is based on the 690 SMC and hence, uses the SMC transmission, presumably for cost reasons although KTM could have at least raised 6th gear to equal the 16/45 gearing.

I use 14t on the front when trailriding, 15t for general riding and 16t for longer road rides which improves MPG drastically, all with a stock rear sprocket.

I used a 17t for the ride back from Barnaul to London last year and it worked well.
It's a bit tight, and had to leave the cover off the sprocket but cruised at 80 to 85mph.

One thing to be careful of when using bigger front sprockets on the 690 is doing so in conjunction with aftermarket clutch slave cylinders. Although they don't have the same poor reputation as those on the 950, I'd still like to replace mine with an aftermarket option and carry the stock part as a spare on longer road trips but the only one I know of (Sigutech?) does not work with anything larger than a 15t from what I've heard, lack of clearance is the reason.

Not true.. I was using 16t with a sigutech. On the 690 thread in ADV I believe there are people using a 17t but that is way too high for 1st gear in my opinion.

This thread has convinced me to but a KTM 690R Duke. I was concerned about reliability but not now. The fantastic economy is a nice bonus.

Since posting this I've read on KTMforum that potential problems exist with the hydraulic camchain tensioner. Has anyone experienced any problem in this respect?

i've not had a problem neither has my friend, if you are worried you can get a manual tensioner from rally raid.

Mark

I reckon I'm probably worrying unduly and I've heard of the manual tensioners. I think I'm going to get the 690 next year after I've sold my Buell Ulysses. Thanks for replying.

Tim, as a long term proponent of the Xt660Z Tenere I was wondering what your reasons were for moving to a KTM 690? More power / off road ability?

I have a '10 660 Tenere and while it does everything including road and moderate trail I'm tempted by the grin factor of the 690 enough to try forget the bad memories of a 640 adventure that gave tons of trouble...

You will always have the grin factor with the 690....

the 690 is 135 kilos dry. The xtz tenere is 207 kilos? My bike loaded with the full fairing weighs the same as a tenere dry. :innocent:
The WP suspension is better.
As for reliability, I have 90,000 km on my 08 690 now. You are hard pressed to find a better bike out there.

I'm giving serious thought to buying a 690. I would like the Rally fairing and the larger front tanks. If anyone has these (Rallyraid), how much does it add in weight (with / without fuel)? The main reason for the potential purchase is to have a lighter bike, so if it adds serious weight I might have to look elsewhere. Has anyone had any issues carrying luggage (hard / soft)? I'm not looking to take the kitchen sink, but neither am I looking to be a survival minimalist!

Also, how do people find them on motorway stretches? I don't want to do many, but there are times when A to B is useful . . . .

Email Rally Raid they should have an exact weight for the kit.
I have the fairing coupled to a safari, although I am going to change it to EVO2 now as don't need the extra fuel capacity.
The fairing frame is ally, tanks plastic and fairing fibreglass. All in all it doesn't weigh that much. But obviously if you fill the tanks up then you will have the extra weight of the fuel.
Motorway isnt a problem if you get a good seat, and I'm not talking about the KTM comfort seat. Get a decent one, I did Magadan to London on the standard seat it was bad :thumbdown:
My friend had a custom seat and air hawk, no problem there.
We geared the front from 15t to 17t and they run well at 80+mph all day long.

Thanks - all this sounds excellent. What's the general mpg you're getting? Although my current bike is a little heavy, it does 60mpg easily; this is a real plus for overland travel!