Hi Guys,

I am in the process of choosing the bike for my world tour starting in july 2017.

I have tried various bikes, read a bunch of reviews and talked to a lot of people - only to get more confussed about choosing the bike for my tour. I found that its a kind of religion

I had more or less decided to go for the new Honda Africa twin 1000 but after testing it I felt a little disapointed about the engien power. I have tried a KTM 1090 Adventure - a really nice bike with a lot of power which i fell i love with.

Roumers from the people i met is that the KTM cant handle such a trip (70-90.000 km) and will give me a bunch of trouble on the way.

Does any one have some experience with KTM and maybe the 1090 Adventure ? Are they really that bad ?

Cheers.

You're spoiled for choice! No really bad bikes at that level. If you can afford a
$20,000 (USD) KTM ... then I'm guessing any problems that crop up can be dealt with.

A lot depends on you, your experience/skills. Any off road riding experience on BIG HEAVY bikes? Without experience even the KTM won't get you through nasty mud, deep gravel or super steep UP or DOWN or other daunting off road conditions. Now load it up with 40kg. of luggage/accessories

Are you doing a long term trip for a year ... or years? ... or doing a blast out to Mongolia in a few months time? Doing a true RTW?
Have you figured in shipping costs between continents and Carnet complications? (IE: importing a foreign bike into India is madness!)

I've only test ridden KTM Twins (950SE, 990, 1290) Tried out a new 1290 ADV this past weekend. In our group we had 5 riders on new or new-ish 1290's! These bikes have hella POWER but on many of our tight, nasty, twisty back roads I easily kept pace with ALL of them on my simple and cheap 37 HP Suzuki DR650.

Out on the open road ....WHOOSH ... they'd whistle by like I was parked. But is going 140 mph really part of your RTW travel plan? Most experienced travelers comment that once out in the 3rd world you can get by just fine on a 250cc bike.

Out of the 5 KTM's no one broke down or had any problems on this little intensive 3 day ride ... a total of just 1200 miles. But the owners had a few stories about problems they have had. Nothing catastrophic but niggles here and there on four of the five bikes present.

If you plan more intensive off road exploration and have limited dirt riding experience, then I would consider something smaller, lighter .... MORE FUN!
None are ideal road bikes but GREAT in any sort of off road situation.

In your budget range consider:
Husqvarna 350 or 710
KTM 350EXC, 450 EXC, or 690
CCM 450
Yamaha WR250R (world class bike at nearly half the cost of Euro bikes)

Maybe give us a bit more info, how much you like and know about working on bikes, intended route and how much 'off road' you are going to be riding.

At the end of the day though, ride the bike that 'does it' for you, if the KTM floats your boat, don't settle for the Honda, as you get older, you will regret riding the 'wrong' bike.

The KTM will do your trip, the 1190 and 1290 have been around for a few years, so a few known stupid issues have been ironed out (leaky airbox etc) for the 'new' 1090, but they are still complicated bikes and KTM's generally do need quite a lot of maintenance, if you are not competent to check the valves and do routine servicing, fix fork seals and tinker around with them, then it would be a good idea to learn or have plenty of cash set aside to get it done for you - and even this is NEVER a guarantee that work will be done properly at a main dealer

__________________
Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

Some older KTMs got a chequered reputation. I recall there always used to be a few KTMs at the start of every enduro left kicking the bikes after the dust had settled. But from all reports these days reliability has improved a lot and I know a guy who did Mongolia and back on an 'old' 990 without it missing a beat. So I wouldn't be overly concerned these days, the reliability of all modern bikes is good so your choice is probably based more round what you enjoy riding. If you plan doing more heavy mileage highway work the bigger engines will be good but if you plan to get into the nadgery stuff you probably don't want the weight or top heavy handling. Remember there's a dirt track somewhere with your name on it and you'd better be able to pick up the bike when you drop it.

For myself I have a hot date planned with the new 790 ADV when that comes out (later this year?). It's a big enough engine to eat up the miles, but smaller and lighter than the V twins for agility and range.

Yep, I really hope KTM does a good job with the 790, we have had a long wait for a decent mid size "Adventure" bike from them after the 640 was axed, Id like a mid size twin or triple that's not too heavy to ride long distances, much as I love thumpers, long distance riding in North America does get a bit tedious. I read somewhere its likely to be out Spring/mid 2018, lets hope they can get it sorted soon

__________________
Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

looks like you're more concerned about power then anything else
while this is the last thing I would worry about in such long trip...

Go light—I've never met anyone riding rough roads or tracks who has wished for a heavier bike. Outside of Europe and North America there is no need for a bike with more than 500cc. Other than that you need a bike with a decent frame to take the stresses of luggage over rough roads for thousands of miles.

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

What about in Oz Tim? Are you telling me I'm riding around with an extra 490cc! ;-)

I can answer that actually: I am, but I love it.

To the O.P.: I have owned 3 KTMs (450, 690, 990) and know many other owners. I know of 990s with well over 100,000km that have never had the engine cases opened. Even one 690 with over 100k.

The bigger bikes, including the 690s (and Husky 701s) are NOT high maintenance. They have long service intervals and valves need checking only every 15k kms. They are very solid and reliable and I wouldn't hesitate with one of these.

The enduro bikes are HIGH maintenance but designed to be. I.e. 500cc EXC and below. These need very regular oil changes, for ADV probably every 2,000km. This does not mean they are unreliable. This is typical for an enduro/race bike.

All of these bikes have some small known issues which are well documented and can easily be worked around. This is the case with all brands.

I'm not sure where KTMs got this reputation but it must've been in the 90s before I started riding them. My 990 has been absolutely bulletproof and it's half way to 100,000. The more I ride it the more I trust it.

A final word: the bigger capacity bikes are more complex. 1190/1090 is a very complex bike. If you're not comfortable working on those sorts of systems a smaller, simpler bike is advisable. Although the 690s are fuel injected (extremely reliable!) they are a bit less mechanically intimidating.

If I was buying a bike today I would go smaller and get a 690. It's just that once you ride a 990 you never want to get off...


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That is the only reason you need, IMO! If it's fun and you can afford it ... it's all good.

In the touring ADV world 100K km is tiny distance. Only 60K miles. Many bikes go double that and more ... BTW, I've towed 2 blown up KTM twins, a 950 and a 990. Extended warranty insurance paid for BOTH repair. One promptly blew up AGAIN! Finally fixed and still on the road today. NEWER twins are now MUCH BETTER than the early twins. MUCH BETTER.

But for perspective, there are dozens, maybe hundreds of Suzuki Vstrom with OVER 100,000 miles (160K km), still going strong. Mine did over 90K miles with ZERO problems. Not one issue. A common thing for Vstrom V-twin.

15K km. interval? Many modern Japanese bikes typically do 26K MILES (40K km) between valve checks.

My Ducati is 18,000 miles. So, all relative regards "long service intervals".

My DR650 calls for valve check every 6K miles ... but rarely goes out of spec. And since it's a half hour job, not a big deal. How many hours does it take you to do valve adjustment on your big KTM? ... or ... how much does the dealer charge you?

I consider my DR650 an "Enduro" bike, but it's certainly NOT a race bike. Very LOW maintenance for that bike.
Mine is now over 60K MILES of very hard use. (5 trips down Baja ... and back, no trucks involved)

But the EXC series are true RACE BIKES. Perhaps not ideal for travel, but the 500exc, for one, can do it if the rider knows how to take care of the bike!

That said, I've been reading the Ride Report about the Kiwi riding his 500EXC
all through the Americas. Very impressive. Pretty much DEAD reliable and SO improved from bad old days in late 80's and early 90's when I would find KTM parts littering the trail in an Enduro. :smarts: (true!)

True enough. The more you know about your bike, easier it is to maintain, prep and avoid problems in the first place.

I'm not quite ready to tackle doing the Desmo valves on my Ducati!
About $600 USD if shop does it.

Yes, but even earlier. late 80's ... but the 640's in particular were real crap up until maybe 1999 or so. I owned an 2001 Duke ll, zero problems.

Early 690 enduros ('07/'08) were NOT reliable by my reading of history. Many issues beyond F.I. Good news? Later ones are 100% better. KTM listen to customers ... then improve things! I see a 690 in my future.

But with KTM, you'll need to bring some mechanical expertise along for the ride. Know the bike, know it's issues and learn to SPOT THEM EARLY and correct them before they screw you!

I have to agree, I rode the SM version and was massively impressed, effortless power though it runs out of steam as you get towards the ton - hardly a problem. Not a drop of oil leaked or a beat missed on a hard track day and should give good fuel mileage.

KTM sadly don't do a 690 ADV or I'd have already bought it. You would have to start with the enduro model and spend a lot more on customising it.

Yea, it's a shame we don't see many 690E's out doing RTW rides. A few, but not many in grand scheme.

BTW, don't forget KTM did make an ADV version ... the 640. This model vibrated so badly ... you could lose your teeth fillings. Two friends still own the 640 ADV bikes. Be nice to squeeze in the 690 motor into that chassis. So much better.

But still, I have not seen many very high miles 690's ... either the 690E or
or 690 Duke. In KTM single world it seems they think 20K miles is a lot.

More and more travelers are going SMALL ... 125, 250 and such. Cheap and expendable. With shipping costs, politics and Carnet issues, seems buying a small bike in country (or region) you are in, may be our future.

I don't know about that, new Africa Twin and all GS bikes sell like cakes,
besides going too light is also bad. Think about wind, luggage, stability, tank range etc. Personally for travel I would no go below 500cc and above 1000cc.

There is always the Honda CB500X with a Rally Raid 3 upgrade kit as an alternative consideration ?

Quite capable as an adventure bike , Reliable and easy to handle on the rough stuff where some big bikes might have trouble ...., and cheap to buy and with great fuel economy..., plus still quite comfortable to cruise on a highway.

Sometimes people just want to ride in style hence the big, heavy adventure bikes. They look awesome. I am myself tempted by them every year

I won't go to all the individual points but feel I should just summarise and address few things, esp. in response to mollydog's interesting tapestry of objection and support to my original post!

I think the anecdotal "I once knew a guy who had a [brand, model] that [positive or negative anomaly] after [ridiculously low or high mileage]" evidence isn't that helpful, and these sorts of stories can be found about the majority of popular brands one way or the other.

We could go on for ever with counter examples of GSes that bend forks, Husky's that spin big-end bearings, Ducati's that take too much time and money to have their valves checked and KTM 450s that can have theirs checked in 15 minutes (but need it every 105hrs).

I think what the original poster is really asking is: "I like the look of these KTM bikes, and I kind of want one, but is it going to let me down?".

To address the question, I personally am of the opinion that all modern KTMs based on the LC4 and LC8 motor platforms are reliable to high kilometres and suitable for RTW travel.

The enduro and motocross race engines I would say are not good for such long term usage -*not to say there aren't exceptions for those inclined and mechanically minded - but when talking about KTM it's important to note that there are two different subsets and opinions about the brand may refer to one or the other, and yes, may also refer to "old" or "modern" KTMs - again I'm skeptical of reports of entire production years' of bikes being "bad", but will leave that for others to speculate on.

I don't have much experience with other brands and/but obviously BMW, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Honda, etc. all make bikes that are suitable. So no comment from me there, I will only say that I have done my own due diligence and have drawn my own conclusions:

I personally would not hesitate to take one RTW I will be sticking with KTMs until I can no longer afford to or the motorcycle itself no longer excites any passion in me.