06-13-2019, 02:38 AM
KTM was in my neighbourhood doing demo days so I went for a ride. It was a decently long ride, much better than Royal Enfields which had a short highway bit, some good corners and a back road or two. It was closer to 40 mins on the bike.
The 790 duke 105 HP twin with 63 Ft-lbs of Torque and a dry weight of 375. The riding position is upright with easy reach to the bars and the bike is very narrow. The tank wraps around your legs allowing you to lock yourself in the bike and really ease up on the controls. The bike has power on tap any where and just goes. It is super light and flickable. It would be a beast on the twisty back roads, probably too much so that it would get me in trouble with the Highway Patrol. It has modes for track, sport, street and rain. It has an iphone sized screen for the display which changes colour based on lighting conditions. It flicked from black background to white background when I went under a bridge and was always easy to see and glare free.
This is the first bike I've ridden since the buying CB that gave me something to consider. I really like the sporty feel and power, but at $12,500 Canadian with no accessories and I would definitely need some good bags for my longer trips. Perhaps in a few years I will look at the Super Duke 1290 with is 160 Hp or the GT version that comes ready to tour. I was going to ride the bigger Duke in a later ride, but we got rained out. The only draw back for me with the KTM is location of dealership and design. I'm not a huge fan of either bike's appearance, and prefer something more traditionally styled like the CB, Triumph, Kawasaki, BMW, etc...
The 790 duke 105 HP twin with 63 Ft-lbs of Torque and a dry weight of 375. The riding position is upright with easy reach to the bars and the bike is very narrow. The tank wraps around your legs allowing you to lock yourself in the bike and really ease up on the controls. The bike has power on tap any where and just goes. It is super light and flickable. It would be a beast on the twisty back roads, probably too much so that it would get me in trouble with the Highway Patrol. It has modes for track, sport, street and rain. It has an iphone sized screen for the display which changes colour based on lighting conditions. It flicked from black background to white background when I went under a bridge and was always easy to see and glare free.
This is the first bike I've ridden since the buying CB that gave me something to consider. I really like the sporty feel and power, but at $12,500 Canadian with no accessories and I would definitely need some good bags for my longer trips. Perhaps in a few years I will look at the Super Duke 1290 with is 160 Hp or the GT version that comes ready to tour. I was going to ride the bigger Duke in a later ride, but we got rained out. The only draw back for me with the KTM is location of dealership and design. I'm not a huge fan of either bike's appearance, and prefer something more traditionally styled like the CB, Triumph, Kawasaki, BMW, etc...
