Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

They are fun, and quite popular with the vd lot.

Phone round you can get 10% off that !

Where from ?

Katooms looks a hoot, I was considering the 690 before I changed jobs and no longer needed a bike, thinking about it, probably more reason to buy one now...

Most KTM dealers.

Blimey. That’s a lot of new bike for £3k.

They’re supposed to be great fun.

Could be a great summer commuter.

They are made in India and are the 125. So cheap and quite small and light.

Great fun to ride although I found the gearshift to be a bit vague compared to the 690. Question is do I chop in my 690 duke from 2010 with 17k on it for a brand new 390? I do love my 690 but I tend to ride it a bit ‘progressively’ and rarely go outside the north circular let alone the M25.

I’ll get one if you get one.

I reckon the smaller engine might even make it more fun round town. Though I fear above 60mph you’d miss it.

I'd like one of the rolling chassis to stick a Banshee motor in. Hopefully they'll sell loads and some will blow up soon.
400 is ample for around town and the twisties. Be a ball ache on dual carriage ways and A roads unless you don't mind flogging it.
Definitely a good idea if you could persuade a bunch of friends to buy one too - group rides would be hilarious.

group rides would be hilarious.

So you’re saying you’re in?

1. Mikey5000
   
2. Hefty
   
3. Jung
   

Jung might have a prob doing a group ride this side of the Atlantic! I’d be up for a little blast followed by some tea at the Ace

I could be up for that

I'll internerd in from Mulholland somewhere...

Have a go on one. still sits at 80-90mph alright on dual carriage ways.

I had a 690 loaner when I took my 390 to be serviced. It might have been limited/detuned or whatever due to being a loaner but I was proper underwhelmed. I thought I'd be gutted to hand it back and take my 390 away but nah.

You don't have to work the gearbox like you do on the 390 but then, that's half the fun innit and only managed to get an extra 15 or 20mph out of the top end of it ragging it back along the a9 to get it back in time.

They must have put it on the ‘wet’ fuel map - 50% more power and similar weight plus bags of torque on the 690 - also the sound of the Akra system on mine is quite addictive. True that you can’t wring it’s neck like you can a 390 without being very antisocial indeed.

Big single noise is growing on me - I like the crack of my XR650.

I've not been mad about riding the smaller ones though. I've had a blat on WR and RMZ450s both of which have a bit more poke than the little KTM. You really have to wring them out to get at it though. They'll pull from nothing, but all the real shunt is in the last 3rd of the rev range. I guess they'd probably make good sporty road engines, but you definitely want a top gearbox to keep them on the boil.

When I got to ride an RC390 for a day in Herts/ Bucks countryside that was definitely the fun bit - revving the shit out of it and leaning it over. My poor SIDI courier boots were a bit too big and clumsy for the job to be honest - still gave me massive grins though.

I like my big single for what I use it for (delivering lazy people's sushi and tpas), standard exhaust is just about enough, can make it pop a little on overrun if you want, just about enough to keep suicide peds at bay, whilst not being enough to bother people coming home late at night all the time.
However, on open road, yeah, really lacking.
Wanted to ride the the pyrenees next summer, but don't think I can take 1.5 days each way of motorways on it, just doesn't suit that travel at all.

I got rid of the cbf500 and picked up an 11 plate, low mileage Tiger 800 a few weeks back and drove it back down from Shrewsbury. Such a nice bike and came fully loaded with the luggage, heated grips, centre stand and for lights. 6th gear covers everything from about 40mph to low triple digits.. I rode it out to Suffolk last week and it gave me an average of 52mpg.
Love this bike! Probably some around 600 miles on it now, ticks all.my boxes. Small enough for London roads but big enough to take 2.
Only issue was a duff battery that needed replacing

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It's worth checking the system is charging properly.

yay starter motor died over xmas. so plans to commute in by bike when the trains are playing silly buggers are all up the wall

Had a similar thing last spring, turned out to be the high amp connection. Nearly had the starter out of the bike but decided to test it with some jump leads first. Cleaned the connection and it's fixed. Had quite a few car starters go bad though, sometimes a tap with a hammer will buy you enough time to get it replaced.

On bikes, check the starter motor wiring first.