International Motorcycle Show - Houston

[Pedro-bot]

How do you think the 690 SMC would be outside of town in the hill country?  Is it fast enough to keep up w/ the group?  I'm looking at getting a second bike next spring and really like the motards but am worried it won't have enough power or range.  Would the Super Duke be better for the riding we do?

I didn't get to try out the 690 but I can tell you that the 990 Super Dookie was NICE! I didn't really get a chance to open it up but the torque and power band were pretty linear and smooth on the few occasions that I did get to accelerate hard. Handling was nice, very similar to the monster with a quick turn in and light effort at the bars. The pegs did feel a bit buzzy around 5K RPM, a bit early IMO. As far as keeping up with the group, the 990 Super Dookie will definitely fit right in with the style of riding you Austinites do.

[ducky]

I didn't get to try out the 690 but I can tell you that the 990 Super Dookie was NICE! I didn't really get a chance to open it up but the torque and power band were pretty linear and smooth on the few occasions that I did get to accelerate hard. Handling was nice, very similar to the monster with a quick turn in and light effort at the bars. The pegs did feel a bit buzzy around 5K RPM, a bit early IMO. As far as keeping up with the group, the 990 Super Dookie will definitely fit right in with the style of riding you Austinites do.

I agree with Joe on the 990. If you happen to be in California you can test ride them:

DECEMBER 2008:
December 5-7 - Long Beach IMS Trade Show - Long Beach, CA - Street Ride
December 13 - Malcom Smith Motorsports - California - Street Ride
December 14 - Mission Motorsports - California - Street Ride
December 19-21 - San Mateo IMS Trade Show - San Mateo, CA - Street Ride

[Gone Ape]

Tim,

I remember PowerHammer having reservations about riding with us because he was deeply concerned about fuel mileage...something like 60 per tank on his Husky...if you get the S/M, we'll have to rig up some kind of gas can addendum to the tail section or something....


Or perhaps this....

[Red5]

With all the praise that Vince was throwing at the KTM 690 SMR, I wanted to take a ride on it but never got to due to time constraints.  The SMC was the only 'motard' model available at the time.

I was not impressed with the 690 SMC.  Perhaps it's because of my inexperience with dirtbikes or my differing expectations of it, not exactly sure.  But the thing needed to be revved high to keep it in the powerband, clutch shifting was notchy with a few missed shifts, and power was completely either on or off, no in-betweens.  Had to quickly smooth out that throttle hand.  Again it's probably me and not the bike itself.  The SMR is heavier than the SMC, so it may also be tuned a bit differently. 

Tim, the Duke would be the better choice of the two in the Hill Country with your type of riding.  I can't see the SMC or the SMR having the advantage over the Duke unless you were in a city environment or on really tight backroads.  And even then it's debatable.