Another Contender for the FZ-07/09 - KTM 790!

[shinyribs]

9 minutes ago, topazsparrow said:

Looking at videos of it, it looks like the plastics and overall aesthetics are rather cheap looking as well.

They usually are, and I don't mean that as a bash. KTM builds bikes that perform very well, they don't seem to strive for aesthetics. JMO, but I get the feeling they typically choose function over form. Just like any offroad bike. The looks don't really matter, just hang the minimum amount of plastic on a bike to get the job done. That's not necessarily a bad thing. 

 

But I remember looking at a 1290 Superduke GT one time and was trying to get the luggage open. I couldn't figure it out, so the salesman gave it a shot. He told me they'd had trouble with these things. Ended up breaking the latch off and said it wasn't the first time. Now, that's a bad thing. 

[topazsparrow]

5 minutes ago, shinyribs said:

They usually are, and I don't mean that as a bash. KTM builds bikes that perform very well, they don't seem to strive for aesthetics. JMO, but I get the feeling they typically choose function over form. Just like any offroad bike. The looks don't really matter, just hang the minimum amount of plastic on a bike to get the job done. That's not necessarily a bad thing. 

 

But I remember looking at a 1290 Superduke GT one time and was trying to get the luggage open. I couldn't figure it out, so the salesman gave it a shot. He told me they'd had trouble with these things. Ended up breaking the latch off and said it wasn't the first time. Now, that's a bad thing. 

My buddy is a bike mechanic and there's only two bikes he outright refuses to work on: Harleys because the owners can be annoying here, and KTM's because you can't unscrew anything without stripping or breaking something on the way. Performance and lightweight? yep. Ease of maintenance and reliability? not so much.

[blackout]

2 hours ago, Beemer said:

Yep, just more to go wrong with a bike.

Yup, Honda's auto blipper blipped when it wasn't suppose to and caused John McGuiness to crash during practice at the NW200 last year....

 

I like the linked suspensions because you can more easily fix what the manufacture may have screwed up.  Worked out well for the FZ07 to shorten the link and raise the rear.  

 

Edit:  "Screw up is probably too harsh".  The engineers are stuck designing a suspension that will work well for all riders.  Most likely Yamaha had seat height as a design criteria to consider.

[markstertt]

2 hours ago, blackout said:

Yup, Honda's auto blipper blipped when it wasn't suppose to and caused John McGuiness to crash during practice at the NW200 last year....

 

I like the linked suspensions because you can more easily fix what the manufacture may have screwed up.  Worked out well for the FZ07 to shorten the link and raise the rear.  

 

Edit:  "Screw up is probably too harsh".  The engineers are stuck designing a suspension that will work well for all riders.  Most likely Yamaha had seat height as a design criteria to consider.

Adjustable length shock will raise the rear on a linkageless system but, yeah, more to play with when you have a link system. I've remade both linkage components on my FZ-07 to experiment and learn...still learning.

 

I believe the link system on our -07's is a packaging consideration and basically linear so not much different than a linkless system. Yamaha used our set up to make the lay down shock possible so they could design a small compact machine with economy in mind. I'm sure the seat height was also a consideration and they did a pretty good job of it, all in all.

[gregjet]

KTM has a reliability reputation it is true. But the vast majority of it's bikes are dirt bikes. They are also bought by people that want to thrash them...a lot. That happens with dirt bikes. So reliability is NOT going to be a reasonable possibility.

Sally's 690 Duke did 13000km faultlessly. Nothing broke nor went wrong. Except for the fuelling issue it was a pretty well great bike to live with.

Now the early 690 Dukes were way overstressed. So it was pretty much likely that they were gonna have peoblems, especially when you consider they mere mostly bought by people that wanted to thrash them like they were a dirt bike. The last 2 models have been pretty well settled and made like a road bike.

KTM plastic DO look cheap it is true BUT unlike Jap plastics it is really tough stuff. I may strip threads if you go silly, but it won't crack. The stripped threads in it are repairable permanently with shoo goo.

[faffi]

My cousin has a 950 Super Enduro that gets ridden hard, and also a 500 EXC that gets ridden even harder. Quality doesn't seem to be any worse than what you get from Japan usually. If you want superior build quality, go Honda. I also tend to find them a bit bland, but you cannot deny they know you to make them well.

[HARRY BALZAK]

Me personally, I would never buy the first model year of most bikes, but especially KTM. Give them two or three model years to work out all the bugs. I say that having now owned the first model year of the FZ07, FZ09, and FZ10. I'm such a hypocrite.